Lintang and the Brightest Star

by Tamara Moss

  The guardian earth provided them with root vegetables it dug from the ground. They didn’t dare make a fire, so they had them raw. Lintang still couldn’t see the Disgraced God from their position on the mountain, but she knew it had to be out there somewhere.

  She forced herself not to think about it, and gazed across the island instead. The view from here was spectacular. The rolling hills that had taken them so long to trek through looked small and unassuming. The ocean sparkled in the distance, and smoke curled sleepily from the port town beneath a watery blue sky.

  ‘We should get going,’ Yamini said once they’d had breakfast. ‘We’re not going to catch the others if we hang around.’

  Lintang joined her as she stalked up the incline. Yamini had been sullen and anti-social ever since the mud monsters. When Lintang had tried to thank her for coming back to help, Yamini had brushed the gratitude off. Now she ignored Lintang as they walked side by side.

  ‘I don’t understand you,’ Lintang said.

  Yamini didn’t answer. She powered on, using her staff for assistance.

  Lintang tried to glimpse her expression beneath the shaggy mop of hair. ‘Do you like me? Do you hate me? Why do you save our lives one day and insult us the next?’

  She got no response for a time. Behind them, the guardian earth put Bayani in its ribcage and Pelita on its shoulders. The ground trembled as it walked up the slope.

  ‘It’s complicated,’ Yamini said at last.

  ‘If you want to be my ally, you’re going to have to be nice.’

  Yamini huffed, her breath steaming in clouds. ‘Where I come from, being nice is a weakness.’

  ‘You mean Zaiben?’ Lintang remembered what Captain Shafira had told her. ‘Are you talking about when you were leader of that thieving ring?’

  ‘My life was a game of knowing who was on your side and who wanted to kill you. Sometimes that changed daily. If you trusted people, you either ended up poor or dead.’

  ‘But you’re not in Zaiben anymore. You can trust us.’

  ‘Like Zinto trusted Qourees?’

  ‘You know none of the crew would ever turn on you.’

  ‘How can you be sure? I turned on them.’

  ‘You made a mistake.’

  Yamini scoffed. ‘It wasn’t a mistake. It was a deliberate choice that put the captain in danger.’ She licked her chafed lips. ‘It was easier in Zaiben. Sure, anyone would betray me if they got the opportunity, but at least I knew where I stood.’

  Lintang had never heard anything so sad. How could Yamini think she was better off in a situation like that?

  ‘What about your family?’

  ‘I don’t know who my family are.’ Yamini held out her hand. ‘My skin is darker than everyone in Zaiben, which is the reason I know I’m only part-Vierzan. I don’t know what the other part is. Mense, maybe. My aunt – carer – whoever it was – she traded me off when I was seven, and I worked the thieving rings ever since.’

  ‘That’s awful!’

  Yamini checked behind them, maybe to make sure Bayani and Pelita were out of earshot. ‘No. I was respected there. Respected and feared. And I was wealthy.’

  Lintang absently touched the pendant holding her sunstone. ‘But you chose to stay on the Winda anyway. Even after being sentenced to cabin girl.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Yamini. ‘I did.’

  Sorrow tinged the air between them.

  ‘She never forgave me,’ Yamini whispered.

  Lintang looked at her.

  ‘For my betrayal. Captain Shafira never forgave me.’

  Lintang increased her pace. Two days, two days, two days.

  ‘She will. We’ll get her back, and I’ll tell her all the good things you’ve done. Then she’ll have to forgive you.’

  It was almost night. Lintang and Yamini had fallen behind the guardian earth, who seemed to feel no weariness. Lintang was sure her feet were about to fall off, but she was painfully aware that tomorrow was the tenth day, and if they didn’t get to the Disgraced God before the end of it, their chance to save the captain was over.

  It was quiet in the forest. The trees were different here. They were tall and straight, with ordered branches and leaves like needles. The fallen, dead foliage made a funny crackle under their boots. There was no undergrowth. There were also no birds, or insects, or other animals that Lintang could see. The only sound was a musical note that swept through the leaves, a low tone that reminded Lintang of Quahah’s wooden flute.

  ‘This is eerie,’ Lintang said in a hushed voice.

  ‘It’s just the wind,’ Yamini said.

  ‘Where are all the animals?’

  ‘The lo fali-air’s probably scared everything away.’

  The guardian earth stopped suddenly and growled. Lintang and Yamini hurried forward.

  ‘It’s all right,’ Bayani was saying from the ribcage. ‘They’re friends too. They won’t hurt me.’

  Xiang, Eire, Mei and Kona were ahead, weapons drawn, gaping at the guardian earth.

  ‘Vuu-Vuu!’ Pelita clambered down from the guardian earth’s shoulders and raced to throw herself into Kona’s arms. Poor Kona’s lips and fingers were blue, since he’d given his coat to Zinto.

  ‘How in all of Ytzuam …?’ Mei said, staring at the guardian earth.

  ‘Long story,’ Bayani said.

  ‘It’s safe, though.’ Lintang smiled at Xiang. ‘And it means we can be here to help.’

  Xiang turned away.

  Pelita kissed Kona’s cheek noisily, then pulled back with her nose crinkled. ‘Your skin is cold.’

  ‘We want to make fire, but we cannot,’ Eire said.

  ‘There are two vigil scouts ahead,’ Mei said. ‘The forest ends and there’s one narrow path up the mountain. The vigil will see the smoke.’

  ‘Kona will not survive night without fire,’ Eire said.

  Mei shot him a grumpy look. ‘And he won’t take any of our coats.’

  ‘I said we kill vigil but Xiang does not agree.’ Eire glared at Xiang. ‘She is friends with them.’

  Lintang took several heartbeats to absorb this. Xiang, friends with vigil?

  Xiang lowered her gaze. Her hair was out, falling like black silk over her shoulders. ‘They were in the elite unit with me.’

  Her words sparked a memory, of Lintang standing on the rooftop of Parliament House in Zaiben with Governor Karnezis. He had seen Xiang and called out to her – Xiang of the Elite Vigil Unit, is that you?

  Lintang had been too busy worrying about dying to take much notice at the time, but it had always been in the back of her mind that Xiang was once a vigil. How had she ended up weapons master of the Winda?

  ‘I still have a couple of sleeper darts in my pouch,’ Xiang said. ‘It’ll take them out for the night –’

  ‘And then we have two extra vigil to deal with later.’ Eire pointed her khwando up the mountain. ‘How many more does Governor have up there?’

  ‘Let me find out. I’ll go over, say hello, see what kind of protection the governor has, and we’ll have the advantage.’ Xiang spoke stiffly. She and Eire didn’t agree on much, but this trip they’d been particularly snappy at each other.

  Kona, who was still carrying Pelita, said, ‘You have a bounty on your head for treason. You think they’re just going to let you say hello?’

  ‘Yes,’ Xiang said. She turned to Eire. ‘Let me try.’

  Eire considered it for some time before saying, ‘They attack you, I kill them.’

  ‘Fine. Wait here.’

  Eire watched Xiang stalk through the forest before saying quietly to Lintang, ‘Follow her.’

  Lintang was happy to obey. She didn’t like that Xiang was sticking up for the vigil. She didn’t like that Xiang was once a vigil in the first place.

  She moved lightly across the forest floor, trying to make as little noise as possible on the crackly leaves. When the forest petered out, Xiang left the cover of trees and headed up the rocky path, where two vigil sat on
a boulder, rugged up and chatting. One was a tall, lean man. The other was a short woman. Both leaped to their feet as Xiang approached.

  ‘Xiang?’ the woman said.

  Lintang ducked behind a tree to watch.

  The man raised his crossbow. ‘Don’t take another step.’

  ‘Hello, Opaya,’ Xiang said to the woman. She looked at the man. ‘Salish.’

  ‘Put that stupid thing away, would you?’ Opaya said to Salish. ‘It’s Xiang.’ She hurried forward. ‘How are you, newbie?’

  ‘I don’t think you can call me that anymore,’ Xiang said, clasping Opaya’s arm in greeting.

  ‘We could never call you that, really,’ Opaya said with a snort. ‘You came to the unit more skilled than any of us. And you never did tell us where you learned it all.’

  Salish didn’t lower his weapon. ‘Stop chatting to her like that. There’s a bounty on her head.’

  ‘Obviously,’ Opaya said. ‘She was undercover. That was the whole point, wasn’t it? To take down the pirate queen?’ She clapped Xiang on the shoulder. ‘There was talk a few years ago that you’d been killed and I cried every day for a month. What’d you go scaring me like that for, newbie?’

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Unlike Opaya, Salish’s voice was laced with suspicion.

  ‘I did my part in taking down the pirate queen, didn’t I?’ Xiang said coolly. ‘I came to collect my reward. Karnezis owes me after all the years and effort I put into my assignment.’

  Opaya nudged her. ‘Five whole sunstones, wasn’t that the deal?’

  ‘Why didn’t you just kill her in her sleep?’ Salish said.

  ‘Because she was protected by the lightning bird, you gnome,’ Opaya said. ‘Xiang had to figure out how to take that down first.’

  ‘Was a long, hard job, believe me,’ Xiang said with a laugh.

  Lintang’s fingers curled into fists. Every mention of Captain Shafira was a stabbing pain in her chest. And Xiang sounded convincing.

  Very convincing.

  Lintang trusted Xiang, but something didn’t feel right. Out of all of them, Lintang had always thought Xiang was closest to the captain, and yet she’d showed no sign of grief these past ten days. Why was that?

  ‘Am I going to get this interrogation from every vigil I pass on the way up?’ Xiang said. ‘How many times will I have to repeat myself?’

  Opaya cackled. ‘Oh, at least –’

  ‘– ten,’ Salish finished smoothly. ‘You’ve got ten more to get through. Good luck with that.’

  Opaya gave him a strange look before turning to Xiang again. ‘And Karnezis has gone a little mad in his cave.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I think controlling the mythie has done something to his mind.’

  ‘He’s got some Curall just in case, though, right?’

  Opaya shrugged. ‘Maybe one vial left. There were a couple of fyredragons living up here we had to medicate when we first arrived. Most of our supply is gone.’

  ‘Good enough for me.’ Xiang moved to head up the path, but Salish stepped forward. He hadn’t lowered his crossbow.

  ‘I don’t think so, Xiang.’

  ‘Salish,’ Xiang said. ‘It’s all right. Really. I had to be convincing enough to get the pirate queen to trust me.’

  ‘How do I know you haven’t fallen so deep undercover you began to believe your own lie?’

  ‘You’ve read too many stories,’ Xiang said. She tried to move around him, but he moved with her.

  ‘They are going to attack.’

  Lintang jumped at the quiet voice. She hadn’t even heard Eire come up behind her.

  Eire thumped her khwando against her palm. ‘We kill them.’

  ‘Wait,’ Xiang said to Salish. Her fingers moved subtly to her pouch. ‘I just have something to say.’

  Lintang held her breath.

  Xiang moved swiftly – in a blur of movement she’d withdrawn her blowpipe and shot a dart at Salish, then Opaya. Both of them staggered. The crossbow went off, missing Xiang and thudding into a tree near Lintang.

  ‘I knew it,’ Salish wheezed. ‘I knew you had betrayed us.’

  Opaya looked like she’d been stabbed. ‘Why …?’

  Both fell to the ground, unconscious.

  Xiang turned to Lintang and Eire, as if she had known they were there the whole time. ‘Start the fire,’ she said, tonelessly. ‘And don’t complain when I put these two next to the heat to keep them alive overnight.’ She pulled Opaya’s arm around her shoulder to carry her. ‘They were my friends, after all.’

  Later that night, it was so cold Lintang could no longer feel her fingers. It didn’t stop Yamini from coming at her with all she had. Lintang blocked a bone-shuddering attack with her branch and spun away before Yamini could try again.

  Yamini moved fast; Lintang only had time to defend, not attack.

  ‘You’re a quick learner,’ Lintang said.

  ‘Or maybe I just have a good teacher,’ Yamini said dryly.

  ‘Oh yes, I’m sure that’s it.’

  Surprisingly, Yamini laughed. Lintang laughed too. Yamini had been slightly less abrasive since their talk about her past. She’d even given Pelita some of her roasted vegetables that evening during dinner. She’d claimed it was because the vegetables were disgusting and she couldn’t eat them, but Lintang was well aware that they were all so hungry none of them cared about the taste.

  Lintang struggled to find an opening to deal her own blow. It didn’t help that she was exhausted. She would much rather be huddled by the fire right now, listening to Pelita’s little snores while she tried to get some rest before the important day tomorrow. But Yamini had insisted on another training session, so here they were again, duelling in a clearing further down the mountain where the others couldn’t hear. The guardian earth had grunted softly when they’d crept away, but it hadn’t stopped them. Its focus was on Bayani’s safety. Lintang had never been so glad to be out of Curall before, even though it made her as bad as the governor, or Qourees with her fyredragons, to use a mythie for her own gain.

  ‘Hey,’ she said when Yamini finally pulled back, giving them a chance to catch their breaths. ‘When did Captain Shafira find out Xiang was a spy?’

  ‘Why don’t you ask me yourself?’

  Lintang and Yamini spun around as Xiang moved out of the shadows and into the moonlight. She smiled tightly at their expressions.

  ‘You think I haven’t noticed you two sneaking away every night? How much faith do you have in my skills?’

  ‘This isn’t against the rules,’ Yamini said. ‘I’m not using a weapon from the ship, and you’re not teaching me anything. Captain Shafira –’

  ‘– is no longer in charge,’ Xiang said. Her voice was mild. ‘Her rules don’t apply. Right?’

  Yamini and Lintang swapped glances.

  Xiang continued towards them. ‘So ask me, Lintang. Whatever you’d like to know.’

  Lintang lowered her branch. ‘Who are you? Really?’

  ‘Xiang of the Elite Vigil Unit.’ Xiang drew her sword and swung at Lintang, who almost didn’t react in time. The blade jolted against her branch. ‘Trained by the Fallen Philosophers in the Jhazi Mountains where I learned how to fight using shika, then returned to Zaiben when I was sixteen to be with my father after my mother died. He didn’t want me, so I joined the Vigil Academy instead. Became the youngest recruit ever to make it into the elite unit. My first solo assignment was to gain the pirate queen’s trust. Our intelligence officers knew she had come to Zaiben, so I found her and acted as a discharged vigil, impressing her enough with my skills to gain an invitation aboard the Winda. I was a double agent, pretending to be turning on the UR when really I was planning to turn on the captain.’

  She rained blows on Lintang as she spoke, but unlike Yamini’s heavy, violent swings, Xiang’s were quick and sharp. Yamini ran in to help and Xiang fought off both of them.

  ‘Everyone on the ship believed in me,’ Xiang continued. ‘For a long while I thought the capt
ain did too. She took me on board and showed me respect I didn’t deserve. She was kind, and honourable, and honest, and it didn’t take me long to see she wasn’t the pirate queen the governors claimed she was.’

  Yamini tried to swing her staff, but Xiang caught it and yanked it from Yamini’s hands. Now she had both the staff and her sword to fight Lintang.

  ‘I discovered Captain Shafira was under the protection of the lightning bird and found myself relieved. I didn’t have to kill her, because it wasn’t possible. So I set about doing my other task – gathering information about the rest of the crew. Their lives were considered just as valuable, as they might’ve had the key to bringing the pirate queen down.’

  ‘But you changed your mind. Right?’ Lintang barely had enough air left to ask the question. She had always marvelled at Xiang’s skills, but now she was just angry. It felt like she was never going to improve to Xiang’s level.

  ‘Yes. One evening, in a bar in Watney with just the two of us, I told the captain everything. It was then she confessed she’d known the truth all along – she was just waiting for me to turn to her side.’ Xiang’s attention shifted to Yamini. ‘Unfortunately, that same night, another of our crew had accepted gemstones in exchange for Captain Shafira’s location.’

  Lintang glanced at Yamini too, and in that moment Xiang knocked the branch from her hands and dealt a blow to her legs with the staff. Lintang landed on her back against the dead needle leaves. She stared up at Xiang’s sword pointed at her face.

  ‘The vigil attacked us in the bar and the captain and I only narrowly escaped. I managed to fake my death during the incident … but Captain Shafira was badly injured.’

  ‘Injured?’ Lintang ignored the blade and instead stared at Yamini. ‘I didn’t know she’d been hurt.’

  Yamini looked away.

  ‘She was stabbed three times,’ Xiang said. ‘I dragged her as far as I could and the lightning bird led me to Hewan. She wasn’t part of the crew at that stage, but she was already working undercover, smuggling Allay people back to their own country. She healed Captain Shafira. Saved her life, actually.’