Page 96 of Earthbound

Like Lettle and her lies.

‘I need your help,’ Rayan said.

Sahar looked abashed. ‘My help?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well then, let us go sit somewhere a little safer. There is no telling when the waterways will flood.’

Sahar led Rayan to two benches tucked into the side of an archway. Food and waste covered the table next to it.

‘We don’t bother cleaning, as the surge so often takes it away,’ Sahar said apologetically.

‘Aren’t you cleaners?’

Sahar cocked his head. ‘Our task is to clean the aqueducts.’

Rayan knew how exhilarating small rebellions could feel, but also how they could end up growing into bigger ones–Sahar was an example of that.

I will have to tell the guards, he thought.

‘It is good to see you,’ Sahar said quietly. ‘I have thought of you often.’

Rayan bit the inside of his cheek. He wanted to rage at his grandfather but now was not the time.

‘We have a situation,’ Rayan said. He went on to explain the rats and the wasting pox. ‘This,’ he showed Sahar a picture of the flower, ‘is the plant that cures the disease. Do you know of it, and do you have any in your supplies?’

Sahar looked at the picture and shook his head. ‘No, I’m sorry.’

Rayan’s chin slumped to his chest.

‘Is Lettle unwell?’ Sahar asked. He had read Rayan’s devastation in his face but had reached the wrong conclusion.

His false concern also sparked Rayan’s anger. ‘So she might yet die and complete the job you intended?’

Sahar flinched as if struck. ‘That is not what I meant.’

Rayan didn’t say anything for a time. His anger burned too hot to voice any words. So he waited for the flames to fade until they were barely flickering beneath the surface of his mind.

‘It’s Furi,’ Rayan said.

Sahar swore and stood from the bench. Rayan drew him back to the main reason he was here, ‘Do you know of any other cure?’

‘No, this flower does not grow in Mosima, I am sure of it.’

Rayan stood up to leave with a heavy heart. ‘Many people will die.’

Sahar ran a hand through his thinning hair. ‘You say the flower must be soaked in alcohol for two weeks to remove its toxicity?’

‘Yes.’

‘Use owen tree sap. Mix one part with ten parts water. It will leach the toxins much quicker than alcohol.’

‘How long?’

‘Two days, to be safe.’

Rayan’s relief was short-lived. ‘We have no flowers to treat, so the owen tree sap is pointless.’