Page 46 of Earthbound

Anyah had been an unorthodox pick to replace Berro after she died. She was an indentured servant in the palace, finishing her sentence as a food taster, when Furi chose her. That would have been controversy enough if she wasn’t also Lightless. It had surely been a hard battle for Anyah to instil authority over the far more experienced soldiers of the faeguard. But from Furi’s reports she’d been doing well.

Yeeran went to the queen and laid her cloak around her shivering shoulders. Furi didn’t seem to notice.

‘What happened?’ Yeeran asked her. She was surprisingly out of breath; her months of sitting behind desks had taken a tithe on her stamina.

‘One of the faeguard is dead,’ Anyah said grimly. She moved out of the way, revealing the scene beyond.

A woman lay supine on the ground, her blonde hair fanning around her like the petals of a sunflower. Yeeran’s heart began to race as she recognised Cely.

Her mouth was parted in a soft smile, serene in death.

Less than two hours ago I was touched by those lips.

But how did she die? Yeeran could see no wounds on Cely’s naked skin.

‘She was off duty,’ Furi said quietly. Her eyes were shimmering with unshed tears. ‘She was so excited to end the night with Zayed.’ Furi pointed to the man keening on the ground next to Cely’s body.

The queen took a small step forward, then another and another until she was by Zayed’s side. The grieving fae turned and sobbed onto her shoulder.

Anyah watched Furi with a compassion that surprised Yeeran. ‘It must be so hard for her, especially since this time last year…’

Furi had been gifted with a very rare and invaluable thing in the world of a soldier–Anyah’s unquestioning loyalty.

A crowd was gathering, drawn in by Zayed’s scream. The fae parted as Rayan pushed his way through.

‘Yeeran? What’s going on?’ Rayan’s eyes were wide and hollowed, like he hadn’t slept in the four months he’d been apart from Lettle.

Anyah answered him, pointing to Cely. ‘A faeguard was killed.’

Yeeran instinctively reached for Pila. Where are you?

Amnan and I are on our way. We’re crossing the neutral zone now.

You are topside? Yeeran hated when Pila left the city. It was risky to venture beyond the boundary, especially with an army at their door.

Yes, we were chasing moonbeams.

Yeeran’s anger softened. Though she had only been in Mosima for a short time compared to the fae, she had come to understand how stifling a world without a sky could be.

‘I’m going to call on more of the faeguard. We need to disperse the crowd,’ Anyah said.

Yeeran’s memories of the night the queens died were still fresh–it had been so easy to ignite the flame of the crowd’s anger and they had quickly turned from an audience to a mob.

And their ire had been directed at her.

‘Identify where Motogo and Malak are, too, we don’t want this to escalate,’ Yeeran said.

Anyah nodded before slipping away.

‘Were they lovers?’ Rayan asked. All the blood had drained from his face as he watched Zayed weep.

‘Yes. But I don’t know how she died, she has no wounds.’

Furi was whispering soothing words in Zayed’s ear.

‘Could it have been poison?’ Rayan asked.

‘Perhaps, though I’m not—’