Legacy of Orïsha, #2
Children of Virtue and Vengeance
by Tomi Adeyemi
Contents
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: ZÉLIE
Overview
Zélie awakens injured in Adichie Forest, where the Healer Safiyah mends her ribs as Nehanda’s tîtáns close in and imprison maji for Gusau. After tense apologies with Tzain and Amari, Zélie rejects fleeing. Believing Inan lives, she commits to war and vows to kill him.
Summary
Light pulls Zélie from the dreamscape’s aftermath into searing pain. Tzain and Amari restrain her while Safiyah, a Healer, channels ashê to fuse Zélie’s broken ribs. Nearby maji warn that Nehanda’s tîtáns are closing in and rounding up maji for imprisonment in Gusau.
As the healing ends, Safiyah departs with other maji, and Zélie learns Nailah found Tzain and Amari and led them back to her. Zélie and Tzain reconcile after her reckless flight; Nailah’s affection breaks the tension. Zélie apologizes to Amari as well, offering to be kicked to start making amends, easing Amari’s hurt.
Talk shifts to strategy. Amari says taking down Nehanda seems the only way, but she won’t ask Zélie to rejoin the fight. Tzain offers to help Zélie flee Orïsha if she wants freedom from suffering. Zélie weighs the offer, realizing that with Inan alive there can be no freedom in running.
Zélie chooses to fight. She declares that if war is what Nehanda and the monarchy want, war is what they will get. Finally, she reveals to Amari that she senses Prince Inan is still alive from the bond in the dreamscape, and resolves to be the one to kill him.
Who Appears
- ZélieAwakens injured; healed by Safiyah; reconciles with Tzain and Amari; decides to wage war and kill Inan.
- AmariExhausted and hurt, accepts Zélie’s apology; resolves to fight Nehanda but won’t demand Zélie’s help.
- TzainFinds Zélie with Nailah; reconciles with her; offers to help her flee but supports her decision to fight.
- SafiyahHealer who fuses Zélie’s ribs; warns that tîtáns are imprisoning maji in Gusau; departs with other maji.
- NailahZélie’s lionaire; injured but leads Tzain and Amari to Zélie and helps ease tensions.