Chapter Forty-Six: Amari

Amari opens with a memory of following her father, King Saran, Admiral Ebele, and Commander Kaea into the palace depths, where she witnessses Kaea brutalizing a servant boy. Her father dismisses her shock, declaring prisons unfit for a princess—an early lesson in sanctioned cruelty.

Back in the present, Amari is bound in a tent at the masked camp, working frantically to fray her ropes while Tzain lies unconscious from Kwame’s earlier attack. She fears Kwame’s bone dagger and the threat it poses if the captors return.

Zu enters, appearing more like a child than the militant figure from the night before. Ignoring Amari’s pleas, Zu places glowing hands over Tzain’s head, using Healer magic to close his wounds and erase bruises. Amari, awed, recognizes the beauty of Zu’s magic and how it contradicts her father’s teachings.

Questioned by Amari, Zu claims the scroll as theirs and reveals trauma from Warri, where she survived under a fishing boat while royal guards cut down her sister. Amari apologizes and asserts she is an ally, explaining the scroll’s ritual could restore magic across Orïsha. Zu, convinced Amari is a noble infiltrator, rejects the story.

Zu calls for Kwame, shaken by memories and mistrust. Kwame arrives, menacing with the bone dagger, and asks if it is time. Zu apologizes to Amari and leaves, unable to watch. Kwame steps forward, intent on extracting the truth by force, as Amari and the newly healed but still bound Tzain face imminent danger.