Chapter 1
Revenge So Sweet
The sweet sound of birds chirped outside my window, and the smell of food floated through the cracks of the door, waking me up. I slowly sat up, feeling calm and refreshed, which was odd considering the chaotic night I’d had. I needed to find out more about Utsi’s gift. That was truly a special gift indeed.
Then it all came back to me.
Gawonii. Kasey.
And like clockwork, the door swung open, and the disapproving glare of Gawonii stood under the threshold.
My bad mood was back.
He didn’t look all too happy with me this morning, either. You would have thought that a night full of hot and sweaty adultery would have made him a bit cheerier.
No matter. That was fine. I wasn’t all too thrilled to see him, myself. Threatening ten lashes and then sleeping with my best friend all in one night was a deal breaker.
Standing up, I slipped my feet into my sandals and walked right past him.
In the other room, Tsiyi, Hiawassee, Inola, and that jackass Onacona sat at the table in conversation while they ate.
I glared at Onacona, who gave me that same condescending smirk from the night before. I narrowed my eyes, watching him go back to eating and dismissing me altogether. He was getting ready to pick up his utensil when he cried out in fright, kicking away from the table. Falling backwards onto the floor, he fought at an invisible attacker, making Inola drop down on the floor beside him to try and console him. He pushed her away, slamming himself up against the wall.
The others watched in amazement before turning all eyes on me. A satisfied smirk crept up on my face and without another glance in his direction, I walked right out of the house, leaving Onacona to his invisible fate.
“Ama!” I heard Gawonii call out behind me.
“Go to hell. You are the renowned fire spirit; you should like it there. You and Chitsa, warm and cozy.” I sneered, continuing to walk away. “Oh…and keep your watchmen away from me.”
I hurried down the pathway heading towards the center of town, weaving in and out of the morning crowd of people starting their day when I spotted Kasey up ahead. Her steps stalled when she caught sight of me, and I glanced down at her arm.
Healed.
In passing, I couldn’t help but to comment on it. “I see you’re healed. Was that accomplished on your own, or did you have a little help last night.”
Her horrified expression gave her guilt away. She quickly glanced over in Gawonii’s direction, opening her mouth to say something, but I simply walked away.
“Don’t bother. I know you’re sorry!” I cried, not feeling in control of my emotions. “Everyone is sorry in this god-forsaken place but shit just keeps happening!”
“Ama, I need you to calm down. It’s me you’re angry at,” I heard Gawonii say behind me.
“Stop telling me what to do. And you know what? You’re damn right. I am angry. I’m dangerously close to hostile. You continue to hide things from me and have treated me like shit since I’ve got here.” My voice rose, drawing attention to the two of them from passing bystanders. The last couple of weeks had now come to a boiling point, and I was close to exploding.
Gawonii’s expression looked worried. “Ama…,” he said softly.
“My name is Lailah. Not Ama, not your Angeni. Lailah! I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Janice and Lee Monroe at 4:57 a.m. August 13th, 1987. Despite what you say, I’m only 30 years old. Not the six-hundred and four-whatever-goddamn-million years old you claim I am. I’m dying. Although I prefer not to, I’ve accepted my fate and this,” I pointed to Gawonii and everyone else staring at me in the square. “Is just my minds way of minimizing the sad, irrefutable reality that I will never see another year. So yes! I am angry. I am angry at this entire fucked up scenario. I’m angry that this dream, nightmare, or fantasy that I’ve conjured up can’t even make my last few moments on this damn Earth about me getting the guy and not the guy screwing my pretend best friend!”
I felt rather than see Kasey take a few steps towards me. “Don’t come near me!” I yelled, exuding my emotions outward. From the corner of my eye, I saw a woman collapse to the ground and writhe in the dust. I paused at the image, knowing that deep down I was the one who caused the woman’s distress, but I did not know how to stop it.
I spotted Hiawassee wobbling out of the little house with her arms waving, yelling in Tsalagi at me. Gawonii tried to calm her down, both arguing in that god-awful language.
“Stop it!” I screamed, my insides quivering. Screams ricocheted throughout the enclosed area, and Hiawassee crumbled into Gawonii. He caught her as she fell towards the ground. Although my intentions were to run to help her, my head pounded as visions rolled through my mind like a reel of a movie. I couldn’t make sense of the pictures, which only frustrated me more.
I opened my eyes, viewing what was happening through the haziness of my anger. Sprawled across the grounds were bodies of the onlookers, none of them moving. From the bodies, a path cut through the dirt, revealing a trail of what looked like water. It came to meet me in the center and instantly absorbed into my body.
I could feel myself becoming stronger and angrier.
Gawonii carefully lowered Hiawassee to the ground, his eyes remaining fixed on my face. He held onto his cool exterior refusing to appear unsettled at my lack of self-control over my emotions.
The old woman from last night appeared, standing next to Kasey, looking completely unaffected by the damage I’d inflicted on the others. She said something to Gawonii, her deeply wrinkled face, darker than Gawonii’s, reflected the stress that Gawonii rebelled against showing in order to live up to the pretense that he was always in control which I concluded was for the benefit of his people. He nodded in agreement, turning to me.
“I need you to listen to me Ama. Look around you. You do not understand your power yet, and you are hurting them. Regardless of whether you believe this is real or not, I know you wouldn’t want to hurt them. Let me help you.”
I took another look around me, afraid of what I had done.
The wind picked up, trees bent sideways, and table stands blew over from the force.
“Ghigau can help you. I can help too.”
I scowled. “I don’t want your help. You’ve helped enough. I just want to go home!” I spat between clenched teeth. Dust swirled around, and a strong gust of wind whipped between the three of us. I cowered, shielding my eyes to keep from being blinded as the heavy gusts came in harsh blasts, making it hard to see anything in front of me.
I hunkered down, pulling in my knees to and cover my head as dust filled my lungs like a hand closing over my throat making it hard for me to breath. I balled up into the fetal position and waited for the episode to pass. Once I was motionless on the ground, the storm finally let up.
No longer being suffocated by dust, I lifted my head, and the first object I saw was a pair of bare feet. My head traveled up the naked legs and scantily clad body of a black-haired woman. Bearing similar markings like Gawonii, the woman bent over until her indigo eyes stared into my brown ones. She smiled.
“Good! You can see me now,” she said, her voice like ghostly chimes blowing in the wind. “You’re starting to accept who you are, my sister.” She stood up. “I heard your cry, sister. What angers you?”
But she didn’t wait for an answer. She jumped up and ran over to Gawonii. Her tiny frame surprised me. She couldn’t have been any more than 4’8 and next to Gawonii’s giant frame, she could be mistaken for a little girl. But that didn’t stop her from leaping up effortlessly into Gawonii’s arms. She clung around his neck, swinging around him as if she were a monkey on a tree. I stood up, dusting mys
elf off. It couldn’t have been that little woman that let loose that powerful dust storm.
I heard Gawonii say ‘thank you’ to her. She nodded.
“She was angry. All she needed was a moment to cool down.” Then she pinched Gawonii, asking, “What did you do? You two always must bring everyone into your squabbles. I can see nothing has changed.”
I rolled my eyes, shaking the dust out of my hair. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t accept this role you all are insisting on forcing me into. I decline.” I started walking away. You can go back to your freak show. I’ll take my chances in the streets of south Philadelphia.” I saluted them.
The woman jumped down off Gawonii and walked over in my direction. She lifted her hand, and a gust of wind blew me right back on the ground.
That little bi—
“You cannot leave, Ama.”
I pulled myself up. “Watch me.”
She did it again. “We can’t allow that. We need you here.”
I jumped up, furious, and continued walking, not wasting any more words on any of them.
She went to do it again, but this time, I was ready for her. Her little windstorm backfired on her, and she fell to the ground. When the dust settled, a surprised look marked her face, then her features turned amused. She started laughing, a sound like shimmering crystals as she rolled in the dirt.
She then turned to Gawonii.
“She learns quickly. Ama always had!” She jumped up. “So jealous!” she cried. “And she’s just as fiery as I remember. She is your queen whom you reject so openly, Gawonii.”
All he did was look down at the woman, then at me.
“I don’t want him,” I snapped.
A gasp when through the sluggish crowd that seemed to be full of gluttons for punishment. I guessed the first near death experience wasn’t enough for them.
The woman no longer looked happy. She stomped over to me. “It doesn’t matter whether you want him, or he wants you. You don’t have a choice. You were made for a reason, Ama. At one time, you used to understand that.”
“Well, I’ve changed in the past few million years. Excuse me for not wanting a man who isn’t kind to me and who blatantly loves another. Why would I want that? You people are trying to save mankind from some sort of evil but who’s going to save me from you?”
A murmur went through the crowd. Her purple eyes danced around excitedly, waiting for my next move.
I’m so over this, I thought with a roll of my eyes.
I turned to leave but it was cut off abruptly by a wall of flames that rose out of the ground, enclosing me in a fiery case. Stunned, I spun around, trying to find an escape. The heat from the flames began to scorch my skin as it reached as high as the trees. Sweat seeped out of my pores and evaporated from the intense heat, weakening me.
Sitting down on the ground, I searched for relief, any source of water. It did no good in this incubated prison because any and all fluid found evaporated, and I became weaker.
I looked up, and Gawonii walked through the inferno, unscathed. I should have known that this was his doing. There were so many horrible things I wanted to say to him, but I was too weak to say anything. Seeing things in my weakened state, one Gawonii turned into three, and then I collapsed on the ground. Gawonii lifted me up into his arms, and the wall burnt out as he continued walking, taking me into a house behind the woman he called Ghigau.
Inside, he laid me down on a pallet that Ghigau had spread out on the floor. The moment my body touched the cool floor, my belly lurched from dehydration, and I rolled over into a bin just in time to empty last night’s dinner. Ghigau appeared, placing a cool cloth on my face and giving me a glass of water. I refused to take it.
“Drink,” I heard Gawonii order. I only had the strength to look away.
The door flew open, and in came the wind. She sat down beside me; her legs crossed as she peered down at me.
I heard Gawonii speak, “Ama, this is Ahyoka.
“And my name is Lailah,” I retorted. Defiance was my only defense right now.
Ahyoka made a tsking sound. “She is a stubborn one. Shame on you, Gawonii. What have you done to Ama?”
Ghigau pushed the water in my hands. “You need to drink. Gawonii used his gift against you to weaken you. You need to rebuild your strength.”
I took a quick look over at Gawonii’s handsome features, finding his expression unreadable. Ghigau said something to Gawonii and without a word, he turned and left.
“He is gone, Ama. Now, drink.”
I finally picked up the glass and sipped the cool water.
Ahyoka pushed the glass up, forcing me to drink more. I sputtered, coughing up water that I swallowed too fast.
“More,” she urged. “Gawonii’s gift can pack a punch when he intends on it. You are very blessed to have him as a mate.”
I burst out laughing. Ahyoka sat up surprised at my mirth to her statement.
“Why do you laugh? You mock me? Isn’t he what a woman wants and needs? Powerful, and a good provider? I know you haven’t been bonded long, but you will see. Stop fighting him.”
“I don’t want a man who loves another.”
Ahyoka and Ghigau exchanged glances. “Chitsa,” Ahyoka concluded. “He knew this day would come yet he fights it.”
Now feeling about 90% okay, I stood up. “That’s alright. He doesn’t need to. I don’t want this either. Isn’t there an annulment ceremony that we can have? How does it work here? Another dance, a full moon, what? The sooner the better.”
Ghigau came up behind me, handing me a bundle of clothes. “Put them on. Maybe if you try a little harder to present yourself as a woman then his attraction will shift from Chitsa-yona to you.”
I ignored the handout. “Well, we’re going to need a lot more than clothes. Like some hair, some breasts, and a care in the world. Why can’t any of you accept that he doesn’t want me? He no longer has an interest in me, and I guarantee that this body has nothing to do with it.”
Ahyoka crawled over to me, leaning over my shoulders and twirling a finger around in my hair. I tried to swat her away like a bug, but she wouldn’t buzz off. She pressed her face up against mine.
“Gawonii had to live alone for many years, and he chose a mate in which he knew was forbidden. He needed the companionship while waiting on you, Ama. I do not fault him on that. And to not see you in your true form was a disappointment. He will soften, but one of you must begin the cycle to get to where you both need to be.”
I successfully was able to push the little imp off of me, but she just found something else to annoy me with.
“Why does it have to be me?” I complained. “I’m the one still trying to figure out what the hell is going on. In less than a month I’ve drowned twice, been kidnapped, married, attacked, insulted, nearly killed by the scariest creatures in all creation, and betrayed by my best friend and my husband! And someone has yet to explain to me what the almighty hell is going on and why.”
Ahyoka bounced up and down, giving me a headache. She laughed hysterically. “Ghigau! I love her! She speaks strangely yet I understand her. Not as stuffy and like a donkey’s ass like she was before.”
“A donkey’s ass?” I cried in disbelief.
Ghigau smiled. “Yes, Ama. You were quite … difficult in your earlier years. Although you are not complying now,” she added matter-of-factly. “Back then, you were cruel with your,” Ghigau hesitated. “Difficulties.”
Now that caught my attention. “Cruel?” I leaned against the wall nearest to me at the back of the little house. The two women nodded.
“Yes, very much so. You loved your power and abused it. Yet we all loved you because you were our protector. But law was law, and if any stepped out of the law, consequences were quick and harsh.”
“I don’t remember any of that,” I said, furrowing my brows. They simply stared at me. “No wonder he doesn’t look happy to see me.” I began to pace, now deep in my thoughts. “I’m not that pers
on. I don’t know who she is anymore.”
Ahyoka smiled, jumped onto a table and down next to me. She patted the clothes in my hand. “Then prove it to him.”
I picked up the clothes and pulled them close to my chest. What else could I do? It was clear that the spirit squad wasn’t going to allow me to escape anytime soon. Plus, I wasn’t sure about my powers, and it was obvious that with all of them ganged up on me, I wouldn’t win. Hell, I was killed once. I could be killed again.
And knowing that posed another question.
“How did I die?” I asked.
“That doesn’t matter. You’re dirty. Wash up quickly.” Ghigau answered, preparing hot water in a small tub. I undressed out of Kasey’s soiled clothing and stepped into the water. I felt Ahyoka’s purple eyes looking at me. She was staring at my nakedness, intrigued. Normally, that would have bothered me, but lately I’d become very comfortable with the way I had come into this world.
Gawonii chose that moment to step back into the house. Ahyoka’s little head looked like a bobblehead going from Gawonii and me, sporting a mischievous grin on her lips. I felt his eyes on me, but it never occurred to me that he wanted me sexually in any way. Disregarding his presence, I lowered myself in the tub, watching the caked-on dirt that once covered my skin skim the top of the water.
“Her markings haven’t appeared yet. They should have appeared during the bonding ceremony,” Ahyoka observed.
“She ran before completion.” Gawonii muttered.
“She saw a vision. A terrifying vision,” Ghigau added throwing the dirty clothes I had worn in what looked like a waste basket. I balked opening my mouth ready to speak my mind, but immediately clamped it shut when I received an icy glare from Ghigau. When she was satisfied that I was not going to protest, she continued talking. “I witnessed it while we were connected. She wasn’t prepared to see such things, Gawonii. She is handling it better than any human could. Show some empathy.”
The tiny tornado giggled, obviously enjoying the tension in the room. She skipped over to me, lowering her head down to mine until we were cheek to cheek. “I don’t know, Ama. I seriously doubt he thinks you’re a boy. His cock grows for you as we speak, unless Gawonii hides a secret for unknown pleasures.” She hopped over to Gawonii, grabbing him between his legs. “Maybe there is something there after all.”
The Ageni Series: Queen Page 1
