Page 41 of The Witch who Trades with Death

Chapter Forty-One

The inn was flooded with well-wishers. Many of them, ironically, gave Heimili food rather than the other way around. The Poison Dart Frogs were there the entire time; Neta and Lueti rescued the family several times from over-bearing well-wishers who talked for too long. Sava and Athicha both made an appearance, giving Haz a big hug and staying by his side.

Khana watched mostly from the corner. This wasn’t her loss, not really. Amati’s death didn’t deliver the pang in her chest that Guma and Sita’s did. She spent the time watching Haz and Heimili and breathed easier throughout the day as she saw how fiercely everyone cared about them, not letting them be alone.

If only Yamueto was as accommodating. They got the orders to march out the next day.

Khana sat in the dark, shadowy spirit realm. Death approached, and after a beat, sat down across from her. Their multi-colored dress was darker than usual. Somber blues and grays.

“Where did she go?” Khana asked.

“I can’t tell you,” Death replied apologetically.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know. There are thousands of different afterlives out there. Damnations, paradises, reincarnations, nothingness… it all depends on the person, and the universe and world in which they lived. I don’t decide any of that. I simply take the souls to where they need to go.”

Khana wrapped her arms around her middle. “Did she at least… go somewhere good?”

Death’s pitch-black eyes were endlessly kind. “I have seen millions of souls like hers. They rarely wind up anywhere bad.”

Khana tried to draw some comfort from that thought. “Is it wrong that I… don’t miss her?”

“You barely knew her,” Death pointed out. “In cases like this, it’s not the dead that need to be mourned and looked after, but the living they leave behind.”

That was what Khana mourned. Not Amati, though she was sad to see her go and was grateful for all she’d done. But the impact her death was having on Heimili and Haz. They had cried for hours.

Khana had offered to bring her back, but Haz shook his head, reminding her that Amati had expressly forbidden it. They’d burned the body, getting rid of any and all temptation.

“She should’ve been immortal. Not Yamueto,” Khana muttered.

“That was not her choice,” Death said. “You can’t have life without me. I am the price you pay for your time in the physical world, and your relief from it.”

Khana nodded. “I wished for you, back at the palace.”

“I know,” they said. “And now?”

She shook her head. “I’m not ready.”

“Good.”