Legacy of Orïsha, #1
Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi
Contents
Chapter Forty-Four: Zélie
Overview
Zélie and Inan train for the rescue, revealing a power imbalance: Inan can defeat multiple earth animations while Zélie’s ashê wanes. Zélie refuses to use the sunstone or blood magic, and Inan refuses to weaponize his mind powers, pushing guards as backup. Their argument over magic, the monarchy, and oppression erupts until Zélie breaks down, admitting constant fear, while Inan asks to understand.
Summary
On a mountain above the masked camp, Zélie drills incantations while Inan pushes her to prove their rescue plan. When Zélie animates ten then more earth soldiers without an incantation, Inan unleashes his magic-enhanced speed and cuts down twelve in total, demonstrating that her numbers may not match fifty armed fighters.
Exhausted, Zélie considers using the hidden sunstone or blood magic to create more animations but rejects both to avoid exposure and the moral cost. Inan, seeing her limits, insists they summon royal guards. Zélie argues he should use his magic offensively; Inan refuses, hinting at a past harm and claiming his power lacks safe attacks.
The debate escalates into a clash of beliefs. Zélie condemns the king’s tyranny and the guards’ abuses, while Inan defends his father’s intent to protect Orïsha by ending magic, conceding only that the ensuing oppression was wrong. He urges trust in him and his guards; Zélie rejects this, citing personal violations and systemic brutality.
The confrontation breaks Zélie’s composure. She admits she is always afraid, overwhelmed by memories of persecution and her mother’s public execution. Inan kneels at a distance and asks her to help him understand, but Zélie insists he cannot grasp a world built to favor him. The moment leaves their alliance strained and unresolved on tactics, with the rescue still pending.
Who Appears
- ZélieTrains relentlessly, raises multiple earth animations, refuses sunstone and blood magic, confronts Inan, and admits living in constant fear.
- InanDefeats twelve animations using speed and control, rejects using his magic offensively, argues for guards, and pleads to understand Zélie’s fear.