Page 57 of Earthbound

Alder laughed, genuinely amused. ‘A tomb indeed.’

Lettle shuddered. The truth was a spider along her back, crawling slowly to realisation. She felt the dread of its many legs. ‘The grimoire was found over thirty years ago. You would have been a child.’

‘It has been a long time since I was a child,’ he said.

Lettle shook her head, denying his words. ‘No, that’s impossible.’

‘Nothing is impossible,’ he whispered.

Lettle thrust the grimoire in front of him, opening the pages. ‘If this is yours, can you read it?’

‘I don’t need to read it.’ He looked to the water. ‘I can recite it in its entirety.’

‘How?’ She knew the answer, even as her brain rebelled against it.

‘I wrote it.’

Her teeth were chattering and it was no longer from the cold. Ajax sensed her distress and began to growl. ‘But this was penned over a thousand years ago.’

‘A thousand years? It feels like longer, I admit.’

Realisation was like ice down Lettle’s neck.

She stood up and walked towards Alder-who-was-not. ‘If you wrote this, then that means you’re…’ Her voice quavered into silence.

‘Say it,’ he said, his eyes hungry.

‘Afa.’

His smile was slow and more than a little frenzied. ‘Nice to meet you.’

I have felt you in my mind these hundred years. I know when your eyes see with mine. Sometimes I have lingered longer at the mirror so you could see me. I should not love you, I know that.

But I love the memory of you, not who you became in the end. Who I nearly became with you.

We did terrible things in the name of justice, didn’t we? We’d be doing it still if you hadn’t done what you did.

No one’s rage should tear down cities.

No one’s power should decimate a people.

Chapter Twelve

Furi

The evening had been both the best and worst Furi had had in many months. It was the anniversary of her mother and aunt’s deaths, so she’d already woken with the heavy weight of grief on her shoulders. Add to that a nerve-wracking meeting between the elves and fae, along with hosting the Flare Feast, and she was wrung out before the night had even begun.

But the night…that had been worth the ordeal. That was, until Cely died.

Furi had known her for twenty years. They’d been lovers once, before she’d been part of her royal guard. Cely’s appetite had been vast and she was well known for her skills under the sheets. It was why she’d been the first person Furi had thought of when organising Motogo and Malak’s evening pleasure.

‘I know of a few people who will be more than obliged to attend to the elves. Maybe even Zayed,’ Cely had said, her eyes glinting. Zayed, her partner, was also often sought out once the fire was doused.

Furi hesitated.

‘What is it?’ Cely asked, sensing the queen’s trepidation.

‘There is one other who could benefit from your talents…’