Page 22 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

“I’m sorry your—ehm, m’lady.”

I cocked my head at her formality. “Sorry for what? I’m the one owing an apology.” My gaze lingered on Dane’s bruised body. Bandages covered half his head. Large and small cuts, all sparkling with a fresh coat of salve, decorated his arms.

I shifted foot to foot at the threshold of the tent. “Is he—did I…” I nearly choked on bubbling guilt. “Will he be all right?” I asked, my question more of a plea.

“Yes, m’lady. He was caught beneath some rubble after, er, the Earth split. But it seems the boulders pinned him in such a way that protected his vitals. What luck for two boulders to fall precisely against one another—as if to prevent the other from crushing him? Almost… holding each other up. We Witchesaren’t easily broken, you know. He gave us healers a run for our monies, but nothing we couldn’t handle in the end.”

My face heated with shame, regardless of whether my power or luck had protected Dane from the falling debris. But the healer’s voice was soothing. I sensed she was much older, for her foggy gray eyes told a different story than the rest of her appearance. They weren’t quite sad, but they were heavy with a weariness that is only earned.

“May I sit?” I asked. “Only if it would not bother you.”

“Oh no, I’d love the company. Youarethe talk of the camp anyhow, a celebrity. My fellow healers would scorn me if I didn’t take the opportunity to investigate the newcomer,” she winked at me.

I sat in the chair opposing hers. I knew the healer meant her words in humor, but I still felt she told the truth; if I shared something interesting, word would get out. A wave of exhaustion passed over me, and I let my head rest on the back of my leathery perch until it tilted upwards, my eyes unfocused on the canvas ceiling.

“What’s your name? I presume you know mine, since I’m so famous.” My words came out with more of an edge than I intended. It had been a long day.

“Sanah,” the girl replied smoothly.

“Sanah,” I repeated, turning her name over in my mouth. “What is the origin?”

“It is Nebbiolon, and not a terribly uncommon one at that. I believe the word for it is dew.” She paused, cocking her head in thought. “Specifically, it would translate to the condensation that is left after the fog rolls in.”

“It’s pretty.” I couldn’t think of more to say.

We were silent for a moment, and I blew out a breath. “Nebbiolo, Drakkar, Viribrum. All these places that are supposedly my heritage, all I’ve never heard of.” I sat up, someenergy returning with my percolating thoughts. “How is that possible? Before all this, I focused on my studies, and I read voraciously. I read more fiction than not, yes, but my geography wasn’t awful. I haveneverseen those places on a map,neverread about some… princeling or adventurer finding their way there. Nor have I heard of the Fae or Witches beyond fables. How?”

Sanah leapt to her feet, and began rummaging around Dane’s tent.

“What are you doing?” I asked, not bothering to move from the chair. “Wouldn’t Dane object to you tossing over his belongings?”

“In my professional opinion, no he would not,” Sanah smiled to herself in a way that made me feel like I wasn’t in on the joke.

“Ah, here!” She slid a dressing cabinet ajar and pulled a long tube of parchment from behind it. “I knew he had a map lying around.”

Sanah knelt on the ground, smoothing the parchment out before her, using a few odds and ends, a rock here, a bottle of herb liquid there, to weigh down the corners. I crouched beside her. The map was certainly not one I had ever studied. It looked like a version of the one I knew, but much, much larger, with my version shrunk and shoved west. The familiar piece was warped somehow, squeezed narrower.

“There.” She pointed to a small illustration of hills in the upper left corner of the map. “You know these well, the Argen hills. And there, there is Argention.”

My chest tightened and then went vacant as my fingers brushed against the spot. I bit the inside of my lip to keep the heat from my eyes. Home. So much smaller than I’d ever thought.

“These are the human lands you know of; see the Kingdoms of Teyzen, Laharam, and Salamiere.” She showed me with atrace of her fingers. “And there. You know these mountains, don’t you?”

“Yes,” I breathed. “The Adimon Mountains. After those…” I trailed off, furrowing my brow at the continuing depiction of land. “Where is the Endless Ocean?”

“The Endless Ocean is what human eyes see looking east from the Adimon range.”

What human eyes see… meaning?—

I blinked. “It’s… a glamor?”

Her brows peaked, encouraging. “Yes. A glamored barrier to keep the human and magical realms separate. If a human were to cross it, they’d become confused and face a strong desire to return home. No one knows when it was created, though there are myths and fables that claim its origin.”

“And it’s always been this way? Separate lives—worlds—for the Fae and Witch from humankind?” I whispered, the reality of just how little I knew about my world washing over me.

“As far back as my grandmother can remember, yes. You have never crested those mountains, at least not in your human life, I take it?”

“I scarce ever left Argention.”

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