Page 4 of Earthbound

‘We tell no one,’ Furi said. ‘Mosima is too unstable, we cannot afford to shake its very foundations with this knowledge.’

This elicited a strong reaction from Yeeran, who was tired of lies. Rayan was of the mind to support Yeeran, which didn’t surprise Lettle–she had been his colonel, after all–but that only aggravated Furi further.

They argued for an hour before Lettle grew frustrated enough to interject.

‘You are all talking about what this means to the fae, and not what it means to the obeah. Do they not deserve to know who and what they are?’

Pila looked at Lettle then, in her unnerving way, with eyes like clouds before rain.

‘Yes,’ Furi said quietly. ‘They do, but we can’t answer that, not truly. There is so much we don’t know.’

‘Then we find it out,’ Alder said.

Lettle met his gaze and nodded encouragingly.

‘We need to learn everything we can about your past. About you.’

‘I don’t remember anything,’ he said miserably. Golan squeezed his shoulder and Alder gave him a weak smile.

‘Nothing? Nothing at all?’ Furi stepped towards Alder as she spoke and Lettle saw him flinch from the intensity of the queen’s tone.

‘What was your first memory?’ Lettle said more gently.

Alder shrugged. ‘Being with the Nomads.’

The disappointment his words brought was palpable. But Lettle didn’t want to succumb to despair.

‘Where? When?’

‘Somewhere near Caperly, ten years ago.’

‘You must have been barely out of childhood,’ Yeeran remarked, but Alder shook his head.

‘No, I am just youthful in looks.’

It was true, he had told Lettle he was thirty-five based on what the Nomads had estimated. But he looked no older than twenty even now.

‘One of the elders, Osei, found me outside one of the caves. He brought me to the village. I could speak no language, I knew of no home, but I don’t remember that.’

‘This Osei, where is he?’ Furi asked.

Alder grimaced. ‘He passed. Two winters ago.’

Furi began to laugh but Lettle pressed on. ‘Was there anyone else who was there when you were found? Who might know more?’

Alder bit his lip. ‘Dart might. He is Osei’s son and though he wasn’t there, his father might have told him.’

‘And Dart is?’

‘On his way to Caperly. But the Nomads won’t speak to me. I refuted their ways. Even if I stand in front of them, they won’t hear me, they won’t see me—’

‘We have to go to Caperly,’ Lettle cut in. There was no one in this world who could ignore her for long.

‘The journey will take four months,’ Golan said quietly.

‘It has to be done,’ Lettle said. ‘We have no other leads, and you heard what the Fates said–the obeah are related to the curse.’

‘We have the grimoire. We can get our best thinkers on it—’ Golan protested.