Chapter 9 Gbàgede – The Arena, The Capital City, First Ring, Kingdom of Oru #2
L’?r? saw the vein in Command’s temples bulge, and she took a slow step back.
Command closed the space between them, and the cowries in her hair smashed against each other, reminding L’?r? of the dozens of people that had fallen to her commander’s fury.
Before L’?r? was a woman who’d seen many battles and spent many years fighting the sand raiders that threatened the outer walls of Oru and returned whole without a single scar.
Nothing on Command’s body told of her fighting days other than the cowries that clung tight to her long greying locs.
A woman of honour. A woman who was now likely to die at the hand of the Order for helping the coward’s daughter, all because L’?r? couldn’t keep her promise of staying away when the sun was in the sky.
Command eyed the sunlight streaming into the pit and when her eyes landed back on L’?r? again, they were red and full of fury. ‘Why are you here?’ she said, her voice a low husk that carried the tone of threat with every word.
L’?r? didn’t know what to say. She bent her knees to curtsy but didn’t realize how fast she’d fallen until her knees crashed to the ground. She clenched her teeth to hide the pain and kept her gaze fixed on the stones.
‘Look at me when I’m talking to you!’
L’?r?’s head shot up, and she slowly rose to her feet, her shoulders still hunched before the terrifying image of her furious commander. ‘I came to see –’
‘Are those tears?’ Command seethed, and L’?r? begged the ground to swallow her whole. ‘In my arena? L’?r?? So, this is about the prince, then. You came here to mourn?’ Her face twisted as though the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.
‘He’s not dead yet,’ L’?r? retorted, more loudly than she would have liked, which made Command raise her eyebrows even higher.
‘I warned you when you joined yourself to his hip like a twin that your paths were not to be merged. You did not listen. He has chosen his path, and the gods will decide his fate,’ Command said.
After a brief pause, watching L’?r? struggle to find her next words, she continued, ‘But I trained that boy. I know his strength. He’s nothing without his agbára.
He won’t survive the journey to the sun.
So, I ask again, why are you sneaking around my arena in the middle of the godsdamned day? ’
L’?r? stared at her, matching her stern glance but remaining silent.
Command scoffed, ‘You come in here with red eyes and puffy cheeks like a widow in mourning. Crying for a boy and risking everything we’ve worked to achieve?
You mock your training and insult me with this nonsense.
You break your word. I trained you to be a warrior – a champion.
When the gods call for Ogun, and you enter this arena to claim victory, will you cry for your opponent then, or will you burn them to ash? ’
Tension filled the air, and the faces watching from the edge of the ring seemed to know what she was thinking. She found Kyà’s face, and he slowly shook his head, telling her no. She’s baiting for a fight. Don’t fall for it.
‘I raised you, L’?r?. Here. In these very pits,’ Command said quietly so only she could hear.
‘I risked everything for you. Your father begged, cried, blackmailed – everything he could think of. His desperation was pitiful. Yet I agreed. I risked my life for you. Every time you came here in the dark of night was another night I could’ve been hanged for helping the coward and his daughter.
’ She looked around the arena, surveying the clusters of trainees already throwing glances and whispering.
No doubt wondering why Command hadn’t thrown L’?r? out of her arena at first sight, as was the law.
Her eyes returned to L’?r?, cold and piercing; she leaned in even closer and whispered in a gritty tone, ‘What do you think they’ll tell their parents when they get home today?
How long before the Lord Regent hears that I trained you to join his guard? ’
Her words cut deep, and L’?r? felt tears sting the back of her eyes, but she dared not let them fall.
She’d broken her word and put her commander’s life in danger.
The law forbade people in the kingdom from helping her family.
No aid, no food, no mercy. Nothing. And not even Command’s station as part of the royal court or a commander in the royal army could keep her from death if the Order found out.
Every few blood moons, the trainees in the kingdom fought for a spot on the royal guard – a status envied by all not of royal blood.
And if L’?r? won, she would force the kingdom to recognize her as the winner of Ogun and elevate her to the prestigious position of royal guard, even though she was the daughter of a coward.
Helping her to achieve this, Command had become the closest thing to a mother L’?r? ever had.
Over the years, she’d cleaned up every wound, bandaged every cut, set every broken bone – even the ones she’d broken herself as they trained together.
Most of all, she’d given L’?r? hope when she needed it the most.
‘I’m sorry,’ L’?r? whispered, unable to keep the tears in. Her hands crept to her chest, and she rubbed against the pendant on her necklace, trying to keep her heart from bursting out of her.
‘Don’t come back here. Ever again.’
L’?r?’s lips trembled as she shook her head. She tried to reach out to her, but Command slapped her hand off. ‘I never want to see you again, L’?r?.’
L’?r?’s vision grew hazy with tears. All she heard was the sound of Command’s cowries knocking against each other as she stormed out of the arena.
With every step, she took all hope of L’?r? ever shedding the name coward.
And once again, in her mind’s eye, L’?r? stood between her cracked pillars, as a storm raged on around her.
She looked up at the ceiling, and it cracked and burst, raining down sharp shards of stone and sand.
Kyà rushed to her side. ‘I’ll take you home.’
‘Will you help me save him?’ she asked, forcing herself to remember the reason she’d come to the arena in the first place.
The whispers around her grew louder, but there was nothing she could do about the danger she’d put Command in now.
She hoped that her commander’s position and lifelong allegiance to the crown would keep her safe from any real consequences.
She couldn’t be sure, but first, she had to save Alawani.
He nodded. ‘I’ll ask my brother tomorrow.’
‘No,’ she said, pulling away. ‘We need to get to him before the first stripping.’
He frowned. ‘L’?r?, the first stripping was last night.’
‘What?’ L’?r? gasped. Those words somehow felt worse than every strike she’d taken in the pit. ‘How do you know?’
‘The Order doesn’t announce when they do the stripping ceremony, but they likely decided to do it yesterday because of the blood moon. I’m sure even Alawani didn’t know when the first stripping would be.’
‘So he could be dead?’
‘Maybe. But if he’s alive, he won’t be able to scale walls or run.
Look, I want to help you, I’ll even go with you into the damn temple, but it can’t be tonight.
We need a plan. You might be quick on your feet, but not when carrying a whole body on your back.
Or are you ready to die for his freedom? ’
He was right. She conceded. ‘Fine, tomorrow.’
‘Also, check your house, or ask Baba-ìtàn. If anyone knows where the chosen ones are kept, it’ll be him.’
L’?r? rolled her eyes. ‘He won’t help me, and no way I’m going to tell him either. He’ll only try to stop me.’
They reached the top of the stairs, and just as she turned towards her home, Kyà called her back, ‘Wait.’
‘What is it?’
‘We can’t go tomorrow.’
‘Curse the sun, Kyà! I can’t keep doing this. Are you in or out?’
‘No, that’s not it. Tomorrow is Ogun. My Ogun.’
She stopped. He’d been waiting for his chance to fight for nearly twenty-six blood moons.
He’d been passed over every time since he qualified to fight for a position.
As he approached his twentieth first sun, he was getting nervous, and she’d completely forgotten that his turn had finally come around.
It meant everything to him and his family, especially since they lost his younger brother to the burn – the disease that consumed people who burned out their energy cores by overexerting their agbára beyond the point their bodies would cope.
If Kyà and his older brother were paid a royal guard’s wage, his family could move into the capital. It’d change their lives.
She drew a deep breath. ‘You can try again in a few blood moons. But Alawani won’t make it that long.’
‘What?’
‘Please, I’m begging you.’
‘L’?r?, no. We can just go the day after.’
‘No! We don’t know when the next stripping will be. We need to get him out now.’
He frowned, and she looked away.
He clenched his teeth, ‘If I die as a victor of Ogun, my parents get more money than they would ever need. The third ring is not like here; they are just farmers, and they are struggling. When I become a royal guard, my brother and I will be able to relocate them to the inner rings. Maybe even here to the capital. But if I die before then, they get nothing. You know that, don’t you? ’
‘You won’t die, Kyà, I will protect you. I promise.’ The corner of his lips lifted, but she couldn’t call it a smile. ‘I promise after we do this, I will train with you every day if I must until you are called again. I want this for you. I want you to win.’
Kyà stood still. His eyes grew glassy, and she cupped his face in her palms. ‘Please, Kyà.’ She hugged him so tight, the bruises on her body stung, but she didn’t let go. ‘Please help me, and I’ll owe you. Forever.’
He eventually peeled her hands off and said, ‘Yes, you will,’ and turned away from her, returning into the sunken pit of death.