Page 118 of Earthbound

I have sent this letter with Cori who would be more than willing to carry a message back to me should you have more questions. I appreciate you do not wish to see me again.

Sahar

‘You think it a trick?’ Yeeran asked.

‘No, I don’t know. But why would he lie?’

Yeeran wasn’t sure, but she didn’t understand the motives of murderers.

‘It is worth a try. Grow them in the furthest field from the city. Give it a day, see what happens,’ she said.

Rayan nodded. ‘Yes, I suppose you’re right. If we light any more fires, we’re at risk of setting all the forests in Mosima alight.’

‘Yeeran?’ a voice called behind her. It was Jay, and they sounded urgent.

Furi’s dead. The thought held so much conviction that Yeeran felt her heart stutter in her chest.

Pila whimpered somewhere in the Royal Woodland.

‘We’re going to treat Furi now, I thought you’d want to be there,’ Jay continued quickly. ‘She’s the last.’

‘The rest have been dosed?’ Rayan asked.

‘Yes, my king.’

He let out a sigh of relief. ‘Well, that is something at least. Go, Yeeran, and send word when Furi awakes. I will do what I can with the knellsheen.’

Yeeran all but ran to Furi’s side. She was even paler than she had been when Yeeran had left.

‘Her skin is yellow,’ Yeeran whispered.

‘Yes, her liver is failing,’ Jay said. ‘She has done well to survive this long in the condition she is in.’

‘The cure will work, won’t it?’

‘It has for the others, but we won’t know for a few hours yet. Prepare yourself, Yeeran, it may not reverse all the effects.’

Yeeran watched as Jay began to tip the vial of yellow liquid into Furi’s mouth. She gagged, coughing and spluttering.

‘Go away,’ she slurred.

Jay tried again, but Furi began to froth at the mouth.

‘I don’t want any mead.’

‘It’s not mead, Furi, it’s the cure,’ Yeeran said gently.

‘The disease has addled her brain. Yeeran, pass me the needle. We’ll have to do this intravenously.’

Yeeran pulled out a needle from a sterile jar.

Jay held out their hand for it but Yeeran shook her head. ‘Let me,’ she said.

Yeeran hadn’t been idle in her time in the quarantine district. She had taken quickly to Jay’s tutelage, and administering injections had been one of the first things the healer had taught her.

She inserted the needle into Furi’s vein with confidence.

Furi tried to protest against the pain, but it was clear she was no longer in control of her limbs. Her eyelashes fluttered once more and she slipped into a comatose state.