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Chapters (102)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. DRAMATIS PERSONAE
  6. BOOKI
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. BOOKII
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. 6
  36. 7
  37. 8
  38. 9
  39. 10
  40. 11
  41. 12
  42. 13
  43. 14
  44. 15
  45. 16
  46. 17
  47. 18
  48. 19
  49. BOOKIII
  50. 1
  51. 2
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 5
  55. 6
  56. 7
  57. 8
  58. 9
  59. 10
  60. 11
  61. 12
  62. 13
  63. 14
  64. 15
  65. 16
  66. 17
  67. BOOKIV
  68. 1
  69. 2
  70. 3
  71. 4
  72. 5
  73. 6
  74. 7
  75. 8
  76. 9
  77. 10
  78. 11
  79. BOOKV
  80. 1
  81. 2
  82. 3
  83. 4
  84. 5
  85. 6
  86. 7
  87. 8
  88. 9
  89. 10
  90. 11
  91. 12
  92. 13
  93. 14
  94. 15
  95. 16
  96. 17
  97. 18
  98. Glossary
  99. Acknowledgments
  100. Also by Andrea Hairston
  101. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  102. Newsletter Sign-up

“Don’t be jealous.” Bal leaned in so close, her features blurred. Awa closed her eyes and savored Bal’s sweetgrass and iron scent. Bal pressed her lips against Awa’s cheeks, eyes, and lips. “Jod doesn’t know what love is.” Bal’s tongue tickled Awa’s nose.

Awa giggled. She didn’t know what love was either. If someone asked, she’d have no way to explain it. A griot should have a story for anything. Yari believed loving even an enemy could change them, but Awa knew that love didn’t always work. She opened her eyes at a cool breeze across her body. Bal had vanished, leaving tingles and aches behind. The moon was a slash of light on the horizon. The stars twinkled overhead, laughing at her. Why would Bal love someone like Awa?

8

Lapsed Elders

Sometime during the night, without anyone noticing, Bal and a few other Sprites slipped with Elder scouts into the woods to track Jod, Cal, and Neth. In the morning, Awa helped cooks prepare a celebrate-new-life feast. When Elder eyes were elsewhere, she stole mango slices, goat cheese, and honey cakes smeared with nut butter. Why should everyone fast? Practicing hunger discipline never made sense to Awa.

Jod and his allies were resourceful. Nobody had found them by midday. Isra was relieved that they might prove worthy. Yari was suspicious and vie usually believed the best of anyone. As the afternoon wore on, Yari climbed the highest mountain and put a tube of wood and glass to one eye to see far. Panting and sweating, Awa and Isra joined vie at the peak.

“What do you see?” Awa asked.

“Lion and elephant war masks.” Yari sighed. “Zamanzi fighting and dying over dust.”

“The peace is broken.” Isra rubbed swollen knees. “And the exiled peace-master searches for you.”

“On a pirate ship.” Yari clenched vie’s jaw. “He wants something. Some secret.”

“He begs you to relent,” Isra said. “I read his last letter.”

Yari jabbed Isra. “You spoke against him before.”

“I was wrong.” Isra winked. “I thought you loved him once.” Yari looked unsure of love. Awa had never seen this face. Isra gripped Yari’s arm. “He’s not Hezram. And Hezram’s not your fault.” Awa was baffled. How could Hezram be Yari’s fault? Isra murmured in Yari’s ear. “If the peace-master and Azizi met Awa, Bal, Jod, or any of them, Xhalan Xhala—they’d see tomorrow and resist men like Hezram.”

“Perhaps.” Yari put the tube to the other eye. “We should take care. The victors of this battle will steal whatever they can.”

Awa frowned. “What do we have that Zamanzi want?”

Yari snorted. “They’ll come for us no matter how little we have. So Isra tells us.”

“You think so too.” Isra took the tube and observed the Zamanzi battle then turned to the mountain opposite them. “I see veins in the leaves and the sleepy eyes of cats.”