Page 159 of Earthbound

She didn’t hesitate. In one motion she flipped the pallet towards her attacker, creating a barricade. As she jumped up, she cast a glance at the archer before ducking behind her makeshift shield.

The soldier was of an age with Yeeran, and her epaulettes determined she was a colonel, though there was no way to tell from her insignia which tribe she hailed from. All four phases of the moon decorated her jacket.

But her weapon of choice was indication enough for Yeeran. Waxing was the one tribe who utilised obeah bone to carve their arrowheads. It helped them fly true, and with more force than a simple metal point.

It was why Yeeran knew she would survive this–if the colonel had wanted to strike her, the arrow would have found her heart.

‘Don’t shoot! I’m not with Malak!’ Yeeran shouted.

‘Then why did you run?’

Yeeran snorted. ‘You pointed your weapons at me.’

‘You found her?’ another voice said.

‘Yes,’ the colonel replied. ‘She says she’s not with Malak.’

‘I’m not,’ Yeeran said. She stood up slowly with her hands raised away from her drum. The colonel quickly notched an arrow as Yeeran’s face came into view.

Yeeran looked into the soldier’s lilac eyes, so close to her own violet. They both also had cropped hair and dark skin. It was like peering into a looking glass and seeing a different version of yourself.

A version before she’d been exiled. A version before she even knew the fae existed.

The colonel saw Yeeran’s shorn ears and scowled, dropping her bow. ‘You’re really not with Malak, are you?’

‘No.’

‘What rank were you before you were dismissed?’

‘Colonel.’

The soldier whistled between her teeth in disbelief and some of the distrust in her eyes had shifted to pity.

Yeeran deflected any more queries with a question of her own. ‘Is it true? Did Malak really kill the chieftains?’

‘Yes, it was a group of diviners who discovered his crime. I’ve never been one to believe in the Fates, but I looked at the graves myself.’

‘Lorna?’ someone called, and the colonel leaned out of the tent.

‘What?’

‘There’s talk of a gathering in the west side of the camp. All senior officials are being called on.’

‘By who?’

‘Don’t know. Not Malak, though.’

Lorna looked back at Yeeran. ‘Coming?’

Yeeran shook her head.

Lorna shrugged and said, ‘Well, I guess they can’t dismiss you again for desertion.’

Then the colonel and the rest of the soldiers were gone and Yeeran was alone once again.

She felt dizzy from her near death and sank to the ground by the overturned pallet.

Are you well? Pila asked.