Page 20 of Earthbound

She rested a hand on his shoulder. ‘You don’t know what you’re saying. Death to every creature? And what of the fae whose home this has been for a millennium?’

‘When the blight was affecting the land, the plan was to relocate to the Bleeding Field anyway, right?’

He pressed his thumb onto the map where the word ‘Lorhan’ was written in the centre of the Bleeding Field–the capital of the Fae Lands.

‘Yes, but—’

‘Why don’t we do that now?’

‘The peace treaty Yeeran has negotiated includes an end to the occupation in the old Fae Lands. We will return one day, but if we go now without the infrastructure to build the city—’

‘We’ll build a camp like the elves have!’ His eyes were wild.

‘Rayan.’

‘Let’s return to the Bleeding Field. Please, let me go home.’ His voice turned thick with grief, and tears filled his eyes.

She realised now this wasn’t about Mosima, or the war, or even about reclaiming the Fae Lands. This was about turning back time.

Furi embraced him as he shuddered out a sob. ‘You cannot go home again. The home you remember is written only in your past. Let the ink dry.’

‘It was simpler then,’ he choked out.

‘War is never simple. You and I both know that.’

He pulled away from her and wiped at his eyes. ‘True, but I wasn’t king then.’

‘Are you wishing away your royal blood?’ Furi said with mock horror. ‘Welcome to the Jani dynasty, none of us chose this. None of us want this.’

Except Nerad, Amnan said. It was true, her cousin had committed murder to be on the throne.

He did not know the weight of the crown’s load. To be tied to the land was to constantly feel the binds of a knot. Only those of Jani blood could manipulate Mosima like she could. Only we can open the boundary with the human language.

‘We are keys,’ she said softly to Rayan. ‘But we are also prisoners.’

Rayan exhaled slowly. ‘I wouldn’t have really done it. I wouldn’t have abandoned Mosima.’

‘I know.’

The silence began to stretch and Rayan’s eyes turned distant once more.

‘Lettle will be all right,’ Furi said, drawing his attention back to the present. ‘But when she returns you must fix this thing between you two. I cannot rule with half a king.’

He scrubbed a hand over his face, and when he looked back at her his eyes were brighter. ‘I’ll do my part at the Flare Feast. Just please don’t ask the weavers to make us matching outfits.’

Furi laughed. ‘Fine, yours can be red, mine will be burnt orange.’

He groaned and all was right with the world once more. If only for a moment.

Chapter Five

Alder

That night, Alder slept more soundly than he had for months. Mia and Dart had welcomed his little group into the resting rooms they had chosen that day.

Alder stirred as soon as the sun rose. Though he couldn’t see a single ray of sunlight, his body knew that it was dawn. He had always had an aptitude for telling time and weather. He could predict animal migrations and know exactly when a plant would bear fruit. No one had taught him these things, and though the Nomads had always thought them odd, he hadn’t spent too long worrying about it. Now, his sensitivities to the earth could finally be explained. He was human.

Lettle twitched in her sleep by the door. Dart and Mia had kindly offered to take over the watch rota, so Lettle and Farhan could get a full night’s sleep.