Legacy of Orïsha, #1
Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi
Contents
Chapter Forty: Zélie
Overview
Zélie awakens after the ambush, consumed by guilt and determined to retrieve Amari and Tzain. She finds Inan suppressing his magic and not attacking. Driven by rage, Zélie tortures a masked captor for information, nearing murder before a warning voice interrupts, checking her spiral.
Summary
Zélie lies in the dirt after the masked fighters’ ambush, overcome by cold and the isolation of being left behind. As she replays the attack, she blames herself for ignoring Tzain’s warning and not fleeing on Nailah, concluding that her choices keep endangering Tzain and Amari.
Resolved to fix her mistake, Zélie forces herself up and finds Inan weakened, suppressing his magic and not attacking. Confused by his restraint and his earlier act of cutting her free, she puts aside questions to focus on rescuing Amari and Tzain.
Zélie confronts a downed masked boy, demanding the captives’ location. When he refuses to answer, she escalates, breaking his hand with her staff and cutting him with her dagger. Grief and fury over Mama’s death and Tzain’s abduction fuel her, and she repeatedly slashes him, seeking the camp’s location.
As Zélie raises the blade to deliver a killing strike, a voice from above calls out and then pleads, “Zélie, don’t!” The interruption halts her at the brink, leaving the interrogation and her moral line unresolved as she remains determined to find her brother and Amari.
Who Appears
- ZélieReels from the ambush, blames herself, resolves to rescue Amari and Tzain, and violently interrogates a masked captor.
- InanWeakened and suppressing his magic; does not attack Zélie and may be the voice that stops her.
- Masked boyCaptured ambusher; refuses to talk as Zélie breaks his hand and cuts him for information.