Page 40 of Firstborn of the Sun
Her heart sank like a heavy stone dropped into water. ‘You don’t think he’s –’ She couldn’t bring herself to say the word.
But Kyà knew what she meant. ‘We’ll keep looking,’ he said.
L’?r? threw her head back, forcing back the rise of panic and nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. ‘We can’t be here when the sun comes up. This was our only plan. He should be here!’
The door handle turned, and L’?r? ran behind the door faster than she thought possible. She wouldn’t allow whatever had happened before to take over her again. Kyà ran underneath the bed and pulled the sheets down to cover thegap. L’?r? put her hand on her blades, ready to wake them at a moment’s notice. The door opened, and an older boy walked in. L’?r? waited for him to close the door before kicking the back of his knee, sending him to the floor. She pounced on him, sat on his back, and covered his mouth with her hand. He wriggled beneath her, and she pressed her blade against his neck.
‘Pleeease,’ he muffled out, kicking the air.
‘L’?r?, wait! I think – Máywá, is that you?’ Kyà asked, slipping out from under the bed.
The boy nodded vigorously.
L’?r? leaned in closer to him. ‘I will take my hand off. You scream, and it’ll be the last thing you ever do.’
The boy nodded again.
L’?r? got off him, and the boy scrambled to his feet, and ran to embrace Kyà.
Kyà welcomed him with open arms, and they held on to each other for a moment before letting go. ‘He’s the chosen one called to represent Ìlú-p?, the third ring. His parents’ farm is close to mine back home,’ Kyà said, stepping between L’?r? and Máywá. ‘I can’t let you hurt him.’
‘Thank you. ?m? Ìlú mi – son of my homeland,’ Máywá’s voice came as a soft whisper. The six horizontal dashes that they bore connected them to each other. Tribal marks signified the long-standing generational vow to protect all from one’s home state, no matter where in the world they found themselves.
‘What are you doing in this room?’ L’?r? asked.
‘I came to check on –’ Máywá stopped, and for a moment, he looked like he was trying to remember something. He rubbed his hand over his head. ‘Wait, did he call you L’?r?? Are you Alawani’s L’?r??’
L’?r?’s eyes darted to the floor, and she took a step backfrom him. Máywá clearly took that to mean yes because he went on, ‘He told me about you.’ Máywá smiled. ‘You’re exactly as he described.’
L’?r? frowned, fighting back the smile that wanted to creep onto her face at the thought that Alawani hadn’t lost his entire mind and still knew who she was.
‘Where is he?’ Kyà said.
Máywá shrugged, ‘I don’t know. I came to check if he’s here, but I haven’t seen him since before evening prayers.’
‘Where could he be?’ L’?r? said.
He paused, thinking. ‘Perhaps the old ruins?’
‘Take us there,’ L’?r? said.
‘What? No. You can’t be here. The maidens will kill you. You need to leave now.’
L’?r?’s blade was back at Máywá’s neck before he could move out of her way.
Kyà was beside her in a flash, a firm grip on her hand. L’?r? kept her eyes on Máywá. Did Kyà really think she’d hurt an innocent person?
Máywá held his hands up, a quivering smile on his face. ‘He did say you liked to fight.’
‘So you know I’m not afraid to use this if you don’t help us,’ L’?r? said. ‘I need to find him, and I’ve come too far to give up now. Take us to the ruins.’
‘Just tell us where the ruins are. We’ll find them ourselves,’ Kyà added.
Máywá shook his head. ‘You’ll never make it out of this tower.’
‘He’s right – we need him to show us,’ L’?r? said. ‘We can’t trust his directions anyway. At least if he’s with us, we can kill him if he leads us astray.’
‘L’?r?!’ Kyà hissed.
