Redemptor (Raybearer Book 2)

Ifueko Jordan Ifueko

Description

"Immersive and gorgeously written." -Buzzfeed The highly anticipated sequel to Raybearer, the instant New York Times bestselling fantasy sensation that set the world on fire For the first time, an Empress Redemptor sits on Aritsar's throne. To appease the sinister spirits of the dead, Tarisai must now anoint a council of her own, coming into her full power as a Raybearer. She must then descend into the Underworld, a sacrifice to end all future atrocities. Tarisai is determined to survive. Or at least, that's what she tells her increasingly distant circle of friends. Months into her shaky reign as empress, child spirits haunt her, demanding that she pay for past sins of the empire. With the lives of her loved ones on the line, assassination attempts from unknown quarters, and a handsome new stranger she can't quite trust . . . Tarisai fears the pressure may consume her. But in this finale to the Raybearer duology, Tarisai must learn whether to die for justice . . . or to live for it.

Informations

• Publié par: ABRAMS BOOKS
• Date de parution: 17 août 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781683357209
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

PUBLISHER S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and may be obtained from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4197-3984-2
eISBN 978-1-68335-720-9
Text copyright 2021 Jordan Ifueko
Cover and interior illustrations 2021 Charles Chaisson
Map illustration by Christina Chung
Book design by Hana Anouk Nakamura
Published in 2021 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.
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Amulet Books is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
ABRAMS The Art of Books 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007 abramsbooks.com
For young revolutionaries, who have chosen the loneliest job in the world

CHAPTER 1

My name was Tarisai Kunleo, and no one I loved would ever die again.
I stole down the palace hallway, my sandals slapping the words into music- never again, never again . I would play this song until my soles wore thin. Griots, the sacred storytellers of our empire, shaped the histories we believed with their music.
I, too, would sing this story until the world believed it.
Tar? The base of my scalp hummed as Kirah connected our Ray bond, speaking directly into my mind. Are you all right?
Kirah, my council sister, and Mbali, the former High Priestess of Aritsar, stood ahead of me in the broad palace hallway. I caught up to them, smiling manically before remembering that they couldn t see my face.
We wore ceremonial veils: colorful beads and shells that dangled to our chests, concealing our faces. Tall leather hairpieces, stained crimson and shaped into flames, circled our heads. Our costumes honored Warlord Fire, creator of death, and disguised us as birinsinku : grim women of the gallows, on our way to perform holy death rites on imperial prisoners.
I m fine , I Ray-spoke to Kirah, gritting my teeth. Then I willed my voice to be light and chipper, speaking aloud for Mbali s sake. Just-you know. Excited for Thaddace.
Servants and courtiers danced out of our way as we swept through An-Ileyoba Palace. Rumor warned that birinsinku spread foul luck wherever they went, and so as we passed, onlookers warded off evil with the sign of the Holy Pelican. No one guessed that I, Mbali, and Kirah hid beneath those glittering veils, plotting to free the most hated man in Aritsar from prison.
Dayo had named me Empress of Aritsar exactly two weeks ago. Until then, the world had believed that only one Raybearer-always male-existed per generation. The Ray was a blood gift, passed down from Aritsar s first emperor, Enoba the Perfect. Its power granted emperors near immortality, and allowed them to form a council of bonded minds, uniting the sprawling mega-continent of Aritsar.
But Enoba had lied about the gift in his veins. He had never been meant to rule alone, for two Rays existed per generation-one for a boy and one for a girl. That Ray now swelled in my veins, upsetting five hundred years of Arit tradition. My sex alone had made me plenty of enemies, but if that hadn t been enough . . . with one impulsive vow, I had placed the entire empire in grave danger.
For eras, demons called abiku had plagued our continent, causing drought and disease, and stealing souls down to the Underworld. Enoba achieved peace through a treaty, sating the abiku by sending children into the sulfurous Oruku Breach-three hundred living Redemptors, or sacrifices, per year. I had voided that treaty, offering myself instead as a final Redemptor. The abiku had accepted on one mysterious condition: Before I descended to the Underworld, I had to anoint the rulers of all twelve Arit realms, forming a council of my own.
They had given me two years. If in that time I failed to anoint a council and cast myself into the Oruku Breach . . . the abiku would raze the continent. No one would be safe then, not even the priests in their lofty temples, or the bluebloods in their gilded fortresses.
Enraged, the nobles had plied me with tests. If my Ray was fraudulent, my promise to the abiku could be voided, and the old treaty reinstated. But before hundreds of gaping courtiers, I had walked across hot coals, chugged goblets of pelican oil, and submerged my face in gourds of holy water-all tasks, legend had it, highly lethal to any but a Raybearer.
The strongest proof of my legitimacy, however, shimmered in lurid patterns on both my forearms: a living map of the Underworld, marking me as a Redemptor. The abiku would not have accepted my treaty, relinquishing an eternity of child sacrifices, for anything less valuable than a Raybearer. To win my soul, the abiku had made a promise-and a deal made by immortals, once sealed in blood, could not be broken.
Dayo had begged me not to provoke the nobles further. Just for a while, he had pleaded. I want them to love you, Tar. To see you as I do. Out of guilt for making him worry, I had promised to keep my head down. And I would. Really.
Right after I broke an imperial traitor out of prison.
The late morning sun glowed through An-Ileyoba s unglazed windows, casting arch-shaped halos on the rainbow floor tiles as I swept through the palace with Kirah and Mbali. A song wafted from the courtyards outside. Courtier children chanted with morbid glee, watching as Imperial Guard warriors erected an executioner s platform.

When you meet Egungun, will you have your eyes-o? Tell me, will you hear him, if you have no ears-o? Dead man, dead man, fell like a coconut Round head rolling on the red hard ground .
Brats , Kirah Ray-spoke soothingly, sensing my anger through our blood bond.
I hunched my shoulders. Arits believed that upon death, all souls followed after Egungun: the first human being, born of Queen Earth and Am the Storyteller. Egungun roamed the Underworld beating a drum, leading souls in a parade to the paradise of Core. Those children were mocking Thaddace, who faced beheading in a matter of hours.
The former High Judge of Aritsar had done the unspeakable, an act that until two weeks ago, many had believed to be impossible: For the first time in five hundred years, an Anointed One had murdered his own Raybearer.
But Thaddace had only acted as my mother s puppet, killing Olugbade in order to save Mbali s life. I had revealed Thaddace and Mbali s relationship to The Lady, giving her leverage to force his hand, and so ultimately . . . this was all my fault. Besides, Thaddace was mine . Like my council siblings, and High Priestess Mbali, and Melu the alagbato. Even Woo In and Kathleen, my mother s Anointed Ones, held cherished places in my story.
I had pined my whole life for a family. Now that I had cobbled one together, dysfunctional and cursed as it may be . . . nothing would snatch it from me. Not even an imperial execution.
I forced my brow to relax. If my plan with Mbali and Kirah succeeded . . . Thaddace would not dance for Egungun anytime soon. Laugh at those children, I told myself. Float, confident that you will win in the end.
But an intrusive thought shook my resolve: Isn t that what your mother would do?
My jaw hardened. For too long, Aritsar believed girls could only be two things: virtuous servants of the empire, or devious villains, like The Lady. But it was time I silenced those voices.
My lioness mask lay hidden against my chest, a bump protruding from beneath my wrapper. My fingertips warmed as my Hallow summoned hazy memories of Aiyetoro, the only other obabirin , or empress. She had lived too long ago for my Hallow to retrieve her thoughts. But the remains of her haughty confidence put a spring in my walk. Of course I could rescue Thaddace. Who could stop a divinely blessed Raybearer? Who could keep the sun from rising?
You are Tarisai Kunleo. And no one you love will ever die again .
Thaddace waited in the open-air prison of Heaven, a platform atop the tallest tower of An-Ileyoba. Kirah, Mbali, and I had made good time crossing the palace. The corridors were still sparse but for a few sleepy courtiers. Funeral shrouds bundled on our backs concealed supplies to aid Thaddace s escape. Birinsinku tools completed our disguises-tiny vials of burial herbs and holy water, jingling on our birinsinku belts as we ran.
We re going to make it, I said, laughing in spite of my nerves.
He won t accept help, Mbali warned when we arrived at the steep staircase to Thaddace s prison.
I shoved down the nugget of doubt in my throat and smiled at her. Of course he will. I tried to forget that only yesterday, a servant had slipped me a calfskin letter. The writing had been burnt directly into the hide-a marker of Thaddace s Hallow.
I have heard of a plot to secure my escape. If these rumors are true, then you are a fool .
I killed an emperor, for Am s sake .
I was not forced. I was of sound mind, and despite any loyalty you have for me, I am only reaping what I have sown. Your position is precarious enough. Do not join me in my ruin and make Aritsar lose faith in your legitimacy .
I once told you that there is no justice, only order. But I was wrong. Sometimes justice and order are one and the same .
Leave me to my fate, prot g . I join Egungun s Parade .
Thaddace had not signed the letter. His seal ring had been confiscated, and he had known, besides, that a signature was unnecessary. Every time I to