Legacy to Zero

26: Missing Puzzle Pieces

Harlow

The shovel was cold between my hands as I drove it into the frigid soil. With a sigh, I tossed it into the ever-growing pile and placed the blunt edge against my shoes. Dug as far in as the shovel would allow before shooting the dirt off behind me.

"Stop it," Jordan's voice said from behind me. "You're shovelling like you're angry at the earth for existing."

"I am angry." I stamped against the shovel. The metal made a low thunk against a stone, and I forfeited. If the hole wasn't big enough for Revel's bare roots by now, I'd simply have to scream.

Jordan leaned over the ground, his scarf hanging over his shoulders. "Over what? What did the earth do to you?"

In reply, I groaned. He followed me, which only made my annoyance brew further. I kept telling myself I wanted this—I chose this—so it was nobody's fault but my own.

"Nothing," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Gardening is supposed to be relaxing." We came to a halt in front of Revel. For the last while, she'd been rehydrating the plants she wanted to for the next season—mostly fruit trees.

Revel glanced up. "You're not having fun? I can reassign you to another task."

Yeah, right. The other tasks were never as easy. Plus, then I'd have to leave Revel's side, and judging by how close she was watching me, she didn't yet trust me. In all fairness, I wasn't exactly listening to anything she told me.

"It's okay," I said after the pause grew too long. "I can muscle through."

Revel came with us to help spread the roots. We'd separated the topsoil by a piece of cardboard, which meant I could put the bottom soil back with only a few movements. On the second half, Jordan took the shovel and finished the job.

Around us, the strawberry beds were being tended to, whittling stakes for the top-heavy plants, and saving seeds. I prodded my cuticles with my thumb. Just past the garden, sorcerers ran across the field, carting baking supplies and stocking food into the winter cache.

I sighed. Going back to work, I trailed Revel, helping with whichever task she wanted me to. Not that shaking hands and talking to sorcerers was a task. More of a way to show my face around town.

She finally let me head out by midday, with a smile and a reminder that I'd have to keep it up tomorrow.

I went to find my mother instead of going home. She was visiting the open stretch of greenery behind the town, where the shrubs formed a towering cliff-face blocking any path to the outer-cities.

My father's resting place. In the warmer months, it was where the animals came to rest, where the birds nested in the high treetops. Right now, all that was left was magic. Flickering across the frozen ground, the concentric circles ebbed with the breeze like dandelions.

At the centre was my mother, her back to the woods, her voice ringing in the vastness. Talking to magic, to his thread that may still have been there. Anywhere. In front of us, beyond us, within us.

I gave her another few minutes. The cold brushed my nose. While I waited, I broke the calluses over my hands.

Getting to her feet, my mother crossed to me. Her faint smile like the hint of cinders glowing after a doused campfire. "You came." Her eyes wrinkled. So many times, I'd skipped the visits. Especially after showing up late to the ceremony—learning that nothing she said had been true. She was merely a mouthpiece for the Rift's lies, a vessel for them to keep me here.