Chapter 14 The Sun Temple, Royal Island, Kingdom of Oru #2
Lost in his gaze, she hadn’t considered what she’d do or say when she saw the boy who’d turned her life upside down.
The boy she’d bled for, the one she’d bound herself to in a sacred oath that was now a shadow of himself.
The boy who’d taken her fragile heart and, intentionally or not, shattered it into a thousand pieces.
She wanted to take one of the sharp edges of her broken heart and cut him with it.
She wanted to hug and kiss him. Most of all, she wanted him to be alive.
And he was. So she took one step towards him, then another, and another.
The temple bells’ deafening sound matched the beat of her own trembling heart.
Once she was close enough to see his eyebrows raised in shock and feel the warm air coming out of his mouth in short bursts, she raised her hand to slap him.
Then paused. Instead, she moved her hand to cup his face.
He hadn’t even tried to stop her. She hoped that meant he knew how much he deserved her wrath.
Still, she couldn’t figure out what to say, and obviously, neither could he because he simply stood staring at her, his brows tilted up in a pathetic appeal.
‘We don’t have time for this. We have to go,’ Kyà said, his voice edged with tension.
L’?r? stepped back from Alawani but couldn’t take her eyes off him.
Alawani’s mouth hung open, unable to form words, stunned by her presence in the temple. Ignoring Kyà’s urging, he finally said to L’?r?, ‘You can’t be here.’ His gaze fixed on her.
Máywá cut in, ‘Okay, okay, we need to move now!’
‘I can’t believe you did this,’ Alawani said. ‘We talked about this.’ The ringing of bells sank into silence, replaced by the sound of shouts.
L’?r? pulled the bandage off her palm and revealed the healing scab where she had cut her palm. ‘Yes, we did. And still, you left!’
Kyà grabbed L’?r?’s arm, ‘I’m leaving with or without you. Those bells didn’t stop ringing because they changed their mind.’
L’?r? allowed him to pull her towards the main temple building. Máywá ran fastest, his long legs allowing him to lead the way, and Alawani trailed behind.
L’?r? fell back to run next to Alawani. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked as they ran through the side of the building, sticking close to the walls.
Alawani nodded, forcing air into his lungs with every step. When she’d first seen him moments ago, she thought it was confusion or surprise she’d read in his features. But now she realized he was terrified.
Máywá stopped in his tracks when they reached an old wooden door on the side of the building. ‘I’m taking this way back to the tower.’
‘No, you need to stick with us,’ L’?r? said.
‘I’m not going with you,’ Máywá said calmly. ‘This is my destiny. Long before the gods called, I knew this was my fate. I am àlùfáà. And everyone knew – my family, my people, my friends. I’m not turning my back on my gods. I don’t want to find out what will happen if I dare do such a thing.’
L’?r? couldn’t find the right words to speak.
What spell were these boys under? Not boys, men.
Alawani had seen twenty-four first suns and five blood moons, and Máywá, if she was right, was maybe a first sun or two older than her.
They weren’t children. What magic held their minds so strongly that they could not see reason?
Why did she have to beg them not to die?
Was death suddenly something not to be feared? Or was she missing something?
Kyà’s eyes flitted around anxiously, searching for any figures or shadows that might approach them. ‘Leave him if he wants to stay, we need to go,’ he said.
‘I’m not leaving this temple,’ Máywá said, holding on to the door’s handle.
‘Neither am I,’ Alawani added.
‘What?’ L’?r? could not believe her ears. Was he joking? ‘Do you know what I’ve risked, being here? Everything I’ve lost just to save you from this insanity? We are getting you out today.’
Alawani pulled her close to him, and she allowed him to pin her against the wall. ‘L’?r?, I’m begging you. I’m asking you to trust me. I can’t leave.’
The eerily quiet temple grounds felt like a graveyard – and it would be, for them, if they didn’t move fast. From the moment the temple maiden had taken him from her, L’?r? had believed with all her heart that he’d been forced, maybe even manipulated to accept the call.
So, hearing him say that he wanted to stay was just not something she could understand.
She searched his eyes for signs of the boy she’d raced through the town with all those years ago.
The one who was always by her side. He was grown now – different.
A voice higher than hers had claimed him and called him àlùfáà. And he’d said yes.
‘Why am I the only one who cares about leaving this temple alive?’ Kyà hissed at them.
L’?r? shoved Alawani off. ‘I’m giving you a chance to keep your oath. And keep your life!’ She turned on Máywá. ‘Why would you want to die for these gods?’
‘I’m not like him,’ Máywá said, pointing to Alawani. ‘He is the ?m?’ba – the prince of Oru. He is untouchable. If he leaves, even if they catch him, the worst they will probably do is bring him back here in chains. If I defect, the priests will kill my family.’
She knew by the look on Alawani’s face that Máywá’s words had hurt him; even the friend he’d made here didn’t truly accept him.
L’?r? tugged at Alawani’s shirt, ‘Look at me. You leave with me, or I stay here and die with you.’
‘L’?r?, please,’ his voice broke.
‘Even he doesn’t believe you ought to be here,’ she said, glancing at Máywá. ‘What use are you to an Order that doesn’t want you?’
Alawani’s eyes brimmed with tears and L’?r? wasn’t sure if it was her words or Máywá’s, but she saw resignation etch soft lines on his face, and she knew her best friend was coming home with her.
Whatever he was trying to prove would mean nothing if no one believed he’d earned it, even after surviving his first stripping ceremony.
The temple bells started ringing again, and the door Máywá was leaning on cracked open.
Máywá jumped back, and L’?r? brought out her blades so quickly she didn’t even remember saying the words to awaken them. They glowed red hot in her hands, ready to cut through whoever came through the door.
A young temple servant stood frozen at the door.
There was no one behind her, but L’?r? could hear voices and footsteps echoing through the inner halls.
The temple buzzed with activity. L’?r? considered tying the servant up and leaving her in the hallway.
Before the thought fully formed in her mind, the girl had slumped to the floor.
None of them had seen Kyà’s strike coming. They all stared at him.
‘Like I said. I’m leaving,’ Kyà replied to their unspoken question. He shoved the girl back in and closed the door. Then used his agbára to melt off the metal handle.
L’?r? reached for Máywá, whose mouth was still open from shock. ‘We need to split up.’
Máywá looked at Alawani, who still avoided his gaze, then back at L’?r?. He must have realized that they were his only way back to safety, whether or not he approved of their methods. He nodded slowly.
Still addressing Máywá, she said, ‘I’ll take you to the east wall on the other side to reach the tunnels so you can get back inside. You’ll never find the tunnel entrance on your own.’ She turned to Kyà and Alawani. ‘You two need to get horses. You know where the stables are?’
Alawani nodded.
‘Good. I’ll meet you at the maze. If we have a head start, we can be over the bridge before anyone reaches us.’
Alawani finally looked at Máywá, and even though they were silent, they seemed to communicate in a way L’?r? couldn’t understand.
Máywá moved in to embrace Alawani. And L’?r? saw Máywá’s lips move, hearing the softest ‘I’m sorry.
’ They held on tightly and whispered the words in unison, ‘May your heart burn like the sun, bright, hot, and undying,’ before pulling apart.
L’?r? and Máywá moved fast and low, close to the temple wall, taking advantage of the shadows cast along its breadth.
The entrance to the tunnels where Máywá would sneak back into the temple was on the other side of the building.
Slowly, stepping as lightly as they could, they approached the main entrance to the temple.
L’?r? surveyed the area. Just around the corner were steps that led to large golden doors – the king’s entrance, which Baba-ìtàn had said was nearly always sealed shut.
Each stair had fire lanterns on both ends, and two huge gold chalices had fire roaring out of them on both sides of the doors.
The doors overlooked an open space with an archway that led to the maze.
The tunnel was across the open ground in front of the maze.
All they had to do was run across the courtyard and hope that the doors remained shut until they were safely on the other side.
Then, she could send Máywá into the tunnels, wait for the others in the maze and finally be out of the temple forever.
‘Why don’t we see anyone?’ L’?r? asked. ‘There were at least a few maidens walking around when we came in.’
‘I think that’s intentional. They’ll be watching – so they see us before we see them,’ Máywá said, glancing nervously up at the various sun-shaped windows scattered across the walls.
‘Not if they can’t see at all,’ L’?r? said, looking around her again. ‘Take out those lanterns in front of the doors.’
Máywá peered to see, then pulled back in. ‘I don’t know if I can. The stripping –’
‘They didn’t take it all, right? At least not yet. You should still have some of your agbára until the last stripping ceremony.’
‘Yes,’ he said reluctantly, ‘but I haven’t tried to use it since. I’m afraid it’ll hurt. Why don’t you do it?’
L’?r? glanced at her hands. Why couldn’t she do it? Because the gods he was so eager to die for had cursed her, that’s why. ‘My agbára is weak,’ she lied, then held his hands and looked him in the eye. ‘We can’t get caught. That’ll hurt much more, I promise you.’
Máywá nodded and stretched out his hands.
He groaned quietly as light glowed through his palms. He held on tight to L’?r?’s hand, squeezing so hard she felt her bones rubbing against each other.
She bit her tongue to keep from yelling out in pain.
Using his agbára so soon after his stripping was clearly agony, and L’?r? feared he wouldn’t be able to do it.
Finally, with a wave of his hand, he extinguished all the fire lanterns.
Only the trail of smoke showed evidence of the fire that once lit the stairs.
‘Now run – I’ll keep watch. Go!’ L’?r? hissed, pushing Máywá to get through to the other side of the courtyard.
She watched him speed across, impressed with how fast he moved.
Two, four, six. She counted, waiting breathlessly for him to be out of sight.
Once he was safe, she’d make the run, too. And that was it. The rest was easy.
Máywá had just gone past the main doors when they flew open, and two temple maidens burst out – dressed in red, weapons drawn, ready to kill.