Page 104 of Earthbound

Malak didn’t need to know that she was unlikely to be a carrier of the disease.

He rubbed at his neck where her hands had touched him.

‘That won’t help,’ she said.

Malak’s eyes skittered around as though he could find a way to escape the disease itself.

‘In two to three hours your neck will begin to sting, then it’ll turn purple as the disease begins to ravage your muscles.’

His hand began to shake.

‘No,’ he whispered. Fear turned his lips bloodless and Yeeran wondered if this was the first authentic expression she had ever seen on his face.

‘In five days, you’ll likely be dead,’ Yeeran said.

He let out a shaky breath, then nodded once as though fighting his own internal battle. ‘Don’t trade me for time, trade me for the flower itself.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We have a greenhouse of hister flower in our camp. We’ve been keeping a store of it in case there was an outbreak from the rats. Trade me for a crate of petals.’

Yeeran narrowed her eyes. The coalition was so much more prepared than she ever imagined. How could she have underestimated them so entirely?

‘What happened to your loyalty?’ She didn’t want to sound as bitter as she did.

He grimaced. ‘I suppose you could say that in this situation I am loyal to life.’ He twisted her words back at her. ‘I do not want to die, Yeeran.’

‘You’ll help me negotiate with the other chieftains, then?’

‘Yes.’

Though her gut warned her that it had been all too easy, she knew she had to trust him, if only a little. There was no other choice.

Yeeran removed the jail key from her pocket and opened the cell door. ‘I’m going to wind my magic around you now. I won’t remove it until we have the hister flower.’

She rattled a few notes on her drum, and her magic coiled out to bind his wrists together.

Rayan was waiting outside. His eyes were still red as though he’d spent the morning crying. She knew there was more that had happened between him and Lettle, but she didn’t press him. Whatever it was had twisted his heartstrings.

‘Is she well?’ Yeeran asked. He knew she meant Lettle.

‘Yes, they’re talking still.’ Rayan looked at the bound Malak. ‘All set?’

‘Turns out the elves have hister flower in storage; we’re going to trade him for the petals,’ Yeeran said.

Rayan frowned. ‘You think you can convince them to part with a cure? Even though their intention was to infect us?’

‘I have no other choice,’ Malak said. ‘As my life is forfeit too.’

Rayan exchanged a glance with Yeeran as if to say, Are you sure this is the right thing to do?

But what else could they do? She was about to say as much, but then Rayan’s eyes glossed over once more. His mind was wholly focused on his concern for Lettle.

Yeeran wasn’t offended; she understood, because her mind was wholly focused on her concern for Furi too.

With a grunt she tugged on her magic and pulled Malak towards the boundary.

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