Page 32 of Earthbound

‘Lettle?’ Alder called up ahead. His finger pointed to the edge of the tree line.

‘Am I seeing things?’ he asked.

It took a moment for Lettle to see them, but when she did, she gasped. A dozen obeah stood between the trees, all standing as still as statues.

‘Are they breathing?’ Lettle asked.

Alder walked towards them.

‘Alder, be careful, we don’t know who they are bound to,’ Lettle said, but the obeah dashed away as he approached.

Only to reappear again once Alder stopped walking.

‘They’re leading him to the den,’ Mortah said. ‘Where he was found.’

Lettle followed her line of sight but saw nothing that looked like a cave until they walked further into the forest. The terrain dipped between the trees, and Lettle realised they were following a dried riverbed.

Alder had paused up ahead.

‘It’s well hidden,’ he said as she came up beside him. His voice was shaky. ‘But the obeah went in there.’

The opening in the rockface was small, only just large enough for a person, or an obeah.

‘Do you remember anything yet, Alder?’ Lettle asked.

He shook his head, looking anxious. She watched as he hesitated on the threshold of the cave.

Dart let out a slow breath as he and Mia joined them. ‘Maybe one of us should go ahead, make sure it’s safe?’ His gaze flickered to Mia.

‘I’ll go,’ Alder said firmly.

‘I’ll go with you,’ Lettle said. She wasn’t going to let him do this alone.

He gave her a weak smile before nodding and plunging into the darkness of the cave.

Chapter Seven

Yeeran

It had been a whole year since the last Flare Feast but for Yeeran it felt like a lifetime. So much had changed.

Back then it had been Vyce and Chall on the throne, though their reign was fated to end after they had sipped from the poisoned chalice. Mosima had never really recovered from losing the queens. With Rayan, an unknown half-fae, being proclaimed king, trust in the crown had begun to fracture. It wasn’t surprising that the Lightless had rebelled. Golan was still healing the rift that had developed there. Yeeran watched him as he twirled across the dance floor.

He was dressed in a blue linen shift lined with gold beading. His long hair was braided in plaits down his back, the tails of which were tied off with bright red bows. The make-up on his face was extravagant, swirling an intricate pattern of vines from the corner of his eyes down to where he’d drawn on his beard.

Politics suits him, Pila said as she too watched Golan from the periphery of the dance floor.

Yes, he has done much good. Look how many Lightless are here, Yeeran replied.

Pila hummed deep in her throat. Politics does not suit you, though. As ever, Pila’s honesty was as subtle as a blunt knife to the heart.

Yeeran looked sidelong at Motogo and Malak next to her. Four hours it had taken to convince them to come along. Four long hours of back and forth until Yeeran had wanted to pull her hair out and tear at the skin on her scalp.

‘Are you enjoying the evening?’ Yeeran asked, as pleasantly as she could. The two elves had said very little since arriving in Mosima.

‘You should have let me bring a guard. Or at least a weapon,’ Motogo growled. ‘I feel outnumbered.’

‘That’s because you are,’ Yeeran said dryly. ‘But luckily for you this is not a war zone, this is a party.’