Raybearer: Chapters 18–25

Without seeing them, I could summon their voices, their tics and mannerisms. Kameron’s tongue, lolling thoughtfully in his cheek. Ai Ling’s jaded, strident laughter.

Without seeing them, I could summon their voices, their tics and mannerisms. Kameron’s tongue, lolling thoughtfully in his cheek. Ai Ling’s jaded, strident laughter.

None of my possessions seemed appropriate to pack for the journey ahead: rainbow wax-dyed wrappers, jeweled council regalia, High Judge case scrolls.

“Search me,” I said. He balked.

The sun-and-moon emblem was still sticky, mottled from court cases I had signed with wax.

These enchanted lands, scholars theorized, tempered the climate of our vast continent, allowing for fertile ground in landlocked areas that would otherwise be rendered arid.

But the land had also plowed over ancient ocean passages to the Underworld, trapping malevolent spirits between this world and the next.

She cocked her head at the warrior in feigned fascination.

Once, Oro-ko lured a peasant and his son into the Bush, beguiling them with smells of saltfish and honeyed garri cakes.

The warriors traded macabre stories for hours as we traveled, speaking loudly to ensure we would hear.

Wind whistled through gnarled, long-reaching branches.

His expression, soft and earnest, made my knees buckle.

I stared for a moment, transfixed.

He stilled, sighed, and fell fitfully asleep.

The lodestone, a smooth bed of black rock ten men wide, was nestled in a copse of trees at the edge of town.

“It’s safest if you hold hands,” he called after us.
I looked at Sanjeet askance, but he held out his calloused palm.

“Names and reason for travel,” a reedy voice said.

I suspect most imperial warriors do not have such refined accents, nor do they carry purses full of gold coins.

“I don’t know what ails you, girl, but I know a sparkly bauble isn’t medicine.”

The cotton chemise was soft, with sleeves that hung loosely to my elbows. Over the chemise I wound the wrapper, tying it snugly at my waist.

An emperor sires many children in his lifetime. But you only ever hear of one: the Raybearer. Any other heirs are considered irrelevant. As a result, Kunleo daughters—and Rayless sons—are born without fanfare, sent away after weaning, adopted by nobles who raise them away from court.

‘Don’t call me brother,’ Olugbade chided patiently.

You should not play at usurping a crown prince of the empire.

“Because—because—” I quailed, trying to remember the careful lines of reasoning the priests had taught in our catechism.

“Because—because—” I quailed, trying to remember the careful lines of reasoning the priests had taught in our catechism.

Better by the second, she Ray-spoke, and Sanjeet and I replied in our minds, coaxing the jaundice of council sickness from her skin.

Woo In stiffened, growing even more ashen.

“Don’t have a conniption,” Woo In said aloud, in apparent response to a voice I could not hear.

The stranger’s cloak blew around her as she stormed under the canopy, doffing her deep green hood.

He rubbed the bruise on his cheek and shot a furtive glance at Kirah.

Dust motes twinkled in sharp slats of light, which fell from boarded-up windows.

The ink blotched and ran as I sobbed, shoulders quaking as I turned the pages. Woo In and Kathleen searched the rest of the apartment for clues, tactfully allowing me privacy.

Am I not as faithful as prudence allows?

We continued to avoid towns, partly because of the Unity Edict riots, but also because a conspicuous cloud of sprites persisted in following wherever I went.

Peacocks strode around the courtyard, getting in the way of servants and sentries.

Despite Kirah’s and Sanjeet’s protests, I asked Bimbola to prepare the farthest possible room from the Children’s Palace. Bemused, she bowed and hurried away.

I blinked, doing my best to look insipid.

I fought to keep my tone docile.

“Many years ago, The Lady committed treason. She led a coup, trying to turn my own candidates against me. I showed mercy, allowing her to escape, but her continued disregard for the law has forced my hand.”

Olugbade had watched me grow beside his son, watched my subservience, my submission in my gilded cage—and he had enjoyed a peace of mind that my death could not have brought him.