He blinks and leans over his knees, finally looking as dizzy and drained as I feel. “Are you duly impressed?” he asks through panting breaths.
I don’t answer because I don’t have a clue what I’m feeling. Watching him move the earth was supposed to confirm the wrongness of his power and reveal Earth Mother’s resistance. But instead of certainty, a cold lump of dread is settling in my stomach.
Don’t let him distract you! Keep your focus on blood, flesh, and bone,Rowenna reminds me. But her voice sounds weak and far away again. Perhaps because we’re so far underground?
“Well?” Alaric asks, “What do you think?” He holds out his hands and flashes a confident grin, but it doesn’t conceal the yearning in his voice, the desperation in his eyes for a scrap of approval.
“It’s incredible,” I whisper with unabashed awe. “Is it safe to enter?”
Alaric huffs out a breath. “Of course it’s safe. Did you forget this is myjob?”
I roll my eyes and slip inside.
The new tunnel is small, barely higher than my head. Colder and darker, too, lit only by the light leaking in from the cavern. It even smells different—like the mineral tang of wet rock and something oddly floral. The smell gets stronger as I leave Alaric’s tunnel and enter a wider cavern that must be the old shaft Alaric mentioned. The walls here look rough and ragged, all but stripped of silver ore, but when I brush my fingers across the stone, it’s strangely warm and velvety soft. I snatch my hand back with a gasp.
“Please tell me you haven’t hurt yourself already,” Alaric calls from the mouth of the tunnel. “Wait there. I’m coming to get you.”
I ignore him and bring my fingers to my nose, sniffing the soft fuzz clinging to my fingertips.
“Are yousmellingthe walls?” Alaric asks as he rounds the corner.
Again, I ignore him and inhale deeply, shivering with excitement when I finally place the light floral scent.
“It’s goblin’s gold! The walls of this old shaft are covered in a thin layer of goblin’s gold,” I say.
“Goblin’swhat? If you’re trying to convince me there are monsters down here—”
“It’s bioluminescent moss!” I cut him off. “One of the only plants capable of growing in extremely low light. But this tunnel is almosttoodark. It’s barely surviving.”
Alaric blinks at me for several long seconds. “Why should I careabout moss?”
“Because it’s the answer to all of your problems!”
“Our mines don’t have problems.”
“Watch.” I burrow my fingers into the sparse growth and close my eyes, allowing Earth Mother’s power to flow through me and into the moss. Within minutes, a thick layer of goblin’s gold has spread across the tunnel walls and ceiling, shining a bright golden green. Perfectly illuminating Alaric’s dumbfounded expression.
“When properly nourished, it glows!” I say with a triumphant wave. “It’s more than bright enough to light your tunnels, which means you wouldn’t need to rely on hazardous open flames at all. And you could excavate the strains of silver ore you’re currently using to reflect light.”
Alaric peers at the glowing ceiling, his sharp cheekbones and strong jawline awash in the ethereal glow. “It’s beautiful,” he whispers. “And it’s been down here all this time?”
I nod. “It just needs a bit of help to thrive so far below the surface. But that’s simple enough. I could visit the mines every few days to nourish the moss and—”
“You’d do that?” Alaric’s voice is laced with skepticism. “You’dwillinglyassist our mining operations?”
NO!Rowenna shouts.
But I bob my head, certain my sister will change her tune once she understands the breadth of my plan. “I would be happy to nourish the moss so long as the outcome benefits Tashir too,” I tell Alaric.
“And how would it do that?” he asks.
“I want a percentage of the additional silver ore you’re able to extract as a result of using goblin’s gold for light.”
Alaric’s mouth pinches. “What need do farmers have for silver ore? Your people don’t wear jewelry or finely embroidered clothing.”
“Maybe wewouldif we had access to such luxuries,” I retort, though I can’t imagine my people caring about silver-buttoned trousers orluxurious blouses that will only make us sweatier. But theywouldbe interested in the supplies I could purchase from the isles across the sea with my own allotment of silver.
“I don’t plan to keep my portion,” I explain to Alaric. “I would use it to purchase new plows and tools. We’re in desperate need of younger, stronger animals and higher-grade feed, as well as stores of dried food to sustain us through lean harvest years. If I had a stake in these mines, I could use my profits to import everything my people need.”
