The Starless Girl

by Liz Delton

  It turned out to be the entrance to an underground library.

  “Years and years ago,” Nesma explained as they descended the stairs into the cool darkness, “the temples were at war with each other. Worse than it is now. Gekkō-ji’s library had been destroyed several times over in the fighting, so the leader of the temple decided to rebuild it in secret, underground. Everyone thought he’d given up on replacing the library, but the books were finally safe.”

  “Well, it worked,” Kira whispered.

  Thousands—perhaps hundreds of thousands—of books stood before her, stacked on shelves taller than a two-story brownstone. She thought it must run the length of the entire temple square.

  Sparkling stones embedded in the ceiling glimmered and danced in the flickering light of the huge stone lanterns along the walls. They looked like glittering stars, winking from the dim stone ceiling high above.

  Her gaze drifted back down to the shelves, some filled with scrolls, others bound books of innumerable sizes and shapes. Several glass cases along one wall protected important or historical scrolls and books. The heavy paper was cracked with age. Several scrolls lay unrolled in the glass cases, so they could be read yet protected. A dark scroll caught her eye. The paper was dark blue with silver writing.

  Kira realized with a jolt that even though it was somewhat dark inside the library, she couldn’t see Light magic glittering in everything. It must be a nighttime thing, she thought, not a darkness thing. She wished she could ask. She was worried about beginning any conversations that might out her as someone who didn’t belong in Camellia. Already she was tired of pretending she was someone she was not.

  They ascended out of the library, and Nesma showed her the inside of the Moonstone. The more academic classes would take place in here, like calligraphy and history and strategy. The Light lesson was held at the very top, on an open-air rooftop which was covered by a wooden pergola.

  The trip to the fighting grounds was up yet another set of stairs outside the temple square, but there was a lesson in progress, so they didn’t stay long. Pairs of trainees practiced different techniques in a dance of whirling staves, the sound of wood clashing together the soundtrack. Kira only got a moment to rest before climbing back down, dragging her feet behind Nesma.

  The sun had fallen below the trees by the time they returned to the courtyard. There were more trainees meandering about as lessons finished. Kira saw boys and girls of all ages, though none younger than her and Nesma. A few even wore light armor and carried small weapons. The dress code was like no school Kira had ever been to. Many carried satchels filled with books, making Kira wonder where she was supposed to buy books in this strange place or how she would buy anything for that matter.

  The girls’ dorm was an L-shaped building tucked in the courtyard’s southeast corner. A few steps led up into the open gallery at the front, which was lit by small lanterns hanging from the ceiling. A pair of girls hurried toward them as they entered the gallery, eager to get to the kitchen house for dinner. They eyed Kira curiously as they passed but kept on chattering about something to do with the sharpness of certain blades.

  Nesma led her down the long gallery, which was lined with doors all along one side. Kira was staring out at the temple grounds on the other side when Nesma turned down a corridor. Kira walked a few feet alone without realizing it then turned back and followed.

  After a few more turns through the interior corridors, a brief stop at the wall of tiny cubbyholes that served as mailboxes for the trainees, and Nesma finally halted at a wood and paper paneled door and slid it open. A small lantern just inside the door illuminated four wooden beds, three of which had trunks at the end. One trunk was open, clothes strewn about the rim.

  The room was simple, large enough for the beds and trunks, and just enough room to walk around them. Sliding panels of wood and paper made up the wall behind the beds, and one of the panels was open, revealing lush green plants outside. Scrolls and scraps of paper with drawings or writing were fixed to the rest of the walls. The bed with the messy trunk had a paper chain of flowers hanging across the headboard.

  “Hana and Michi are the only other two in here,” Nesma explained, flopping down on the bed with the paper flowers. “Oh good, someone brought you a set of bedding. But where’s—didn’t you bring anything with you?” she asked uncertainly, peering around the room for a trunk that Kira did not own.

  Kira felt her face grow red, despite knowing the perfectly good reason why she didn’t have any belongings. But she couldn’t very well tell Nesma that everything she owned was a realm away.

  “I lost them,” she said. It was mostly true. “On the way to the temple.”

  “Oh,” Nesma said, turning a little red herself. “Well, I’m sure that’s no trouble. We should probably get you another set of clothes before dinner, though, so we can have those washed.”

  They both looked down at Kira’s flowing pants and vest, the mauve fabric distinctly marred by her time at the stables.

  Nesma leapt off her bed and went to examine the sliding compartments on the wall across from the beds. “They’ve left you some sleep clothes, though. Why don’t you change into these and I’ll go get you some extra clothes before dinner?”

  Kira nodded and quickly traded her dirty clothes for the softer ones Nesma handed her. When Nesma was gone, she sank onto the trunkless bed with a sigh. Once she sat down, however, she was soon curled up on her side. She couldn’t fight the exhaustion a second longer and fell into a wonderfully deep sleep on her soft new bed.

  Just another new place to live, she thought to herself.

  Chapter Eight

  The Spirit of the Mountain

  Kira woke later in the dark. Or it would have been dark, if Light magic hadn’t been highlighting the dorm room as if coating it in moonlight. Three sleeping figures lay on the beds next to her, their breathing soft and deep. She had never shared a room with anyone before. It was odd to wake in the dark, surrounded by strangers.

  She didn’t know what time she had fallen asleep, but it had been before she could even make it to dinner, she had been so exhausted. What time was it now? Two, three in the morning?

  Silently she peeled back her blankets and tiptoed barefoot around the other beds. The lantern had been extinguished, but she could see perfectly well with Light magic. She didn’t know where she was going but felt a sudden pull to go outside.

  It took several tries and wrong turns, but she finally made it back to the open gallery. She had hardly been paying attention when Nesma showed her the dorms earlier.

  The first thing she saw when she reached the gallery was the cherry blossom tree in the center of the courtyard, shining with so much Light magic that it glowed bright white in the cloud-covered night, illuminating the entire courtyard. Kira came forward to the edge of the gallery and leaned against the railing. She stood there for a long time, gazing at it thoughtlessly, until movement from across the square drew her eye. With her Light magic, she easily saw the person emerge from the Moonstone, heading straight for the temple gate. They wore leather armor and had a helmet tucked under their arm.

  “Anzu?” Kira whispered. The sound carried over the quiet night, and Anzu stopped, looking around for the source of the voice. When she spotted Kira leaning on the gallery railing, she smiled and came closer.

  “You should be asleep,” the warrior whispered. “You’ll have a long day ahead of you.”

  Kira raised one shoulder in half a shrug. “I couldn’t sleep. Today was long, too. Longer than usual.”

  Anzu chuckled quietly. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Where are you going?” Kira asked, resting her chin in her cupped hands.

  “On another quest for Mistress Nari,” Anzu answered, glancing toward the gate. “I slept all day, so I thought I’d head out now while I’m awake.”

  “Oh,” Kira said then, hoping she wasn’t bothering Anzu too much, asked, “What sort of quest is it?”

  “Ho
pefully an easy one,” Anzu replied amicably, leaning back against the gallery railing so that they were both looking out at the cherry blossom tree. “Andesine village is having some trouble with a rogue spirit. It’s easy once you figure out what the people did to anger the spirit, and then you make them stop doing that. Unless it’s one of the more peculiar spirits. Sometimes they’re harder to please.” She shrugged.

  Kira did not know what to say to that. She had no experience with spirits apart from the bridge demon, and she didn’t want to talk about that now.

  “You’re going alone?”

  Anzu nodded. “I don’t have a squire or a page to assist me on quests yet. But I can handle it.”

  Kira smiled, wondering if someday she could be skilled enough to assist Anzu with quests. She stared back into the cool night.

  “Anzu? Is there something special about that tree?”

  “Your mentor didn’t tell you?”

  “No. She told me about everything else, though.”

  A smirk drew up the corner of Anzu’s mouth. “The tree,” she began, “is a monument to all the Light knights who have trained at Gekkō-ji. Each blossom was made by a knight who has passed the final test of honor.”

  “So those are from all the Light knights that ever trained here?”

  “No,” said Anzu. “Those are all the living knights. The blossom falls from the tree, and the energy is dispersed when its creator dies.”

  “There’s so many.”

  “Not as many as there used to be,” Anzu said then pushed herself off the railing. “I had better get going.” She glanced toward the gate.

  “Good luck with your quest.”

  Anzu smiled and said, “Good luck with your training. Now, get to bed,” she ordered quietly.

  Kira obeyed, feeling the pull of sleep again, luring her back to her room with the thought of the soft, warm blankets. The girls were all still asleep, and once Kira made it back to her bed, she immediately drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

  ***

  “Kira,” said a voice close by. For a second, she wondered what Ms. Elm was doing in her room, whispering so closely to her ear. Then she remembered, and her eyes snapped open.

  Nesma was already dressed, and the other two girls were nowhere to be seen, their beds as neatly made as when Kira had first walked into the room.

  “Here, get dressed.” Nesma handed over a new set of clothes, the flowing pants and vest deep green with black trim. “We’ve got to get to combat class—it’s all the way up the north side of the mountain, remember?”

  Kira nodded, barely comprehending. “What about breakfast?” she couldn’t help but ask. Her stomach had not forgotten that she had skipped dinner.

  Nesma pulled an apple out of her pocket. “This is the best I could do. We’ll get a proper breakfast later. It’s just that Master Tenchi makes us train on an empty stomach.”

  Kira took the apple but hesitated.

  “Oh, go on, he’ll never know.”

  Kira’s mouth quirked into a smile, then she took a loud bite. She closed her eyes in bliss then hurriedly got into her new set of clothes as she ate. Lastly, she tied her black sash with her silver badge around her waist and followed Nesma out of the dorm house and across the temple square.

  They were not the only ones heading for the north path. More girls followed them down the gallery, and boys spilled from the dorm house on the opposite side of the square.

  Kira’s palms began to sweat, and she could feel her heart racing. Was she really going to learn how to fight? It might come in useful for her next encounter with Rabenda at least.

  “Is everyone from the temple going to be there?” Kira whispered to Nesma as they fell in behind a group of chattering trainees heading through the gate in the wall.

  “No, just the novices. Did they tell you about the different classes of trainees?”

  “Oh, yes, a little,” Kira replied after a yawn.

  They were climbing the steep steps to the practice grounds now, and Nesma talked in spurts between gasps for air.

  “We’re in the novice class. There’s three different levels. Novice, page, and squire. Most lessons are divided by class. It goes by your skill level.”

  As they reached the end of the path, the surrounding trees parted to reveal an earthy clearing, the dirt packed hard from what must have been hundreds of feet treading upon it daily. Everyone gathered on the low wooden walkway that surrounded the clearing. Kira was glad not to find Rabenda and Kuma among those present, but she did spot Hikaru, and Nesma led the way toward her mentor.

  Hikaru grinned at them. “Get enough sleep?” he asked Kira.

  She nodded and tried to smile back, but her mouth wasn’t working quite right at the moment—an older gentleman with shoulder length salt-and-pepper hair had just entered the clearing. Kira’s first lesson was about to begin. She took a sharp breath in through her nose and straightened her shoulders.

  All conversation died away, and the assembled class gave the man a bow.

  Master Tenchi bowed back. No one spoke, no one moved. The Master walked sedately toward the other end of the clearing, where three large stones stuck up from the ground. Then he turned to face them again. He called several names that Kira missed, but the final one was, “the new novice.”

  Nesma tugged on Kira’s arm and led her into the center ring. Was Kira going to have to do something in front of all the novices?

  But no: the other novices had also moved at Master Tenchi’s words. The ones not chosen headed off to other practice rings that Kira now saw scattered throughout the trees. They were nothing more than circles of hard-packed dirt, divided up by the maze of wooden walkways. It sort of reminded Kira of a ropes course she had been to on a school trip, without the harnesses, ropes, or helmets.

  Now Kira stood in front of Master Tenchi. The others stood beside her, arranged into two rows spaced evenly apart from one another. Kira had luckily ended up in the back row, with Nesma on her right and Hikaru on her left. Nesma busily tied her hair at the nape of her neck, and Kira did the same, glad she still had her hair elastic. Probably the only hair elastic in the entire realm.

  The Master’s salt-and-pepper hair was tied back as well, revealing his wrinkled and sun-worn face. A deep scar ran down his left cheek, a ragged line as thick as Kira’s wrist. He wore nondescript black pants and a black jacket that fell past his waist, tied with the silver sash of a Master. Despite his wrinkles, he looked fit enough to run a marathon, Kira thought.

  “Your name?” Tenchi called out in his gravelly voice.

  Kira jumped. She had no doubt he was speaking to her. Her stomach clenched. “Kira Savage,” she tried to say in a confident voice, somewhat failing.

  “Savage,” he repeated slowly. “Your advancement at this temple is dependent upon your performance in this lesson, in addition to Light magic. I expect you to take it seriously. I will not stand for horseplay, nor tardiness, nor disrespect. Do you understand?”

  Kira nodded, her throat tight. “Yes, Master Tenchi.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her for a brief moment, and then they began.

  ***

  Finally, when Kira’s limbs felt like limp noodles, Master Tenchi called for them to stop. The last hour had been a blur. She had been so intent on following Master Tenchi’s commands, she hardly knew what she was doing. She was almost dizzy when she stopped, after the constant and calculated movements Master Tenchi showed them. Kira was surprised that most of what they practiced wasn’t actually what she considered to be fighting. It was more like dancing. When the noise of the others practicing subsided, Kira could hear the faint sound of a bell coming from the temple grounds.

  Instead of making for the trail back to the temple, however, all the students turned where they stood and faced Master Tenchi. Each offered him a bow, and Kira swiftly followed suit. Master Tenchi calmly bowed to the class as one. This signaled the chaos that Kira had expected after the bell had rung—students rushed to grab their
bags, caught up with friends, and beelined for the trail head.

  Kira turned to Nesma, glad that she had someone to show her where to go. Nesma, however, was having hurried words with her mentor. Hikaru shook his head and muttered something in her ear. He turned and gathered up his bag from under the nearest walkway.

  Nesma turned toward Kira and said, “We’ve got kitchen duty before breakfast, I’m afraid.”

  Kira shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

  They waved goodbye to Hikaru as he hurried off after Michi and Hana, who Kira had finally met as they traded blows with one another on Master Tenchi’s orders.

  Master Tenchi had disappeared from the training grounds, but a few novices stayed behind, still practicing. They had staves made of Light energy, which flashed so swiftly that the trainees who wielded them were encased in blurs of light. Kira wondered when she would get to fight with Light magic.

  “Well, there’s a bit of a problem, actually,” Nesma said. “Rabenda’s doing kitchen duty this month too.” She grimaced.

  “Oh,” Kira replied. “Well, if there’s nothing we can do…” She shrugged. After all the different schools back in her own world, Kira knew that bullies were everywhere and not just in school. Learning how to ignore them had saved her a lot of trouble.

  “No, there isn’t anything we can do,” Nesma said sadly. “Novices are assigned chores on a monthly basis, no exceptions. Once we’re pages, we can request what we want, and squires mostly get out of chores entirely because they’re off on quests with the knights—or they get assigned guard duty.

  “But Miss Mayu is in charge of the kitchen house—so I don’t think Rabenda will try anything. You’ll just have to try not to provoke her—we’re not supposed to use Light magic outside of training.”