“He should be back.” Tembe sent a drummer to look for him.

Soot padded in. He licked his chops and huffed at Awa, dropping his big head in her lap. “Ew. What have you been nosing through?” Awa wiped mud and offal from his snout. Red flecks clung to his whiskers. “Were you in the kitchen?” Soot sneezed and spit blue fabric in her hand. Awa stared at the bloody scrap of an eye patch, her heart pounding in her mouth.

“We can’t wait any longer for Hezram,” Azizi declared. Soot growled at the name.

Tembe’s breath was short. “Something has happened to Hezram. I feel it.”

Awa felt nothing of Hezram. He was gone. Trembling, she tossed the blue scrap into candle fire. “Thank you.” She hugged Soot.

“When Hezram comes, we tell what he missed,” Vandana said.

Bal drummed thanks to the crossroads gods for all who sat at the table and all who’d given their lives. Awa shivered and looked from oasis trees to the citadel Dream Gates. Djola was a chilly edge to the wind, Kyrie an echo against the rocks. Yari was the upbeats and overtones.

“Thanks to Kenu and Awa, we have a few moments before the void swallows us.” Azizi looked excited. “Where do we begin?”

Everyone talked over each other—spouting good ideas and stupid ones.

“Water,” Awa interjected, “and enough food for everyone. Northlanders have seeds for drought and deluge. Grass to hold a mountain and trees to call the rain. Northland wisdom is where we start. And then freedom, of course.”

“What do you mean?” Boto asked.

The piebald crow and a companion flew onto a ledge above the courtyard, building an enormous nest. They had to be pregnant. Adult crows didn’t bother with nests otherwise. A crown of quiescent bees flew in sideways from Jumbajabbaland and settled in Awa’s hair. After Council, she’d wake them in the oasis garden to build a hive there.

“Yes. Tell us. Freedom? What are you thinking?” Azizi asked.

Awa sang:

We belong to ourselves

Or maybe to the bees

Glossary

GLOSSARY

These words may have meaning in other realms and cultures.
Here is what they mean in this world.

Abelzowadyo     Zamanzi, change, shapeshifter, many beings at once

Aido     Lahesh cloth, disappears in the light

Anawanama     a people from the north

Babalawo     floating-city wise man, called witchdoctors in the Empire

barbarians     what Empire citizens call southern people

bark-paper     Anawanama paper made from Mount Eidhou’s fig trees

Basawili     Anawanama, not yet the last breath

crack-cruck     stopgap or slapdash procedure

djembe     large goblet drum made from hardwood, goatskin, and tuned with ropes

Dochsi     Lahesh, disagreeing with a negative statement

Eishne     Anawanama, woven from the same threads, strangers who are family

Fatazz     curse

griot     storyteller, mapmaker, historian, praise singer, negotiator

Ishba     a northern people aligned with the Anawanama

Iyalawo     floating-city wise woman, called witch woman in the Empire

jumba jabba     mumbo jumbo

Kahoe     a northern people aligned with the Anawanama