Children of Virtue and Vengeance

Inan looks at himself in the mirror in his father’s quarters, dressed in his father’s clothing. Ojore joins him. Inan notes how Ojore looks at the white streak in his hair, and Ojore admits that he still hates magic but understands how they need to use it to win the war.

Inan’s mother enters and places his father’s crown on his head. Inan is going to be crowned king and speak to the royal council. Inan fears everything that he must face—famine, raids, the maji, and the Iyika—but he also fears becoming his father. His mother assures him that he will “be the king [his father] couldn’t” (82).

Zélie, Amari, Tzain, and Roën move through the forest toward Ibadan. As Roën jokes with Zélie and she contemplates how she feels about him, they are interrupted by Tzain, who points toward a group of the queen’s soldiers on a cliff. Two of them drop down and run toward them. Amari steps forward to try to fight them with magic; however, her magic rebounds in her face.

Zélie realizes that she will need to use her magic, which she has largely resisted doing since the temple. She recites her incantations and calls forth spirits. At the same moment, one of the guards does the same, bringing forth a large incantation. The two groups stare at each other, confused, until a young boy pulls off his gold helmet—revealing that he is a maji—after recognizing Zélie. Then, a woman steps forward, revealing herself as Mama Agba.

Zélie cries in Mama Agba’s arms. Mama Agba explains to Zélie how the Iyika came to be: Because she knew that Zélie was going to bring magic back, she worked with Baba to go to the maji settlement, group everyone together, and wait outside Lagos to then storm it when they felt their magic return. She apologizes for Baba’s death, revealing that he sacrificed himself and offered to go with the king’s guards to save the others.

Mama Agba pays Roën. To Zélie’s annoyance, Roën reveals that he is leaving again. He insists that he is only interested in making money and will be going to Lagos to do so—even if it means working for the other side. However, he tells Zélie that they will meet again.

Zélie is introduced to the Reaper who made the large incantation. He is a young boy named Mâzeli, and he is infatuated with Zélie, wanting to be her second-in-command. Zélie also meets Kâmar­­u, a Grounder who can control the earth. As she watches him split the mountainside to reveal the Iyika’s hideout, Zélie realizes just how strong the rebellion is.

Amari looks at the Iyika fortress, settled among three large mountains with vast towers and temples. Mama Agba reveals that Ile Ijosin was built centuries ago by the elders and is being used as a center for their rebellion. During Mâzeli’s tour, Nâo interrupts them and takes them to meet the elders.

As Inan prepares to speak to the council, Ojore gives him the coin that Zélie had given him with the cheetanaire engraved on it, which he thought he had lost. Its return nearly brings Inan to tears.

Inan speaks to the nobles and the villagers gathered in the council room, promising to help them. The first woman comes forward and asks for food to feed her children. Despite the outcry from the nobles and his general, Jokôye, Inan orders that the palace’s rations be split with the villagers. Throughout the council, he makes similar gestures—forcing nobles to open their homes to villagers and allowing a maji thief to leave with food—that enrage Jokôye, the nobles, his mother, and even Ojore. However, he promises himself that he will be a better king than his father and bring an end to the “cycle” of violence perpetrated by both sides.

Inan makes a decree that any maji defector who helps rebuild the city will be given double rations. After Jokôye confronts him, he explains his reasoning to the crowd. Instead of having two options—fight or be persecuted—he is now giving a third option to the maji to bring peace. He looks to the crowd but sees no support among those gathered.

Zélie and Amari go before the elders—the leaders of the Iyika—and meet Ramaya, a Connector, who informs Zélie that she would like to have her serve on their council. Their meeting ends quickly, as Na’imah, the elder of the Tamer clan, arrives with news of Inan’s survival. She reveals Inan’s decree to allow the maji to help with rebuilding.

The news makes Amari hopeful, as she recognizes that Inan is trying to bring peace and unity. However, she is shocked when Zélie takes the parchment and throws it to the ground, telling the elders that he cannot be trusted. Amari tries to speak in his defense but is shut down by Ramaya, who treats her with hostility.

Inan, his mother, and the guard travel to the rubble around the palace. Ojore and Jokôye again try to talk Inan out of his plan—to clear the rubble to allow maji and defectors from the Iyika in to receive food rations. However, Inan stands firm, insisting that he needs to be different from his father. His mother clears away the rubble using her magic.

With the rubble gone, they see seven members of the Iyika waiting. Inan approaches and greets the first, extending his hand in greeting; however, the maji’s hand sparks as he reaches for his magic, causing the guards to react. They throw majacite bombs and pull Inan away, securing a mask on his face.

When the smoke clears, they see the bodies of six maji—realizing after a moment that the seventh is gone. They see her crouched to the side, wearing a mask, just as she takes off running for the food stores. Before they can stop her, she sets fire to their rations.

The actions cause Ojore and Jokôye to respond with anger toward Inan, who promises to fix his mistake. Internally, he experiences a mix of sorrow and rage as he realizes that the Iyika will never allow peace.

Amari spends the day trying to gain control of her magical ability. She hopes to gain the respect of the elders by showing how powerful she is, while also giving her strength to rely on herself—as she now realizes that her own interests do not align with Zélie or the Iyika.

After several failed attempts, Zélie offers to help her. She explains that Amari’s power uses blood magic innately, meaning that it is too powerful to control like the maji do with theirs. Amari realizes that she needs to use an incantation, but Zélie initially refuses to teach her one. Zélie insists that the “incantations are the history of [her] people,” and she does not want them “stolen” by the tîtáns (118). However, after Amari explains that she needs to be strong and that she needs to be able to defend herself, Zélie relents, with Amari promising never to use the magic against the maji.

The following morning, Zélie prepares for the elder ascension in the Reaper Temple with the other Reapers. She is nervous about being a leader of the clan, especially since it ties her to them and leads her further away from the freedom she still craves.

At the ceremony, Mâzeli—the current elder Reaper—steps aside to allow Zélie to take her place. She is brought forward and swears her oath to Mama Agba to protect the Reapers. Mama Agba cuts Zélie’s palm and then places it down on a stone circle. As purple smoke surrounds her, the mountain and maji are blocked out, and Zélie feels the presence of Oya, the god of the Reapers. She is shown her isípayá, wisdom given to her by the gods to help lead her people. It is first a thread of purple, then gold, and then a variety of colors that all weave together in a rainbow.

Inan decides that he needs to sneak out of the palace at night to find where the Iyika went after they burned their rations. Before he can get through his window, Ojore joins him; he insists on going with him.

The two come upon nine Iyika around a fire in the forest. As soon as Inan and Ojore decide to turn back and get the guards to fight them, two other Iyika sneak up behind them. Ojore fights back, killing one as Inan knocks out the other. The nine Iyika by the fire join in the fight, releasing a wall of flame before Inan can stop them. By instinct, Inan calls on his magic, but it “explodes with such force [he] hears the bones shatter” in his arm (134).

When Inan awakes, he is in extreme pain due to his arm. His mother forces him to take a sedative. He learns that his magic stunned all the Iyika rebels, even though he does not fully understand how. His mother is annoyed because Inan snuck out without guards, but Jokôye congratulates Inan on liberating Lagos from the band of Iyika.

The soldiers celebrate their victory, but Inan’s happiness is stopped short when he sees the bound rebels on their knees. As Jokôye interrogates them, Inan is reminded of his father torturing Zélie. He tries to intervene, but his mother stops him. As Jokôye injects majacite into the vein of a rebel, Inan’s mother speaks to him continually, saying that this is a necessary evil and that Inan can use his “good heart” for people who deserve it—not for those terrorizing Lagos.

The celebration after Zélie’s ascension lasts much of the night. Amari watches with a feeling of longing, wondering “what it would be like to be embraced like that. To actually have a place [to] belong” (140). She also realizes that it is much different than a monarchy: Instead of simply ruling their people, they create a sense of “home” for the entire clan.

The celebration is interrupted by the sharp sound of a bell, signaling news from the war. Amari learns that the Iyika soldiers in Lagos have been killed. She watches as the elders gather to discuss a plan of attack. She tries to tell them that an assault is a bad idea, but Ramaya forces her from the circle and threatens to kill her. As Tzain tries to comfort her and tell her to wait to speak with Zélie, Amari instead breaks back into the circle. She challenges Ramaya for her spot as the Connector Elder.

Initially, Ramaya stops Amari, insisting that she has no right to challenge her. However, after Mama Agba allows it, Ramaya relishes the chance to make Amari suffer.

Amari tries to strike first, but Ramaya dodges her magic. Ramaya then uses a combination of her magic and her strength to relentlessly beat Amari. On the verge of death, when Ramaya tells her that Orïsha would be better if she died, Amari releases all her magic at once. She loses control, and Ramaya is flung to the ground. Ramaya’s entire history floods into Amari’s mind; Amari can feel her dying, but she cannot stop herself as her own bones break. Finally, Amari is pulled from her, and a Healer rushes to Ramaya’s side.