Page 110 of Firstborn of the Sun
Command’s eyes darkened. ‘The Lord Regent didn’t give that option.’
‘So you’re not helping me. You’re kidnapping me.’
‘L’?r?, you’ve caused so much damage,’ Command’s voice shook with anger.
‘You don’t understand!’
‘What is there to understand? Your father is in a dungeon awaiting the executioner’s axe.’
‘He is not my real father!’
‘Of course he’s not your father, L’?r? – not by blood. But he is your father in every way that matters.’
‘You knew?’ L’?r? said, her voice a mere whisper. ‘You knew who I was this whole time.’
Command’s jaw clenched, ‘I don’t care what you found out. Whatever that man did, he did to protect you. How can you not see that? You’re alive now because of him. I look at you now, and I don’t see the warrior I trained, I see –’
‘Everyone in my life has been lying to me. I didn’t think you would too!’
‘Our lies saved your life,’ Command said and unsheathed her sword. ‘You’re coming with me back to the capital.’
‘They’ll kill me.’
‘Come with me and I promise the Lord Regent will keep you, your father and K?yà safe. He assured me of this.’
‘Command, please listen to me,’ L’?r? begged.
‘You’ve changed the fate of so many because you couldn’t accept that boy’s destiny. When you became his friend,’ Command grimaced as though the word was bitter in her mouth, ‘I told you. I warned you and begged you to let him go, but no. You always have to be right. Everything always has to be on your terms.’
As Command spoke, her words stirred the air around her. L’?r? felt the pain and anger pouring out of her commander.
‘They’d have killed Alawani,’ L’?r? said, her voice shaking.
‘And how do you know that? I’m starting to think you were never even afraid he might die. You were afraid he would live and you wouldn’t have the chance to be with him.’
‘That’s a lie!’ L’?r? shouted back.
‘Are you in love with him?’
L’?r? lowered her gaze and Command roared, launching herself at her. L’?r? jumped out of the way. She realized that she couldn’t reach her blades, which were in the back of the wagon. She was in trouble.
L’?r? weaved and dodged Command’s attacks, and her muscles burned with each step until her vision grew hazy. Feeling at a disadvantage, she channelled her agbára. She remembered her training with Ìyá-Idán this time and tried to focus on the heat coming off the surrounding rocks, not the heat coming off Command. After moving as far as she could from Command, she closed her eyes for a single heartbeat to concentrate on challenging the energy around her.
Eerily, it was still Command’s voice she heard in her mindwhen she fought. Even now that she fought the woman in the flesh, the voice in her head directed her moves as it always did.Watch out!
Command’s strike came quickly, and L’?r? caught the edge of the blade in her palms just before it struck. She screamed as the blade tore through flesh, and she poured her agbára into it. The blade froze over, turning brittle. It shattered in her hands.
Command stepped back, her eyes wide with disbelief. ‘Gods, you are one of them.’ She took another step back. ‘So this was Mremí’s secret.’
L’?r? inched closer and withdrew her agbára but didn’t get the chance to reply before Command punched her right in the face, and she fell back flat. The sharp, searing pain made her face feel like it was being pierced by needles.You should’ve seen that coming. Focus, the voice in her head said.
Command lifted her by her collar, and L’?r?’s feet dangled beneath her. She struggled to break free, and Command threw her against the ground. L’?r? heard a crack, but as heat and pain spread throughout her body, she couldn’t tell what had broken.
You’re losing. Always losing. Get up and fight. She wouldn’t survive this by evading the fight that was clearly not going to be over until Command had her back on that wagon. L’?r? struggled with the decision to fight Command. Her Command. The closest thing to a mother she’d ever had. But Command wasn’t backing down, and L’?r? wasn’t ready to give up. Even as Command leered at her now, she realized she was right. She wasn’t behaving like the trained warrior she was. She hadn’t for a long time now. A fight had come to her, and she was nothing if not well-trained. If Command’s remarks to Milúà were anything to go by, even she wasn’t expecting L’?r? to give up, no matter how hard the fight became.
As Command prepared to take her on with her fists, L’?r? shuffled around the clearing. With high rocks on all sides, it felt much like the pits of Gbàgede. If nothing had changed, this would have been the fight she’d have to win to be declared ready for Ogun. And she was ready. L’?r? faked a blow, and as Command ducked, she struck the side of her face with her foot.
Good! Go now, hit her again before she’s ready!the voice prompted.
