The Moonburner Cycle

by Claire Luana

  The moment Kai handed the box to Hiro, light exploded from within.

  It was like standing in a dream. Images emanated from the box, projecting on the stucco ceiling.

  They all stared in slack-jawed awe as they tried to comprehend what they were seeing.

  “What kind of magic is this?” Emi asked, her voice reverential.

  “It’s like scrying for a person…but…they managed to capture it somehow,” Kai said.

  Hiro peered at the image, narrowing his eyes. He turned the box slowly, and the image rotated. It came into focus.

  “I see it!” Kai said. The light portrayed a narrow mountain pass covered with ice and snow. The image showed a treacherous path between two craggy peaks. Above the jagged peaks stretched a starry sky, but it was unlike any sky she had ever seen. Across the blackness stretched a band of vertical green lines dancing and undulating. Like someone had taken a paintbrush and dashed it across the heavens.

  “It’s beautiful,” said Emi.

  “What is this place?” Hiro asked.

  “I do not know,” the elder said. “The box has never opened for me. But I believe it may be where you can find Taiyo. You are his true heir.”

  The elder took the box from Hiro and the image abruptly winked out. They all stood blinking and shaking their heads, a little unsure if it had been real.

  The seishen elder handed the box to Kai again. She took it, examining it, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  “You are not Tsuki’s true heir,” the elder said, not unkindly.

  “That’s preposterous,” Emi said, stepping up next to Kai. “Kai is the daughter of Azura. She is the true queen of Miina.”

  Kai put her hand on Emi’s shoulder to quiet her friend. A sad smile stretched across her lips.

  “No, I’m not.” Kai said.

  “Not what?” Emi and Hiro said together.

  “I’m the daughter of Azura, but I’m not the true queen of Miina. Or Tsuki’s heir.”

  The truth didn’t set her free. Not this time. Seeing the shocked and hurt looks on her friends’ faces made Kai want to crawl inside herself and never come out.

  “Let us sit down as we hear this tale,” the seishen elder said. Was there a touch of…sympathy in its voice? Maybe it felt bad that it had outed her secret.

  “I only found out a few days ago,” she began, sinking gratefully to a cushion. “The day of the earthquake. You may not know this, but I was not my parents’ first child. They had another daughter, Saeko. She failed the Gleaming and was left in the desert to die.”

  A thunderous look passed over Hiro’s face. He hated hearing about the pain his father had caused to so many families through the Gleaming, the cruel test his father had used to expose moonburners just days after birth.

  Kai continued. “They thought she had died, and that was the end of it. But after the earthquake, my mother was treating a moonburner and discovered she bore a birthmark identical to one my sister had had. My mother told me her suspicions. We hadn’t yet confirmed it.” She looked to the chief seishen. “Until now.”

  “Who is it?” Emi asked quietly.

  “Chiya.”

  “Chiya!” Emi exploded. “That would be a disaster! I know what you must be thinking, but you cannot hand over control of Miina to Chiya.”

  “But she’s the rightful heir,” Kai said.

  “Emi’s right,” Hiro said. “Chiya’s come a long way, but she would use the smallest affront as an excuse to resume hostilities with the sunburners. And besides. You’re the queen. You’ve been crowned.”

  “Only because no one knew about her,” Kai said. She struggled to hold back tears. She had never wanted to be queen, never wanted the responsibility. But now, the idea of handing it all over to someone else, to trust them with Miina’s fate… It twisted her inside.

  “There’s no telling if anyone would support her now,” Hiro said. “If you tried to hand over the throne, it could start a civil war. A monarch needs more than just a birthright to rule. She would need allies in the burners and the noble classes, support of the people.”

  “That’s kind of you to say,” Kai said, “but I’ve read the reports. The people hate me right now. They think the natural disasters are my fault! The drought…the earthquake… They’d relish the chance for a new leader.”

  Colum cleared his throat. “Not that anyone asked me, but as I see it, you’ve got bigger fish to fry. You’re gonna need all the burners you’ve got to have any shot at defeating the tengu. You hand Miina’s reins over to this Chiya woman, and you may as well hand humanity over to the tengu.”

  They all looked at Colum in surprise.

  “What? I have thoughts.”

  “As much as I hate to admit it,” Hiro said, looking sideways at Colum, “I agree with Colum. If you want to tell Chiya about this, even though I think it’s a bad idea, fine. But do it after we free Tsuki and Taiyo. We have enough problems as it is without Miina and Kita going to war. We don’t know that Chiya would honor the alliance. Or, frankly, my father. He trusts you, but I don’t know if he would feel bound to the alliance if Chiya is on the throne.”

  Kai looked at the seishen elder, expecting him to object and insist upon the truth. He said nothing.

  “But…we need Chiya. The box should open for her and show us where Tsuki is.”

  “So we give her a half-truth,” Emi said. “Tell her we need her because of who her parents are but don’t tell her exactly who. Say we’re still trying to figure it out. Prophecy and magic and all that. Tell her it’s all very confusing.”

  “I don’t like it.” Kai shook her head. “It doesn’t feel right.”

  “Kai,” Emi said, taking her hands. “Doing what you know is right isn’t always the easy path. When you had to defeat Airi, that was technically treason. But you knew it had to be done.”

  “Yes, but that was to defeat a tyrant who refused to relinquish power. This feels like…I’m becoming one.”

  “You’re nothing like Airi,” Hiro said. “Don’t you see? The fact that we’re even having this conversation proves it. What the people need is you. Not Chiya.”

  Kai hesitated. She felt ripped in two. Could she really live with herself if she lied to Chiya? If she kept from her that she had a mother who loved her, a sister who was a short walk away? But could she truly abandon Miina to Chiya? Kai felt in her gut that Chiya wasn’t the queen Miina needed. At least not now.

  “What do you think?” she asked the elder.

  “The ebbs and flows of the burner monarchy are of little concern to me,” it said. “But I can tell you with certainty that you will never defeat the tengu unless you are united. You are greater than the sum of your parts.”

  Kai nodded, praying her mother would agree to keep the secret a while longer. “I will finish this with the tengu. But as soon as it’s over…” Kai pointed at all of them, meeting each of their eyes in turn. “I will tell her. And let her decide whether she wants to rule or abdicate to me. If she wants to rule, I will throw my support behind her.”

  The others breathed a sigh of relief.

  Quitsu looked at her with a proud nod. She had made the right decision. For now.

  “So it’s settled,” Kai said. “We’ll take the box, Chiya will open the other side, and we’ll find Tsuki and Taiyo and free them.”

  The others nodded.

  “I do not know if I should let you take it,” the elder said. “The box cannot fall into the wrong hands. The burner who delivered it here gave his life to keep it from the tengu and their followers. They must not have it. It is safer here than anywhere in this realm. This island is protected from the tengu by the most powerful magic in the mortal realm.”

  “We need it,” Kai argued. “We need to know where Tsuki is. To free her.”

  “I doubt the wisdom of freeing Tsuki and Taiyo. They fled the spirit world into the mortal world when the tengu attacked, and though they are trapped, at least they are safe. If you free t
hem, who knows what the consequences will be.”

  Kai blew out a frustrated breath, fluttering her hair before her. “That may be true, but if we don’t free them, we know what will happen. The tengu will win. I’ll take an uncertain chance of success over a sure chance of failure any day.”

  “And that is your choice. But I do not know if the box should leave this place. Bring this Chiya here if you must.”

  “We don’t have time for that,” Hiro said. “Things are getting worse. The earthquakes, the fever… We barely made it here as it is. If we wait, who knows if there will be any people left to save.”

  “Please,” Quitsu said, bowing his furry silver body low before the elder. “We will protect it with our lives. But we must take it. Or all may be lost.”

  The elder peered at the little fox with its eerie red eyes. “I could never say no to my seishen. Fine. Take it. But you must take every precaution. You will face many obstacles on your path. The tengu and their followers will do everything in their power to stop you from reaching your destination.”

  “Their followers?” Emi asked.

  Hiro nodded. “Colum told me that the tengu that came after us in the woods were…created.”

  Kai grimaced in dismay. “Created by who?”

  “Since the time of the first split between burners, the Order of the Deshi has lurked in the shadows, sowing seeds of discord on the tengu’s behalf. They have waxed and waned in numbers over the years, but they never disappeared completely,” the elder said. “They have powerful blood magic at their disposal. You will need to be careful.”

  “Feathers here is right,” Colum said. “I tussled with this Order many years ago and almost didn’t survive.”

  “So we have crazed demon-worshipers to contend with too?” Emi said. “That’s great. How are we supposed to know who to trust?”

  Kai’s eyes widened. “Geisa.”

  “Obviously we can’t trust her,” Emi said.

  “No, Geisa must be part of the Order. Airi was too,” Kai said. “This is great!”

  “Maybe you forgot the definition of ‘great’…” Emi began.

  Kai waved her quiet. “No, we have Geisa in custody. She can tell us who the other members are, and then we can take them down before they have a chance to raise more tengu or interfere with us finding Tsuki and Taiyo.”

  “If we can get her to talk,” Hiro said. “But it’s better than nothing.”

  Kai smiled. They had a plan.

  CHAPTER 23

  Dusk fell and her friends filed outside to sleep on the sweet-smelling grass under the great silver-and-gold tree.

  “I need to talk to you,” Kai said softly to Hiro, catching his arm before he slipped out the door of the paneled room where they had eaten. With knowing looks, Ryu and Quitsu disappeared into the warm night air, leaving them alone.

  “I need to talk to you too,” Hiro said. “Who should go first?”

  “Why don’t you?” Kai said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

  Hiro straightened, seeming to brace himself. “You were reckless today. You ran off alone. You could have died. Just like when you ran into the farmhouse with the spotted fever. How I am supposed to keep you alive if you barrel ahead with no concern for your safety?”

  Kai sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly. Yes, this. It was past time that they talked about this. “Two points. First, yes, I made a mistake today, and when I went in the farmhouse. I need to do a better job of taking the measure of a situation before I get in too deep. So thank you, as my betrothed and friend, for keeping me honest, and I expect you to continue to challenge me in that regard. Second, the more important point. You are not my bodyguard. You are not my father. Your job is not to keep me safe. If I have to spend my married life with you coddling me like a nursemaid afraid I might skin my knee, we will not last the year!”

  “Well, if you weren’t almost dying every other day, maybe I wouldn’t have to keep saving you!”

  “I am just as capable of protecting myself as you are, Hiro,” Kai said, pulling the raging white light into her qi and swirling it in an arc around her head. It was a flashy but pointless display, but it set her blood singing and her heart pounding. “You have to stop treating me like a child. Like your ward. It undermines my authority and it drives me crazy.”

  “What am I even here for then?” Hiro hissed. “You don’t need me to watch your back, and you certainly don’t need me to confide in, since you didn’t think to mention that you had a long-lost sister who was the rightful heir to the Miinan throne!”

  “You, lecturing me on keeping secrets?” Kai scoffed. “That’s rich. Coming from the man who is secretly making plans to invade my country.”

  “That’s out of line. Jurou mentioned to me that my father was considering it as a last resort. I defended you and told them I would never agree to it.”

  “You still should have told me,” Kai said, her voice growing quiet. Hot tears pricked in her eyes.

  “And you should have told me,” Hiro said. “If we start keeping secrets from each other, our marriage will be over before it starts. We need to be a team.”

  “I’m on Miina’s team,” Kai said. “And I thought you were too. But maybe that was foolish of me. How could I ask you to choose Miina over Kita? Me over your people?

  “I don’t have to choose,” Hiro said. “It’s not you or them. It’s both. We want the same thing. Destruction of the tengu. Prosperity for our people. Peace.”

  “It’s naive to think that there will never be a conflict. That we’ll never have to choose.”

  “So what, you want to throw away what we have as a preemptive move against some future challenge that may never come?”

  “No. I don’t know,” Kai said, biting her lip. “But I don’t see how we can marry each other if we can’t trust each other.”

  “Then I guess we’re at an impasse,” Hiro said, a thundercloud of emotions playing across his face.

  The tears fell now, leaving slick trails down Kai’s cheeks and neck. “I guess so,” she whispered.

  Hiro turned on his heel and walked out without another word.

  Kai sank down against the stone wall and wept.

  Kai awoke a little before sunrise. She had fallen asleep against the wall, and she stood and stretched, trying to work out the worst of the kinks.

  She poked her head outside. Her friends’ prone forms rested quietly on the grass under the great tree. Was Hiro there too, or had he gone somewhere else to find some solitude? Her heart twisted at the thought of him, of their fight.

  She did need him; he did have a place in her life. And though he drove her crazy with his overbearing protectiveness, she knew she could trust him if it really came down to it. They could work through whatever maze of political and romantic challenges came with their marriage. That is, if she hadn’t ruined everything.

  Her eyes were puffy and sore and her throat was raw from crying. The water of the lake shimmered enticingly, like molten silver in the moonlight. She crossed the grass and sat down next to the crystal pond, leaning forward to scoop some of the water into her cupped hands.

  “Do not,” a voice said.

  Kai froze.

  “That water is not for you.” The seishen elder approached, wings tucked against its back. It settled onto the grass next to her, its strange mix of eagle talons and lion paws flexing into the loamy depths of the soil.

  “Why not?” Kai asked, leaning back.

  “There is something unusual about you,” it rumbled. “I do not know how it will react with the water.”

  “Something unusual?” Kai asked.

  “Yes, it reminds me of…the creator. You smell of him.”

  “I smell of him?” Kai asked, wrinkling her nose. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “To the contrary,” the elder said. “It is an old smell. Like the smell of rain hanging heavy in the air before a storm. A smell of promise. Of things to come.”

  “She said I w
as touched by him,” Kai said, unconsciously fingering the smooth scar on her chest.

  “Who?”

  “Strange things have been happening to me,” Kai confessed. “In the forest…I did something. To the trees. I don’t know what. And one night I woke up in the spirit world and spoke to an ancient Miinan queen. At least I think I did. And I can’t feel the moonlight anymore. I feel something else. Something raw and powerful and old.” She chuckled ruefully. “Or maybe I’m crazy.”

  “No,” the elder said. “Though something is happening to you. Something that stretches the bounds of what a burner’s mind can handle. And if stretched too far, things break.”

  She laid her hand across the handprint on her chest.

  “May I?” the elder said, its long, creamy wingtip curling around to hover over the scar.

  She removed her hand. “All right.”

  The tip of its wing touched her, the feathers a soft tickle against her skin. But that touch was enough. Kai gasped as the scar flared to life in a pulsing throb of white light. Images flashed through her mind, broken bits. Sitting on a sun-drenched patio with a handsome brown-haired stranger. Talk of guardians. A powerful hand connecting with her chest. Falling…falling.

  She sprang up as emotions flooded her, breaking the connection between them. “I remember. I talked to him!” Her breath came in ragged bursts, her heart racing at the newly-discovered memories. “He…said he couldn’t help us.”

  “He is ancient,” the seishen said. “More ancient than me. In some ways I think he is our world itself. I don’t know if he could interfere if he wanted to. It is like an infection. Once it catches hold, the patient is helpless to influence the outcome. The forces in the body will either fight and live, or succumb and die.”

  “So he is going to let his world die?”

  “Your defeat is not unavoidable.” It pointed at her scar. “Perhaps he has already helped you.”

  “With this?” she asked. “I don’t even know what it is.”

  “Think of it as…the light of life. Moonlight and sunlight together mimic it, but it is something more. We are all made of it in small doses. It fuels us. The burners. The seishen. It is the stuff of spirits.”