“The armor the Yakanna wear is real dope looking. So beautiful.” I tug at the breastplate that’s like a steel blanket wrapped around my chest. “I mean… as far as armor goes… not like I have a lot of experience with it or anything.”

“I think you have a lot of experience that matters more than most of us.” She glances at my gilded arms. “Did it hurt?”

“Oh my god, yes! Like lava searing into your skin.”

She shudders. “Well, worth it, no?”

“Very much.”

I study her. She’s a flame, lethal, but I’m drawn to her like I’ve known her for years. Is that our Yakanna bond? “I notice you only wear things on your left. Everything on your right is bare. Is that intentional?”

“You are very observant.” She takes off a bell from her hair and a few loops from her ear and hands them to me to look at closely. “You think a lot more than you speak.”

The rings are surprisingly heavy. Solid Ghizoni gold. And the tiniest patterns are etched into their sparkling surface. “Well… I wasn’t always that way. I learned the hard way. A work in progress, really.”

“And you wear humility like a crown.”

My cheeks burn and I don’t know what to say, so I just look away.

“And yes, Jelani. Mother Yakanna believed the heart is forged with two cavities, the right filled with fear and the left side filled with love. If you are standing on the very edge of a mountain’s edge, are you more captivated by the love of the view or the fear of falling?”

“Falling. I hate heights.”

“And fear commands most of us more than love. But love is much more powerful.” She touches the gold band on her arm, tracing it with her fingers. “We adorn the left side, the side of the heart that is filled with love, as a reminder to hold love above all things. It is most precious, more lethal than poison, more powerful than the darkest magic.” Her armor glints in the sunlight. Like Kai, she holds her chin up… just naturally.

“It’s odd to hear you talk about something so… I don’t know. The Yakanna are so fearless.”

“I’ve seen the same in you. You fight with such passion.”

“Losing isn’t a privilege I can afford.”

“Well, love is a powerful fuel too. It can destroy life or give it,” she says. “It must be handled with intention. It is fragile.”

“Like glass.”

“Like a bomb.” Her composure cracks ever so slightly, her eyes tilting downward, but I don’t miss it. She loves someone… and she loves them dangerously deep. “The only thing I fear, Jelani, is the loss of love. And the threat of that loss makes me fight without fear.”