Page 144 of Earthbound

He started, jerking back into his body. His eyes were tight with worry. ‘Lettle and Alder surrounded Ajax with obeah to stop him from helping them,’ he murmured. His eyes swam with rage and hurt. ‘I have no oversight on what’s happening. I can’t see her, I can’t see her.’

Furi slipped from Amnan’s back and approached Rayan.

‘Lettle has proven herself capable all this while,’ the queen said, resting her hand on Rayan’s forearm, which shook ever so slightly.

‘I need to go after her.’

Yeeran looked around at the gathering crowd, her stomach twisting in knots. She was worried about Lettle too, but they couldn’t abandon the plan.

‘You know you can’t, Rayan,’ Furi said.

‘Besides, this isn’t the first enemy territory Lettle’s crossed,’ Yeeran said. She recalled the memory to reassure herself as well as Rayan. ‘When we were children, Lettle once breached the Waxing border by mistake. The soldiers who caught her were sorry by the end. Somehow, she’d convinced them that not only was she one of theirs, but she was the chieftain of Waxing’s daughter, too–and he didn’t even have a daughter.’

Rayan looked at Yeeran, his gaze entirely his own. ‘You really think she’ll be OK?’

‘She has to be,’ Yeeran replied simply.

He nodded once. ‘All right, but we must hurry.’

‘Then let’s begin,’ Yeeran said.

Furi gave her a small smile before adjusting her crown and stepping onto the stage next to Rayan.

Yeeran found her place among the audience next to Golan, who stood front row among a group of Lightless waiting patiently to vote.

‘I can’t believe how quickly the people of Mosima gathered,’ Yeeran muttered to him.

‘There are not many of us left now,’ Golan said grimly. ‘And they are eager. We have rarely been given the opportunity to choose our future, especially the Lightless.’

Yeeran’s response caught in her throat. Golan was the only Lightless who had been kept abreast of the details of Afa’s tale. From Rayan, he knew the extent of the binding with the humans. Alongside the rest of them, he had learned that the Lightless had come to be due to the ancient being removing the souls from unbound obeah during his experiments. Golan’s reaction had been unexpected.

‘I have suffered all these years from something I thought I was lacking,’ he had laughed, tears streaming down his face. ‘But it wasn’t me that was at fault? I’m actually the only pure fae in this room, unblemished by bindings.’

He had chuckled for ten minutes until the laughs turned to sobs and he’d left the room.

Afa’s story had blurred the edges of everyone’s reality, bringing their emotions close to the surface. Every time Rayan added more to the tale, Yeeran had braced herself for her world to be turned upside down once more.

‘Citizens of Mosima,’ Furi began and a hush ran through the crowd, silencing them. It brought Yeeran back to the importance of this moment. ‘We come to you with a question. The elves have made it clear that they will not relent in their pursuit of our pain. They will not stop, but neither are we beings who cower.’

Rayan stepped forward next. He read from a piece of paper which quivered in his hands. Unlike Furi, he had not been trained to memorise speeches from the age of five. Despite that, when he spoke his voice rang out clear and confidently.

‘If we yield to their terms we will be subjected to their will–it is likely they will pillage Mosima for its fraedia,’ Rayan said. ‘Or we can arm ourselves and fight. Though we are strong, they outnumber us greatly and many more will die.’

Furi took the mantle once more. ‘Both choices are honourable. Your neighbours will not judge you; everyone has a right to express their opinion. So the question we ask today is a simple one: do we surrender? Or do we fight?’

The gloves that had been used to suppress infections had been given a different purpose. Their bright colours would indicate the fae’s vote.

‘Those who wish to take up arms, raise your gloves now.’

There was a soft rustle as some of the fae raised their gloves.

Furi’s mouth murmured as she began to count, but there was no point. It was clear which way the breeze would blow: surrender.

The queen seemed to realise this as she said, ‘And those who wish to surrender, raise your gloves.’

Golan’s glove was a bright orange, and he thrust it into the air before Furi finished speaking. Yeeran removed her own glove from her pocket and lifted it beside Golan’s.

He saw and nodded at her.