Children of Virtue and Vengeance

The next morning, Zélie wakes to the sound of new chimes, which signal the beginning of training for the maji. She has doubts about her ability to lead the other Reapers after she abandoned Mâzeli at the temple to seek revenge on Inan. However, Mama Agba comes to her room and assures her that the gods have chosen her to lead and that she is strong enough to do so.

Thinking of her isípayá, Zélie asks Mama Agba if it is possible to combine different types of magic. Mama Agba explains that it has only happened once in the past, when a Grounder and Cancer combined magic and both died, resulting in the first majacite deposits.

Throughout training, the Connectors give little respect to Amari. However, she does her best to help them learn new incantations. One of them allows for the creation of a dreamscape. She plans to use it to reach out to Inan and discuss peace, but she cannot figure out how to make it work.

She goes to Zélie for help with the incantation. However, when Zélie deduces what she is trying to do with it, she angrily crushes the scroll and throws it into the water. Amari accuses Zélie of trying to stop peace to take the throne.

As Amari angrily leaves Zélie, she comes across Mama Agba, who invites her to sit and talk. Amari expresses her frustration at Zélie and the others for not listening to her. Mama Agba explains that the issue she faces is one that has gone on for centuries: the struggle between the maji and the nobles and the destruction created by their inability to create peace. She assures Amari that she has the strength to create change; she just has to believe in her own strength. She reminds Amari that she does not need to follow the same rules as the maji and can get her strength from somewhere other than incantations.

During a meeting of the war council, Inan struggles to focus as he hears Amari calling his name, pulling him into the dreamscape. As the meeting ends, he feels himself slipping, but Ojore confronts him. Inan had been sending Ojore on missions to avoid talking to him. However, Ojore now expresses his surprise and anger that Inan protected Zélie. Despite Inan’s efforts to explain that Zélie changed his outlook on life and who he wants to be as king, Ojore insists that the maji and his sister are not who Inan should be trying to protect; instead, he should focus on his people. As Ojore leaves, Inan slips fully into Amari’s dreamscape, finding himself in a field of blue lilies.

In the dreamscape, Amari and Inan embrace each other and cry for a long time, relieved to see each other again and not feel the weight of the war. As they sit together, Inan asks about Zélie and hopes that she is finding true happiness—even when he finds out how committed she is to getting revenge. Inan asks what the elders are looking for, and Amari tells him that they are going to do whatever it takes to bring an end to their persecution and achieve respect and equality for the maji. In response, Inan suggests that he write up a treaty and bring it to the elders. He knows that it will anger his mother, but he is committed to peace. He also asks Amari to rule the new Orïsha with him. Elated, Amari agrees, but she is unsure as to whether the maji will agree.

After several days of training, Zélie takes the other Reapers to a hillside and sets up a race to see how they are doing with their incantations. They have been practicing one that allows them to shape the spirits that conjure into wings, parachutes, and other shapes to help them fly and travel faster. She watches as the Reapers use their gifts in a variety of ways in the race, proud at how far they have come with their abilities.

On the mountainside, as Mâzeli celebrates his victory, Zélie spots Amari stealthily moving below. She sends the Reapers back to camp and then follows her. As Amari moves into a clearing, Zélie joins her—and then is shocked to see that she is meeting Inan.

Initially, Zélie reacts with anger to Inan and Amari, threatening to kill them both. However, Inan approaches her and places his hand on her chest, explaining that he knows that—deep down—she fears for the safety of her people and wants peace more than anything. Amari points out that she cannot save everyone through war and that she risks the death of her Reapers, her friends, and her family by not at least considering the treaty. As Zélie again feels hopeful of peace yet still distrustful of Inan, she agrees to look at the treaty. However, as Inan pulls it from her bag, the alarms of war begin to ring. She looks in the distance and sees dozens of banners bearing Queen Nehanda’s seal.

Zélie angrily flees, leaving Amari and Inan alone. Amari turns her anger on Inan, convinced that he has brought the army. Inan insists that he did not; only Ojore knew that he was coming to see Amari, and he would not tell. Amari does not believe him, as she believes that he is truly just like their parents. She uses her magic to pull his ashê from his body, causing him to collapse on the ground. She looks down at him but hears her father’s voice telling her, “Strike, Amari” (252). The memory gives her pause as she realizes that her past is full of anger and fighting—all leading to her getting hurt. She tells Inan that he is “dead” to her and then throws his body into the dirt and leaves him.

Zélie meets the three other Reapers outside the sanctuary. Recognizing that the other maji within will be slow to prepare to fight, she instructs the Reapers to work with her to fend off the first wave of attackers. They speak their incantations and draw spirits of the dead, forming them into an arrow that they send into the soldiers. As they find success, destroying three transports and knocking back dozens, they prepare for another attack.

Inan runs through the chaos of the battle, recognizing that the Iyika defenses are stronger than they could have anticipated and that his soldiers will lose. He finds Ojore, who reveals that he could not lie to the queen; she ordered the attack after finding out that Inan was with Amari. Inan finds his mother and tries to convince her to stop, but she assures him that Jokôye’s forces are close behind and that they will win.

As Zélie watches the first wave of soldiers retreat from the sanctuary, she realizes that they are clearing the way to prepare for an attack from Jokôye. She sees with horror that Jokôye is a cênter. The tîtán guards willingly line up around her to allow her to pull all their magic from their bodies. She creates a giant scythe made of air and then swings it to destroy all the trees of the forest between them.

Zélie and Mâzeli watch as Jokôye prepares a second attack that will destroy the sanctuary walls as new tîtáns line up to die to strengthen her. Mâzeli insists that Zélie needs to use the power from the moonstone to combine their strength to stop her. At first, Zélie is reluctant, but when she sees no other way, she agrees, performing the incantation and watching as the ashê is pulled from their bodies to combine, lifting them both into the air. Just as Jokôye prepares to release her attack, the purple of their ashê crackles in the air, ready to be released.

Using their combined power from the moonstone that “binds” their souls, Zélie and Mâzeli create hundreds of monstrous animations. Although Jokôye blows away dozens, she cannot reach them all. As the soldiers fall, Zélie continues to push, despite the strain she feels in both her and Mâzeli. As she strives for one more push, Jokôye is killed, and Mâzeli collapses to the ground.

In the infirmary, Healers desperately try to heal Mâzeli but are unsuccessful. The connection between them is also killing Zélie, but she cannot bring herself to break it and let him go. When Mama Agba arrives, she chants an incantation to sever the bond, saving Zélie but causing Mâzeli to die. His last words are “don’t […] be sad” (270).

Amari rushes to the infirmary, where she sees Zélie, hysterical, over Mâzeli’s body. She watches as the Healers sedate her. Blaming herself for the death and destruction of the sanctuary, she flees.

Inan looks on at the chaos caused by their attack. He considers what has happened, including the power that the maji showed and the power that they lost in the battle. He repeats his father’s mantra to himself, “Duty before self” (275), and decides that the maji will never allow peace. He tells his mother that they need to win the war at all costs to save his people and that he has a plan to use himself to do so.