Cursebound (Faebound, #2)

by Saara El-Arifi

‘Anything beautiful can be a weapon, it all depends on who wields it.’

‘She’ll come back, you know,’ Lettle said with conviction. Furi’s gaze snapped up. ‘That’s what I’m worried about…’

Furi… Sunlight burst across her memories, flushing her skin and making her heart race. For a second, she could smell her, mango juice and the spice of the perfume she wore. Her senses lingered in her memories until she could taste her on her tongue…

‘Please, Salawa,’ Yeeran said softly. ‘Just listen to what I have to say. I have never harmed you, and I never will.’ Salawa’s expression turned hot with anger, but Yeeran staved off the fire with her next words. ‘You are the fire of my heart and the beat of my drum. I am yours under moonlight. Until the rhythm sings no more.’

‘Yes, I think that’s safe to assume.’ Lettle widened her eyes at him, surprised Golan wasn’t yet getting it. ‘You said Bosome cried enough tears to fill a river. Does that not sound similar to you?’ ‘“Once a river flowed”,’ Golan murmured the phrase from Najma’s letter. Lettle jumped up. ‘You said the gods met beneath the tallest tree, right?’

‘Exactly, they cannot kill you – it would endanger Mosima. But they can slight you by killing your consort.’ Rayan’s eyes bored into Furi’s. ‘If they kill Lettle, they kill me.’ Oh, to be loved like that.

‘Now, Yeeran. You are mine,’ Salawa said with a grin. ‘You will lead me to Mosima, whether you wish to or not. Otherwise…you meet the fate you should have met for breaching your exile. Death.’

But Alder thought it was better to be curious and dead than indifferent and alive.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Salawa said against Yeeran’s ear. ‘I’m so sorry for what I’ve put you through. But the other tribes, they see me as a leader. They watch my every step, report back everything they see as a weakness to their chieftains.’ Salawa breathed out slowly. ‘The alliance is more tenuous than I have made it seem. We lost so many soldiers there was nothing I could do but turn to our enemies. To save our people, to make sure Waning survived.’

‘I don’t think I can ever forgive you for what you have done to me these last few weeks, Salawa. But we can at least take the first step.’

She looked at Salawa. The chieftain was framed by the faint moonlight of a cloud-filled sky. For the first time Yeeran saw her in her entirety, not as a lover or a ruler, but a woman whose power had isolated her from everyone she loved. And what Yeeran felt was pity. Her leadership must be tenuous to ask me to keep the ruse up.

The Salawa Yeeran had once loved rippled beneath the surface of the chieftain’s expression for a second and then was gone.

‘Take me to her, Pila.’ Amnan matched the cadence of Pila’s rhythm beside her as they all flew across the Wasted Marshes. I’m coming, Yeeran.

‘Though our embers have faded and your drum grown silent, I will remember the tune of your song, forever more.’ Rayan saluted and Lettle bowed her head but Furi was pointedly looking the other way.

For a moment Yeeran stood between her old lover and her new. One dead, one alive. And one weary heart.

‘I may not know who I was, but I do know who I am.’

Alder frowned. ‘My curiosity is never greater than someone’s privacy, so no, Golan, I will not ask.’

Yeeran’s gaze slipped from Furi’s. Grief had distorted her mind and she couldn’t hold Furi’s stare without seeing Salawa’s dying expression reflected back at her. First, she had been her lover, then her chieftain. Now she was neither.

‘I am yours, until the rhythm sings no more…’ Salawa whispered in her memories. Yeeran pressed her hand to her forehead to still her roiling thoughts before following Furi.

And I wish you had not killed Salawa. The chieftain’s death lay like a splinter between them.

‘She was your old lover, wasn’t she?’ Furi said, her voice emotionless. ‘Yes,’ Yeeran whispered back. The ghost of Salawa slipped under the sheets between them, and Yeeran found herself rolling away from Furi.

‘Yes, things are not quite as…settled…with Furi as I would like.’ ‘Why?’ ‘There are too many unresolved matters.’ ‘Like you leaving?’ Like Furi killing Salawa. ‘Among other things,’ Yeeran said, making it clear she didn’t want to talk about it.

They laughed and some of their worries fled the room. ‘I’ve missed this,’ Yeeran admitted. ‘Just you and I together talking.’ Without Lettle, without Furi.

‘I used to be like you, you know. Loved my books more than people.

It was only when Yeeran buried the body that Furi suspected who the woman had once been to Yeeran. And now Furi had killed her. Tears born of guilt seeped from her eyes and she slammed her fist on the side of the throne, intent on turning her regret into anger. The baobab, solid and unmovable, didn’t quake in the face of her pitiful struggle. Will Yeeran ever forgive me for killing Salawa?

Yeeran knelt in front of Furi and reached for her hand. Her fingers were cool against the flush of Furi’s skin. ‘Though Waning was once my life’s blood, you have become my heart.’

‘Yes, I do,’ Yeeran said, bringing Furi’s hands to her mouth. ‘You are my starlight.’ Furi smiled. She had said the same words to Yeeran all those months ago. If she followed the star gliders’ light, they’d always bring her home. Yeeran was her home.

Rayan’s expression turned determined and he strode from the room. Yeeran was about to do the same, but Furi caught her hand. She brought her fingers up to her lips and kissed them. ‘We’ll find her, Yeeran.’

Omur stood there, his eyes downcast. ‘The Authority is unable to visit until tomorrow, maybe not until the day after.’

What if its Norey?!

Then she stopped, her feet frozen in place as she came face to face with the Authority. ‘Hello, Lettle,’ Norey said.

Callled it

But I asked myself, is it better to survive cursed or to die free? Perhaps, reader, your answer was different to mine, and if so, I only ask for forgiveness. What I did was for the sake of humanity. Remember that in the end.

Alder caught him just before he fell. ‘I have you,’ he said gently. Golan’s blue eyes were full of fear. His lips trembled and Alder had the urge to run his thumb over the swell of the soft skin. ‘I have you,’ Alder repeated, drawing him close until both feet were firmly planted back on the ground.

She didn’t need anyone to save her. She could save herself, she just had to be smart about it.

Lettle laughed. ‘You’re about to kill me and you ask if I hurt myself from falling?’

‘You know I’ll always come for you, sister,’ Yeeran said, and Lettle nodded.

‘Do not speak to me, I will not listen to the voice of a traitor.’ Sahar’s voice rose in volume. Furi was surprised at the strength of his rage, but grief did strange things to gentle people.

Hes in on it too

Furi pecked a kiss onto her cheek. ‘You’re never second, Yeeran, not in my eyes.’

‘You know, Amnan once said that our love is bound by grief. But I think it’s murder that binds us, Yeeran. No matter how hard we try all we do is kill the people we love.’ And with that Furi stepped down from the throne and walked away from the only woman she’d ever truly loved.

‘That’s your problem, you see the good in people, Lettle. Even when there’s no good in them left.’ Lettle took a step back out of precaution and Omur’s eyes danced as he said, ‘You think I’m talking about me, but I was referring to the Jani dynasty. They are corrupt to their core.’

‘Furi and Rayan have no prejudice against the Lightless, you must know that,’ she said. ‘And yet, nothing changes.’

Yep and that’s the issue!!!

Here they were thinking they’d caught the spider in the centre of the web, but all they had done was get caught up in the net. Lettle nodded to the faeguard and Omur was led away. Then she set her shoulders and strode off towards the war room.

It’s the father!!!!!!!!!!! sahar or whatever

‘We should tie you up,’ Golan said laughing. Then he realised what he’d said and looked stricken. Instead of waving away the awkwardness, Alder chuckled and said, ‘Maybe, one day.’

Golan shook his head, giving him permission to remove the artificial leg. Alder always noticed as the day drew on, Golan would begin to favour his right leg. And for what he had in mind, he wanted Golan to be comfortable.

‘You look otherworldly,’ Alder breathed. Golan laughed. ‘You’re the one who’s human.’

Someone threw themselves at Sahar, pinning him to the ground. It took a moment for Lettle to recognise Anyah, the taste tester.

‘There is one other way, Dart,’ Alder said sadly. Dart shook his head and his voice cracked as he said, ‘Don’t.’ ‘I refute the Nomad ways,’ Alder said softly. It was like an ice storm had swept through their conversation. Both Dart and Mia’s faces turned cold as they looked past him as if he no longer existed. ‘I love you both dearly. Know that if I can, I will one day find you again,’ Alder said, his throat thick and hoarse. Dart’s eyes flickered to his for a final time and he nodded almost imperceptibly. Climbing down from the safety of the Nomads’ home was the hardest thing Alder had ever done.

‘But we, Furi, are alive. Don’t walk away from me now. As long as you’re willing to fight for the love we have, I’ll be here, by your side.’ Furi looked at Yeeran’s hand in hers and she said weakly, ‘I’m so tired of fighting.’

Pila translated and Yeeran repeated it. ‘He just said: “The time for the curse to end is fast approaching.” ’

He nodded and she took a deep breath before saying, ‘The second part of it was: But when the waning moon turns, you will grant them their death.’

But, Lettle…you hid something from me, something that was used against me and my family. I…I don’t know if I can forgive that.’