Page 131 of Earthbound

Lettle told him of her prophecy.

‘At least we know help is coming, even if we don’t know how or when.’

Even now, he still managed to be positive when everything around them was dire.

The three of them watched the sun rise over the elven camp. Together they hatched a plan to infiltrate the army.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Alder

Lettle had prophesied help would come, but as they stood by the edge of the war camp, nothing presented itself.

‘Are we sure this is the right thing to do?’ Alder asked her. He pulled at the collar of the uniform he was wearing. In the quiet of the morning, Mortah had slipped into the nearest tents and stolen three sets of uniform. She had returned brandishing them.

‘Stole them when they each went to the latrines,’ she said. ‘Easy as anything.’

But Alder suspected it hadn’t been easy, just from the sweat that darkened her shirt.

Lettle ran her fingers over the four emblems that now adorned her lapels. ‘The coalition is standing firm,’ she’d said with wonder when she’d first seen them. She looked more at ease in the clothing than he expected. She had told him she’d been an archer during her years of conscription. From the way she held herself, he thought she’d been a good one.

Alder, on the other hand, felt extremely uncomfortable. Lettle must have noticed for she said, ‘The Fates have spoken. Bosome’s children will help–that’s the elves–so we’ll be fine.’

He didn’t want to point out that the Fates hadn’t exactly said they’d be fine. He wrapped his arms around himself and ran through everything that Mortah had taught him that morning.

Beat a closed fist over my heart to salute. Hard enough to hear the drumbeat in my breath; the louder the beat, the more respect I afford.

His feet twitched with the formations she’d instilled in him. So much so that he almost stumbled, revealing their location.

‘Are you all right?’ Mortah asked.

‘Yes.’

No, not really.

He would never be the same again.

Lettle had asked him whether he regretted knowing the truth of his origins. He’d recounted one of Dart’s epithets about life being a rose, thorns and all, but the truth was he longed for the ignorance of the past.

He wished he hadn’t learned anything about his former crimes. His skin felt uncomfortable on his bones, his hands red with the blood of so many innocents. But he could see the guilt eating away at Lettle, and he didn’t want her to feel even worse about something she could not change.

The one thing his mind had gifted him was a dream of the future, of him and Golan in Caperly. ‘Uncle Alder’, the children had called him. But even then, he had known it to be an unobtainable dream.

The truth would haunt him for ever.

‘Remember the plan?’ Lettle said, and he repainted his face with a smile.

‘We stick together. We do not bring attention to ourselves. We head straight to the entrance to Mosima. If we are stopped, we confirm we have been sent to relieve those on duty.’

‘And if they protest?’ Mortah said.

‘We run.’

A simple plan. Too simple. Too stupid. But he didn’t want to voice his opinion. Now that he knew his history, he was scared to influence anything and anyone lest he inadvertently cause disaster once more.

Besides, Lettle said help would come…

They lingered in the shadows of the trees, waiting for the soldiers to change shift.