Lettle
Yeeran looked hurt. ‘Is that what you want? To be a gardener? To live in books and ink?’
Yes.
‘You’ll be alone here,’ Yeeran pressed.
‘Many people are staying behind.’
Yeeran could see she wasn’t going to be able to change her mind. She wrapped her arms around Lettle. ‘You’ll come and visit though, won’t you?’
‘Yes,’ Lettle said, but she wasn’t sure. She had walked half the continent, seen more sights than she ever wanted, and she was tired.
‘I love you, sister. Through bone and skin.’
Lettle smiled. ‘Through bone and skin.’
That had been half a year ago, and Lettle didn’t regret that decision. Even though Namana wanted her to.
‘Come and join the Gural diviners, we miss you,’ she said.
‘No,’ Lettle said quickly. Like everything else in the world, divining had changed. No longer did they read the entrails of obeah; instead, they carved their tokens from trees imbued with human magic–conifers.
In the year since the humans returned Lettle had not touched her magic once. She had burned the grimoire the night she had spoken the spell, though sometimes she woke in the night still mouthing the words.
She still wore her talismans at her waist, but now they served as a reminder that not all knowledge should be sought.
‘Where is Rayan?’
‘Hunting,’ Lettle said with a laugh.
‘Really?’ Namana said doubtfully. Everyone knew Lettle had a perfect shot.
‘Yes, I know, but I thought I’d let him try. Ah, I think I hear him.’
‘Lettle, I’m so sorry, I tried for a rabbit, but I only speared a few leaves with my arrow,’ Rayan said as he entered. ‘Oh, Namana! So nice to see you, are you staying for dinner?’
‘Not if we’re eating leaves,’ the shaman laughed and went to embrace him. ‘I should be going, really, I want to get started on the trail to Caperly before twilight.’
‘So the trade route is working well?’ Lettle asked.
‘Oh yes, the diviners are busier than ever. Would you like me to read your fate before I leave?’
Lettle shook her head. ‘No, I think I’ve had my fill of destiny.’
Rayan came up behind her as they waved Namana off. His hands wrapped around her waist, and he kissed her on the back of the neck.
‘Shall we go say goodnight to Ajax?’ Lettle said.
‘Yes, it’s a nice night for it,’ Rayan said.
Lettle put on her boots and they made their way through Mosima’s streets. The city was quiet, but not uncomfortably so, simply peaceful.
They passed the entrance to the aqueducts. The doors had been sealed since the boundary had been unravelled. Sadly, all the souls within had died in the earthquake that ensued.
Lettle was glad that Sahar’s final task in helping rid the city of locusts had given Rayan a positive final memory of his grandfather. She watched as he bowed his head at the aqueduct’s doorway as they passed.
They crossed into the Royal Woodland where Ajax’s grave was.
The baobab tree had been left where it had fallen, serving as a reminder of all they had lost that day.
And all they had gained.
‘Look, a shooting star.’ It was good to hear wonder in Rayan’s voice again. Grief was a timeless process of good days and bad. But then there were nights like this when they could appreciate Mosima under the light of the moon. One of the many final gifts Alder had given the world.
Ajax was laid to rest at the foot of the tree where the ground had split in two and buried him deep.
They both kneeled in the flowers they had planted on his grave. White calla lilies and red poppies. Then they both shared their day with Ajax, speaking softly into the night until Lettle’s grumbling stomach told her dinner was past due and they walked back home.
As she crossed the threshold to their humble homestead, her hand went to her necklace and the final gift Alder had given her: a single rose thorn, as polished as a shark’s tooth.
Every day it reminded her of the two sides of him: Alder and Afa, the rose and the thorn.
‘To grow you must have both,’ he had once said.
Lettle knew she cherished life all the more for the chaos that had come before.
‘Are you all right?’ Rayan asked as she stood in the doorway of their home.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I really am.’
Alder’s parting words rang out clearly in her mind. ‘Live as you love: fiercely, deeply.’
And she intended to do just that.