Page 138 of Earthbound

‘I’ll help Furi and meet you there,’ she said.

But Rayan lingered, his skin draining of blood. He swore.

Yeeran knew immediately he was looking through Ajax’s eyes.

‘What is it?’

‘Couldn’t she have waited just another hour? Stubborn, reckless, impetuous woman!’ he said.

‘Rayan?’ Yeeran said, gripping his wrist. ‘What’s happened to Lettle?’

His eyes blazed. ‘They’re going to infiltrate the army by trying to blend in.’

‘Oh.’ Yeeran’s hand dropped to her waist. ‘It’s risky, but if there was anyone who could talk her way out of a battlefield it would be Lettle.’

‘It’s more than risky.’ He seemed annoyed Yeeran wasn’t more concerned. But she’d seen her sister cross live battlefields to pilfer pockets for food and had learned just how tenacious Lettle could be.

‘She’ll be all right, Rayan,’ she said. She has to be all right… There was no world in which Yeeran lived and Lettle didn’t, so she didn’t entertain the thought.

Rayan scrubbed at his face. ‘We need to get the vote over and done with. We need to open the boundary so she can enter.’

‘Go, get the stage set up. We’ll be there.’

He nodded, his gaze going distant once more as he began to walk away, one eye in Mosima, and one eye topside.

Golan let out a slow breath. ‘I suppose this is it. Time to go choose our future.’

His eyes were still red and Yeeran squeezed his hand. ‘How many shooting stars do you think we’ll see on our first night?’

He laughed. ‘A hundred at least.’

‘Shall we stay up all night? Toast bread by the fire?’

‘Bread? We can do better than that. Have you ever grilled salted mango?’

They let themselves dream for just a few brief moments, knowing deep down in their hearts that it would never become a reality.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Lettle

‘Fire!’ Reena said, and Lettle’s faith in her god began to waver. She felt the air vibrate with the distinctive thrum of drumfire.

Someone heavy barrelled into her and Lettle felt something hot splatter against her face.

‘Stop!’ Lettle dimly thought she recognised the voice, but she couldn’t register it as she grappled with the person on top of her.

Blood seeped into the corner of her eyes, leaving a red film over her vision. She blinked it away.

‘Lettle, are you hurt?’ Alder said, as he pulled her up from beneath the lifeless limbs of the body.

‘I’m all right, are you?’

She looked him up and down. Drumfire had caught him in the arm, but they both knew it would heal quickly.

‘Father?’ Mortah’s voice was a croak. She crouched beside the body, her torso crimson with blood. Not hers, Imna’s.

Horror and relief vied for purchase in Lettle’s mind as she looked down at the broken body of Imna. He had sacrificed himself, taking the drumfire meant for them.