The Demon's Mate

It's finally here.

The day I spent months preparing for. It's going to be perfect. Memorable. Today is going to be the happiest day of my life.

I can't stop grinning with satisfaction every time I run my fingertips over it. The fake Bakantwa sword looks just the way the real one does behind the glass that keeps it safe—perfect. Being so close to getting everything I've worked so hard for makes my chest so tight I can barely breathe.

Dear Gods, this has got to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

I'm beating on omuri – metal exclusive to Noddon – to make it thinner when the red light above the door blinks indicating that someone just entered through the back door, unauthorized.

Who could be dumb enough to try and rob the best female warrior in Noddon? In daylight?

It might be an unsatisfied customer. If so, why would they not come through the front door? How did they get past security?

Removing my protective eyeglasses and ear muffs, I bury the sword I’ve spent months constructing – a replica of the legendary sword I will steal today – under my black metal cuirass.

A lump of dread builds inside me.

Taking off my gloves, I toss them aside, pick up a knife, and tiptoe to the storeroom.

I punch in my security code and the door opens. When my eyes register the person before me, the shock hits my chest first. It creeps down my arm, loosening my grip on my weapon. The knife falls to the floor with a clank. Kaseke stands with his back to me, rummaging. A spare set of my work clothes fall from a self to the floor in a messy, black pile.

There's only one thing my older brother would search for in my shop: The Blacksteel, as he calls it. A handwritten book that has all of the instructions blacksmiths.

I lean against the door frame, intentionally quiet and watch him.

The boy's got some nerve.

A painting of the Sky God hangs above the old pine dresser, and I swear she is watching me. Watching both of us.

Like Mona Lisa, wherever ya go, Leza’s eyes follow ya.

If I stare at her eyes for long, I'll get nightmares.

I’ve let this go on long enough. I peel myself away from the frame and walk toward him, stepping strongly on the wooden flooring.

“Ya’ll never find it,” I say, crossing my arms. I keep it in the garden with my carefully tended roses. He's allergic.

He jerks and turns toward me, flushed and breathless. Then he laughs, as though I've made a joke.

I frown at him. Confused.

"How long have ya been standing there? In fact, what are ya doing here?” he asks.

I make a noncommittal sound. The audacity!

Shouldn't I be the one asking him that? In fact, how can he be so casual about everything? About being caught snooping?

He can sense my irritation and the corners of his mouth shift.

I push past his sweaty body. The smell of alcohol, boiled cabbage, and vomit lingers around him. Give him a bottle of whiskey and ya're bound to find him in an alley somewhere, whatever he ate last crawling with insects and fleas at his feet.

"Excuse me?" I turn up my nose and look from his vomit-stained shirt to his dirty face.

"This is my shop."

"Aren't ya suppose to be working, Steel?"

I say what I'm supposed to say. What I always say, "Imani."

"Huh?" Kaseke says and scopes the room. Kaseke doesn't look people in the eye because he gets every moment from their brains, from their first diaper change to what they did last night. He especially hates knowing what ya did last night.

Stupid Idiot.

"My name." I bend over and scoop up my clothes. It takes only two armfuls to get the pile back into the dresser. "It's Imani."

"Whatever."

I cut him a side-eye. "Why are ya snooping in my shop?"

"Me? Snooping? Storeroom?" he asks. "Aibo,” he says, meaning no way in hell. And he flips his hand dismissively. He always does this when he thinks I'm being dramatic. He always claims I blow things out of proportion.

I don't.

"I'm waiting."

Kaseke squints and gives me a confused look. It's his piecing-together-a-difficult-puzzle face.

"For?"

I gape at him. "An explanation, duh."

"Oh...oh. I'm... Uh," he says. "Ohhh, I came to give ya this."

He shoves his hands in his pocket and pulls out money, broken cigarettes, nuts, sweets. He must've gone to "work" today. Kaseke steals and sells everything. It's a wonder the boy hasn't put out an auction for my mama and me, he never keeps anything.

He hands me a small jewelry box.

I look at it, shake my head and step backwards.

He smiles. "Take it," he says, excited. He extends his hand with the box. "Go on."

I'm skeptical. What if it's a bomb? In a small jewelry box? Which is, admittedly, the stupidest thought I've had this month.

But in my defense, Kaseke once gave me an adult anaconda as a Christmas present which he stole from the Sabonis world. It wades off evil. But still. It was an anaconda. And it was big. My yard can barely accommodate a dog let alone a venomous forty feet snake.

I turn it over and squint, on the look out for anything unusual. "What's this?"

"A gift, Steel." He beams. "Ya're finally sixteen."

It's a bracelet. An expensive one.

He wraps it around my wrist. I examine it. I should remind him of the Two Commandments— thou shall not steal, thou shall not kill— wait, are these real diamonds?

I want to lecture him about stealing from the Queen Mother, but I bite my tongue. He must've went to see Papa. Queen Mother, Kwezi and King Father, Mawu are twins. They each have fifteen spouses for each year they've been in power. Papa became one of Kwezi's husbands.

"Thanks." My voice is dead.

"Can't ya at least pretend to be excited?"

"Yay."

"So..." He scrubs dried vomit with his dirty nails and sticks a finger in his mouth. I cringe. "Ya nervous about... later?"

Later is when I'll be chosen by a magic sword. A simple procedure. Ya just hold a bunch of swords until the one that was made for ya electrocutes yer veins with magic.

"Ja," I mumble.

“Steel, ya don’t need to worry. Yer the best blacksmith I know, that’s gotta count for something. If I were a sword, I’d want to be with someone who I know can take care of me.”

I open the window and breathe in deep. Fresh air.

“That’s not what I’m worried about. It’s what happens after our swords choose us. I just think... maybe.... look someone's stealing the magic, our magic essence, and what if my sword grants me a gift the Essence Thief wants?”

Kaseke shudders. "I can't imagine myself being cast out into the Sabonis world—a world that neither knows or has magic."

I reach out and pat his shoulder. "We just need to be vigilant, extra careful, right?"

"Careful?" he says sharply. "We have a thief among us. Noddon is no longer safe. We live in constant fear and all because of one man. There's a reason our nation is hidden from the rest of the world. They wouldn't understand our magic. They'd fear us. They'd give us rules and limit us. And worst yet, they'd want to study us. A fascination."

“I just wish I could get the Bakantwa sword. Win the right to rule the kingdom, Africa, and all its tribes."

His eyes narrow in disbelief, and the panic rises inside of me.

There's a long pause. "That would unearth...the essence thief." Kaseke gulps, his mouth moves a few times but no sound escapes, then, "He killed our brother, you haven't forgotten that have you?"

A flood of nerves swamp my elation. I will never be able to forget Commodore's suicide, much less forgive it. I stare at Kaseke and bit back my retort that he's the one drinking to forget what happened to his twin.

"Of course not," I snap. "Look at the advantages, if I have the Bakantwa sword, the essence thief would come after me" – Kaseke Freezes – "but I'll be waiting, yeah, prepared. He killed my brother and I won't rest until I squeeze the life out of him with my bare hands.”

Kaseke looks deep into my eyes and sighs heavily. "I guess I've always known ya'd try to find the essence thief," he says, and steps toward me. "Ya and Commodore were so close. I don't like this idea of yers one tiny bit just... don't you dare get yourself killed in the process. I'd never forgive you for that."