The Gilded Ones

Dressed in green robes, Deka laments the loss of her curls while matrons and assistants take the new alaki to the central hall. The hall is filled with older alaki (honored elder bloodsisters) and instructors, including the female commander from Jor Hall. A stern woman welcomes them and introduces herself as Karmoko (teacher) Thandiwe, the head instructor. They also meet Karmoko Huon who seems delicate “like a butterfly” (114) but is the combat master. It is confirmed that all teachers have served as Shadows: imperial assassins.

Deka feels a premonition that deathshrieks are nearby. The older alaki form a line in front of the new trainees as a chained deathshriek is revealed. Deka fears she will react to it powerfully, but Britta comforts her. When the chained creature is let out, Thandiwe flips it and puts her foot on its throat until it loses consciousness. She gives a speech about hunting monsters, reiterating that they will be made pure after 20 years of fighting, and declares that they are all Bloodsisters. The alaki are supposed to be the most talented warriors, and therefore will be at the front lines of battle.

Deka reels from what she learns at the orientation and from the deathshriek cages beneath the central hall. As they are called to dinner, she realizes the instructors’ pins have a symbol that was on her mom’s necklace. When Deka asks the other girls about the symbol, she learns it represents serving as a Shadow. Deka confides her hypothesis that her mom was a Shadow to Britta while they eat. Britta suggests looking in the Heraldry of Shadows, a book that was mentioned by Thandiwe.

A red-headed alaki named Katya talks about wanting to go home to Rian and get married. Deka is confused by the idea of a good man like Katya’s fiancé, but longs for love; she prays and confesses she’s determined to survive. To the girls at her table, Deka reveals her number of deaths. Britta, Asha, Adwapa, Katya, and surprisingly Belcalis privately swear to be loyal bloodsisters to one another.

That night, Deka dreams of swimming in a sea and hearing women’s voices while there is a “golden light shimmering in the distance” (130). The blue-robed elder bloodsisters wake the new girls to the sounds of drumming. Older alaki Gazal and Jeneba introduce themselves. The neophytes are then ordered to get ready for their day.

Once outside in the warm southern air, they go to a statue of the emperor and are taught a military stance: right hand across heart, left hand behind back. Running is their first activity of the day, which contrasts with how it is forbidden for pure women to run in many villages. Girls from regions that don’t ban running fare better, but Deka initially struggles. Eventually Deka and Britta get what resembles an extreme runner’s high but is the alaki combat state. While feeling this joy, Deka questions her faith in a religion that keeps women from running, but still believes in Oyomo. After their run, they return to the courtyard and are told to clean up and get breakfast before their daily lessons.

After breakfast, Britta asks Jeneba where the Heraldry is, and learns it is in the library. However, neophytes don’t get a day off for three weeks. Deka worries that three weeks is too long—that she’ll be outed as especially unnatural before then. She believes reading the book to learn about her mom will help her control her power. Britta reminds Deka of the perks of her power—to sense deathshrieks—and offers to help Deka control it.

They take a combat class with Karmoko Huon. The girls are taught how to bow, and they begin learning forms (battle stances). When Adwapa makes a dissenting remark under her breath, Huon takes off the top part of one of Adwapa’s ears by throwing a hairpin. Then Huon demos the first form—Immovable Earth form—and spars with a jatu, flipping him quickly and twisting his wrist. She tells the alaki to never yield, that “death should be a familiar friend” (143), and their opponent’s size does not matter.

Two and a half weeks later, Deka has their training schedule memorized; it is three days until Deka can enter the Hall of Records in the library. The male recruits (uruni) meet the alaki in the courtyard. The boys have been free to roam during training, while the alaki have been restricted behind Warthu Bera’s walls. Deka greets Keita, who still reminds her of Ionas. The alaki and uruni have to run as partners. Deka has learned to love running and is frustrated that the girls are running slowly so the boys can keep up. Britta and Katya worry about the boys seeing their combat state.

Deka wants to make the uruni work harder to keep up and talks about her deaths to convince the other alaki. She also speaks against the Infinite Wisdoms, and argues for survival, saying she wants to live long enough to find true love. Stabbing herself in the hand with a pin and smearing gold blood across her chest in the ritual place, Deka vows to survive as a demon. Other girls echo “I’m a demon” (151), and then run full out.

At breakfast, Keita says Deka is clever, but that she should watch out when declaring her heritage in front of the commanders. Also, they begin to loosen up a little: He admits he initially thought she was too delicate and would be a burden, and she retorts by calling him a pretty boy.

Three days later, the alaki friends walk into the library and head to the Heraldry. Belcalis is grumpy and pessimistic while Britta is optimistic. Isattu (their common bedroom assistant) is at the Hall of Records and reminds them that the knowledge is secret. Among many scrolls, they find the “thick leather-bound book” (156) they seek. They look up Deka’s mom—Umu of Punthun—and Deka cries at the confirmation. They learn Umu retired after 15 years of service, but nothing else; Deka thought there’d be more information.

At the armory that night, they hear screams of novices who didn’t kill their share at the latest raid being flayed. Keita and other uruni named Acalan and Surem help the alaki clean and put away their wooden practice swords. The girls learn that the boys are never punished. Deka senses a type of deathshriek called leapers on the walls and goes into her combat state. When she tells the others about the deathshrieks, Keita says to follow Deka’s lead.

Instead of waiting for a signal, Katya yells for help which causes a deathshriek to attack and rip out her spine; she bleeds the blue blood of final death. Deka yells at the deathshriek and it staggers back in response. Other deathshrieks grab the staggering one and escape over the wall. Katya’s body is moved and the help she called for arrives. Deka collapses, and Thandiwe sees that Deka’s eyes have turned completely black before Deka faints.

Keita talks to Deka while Katya’s body and red hair is being burned at the lake. Surem, Katya’s uruni, reads her rites and will leave the army after the funeral. Deka wants to leave but can’t. Keita agrees to keep Deka’s ability to control deathshrieks a secret and offers to help her develop her skill. Deka does not trust him, but he explains he wants revenge on the deathshrieks and thinks her ability will help him kill as many as possible. Keita re-swears his loyalty to her by taking her hand (a male gesture), “skin versus gilding, brown against gold” (168). When he squeezes her hand, her breath catches.

Keita and Deka train in secret in the caverns under Warthu Bera, seeing if her eyes will change by being near the caged deathshrieks. Nothing happens, so Deka gets closer and tells the chieftain of the captive deathshrieks, Rattle, to shriek. The deathshrieks merely make clicking noises at each other. Keita says they have to get back.

Gazal tells Deka to remain after class to talk to Thandiwe; Deka fears it’s a conference about her secret special skills. The class lecture is about the four demonic Gilded Ones (which turns out to be a false history). After class, Keita calms Deka, and she tells the others to go on ahead of her to dinner.

As Thandiwe walks with Deka, Deka asks if this meeting is about the deathshrieks. Thandiwe says she’s “forgotten” if there was anything unusual the other night, but that if something did happen, it would be wise to explore that at an opportune time. Deka also asks about her mom and learns that Umu left because of a pregnancy scandal.

It turns out that Thandiwe is leading Deka to White Hands and the equus twins. While White Hands smokes a water pipe, Deka hugs the horse lords. As they eat fruit and cheese, White Hands and Deka talk about Britta and how Deka is embracing her demonic nature. White Hands reveals that she oversees all the training grounds but is taking on students (Deka, Britta, Belcalis, and Gazal) for special mentoring in the evenings after dinner.

When heading back to the common bedroom, Deka thinks about the timing of when her mother left the service and when she was born, which is off, deducing that she is not her dad’s biological offspring.