She hurried over and plunged both hands into one of the piles. The grains slid through her fingers with a dry rustling sound.
They felt smooth and surprisingly dense.
Each one was roughly the length of her little finger. Much larger than any wheat grain she remembered from Earth. Warm from the sun.
Real.
On the scale of kingdoms, it wasn't much.
Yet somehow the pile felt more valuable than gold.
A shadow suddenly fell across her.
A large hand reached past her. Wet forest surrounded her.
Silas had stepped up behind her.
As naturally as breathing, her tail curled around his calf.
Mirabelle followed his arm upward with her gaze until she found his golden eyes.
"So this is it?" he asked in his deep, melodic voice.
The lynx female's eyes curved into crescents: "Yeah."
A moment later Kaelith appeared beside her.
His gaze briefly swept over Mirabelle before moving to Silas.
Then his attention settled on the basket.
"So this can supposedly be stored for twenty years?"
