Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi Page 0,90

at ease. With six days until the centennial solstice, I finally feel that we can win.

“Do you think they’ll tell stories about this?” Amari asks. “About us?”

“They better.” Tzain snorts. “With all the dung we’ve had to wade through for this magic, we better get a whole festival.”

“Where would the story even start?” Amari chews on her bottom lip. “What would they call it? ‘The Magic Summoners’? ‘The Restorers of Magic and the Sacred Artifacts’?”

“That doesn’t have a ring to it.” I scrunch my nose and recline on Nailah’s furry back. “A title like that will never withstand the test of time.”

“What about something simpler?” Tzain offers. “‘The Princess and the Fisherman’?”

“That sounds like a love story.”

I roll my eyes. I can hear the smile in Amari’s voice. I have no doubt that if I sat up, I would catch Tzain smiling as well.

“It does sound like a love story,” I tease. “But that’s not accurate. If you want a love story so bad, why not call it ‘The Princess and the Agbön Player’?”

Amari whips her head around, a flush rising to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean—I—I wasn’t trying to say—” Her mouth clamps shut before she can choke out anything else.

Tzain shoots me a glare, but it lacks true malice. As we approach the Gombe River, I can’t decide whether it’s endearing or annoying how the smallest taunt makes them both clam up.

“Gods, it’s a beast!” I slide down Nailah’s tail and find my footing over the large, smooth stones lining the muddy bank. The water stretches wide, curving a path through the heart of the forest and the trunks of massive trees. I kneel down in the mud and bring the water to my lips, remembering the way my throat burned for it in the desert. The ice-cold water feels so good in this humid air that I’m tempted to thrust my entire face in.

“Zél, not yet,” Tzain says. “There’ll be water up ahead. We still have a ways to go.”

“I know, but just take a sip. Nailah could use the rest.”

I rub Nailah’s horn and nuzzle my face against her neck, grinning when she nuzzles me back. Even she hated the desert. Since we’ve left, she’s had an extra spring in her step.

“For Nailah,” Tzain concedes. “Not for you.”

He jumps down and crouches by the river, careful as he fills up his canteen. A smile spreads across my lips. The opportunity is too great to resist.

“Oh my gods!” I point. “What’s that?”

“What—”

I ram into his body. Tzain yells as he topples over, hitting the river with a splash. Amari gasps when Tzain reemerges, soaked, teeth chattering with cold. He locks eyes with me, a wicked grin breaking through.

“You’re dead.”

“You have to catch me first!”

Before I can take off, Tzain lunges forward, grabbing me by the leg. I shriek as he pulls me under. The water is so cold it hits my skin like Mama Agba’s wooden needles.

“Gods!” I sputter for air.

“Was it worth it?” Tzain laughs.

“That’s the first time I’ve tricked you in ages, so I’m going to have to say yes.”

Amari jumps down from Nailah, giggling as she shakes her head. “You two are ridiculous.”

Tzain’s grin turns mischievous. “We’re a team, Amari. Shouldn’t you be ridiculous, too?”

“Absolutely not.” Amari backs away, but she doesn’t stand a chance. Tzain rises from the water like an Orïshan river python. Amari only gains a few meters before he hunts her down. I smile as she squeals with laughter, spouting every excuse she can think of when Tzain throws her over his back.

“I can’t swim.”

“It’s not that deep.” He laughs.

“I’m a princess.”

“Don’t princesses bathe?”

“I have the scroll!” She takes it out of her waistband, reminding Tzain of his own strategy. To keep all of the artifacts from being in one place, he carries the bone dagger, Amari holds the scroll, and I guard the sunstone.

“Good point.” Tzain snatches the scroll out of her hand and places it on Nailah’s saddle. “And now, Your Majesty, your royal bath awaits.”

“Tzain, no!”

Amari’s shriek is so loud that birds fly out of the trees in alarm. Tzain and I burst into laughter as she crashes into the water, flailing around although she can stand.

“It’s not funny.” Amari shivers, grinning in spite of herself. “You’re going to pay for that.”

Tzain bows. “Do your best.”

A new kind of smile rises to my face, one that warms me even as I sit on the bank of the freezing river. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen