“But we won't let anything bad happen to you if you're with us,” Deebi continues. “You would be safe here.”
“A bird in a cage is also safe,” Shay gently insists. “But it can never put its wings to use and fly. Surely, some of the human memories you've seen have been good. Even beautiful?”
Deebi grumbles a begrudging concession.
“I cannot promise to stay forever.” Shay reaches over and takes Deebi's gnarled hand in hers. “I won't lie to you. But I can tell you that when I leave, I'll always come back.”
Deebi seems to ponder this, as though perhaps he didn't realize there could be a third option besides her staying forever or leaving forever. And Shay understands the tendency to think that way. Perhaps the minds of monsters and humans are not so different, after all.
Khawla comes up beside Shay, the sack strapped to her back. She clears her throat.
Deebi blinks, then focuses on Khawla. “I—um—I'll give you two a moment, then.”
Shay turns to Khawla, gripped by the same sense of finality she just tried to assuage in Deebi. The fear that leaving means forever. Tears flash to her eyes,but if she expects the bone-eaters to be able to say goodbye, she supposes she must do the same. “Where will you go?”
“Don't worry. My parents will be more than glad to see me.” Khawla squeezes Shay against her in a sideward hug to accommodate her heavy baggage. She lowers her voice to a whisper. “I'll come back, when the brothers are out.”
“But Aidi—”
“Doesn't need to know.” Her friend smiles gently. “Whatever truth you will learn from them, you will not be left to bear it alone for long.”
“Thank you,” Shay says, and in all her life, she has never felt so supported.
20
From the peaks of Umm Chanala, to the underwater caves of Chefrika, How pleasant is this land we know.
From the winding alleys of our blue diamond to the shining palace of our capital, How beautiful is this land we know.
Oh, sweeping sands of desert places, oh, glittering waves of the horizon, There is no more beautiful place to be.
Mekchaouen, we love and pray for thee.
Rulers rise and fall, some are just and some are evil, But the land remembers, the earth embodies the Creator's will.
When signs come from near and far,
When change is written in the stars,
The mountains will sing, the forest will rejoice,
People of faith will declare with one voice,
There is no more beautiful place to be!
Mekchaouen, we love and pray for thee!
—official anthem of the realm of Mekchaouen
Shay isn't sure what Deebi says to his brothers, but it he gets them to agree to her request. That night, she gives Aidi the address of Ghita's apartment. They'll go there first and familiarize themselves with her scent, to help with locating her grave in case it's unmarked.
“We will tell you what we have learned when we return,” the elder brother says, as the bone-eaters don their coats in preparation for their journey.
Shay frowns. She supposes it makes sense for them to perform the act at the graveyard, or wherever it is they normally conduct that aspect of their affairs. But something about it feels wrong. “Do you think you could bring her back instead?”
Deebi looks up from his bootlaces in surprise. “You want us to consume the body here?”
“I just …” Shay thinks she may never be able to accept that Ghita is gone if she doesn't see her one last time. “Want a chance to say goodbye.”
