CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR: INAN

Inan reviews maps and confirms the traps set around Lagos, convinced the campaign is nearing its end. Military officers depart with orders, but Inan feels numb rather than triumphant, haunted by the thought of facing Zélie and Amari.

Ojore presses to return to Lagos to fight, but Inan refuses, citing Jokôye’s death and Orïsha’s need for Ojore after the war. Nehanda diffuses the tension and sends Ojore to coordinate defenses, then toasts “protecting the throne,” assuring Inan he is doing the right thing.

As they speak, Nehanda reframes the conflict as a decades-long struggle predating magic’s return. She declares that by winter’s dawn they will purge Orïsha of maji, not just defeat the Iyika. Her words unsettle Inan, who insists they are fighting rebels, not all maji.

Nehanda then reveals the core truth: she engineered the Burner attack that killed the unification referendum, ensuring the monarchy would not yield to the clans. The revelation unravels Inan—he realizes her actions set the Raid and the ongoing war in motion, destroying a chance for peace.

Inan condemns the bloodshed, invoking Ojore’s trauma from that day, but Nehanda shows no remorse. She proclaims the sacrifices necessary and reasserts her doctrine that no cost is too great to defeat the maji, leaving Inan horrified and isolated.