Page 59 of Earthbound

So touch her, her mind screamed.

‘Yeeran, come to me,’ Furi said, opening her arms. And Yeeran did, tears of worry pricking the corners of her eyes.

Yeeran felt so solid beneath her touch, but so soft too. Because Furi knew all of her; beyond her thickened exterior she was a passion fruit, sweet and tart in the centre.

Together again. Now, Furi could not bear to be apart.

She looked over Yeeran’s shoulder to see the imprint in the grass where Cely’s body had fallen and her happiness was pierced with a blade of grief.

Cely was another unexpected loss she would have to weather in this unending storm.

Yeeran noticed her tense and she pushed her to arm’s length. ‘Here you are looking after me, but you’re the one who has lost a friend.’ Because of course Yeeran knew what Furi was thinking. She knew all of her, too.

‘I’m fine,’ Furi lied.

Yeeran cocked her head at her. ‘You will be fine, and that’s OK too.’

Furi’s eyes began to sting with oncoming tears and she looked away. Her gaze snagged on the rootless daisies Yeeran had plucked from Motogo’s grave and Furi’s grief turned into heartache.

She had once told Yeeran that murder was all that bound their love, and this was just another example of it.

But even in her despair, she had another thought: Does love grow stronger in blood-soaked soil?

She reached for Yeeran once more and crushed her against her chest, savouring the smell of her, the feel of her, the warmth of her—

‘Furi…You’re squeezing me too tight…’

‘Oh sorry,’ Furi stepped away, the gap between her and Yeeran feeling like a gulf.

Yeeran seemed to sense it too, because she moved back into Furi’s arms.

‘Is this OK?’ she said as she entangled her fingers in Furi’s.

It is more than OK, it is all that is joy in the world.

‘Yes.’

Yeeran relaxed back into her with a sigh and Furi could feel the steady beat of her heart.

My favourite sound.

‘Afa’s tomb and Alder’s cave are one and the same,’ Rayan said, his eyes coming into focus as realisation dawned on him. ‘I wish I could ask my father about his obeah’s journey there.’

Afa’s tomb was where Najma had found the grimoire in the first place. Not for the first time, Furi longed to talk to her brother again–there were so many things she didn’t know about him or his research.

‘Has Alder said anything about the curse on the fae?’ Yeeran asked.

‘Afa,’ Rayan corrected her sharply. ‘This is no longer the Alder we know.’

Whatever he was seeing had left him on edge. Furi realised he was more worried about Lettle than he was telling them.

‘Afa, then, does he know how to end the curse?’ Yeeran said.

‘I’m not sure yet.’

‘Do we want the curse on Mosima to be lifted? It’s the only thing protecting us from the elves,’ Furi reminded them.

She rendered them all into silence.