Page 110 of The Souls Harvest
My heart shrinks when Merya keeps her eyes on me, but stretches a hand to brush Mack’s briefly.
“Horigeans are dying,” - Mack continues - “and their souls are stolen every day, even if they never made a deal with Roden Breith. And all because that fuck—” he quickly looks at Sable, “That soul-sucking parasite wants to create a new generation of perfected Harvesters.”
His voice dims while my eyebrows arch higher and higher, “…and you didn’t know about that. Great!” He makes to stand up, but the back door bursts open, flapping angrily on its hinges and hitting the wall a couple of times.
The weird bird tries to fly away while Sable stretches her little body over the table to catch him. “You’ll hurt yourself again, Zephyr. Stop,” she cries out while Mack pushes away from the table, sending the chair toppling to the floor.
I understand the presence of the aid box when I notice one of the animal’s wings hanging down, seemingly broken.
Merya is the only person in the room not bothered by the sudden turmoil. Her eyes roam from one side of the room to theother, then she drops her chin on her interlaced fingers.
Galen also doesn’t seem to care about the havoc he’s just caused by barging in like a tornado. “As far as I’m curious to know why Mack looks so guilty, there is something we need to talk about. Where are Tabs and Jyn?”
“Sable, why don’t you go find your mama? You can take Zephyr and show her what a good doctor you’ve been.” Merya pats Sable’s head gently without breaking eye contact with Galen and the rest of us.
“And I can feed him more worms,” Sable squeaks with excitement, bouncing off the chair like a spring.
“All the worms.” Merya nods with a smile.
“They’re very squishy, you know; he loves them. But mama saysIcan’t eat them even if they taste better than her soups!” Sable exclaims, jumping up and down, while Zephyr fights to remain perched on her left arm.
We all wait in silence for Sable to hop out of the kitchen, singing a song about a fat bird and a fat worm becoming friends and going fishing together.
“Where is Kris?” I ask when I’m sure Sable is gone and not eavesdropping.
Galen pants, leaning against the doorframe, his hair tousled and his cheeks flushed, when he eventually looks at me.
“Mending his broken ego somewhere.” He dismisses our still unvoiced questions. “This is aboutthevideo.”
I give him a questioning look. “Has this anything to do withRoden’s using Horigos like his personal souls marketplace instead of waiting for desperate people to ask for his help?”
“Do I want to know who told her?” He scans the room for the culprit.
In the corner of my eyes, Mack shrinks a little. “What is she talking about?” he asks, trying his luck.
“Read the room, Mack,” Merya mutters, gathering plasters and bandages still scattered over the table.
“Everybody shut up,” Galen bellows, turning to the siblings. “Kris just told me what happened in Brenath. Whatever you think happened there, think again—it’s twice as dangerous. Evelyn had a theory that Roden was collaborating with conservative Herionos to relocate nearly empty, dilapidated vessels from The Fields to a secret location. He needs fresh bodies to create stable Reds, but couldn’t make too many disappear without raising suspicions among the Writers.”
“Where do you think he hides them?” Merya urges him.
Galen shrugs. “Corlea seems a good starting point if the Herionos Lily and Nik captured told you the truth. What I’m sure of is that Roden knows what a destructive weapon those unstable souls are and will use them against us. He just needs tofindus…”
“Wait a second.” Merya stands up, head shaking. “What stops him from using the Herionos who are helping him? Surely they’re expendable, in-good-health-pawns. And they’re not stupid…”
Galen approaches the table slowly, finally unfreezing the atmosphere around us. “If Roden promised them freedom in hisnew kingdom—the chance is too high to ignore…And he still needs their trust and for them to do his dirty work on Horigos while he holds Libera together.”
“That must be wrong,” Mack complains, with a powerful voice I didn’t think he had in him. “We blamed itallon the Herionos. Fuck—we sent squads after them. Merya tortured them!” A moment of silence. Of cruel realisation. His eyes widen with horror.
“I’m sorry, Mack, but we know how expert Roden is at turning bullshit into a credible, alternative truth. Especially if that plays to his favour.” Galen pinches his chin, pacing back and forth almost on the spot.
“Brenath is the latest province that has agreed to join our cause,” Merya mumbles.
Galen nods, pensively. “Roden is trying to turn them against us before it’s too late, while their minds are still processing the reality of the danger. Our side-battles with the Herionos were the perfect alibi at the right moment. When was the last time you had contact with Brenath’s Mayor?”
“The day that man’s body burst into a corrosive killing machine and liquefied some of the citizens in the Town Hall. The Mayor asked us for some days to mourn their loved ones,” Mack replies.
“Thanks for the delightful, vivid reminder,” Merya replies in a low voice, bracing her elbows on the table and massaging her temples.
