Chapter 3 #3
Alawani opened his mouth to say no again, and a gust of wind blew against him. The chill matched the shiver in his spine. And his father’s voice repeated the words he’d once sworn to. Alawani let the tears building in his eyes fall as he said, ‘I will go with you.’
Milúà straightened. ‘Lead the way,’ she said, pointing towards the temple.
Alawani shook his head, ‘Not now.’
‘What?’ she said, igniting her agbára, her eyes sparking with shades of gold. ‘You already said –’
‘I’ll come,’ Alawani said, cutting her off, ‘but not tonight. I need to do something. Speak to someone.’
Milúà frowned. ‘Who is this someone?’
‘She –’ Alawani started to say, but Milúà interrupted him.
‘You delay your destiny for a girl? Who is she? Tell me, and I’ll slit her throat and end this.’
‘I said I’ll come,’ Alawani growled.
Milúà let her powers fade into the night.
‘The other maidens are informing their chosen from all six rings as we speak. It’ll take two days for the last of them to arrive.
Then, the Holy Order will officially announce the names.
Be here, or I’ll kill you long before the Red Stone can.
’ She moved so close to him that he could feel her warm breath on his skin.
Another spark of gold flashed in her eyes.
He was so lost in the darkness of her gaze that it was as though she had imprinted on him.
‘There’s nowhere in this kingdom or this continent you can go that I will not find you, Prince of Oru,’ she said in a smooth, silky voice, then turned on her heel and walked back into the dark of night, leaving Alawani terribly afraid that death had found him, and he had no way of escaping it.
Alawani’s mind and vision cleared as he stumbled back towards the bridge.
He’d have thought the last few moments were a dream but for the string of white beads firmly tied to his wrist. He hadn’t even noticed the maiden slip it on.
He let out a deep frustrated sigh. His life as he knew it was over, and he could not help the tears that flowed from his eyes as he turned towards the bridge that led to L’?r?. His Tèmi.
She would never understand why he’d say yes to a fate that could only lead to his destruction.
He ran through a series of explanations in his mind but even he couldn’t explain this bond, this connection he had to a father he hardly even knew.
Alawani did not have it in him to say no to the gods or his dead father.
And so he had to find a way to explain to the one he loved with all his heart that his heart was not his to give.
He shouted and slammed his fists into the ground with his agbára.
His breaths came short and quick. He’d chosen today to tell L’?r? that he loved her.
But then the thugs had attacked, and then the gods had called him to a fate he did not know how to escape.
L’?r? hated the Holy Order, and she always had a visceral reaction just at the mention of them.
They had killed her mother. But it was only when he followed her home for the first time that her father told him it was Alawani’s own grandfather who had killed her, and that he must never speak to L’?r? again.
Although Baba-ìtàn was not L’?r?’s birth father, their bond was stronger than any father and child Alawani had ever known.
Alawani knew he had to respect Baba-ìtàn’s wishes even though it broke his heart.
He hated his own grandfather from that moment on.
Many blood moons later, L’?r? found him again, and this time, she didn’t let him cower and hide.
She chose him, and then even her father couldn’t keep them apart, and he loved her with every breath.
This news would break her.
He glanced at the darkness Milúà had walked into, and for the first time in a very long time, he felt like the boy he was when his father died – alone, scared, and in need of someone who’d understand his situation.
He would talk to L’?r? tomorrow. Today, he needed someone who might ease his fears.
Today, he needed his old friend Tofa, the crown heir of Oru.
As he walked the sun path leading to the palace, he snuck past his home and the royal guards and crept into the crown heir’s room on the west side of the island.
Avoiding the guards stationed at the main entrance, he walked through the false wall they’d both found when they were boys.
One foot in, and there was a knife at his neck.
‘K?ni, it’s me. It’s Alawani,’ he said with his hands up. He didn’t have to see her face to know the knife belonged to Tofa’s twin sister and personal guard.
K?ni pulled him into the room and shut the wall as quietly as she could. ‘Let this be the last time you crawl through these walls,’ she said, turning to face him.
Alawani couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face.
She did not acknowledge it. She stared blankly at him.
Alawani had known K?ni as long as he’d known Tofa, and while she was nothing like the girl who’d chased him around the palace grounds playing games, that was exactly how Alawani saw her every time she looked at him with those large brown eyes.
He felt the urge to hug her, to remind her that – She walked away, breaking his line of thought.
The birth of twins was a special blessing for every family in Oru – all except the family who had to bear an heir.
Where there ought to be one, there were two.
Tradition demanded the death of the spare heir at birth, but their father had fought for K?ni to live under certain conditions.
One of which was never leaving her brother’s side.
‘What do you want?’ she said as she walked towards the window, checking for movement. Always on guard.
The large, gilded hall was twice the size of Alawani’s, and he eyed the closed doors in the middle of the reception that led to Tofa’s room.
Alawani ran for the doors, and K?ni lunged after him, reaching him just as he cracked open the doors.
She raised a blade to strike him, and he caught her hand midair and laughed. ‘I taught you that move.’
She stilled. She dropped the knife, waiting for his gaze to follow the drop to strike him with her other hand.
He dodged it. ‘And that one too.’ He smiled and raised his hand when she awakened her agbára.
He was no longer surrounded by people less powerful than he was.
Under the right circumstances, K?ni and her brother could burn him to ash.
‘I just want to talk. Come on, let me in,’ he said with a wink and her stoic expression cracked.
‘What’s going on here?’ Tofa said, walking out of the inner room, his royal robes glistening in the candlelight. Then he noticed Alawani and paused.
This time, Alawani gave in to the urge to hug his friend and rushed towards Tofa, who welcomed him with open arms. ‘It’s been too long!’ Tofa said, as he held Alawani close.
You know why, Alawani thought as he remembered Tofa’s mother’s threats, promising to send his family out of the palace if their friendship continued.
Since the king’s death, Alawani’s family had kept their home on the royal island and an allowance only at the pleasure of Lord Regent Babátúndé, and as the Regent’s Aya’ba, the crown heir’s mother had all the influence to destroy Alawani’s family’s life in a heartbeat.
Although, it dawned on Alawani that without that separation, he may never have wandered outside the royal island and never have met L’?r?.
K?ni scoffed at them and rolled her eyes. ‘Close the doors behind you,’ she said, pointing towards the inner room. Then said to Alawani, forcing down a smile, ‘You have until the sun is up.’
Alawani watched as Tofa prepared a space for them at the foot of his bed, laying mats and wrappers and gourds of wine. He was treating him like a guest. They were brothers once, and the formal gesture stung more than Alawani was willing to admit.
His gaze roamed round the gilded room, intricately decorated with the best of everything their kingdom had to offer.
Alawani had never been jealous of the crown heir.
He’d always known that Tofa would inherit his father’s throne.
Even though that was what the council had used to forbid their friendship, they’d have a few stolen moments together before reality caught up with them.
Tofa was born heir to the throne of Oru, and his father, who had been the High Priest at the time of Alawani’s father’s death, rose to the station of Lord Regent, holding the crown for his son until he was old enough to rule.
Tofa was now a few blood moons from his coronation, and Alawani could see in the way his old friend moved that he was, in his mind, already a king.
They both settled into the space, and Alawani waited until Tofa had drunk a cup of wine before saying, ‘I’m in trouble.’
‘I figured,’ Tofa said, smiling. ‘We haven’t seen you in more first suns than I can count, and then you come sneaking into my room. So who died?’
‘No, it’s nothing like that,’ Alawani said, trying to form the words in his mind and struggling to start the conversation. ‘I’ve been compelled into a decision I cannot escape, and I’m scared.’
‘You? Scared? You great prince of Oru,’ Tofa said, smiling.
‘What’s happened? Tell me, and I’ll fix it.
Is it the Lord General? I heard he was forcing you to go back to the sixth ring.
I know that royals are meant to train under him, but he doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
After my time there, and K?ni’s too, I wouldn’t send anyone I love into that man’s den.
I’ll gladly redeploy you to the capital.
Do you need me to intervene?’ And without waiting for a response, he continued, ‘I will speak to Command in the morning to keep your training in the capital. And once you win your final battle in the arena, I will declare you as the new Lord General. I promised you this a long time ago, and I haven’t forgotten.
I know it’s been a long time, and much has happened, but I can still do this for you. ’
Alawani squeezed his friend’s hand. ‘Thank you. But I don’t think even the word of a king can save me from the gods.’
‘The gods? Alawani, what have you done?’
Alawani opened his mouth to speak. Looking at his friend’s concerned face, he wondered what Tofa’s reaction would be if he were to tell him what he had come to say, and began to think better of it.
His fingers rolled over the string of beads Milúà had attached to his wrist. And suddenly, his mouth went dry.
He was so foolish to come here seeking restitution when this might be the thing to break their already strained friendship.
Alawani shook his head. ‘It’s nothing. I’m sure it’ll pass with the night. I might be overreacting,’ he said, rubbing his neck. ‘I should have asked, how do you feel just a few blood moons before your coronation?’
Tofa leaned close, ‘There is nothing you cannot tell me, Alawani. We grew up together within these walls. Your secrets are my secrets. Tell me what bothers you, brother.’
‘Ah, it’s nothing, I promise. It’s like you said – as Lord General, nothing should scare me,’ he said, patting Tofa on the shoulder.
‘I can command you to tell me the truth,’ Tofa said, smiling. ‘I just want to help.’
Alawani smiled back, but the reminder that his friend was really going to be his king and the realization that he could have put himself in serious danger by coming here alone on the night of his call made his heart beat faster in his chest. What if Tofa already knew and was playing along?
‘I should go,’ Alawani said, dropping his gourd, ‘before K?ni cuts my head off.’
‘Wait,’ Tofa said, rising to meet him. ‘It was good to see you, old friend. Come again.’
Alawani nodded, ‘Maybe.’
As he turned, Tofa said, ‘I heard you have a girl in the second ring. Is she the reason for all this?’
‘No,’ Alawani said quietly, smiling. ‘She’s perfect.’
‘Ahan Alawani, is that love I see on your face? Come, sit, tell me about her,’ Tofa said, handing him another cup of wine and pointing back to the mats.
Alawani wanted to leave. He also did not want to be alone with his thoughts tonight and could think of worse ways than spending the early hours of the morning talking about the love of his life, so he accepted the gourd and smiled. ‘Her name is L’?r?. Tèmil’?r?.’