Children of Blood and Bone

Kwame beats Tzain to get information from Amari. Amari sticks with the truth, but this just enrages Kwame who believes that she is lying. A woman named Folake enters the tent and tells Kwame of an attack on the encampment. Kwame gives Folake the bone knife, taken from Inan and Amari, and leaves. As soon as Folake sees what Kwame has done, she drops the dagger and runs. Amari frees herself just as Folake reenters the hut. Amari knocks her out and takes the bone dagger, freeing Tzain who tries to make her leave without him. They exit the tent into the chaos of the compound under attack.

Inan is amazed and impressed by Zélie’s power. She is struck by two arrows and raises animations to defend herself, yelling at him to continue. Inan is stopped by the appearance of a Burner, a fire magician, who overwhelms Zélie and makes her drop the sunstone. The Burner picks it up and his magic is amplified. He targets Zélie as Inan runs across the battlefield, defending Zélie with his own body. Before the Burner can strike, a young girl appears, stopping his attack and recognizing the two teenagers as fellow divîners.

Inan carries Zélie into the compound, where they find a community of refugee divîners. As the divîners search for Amari and Tzain, Zélie asks Inan why he protected her, and they share a moment of mutual attraction. Zu heals Zélie before Amari and Tzain appear. Zélie is furious at Tzain’s injuries and Zu heals him as well. Zu explains that after the King’s guards stole the scroll, divîners began to gather at the makeshift compound. Zélie, Tzain, and Amari forgive Zu and Kwame for capturing them, knowing they felt like there was no other choice. The bone knife, scoll, and sunstone are returned to Zélie, and the rebels promise to help them travel to the sacred island in time for the solstice. Zu proposes a celebration during which all the gathered divîners will touch the scroll to restore their magic, and Zélie’s group decides to travel to the island after the celebration. Tzain discounts Inan’s presence and the four teenagers are left alone to talk. Zélie reveals that Inan is a diviner, but Tzain doesn’t believe Inan’s newfound support of Zélie and storms out of the tent in rage.

Zélie follows Tzain while Amari follows Inan. Inan gives her Amari his headdress and she asks about his magical status. He explains what happened when he touched the scroll in Lagos and that their father does not know. Inan promises to earn her trust, but Amari vows to protect the divîners. They embrace, but Amari is still hesitant to trust him.

Zu retrieves Zélie from the tent she shares with the still-angry Tzain the next morning. Outside, Zélie is moved by the sight of divîners preparing for the celebration. Zu guides divîners, Amari, and Inan through the encampment, pointing out landmarks. A man bumps into Zélie and touches her back, but before he can step away Inan confronts him for pickpocketing. Zélie and Inan chat until she realizes he is suppressing his magic, which he claims to be doing because it is unsafe in such a large crowd. She guides him to the Gombe River, where they talk about the history of his magic. He tells Zélie that her emotions and memories are very powerful, and she guides him through a meditative prayer. In doing so, they enter his dreamscape.

Inan watches Zélie swim through the dream lake, reflecting on how beautiful she is and how his feelings for her have changed. He joins her in the lake and they make fun of each other playfully, then Zélie’s memories provide Inan with more of her history. Inan promises to rebuild Ilorin, but Zélie claims that Tzain believes one of them will die before the end of their journey.

Zélie struggles to reconcile the Inan she knows now with the violent warrior she has seen him be. He apologizes and she realizes that he has seen her memories of the raid on Ilorin. She does not want to be hopeful when he promises to protect her and right the wrongs of the past, but she is. She swims under the waterfall feeding the lake and he follows her. He asks for her permission to touch her, and they kiss before Tzain’s voice pulls them from the dreamscape. In the real world, Tzain shoves Inan away, and the prince leaves. Zélie and Tzain argue, and Tzain says Zélie is foolish to trust the son of their mother’s killer. His anger causes Zélie’s magic to build, and it overflows when he says, “[…] if only she knew she died so that you could be the prince’s whore” (369). Zélie lashes out with her magic, injuring Tzain. He storms off, leaving her crying in the woods.

Zélie hides in the woods until sunset, intending to sneak back into the compound and ignore the celebration. However, Amari finds her and forces her to get ready for the event. Amari encourages Zélie to share the magic scroll with the divîners and wonders what has happened between Zélie and Inan. Zélie asserts her belief that Inan has a good heart. Tzain enters the tent and is surprised by how much Zélie looks like their mother, then tells them the procession is beginning. He leaves and Zélie finally confesses her fear about sharing the scroll, worrying that they could unleash someone without control over their powers. Amari leads Zélie through the compound, showing her the beauty of the divîners and asking her not to take away their magic.

Amari enjoys the festival food until Tzain approaches and the two flirt. Tzain spots Zélie and becomes sad, so Amari leads him to watch a dancer perform. He insists that she dance with him.

Inan watches Zélie dance with a child, drawing the attention of other men. He steps forward and asks her to dance, and they move to a private area. Zélie’s playful attitude turns somber when Inan calls her “little Zél,” her mother’s old nickname for her. She hugs Inan as she becomes overwhelmed by sadness and fear. She shares with him that she hurt Tzain, and he tells her about killing Kaea. She expresses her doubts about restoring magic and her frustration that Inan can experience her thoughts and she does not know his. He kisses her.

Inan invites Zélie to Lagos with him, claiming that she can show his father that he was wrong and they could use the monarchy’s resources to assure a smooth transition for magic. He proposes colonies of maji where they could learn to control their powers and safely re-enter society. He imagines a future of peace and prosperity, telling Zélie that “we’re meant to be together” (391). Inan is optimistic and excited about this future. He kisses Zélie again and she kisses him back.

Tzain and Amari dance until they catch sight of Zélie and Inan kissing. Seeing that the attraction is mutual, Tzain storms back to their tent to pack his things. He leaves the encampment and Amari follows him, trying to convince him to stay. He expresses rage for always having to fight for other people’s mistakes, and hates Inan for destroying his home. As he begins to leave into the forest, they hear horns and realize that King Saran’s soldiers have arrived.

Zélie and Inan are interrupted by the sound of horns. Royal guards storm through the front gate and their commander demands the scroll and “the girl,” meaning Zélie. Zu steps forward and insists on peace but is shot through the stomach and chaos erupts. Zélie searches for Tzain. Kwame uses blood magic to self-immolate and fight back the guards. Zélie is frozen in horror and watches Tzain and Amari ride to her on Nailah’s back, but before she can be rescued, she is captured by guards.

As morning comes, Amari and Tzain search the bodies of the dead but find neither Zélie nor Inan. Tzain breaks down, feeling he has betrayed his parents’ trust. Amari insists that they cannot give up. She knows her father has a base nearby and Zélie will be taken there. Amari develops a plan to rescue her.

Zélie is bound with majacite chains in a hot dungeon. She prepares herself for the upcoming torture but, when Inan arrives with his white streak of hair dyed black, she screams at him for being a traitor. He dismisses his guards and becomes gentle with Zélie, insisting that she tell him how to destroy the scroll so he can keep her safe. Zélie refuses and Inan tries to get Zélie to understand how terrifying Kwame’s self-sacrifice looked to the guards. Zélie realizes that Inan has gone back to his old way of thinking. They argue but are interrupted by the King’s arrival. Inan tries to protect Zélie by claiming to interrogate her, but accidentally implicates her in Kaea’s death. King Saran approaches Zélie and the two exchange insults and argue about morality.

The King summons a doctor to inject Zélie with a serum that keeps her awake even under torture. When the guards use hot knives and brand her with the word maggot, Inan tries to fight them and is removed from the chamber. He runs to a bathroom and pulls her into his dreamscape. Zélie scrambles away from him and cries.

Amari and Tzain sneak through the industrial city of Gombe, looking for Tzain’s old friend Kenyon. They arrive at a bar he frequents but do not have the correct password. Tzain convinces the bouncer to check to see if he is there. Kenyon appears and ushers them into the bar. Amari notices that it is filled almost entirely with divîners as they meet Kenyon’s friends. Tzain says that he needs their help to rescue his sister, but Kenyon and his group are resistant, believing it an impossible task. Amari announces who she is and claims that she is the future queen, showing them the scroll and promising that magic will be returned if the divîners help her rescue Zélie.

King Saran summons Inan, who feels echoes of Zélie’s pain as he approaches. King Saran disparages Inan for his behavior in the cell, then tells Inan that Zélie confessed the scroll can be destroyed with magic. The King plans to force Zélie to destroy the scroll once it is retrieved. He tells Inan to kill Amari when he finds her. Inan suggests using Zélie as an ambassador, but Saran tells him about the previous king who attempted similar negotiations and was killed. Saran hugs Inan before leaving.