She stood, straightening her ruined robes, wiping the blood from her hands with a cloth one of her maids provided.
"They will move now," she said, her voice utterly calm."They have no choice."
Her maids nodded.
"See that the execution is carried out quickly.Obiageli's restraints must be lifted before the Valthorne return or we will be in danger."Her eyes were flat, empty, the eyes of a woman who had just watched her son's corpse and felt nothing."If we fail to win this gamble, Orda Naiman will make the great Borjigin tributaries; that must not happen."
She walked to the window, looking out at the storm that still raged over the palace.
"The game is nearly over," she murmured."At last."
Azul sat cross-legged on her cushioned window ledge, Nkiru perched before her with her back bare, the aggravated red lines of her wounds finally fading to pink.Behind her, a discarded letter, one she had received earlier that day, with what seemed like a drawing of a viper inside.
"The priestesses of Letheva say the goddess manifests as a woman with seven arms," Azul read aloud, as she braided the girl's hair."Each arm holds a different instrument of judgment—a scale, a sword, a measuring cord, a flame—"
"A flame?"Nkiru twisted to look back at her."What's the flame for?"
"Purification.Or punishment?The text is ambiguous."Azul checked the heavy book by her side, hand reaching down to turn the page."The Udamili Oracles interpret it differently.They say the seven arms represent the Seven Fates that await souls after death."
Nkiru shuddered, feeling the medicine glide down her skin."Like the Seven Gates?"
Azul paused."Yes, like the Seven Gates.Perhaps each gate is a place to punish people who committed certain crimes."
The girl scrunched her nose."That’s not true; matron used to say the gates are the resting place of great men."
"Oh?"
They chatted, Azul reading out what she could from one of the many books she had gathered; since Nkiru had never been taught to read or write, this was the way to educate her.
"Akwaugo," Nkiru said after a moment."Methuselah, was he truly human?"
"The Great King of Kings."Azul found the passage she was looking for and angled the book so Nkiru could see the crude illustration, a towering figure crowned in gold, surrounded by supplicants."Ruler of the known world, according to these accounts.Lived nine hundred years.Had ninety wives and three hundred concubines."
Nkiru's eyes went wide."How could one man love so many women?"
"He didn't love them.He collected them."Azul's voice was dry.Nkiru still considered love a factor when it came to marriage."In all honesty, no one marries for love; you simply need someone who will never harm you, someone who always wishes for your good.That way, even when he picks other wives, he will pick women he knows are easy for you to handle and get along with."
Azul figured it was best to teach the girl practical lessons, rather than stuff her head with nonsense dreams that may destroy her.She herself had loved a prince, one with no concubines, who she thought would, in turn, love her, and the son of a bitch killed her."But no matter," Azul continued, "worst comes to worst, you can always invoke your chi to come and kill a troublesome husband.Your chi will always be with you and protect you."She wasn’t so heartless as to take all hope from a child.
Nkiru peered over her shoulder with sparkly eyes."Like you?"she asked.
The Akwaugo paused, her eyes softening.
"Yes," she let herself say."I will always be there to protect you."
Nkiru opened her eyes, her throat dry, lips cracked.She looked up through swollen eyes, each time she inhaled, her broken ribs pierced her lungs, sending pain through her body.She wished to be back there, in that room, with the Akwaugo.
But reality was far too cruel.The cold had bitten into her bones, yet she had no strength to shiver.
The man questioning her stood before her, but his face was shrouded in darkness.
“Are you willing to talk now?”He asked.
She took a breath, the cold and the pain were too much to bear.
Nkiru felt her head swim.
She nodded.
