Starbright: The Complete Series

by Hilary Thompson

  She nods. “That’s what the Common Law says. But Classified Law goes into a lot more detail. Once the new First Leader is established – a year from now if Astrea were sticking around – she would take half of the population above ground after the eclipse and form a new city. The old First Leader would stay underground and govern the remaining people until the new city was ready for everyone. She would be called the Second Leader then.”

  “Wait…Second Leader? That’s what Keirna asked me to be!” I quickly explain the story to them.

  Pasia’s face is thoughtful. “So that could have been her first plan. Rather than kill you and risk upsetting the people, she would just leave you here.”

  “Leave me buried underground,” I say, scowling.

  “But then when you were able to refuse her and resist her ability, she must have realized that would never work,” Lexan says.

  “You must be very strong to be able to resist Keirna,” Hetta narrows her eyes at me. “Firene’s notes indicated it should be possible with practice, but you certainly haven’t had that.”

  I shake my head. “But how come Lexan’s ability worked on me, then?” I catch the glance that passes between Lexan and Pasia but decide not to comment. “And why could Aitan resist me, if I’m so strong?”

  “Well, influencing someone is more difficult than resisting. Plus you’re naturally stubborn as Hades,” Lexan laughs.

  “You’re exactly right,” says a voice from the doorway, and I spin around to see Aitan leaning against the wall. How long has he been standing there?

  Lexan glares at him, and Aitan smirks back. “Keirna was extremely upset when Astrea was able to resist her. She claims that has never happened before. Now she’s worried that you two might actually have some sort of magic power stashed away.” He laughs like this is a ridiculous idea and sits in the chair across the table from me. I look in the other direction; I still can’t believe they would trust Aitan with these secrets, family or not.

  “She’s been a nightmare to work with lately, holed away doing research into the prophecy…”

  “Just tell us, Aitan,” Lexan says, his voice sharp with impatience.

  “Oh, she was babbling on about fire and air, and all kinds of nonsense. Justice and order and peace. I didn’t stick around for the details.” He holds a finger up to pause Lexan, who looks about to lunge across the table. “Anyways, I didn’t come to socialize. I just came to tell you that your little plan isn’t going to work.”

  “Why not? Did you run and tell Keirna all about it?” I ask angrily.

  He just rolls his eyes. “I told you before – I work for her, but I watch out for family. They’re moving the prisoner this morning to the back cells, where the protectors are. Keirna doesn’t want him on display while everyone is getting ready for the gathering. She wants to lock him away today, then parade him around in front of everyone tomorrow morning. Make a big show of it.”

  I grimace as I think of what she could do to Stian in a few hours’ time. A set of implants would be a bargain.

  “There’s no way we can get into those back cells,” Lexan says quietly, shaking his head. I know he’s right, but my brain keeps casting about for possibilities.

  “What about Brenn?” Pasia asks.

  “I doubt they’d let him back there now,” Hetta says. “Keirna knows how close he is to your family. I’m sure she would suspect him.”

  “What about Lexan and me using our abilities?”

  “Too risky,” Aitan says. “You’re not strong enough yet, and there are too many of them. You can’t control more than one at a time.”

  I think of the night I tried to control Father, Mother, and Brenn. He’s right, although I hate to admit it.

  “I know it’s hard to hear, but is this man’s life really necessary?” Pasia says into the silence. “I don’t like to see so many people risking everything just to save one person, when you two could just slip out the back door unnoticed. Is he really that important?”

  I can’t breathe to answer her, but Lexan saves me again, restoring balance to my shifting universe.

  “Yes, Pasia, he’s that important. Do you really think Trea and I would survive a week outside without a guide? We can’t stay here – we’ll be killed. If we go out there alone, we’ll surely die of cold, or hunger, or animals, or a hundred other things.”

  She shakes her head. I can tell that she thinks Lexan can do anything.

  “Besides, I still haven’t told you who he really is. His Tribe has people everywhere – people who can help us. If we find them empty-handed, we’ll be enemies. But if we bring back their Leader’s son, they’ll be sure to align with us.”

  My eyes widen at Lexan’s unexpected lie, but I quickly recover my composure.

  “Well, that does make a difference,” Pasia sighs. “We’ll just have to come up with a new plan.”

  It’s time for everyone to go. I’m frustrated that Asphodel’s laws place so many restrictions on our time – time for us to work, time to exercise, time to eat. Even time to celebrate and relax.

  Perhaps all this happiness we boast of is really just busyness, and we are content simply because nobody has time to think about how things could be different.

  Aitan and Pasia head to their vocations. Lexan has been assigned to help the growers prepare for the gathering, but since I’m excused from everything still, Hetta tells him to stay with me, and she will cover for him.

  Soon we are alone in his home. I follow him into the bedroom he used to share with Aitan, wondering at the paradoxes in his brother’s actions. Aitan is an Aries, like me. Like Keirna. But there are so many differences between the three of us.

  Lexan and I sit in silence for a few minutes. I’m feeling tired, and cranky that nothing is working out the way we hoped. I lie back on his bed, staring at the bottom of the bunked bed above me, the bed where Aitan likely used to sleep.

  “What happened to Aitan?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why is he so cruel sometimes? And then he just acts normal…”

  “I don’t know. He’s always been like that. He helps himself first, then he doesn’t mind helping others if it’s not too inconvenient.”

  “Will you miss Pasia a lot?”

  “Of course. She’s my best friend. And Mother. And maybe Aitan,” he smiles ruefully, stretching out next to me. There isn’t much room in the small bed, and our arms press together.

  “I’ll miss Isa the most. She doesn’t even know. And Brenn. Father, too, I guess.”

  “Why not your father?” Lexan props himself up to look at me.

  “I don’t know. No reason.”

  He raises his eyebrows.

  “He’s just…not really there, I guess. Absent. Even when he’s sitting right there.” I think of all the times Father has been too absorbed in something to notice me, and the other times when he can’t see what I want because of what he wants.

  “He expects me to always be so strong, to do what’s right even if it hurts me, just so I can help others.”

  “Probably because he knows you can do it. You really are that strong, Trea.”

  I shake my head, thinking again of the pills I have taken – three more this morning. I’m not as strong and brave as everyone believes. Not even close.

  “Why don’t you believe the prophecy?” Lexan asks abruptly. His eyes are guarded, and I hesitate. There are so many reasons, but only one really matters.

  I take a deep breath, knowing it’s time to finally tell him my biggest secret. “I wasn’t supposed to be born on the Equinox.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I heard my parents. The night before Initiation. Mother was crying about the two babies she lost before me. We never talked about them. Ever. But then Father said something about how their plans had all worked out for me.”

  Lexan is sitting now, his head bent toward me. “What did you hear? Exactly.”

  I close my eyes and scan the hazy, repressed memory. My c
hest feels tight. “Father said, ‘The first babies were too early, and the injection killed them.’ He was crying too. He said he was sorry again and again.”

  “Your father gave the injection to other babies?”

  I nod. “They were born on the Equinox, so I guess he thought he was following the prophecy.”

  Lexan frowns but says nothing.

  “Then he said something about how all their plans worked with me.”

  “That doesn’t prove anything, Trea,” Lexan says. But his very words prove it by voicing a suspicion.

  “You know what it means. My parents were trying to force the prophecy. Three babies. All born on the Equinox. I know I sleep through math, but that would never happen by chance.”

  “But humans can’t really interfere with the gods’ plans. If you were born on the Equinox, it’s because you were meant to be. You have power in you, Trea. You just have to let it out.” He lies back down, hands behind his head and eyes closed.

  How can he be so calm? I just told him my family’s darkest secret, and he dismissed it with his stupid religion. My head aches and I feel a fiery anger burning in my chest. Trying to slow my breathing, I screw my eyes shut and begin to mouth the words to Grandmother’s prayer. There’s no icy water to cool me, but maybe the words will be enough.

  “What are you doing?” Lexan whispers, his fingertips brushing my hand. I shake my head, squeezing my eyes tighter. The words of the prayer begin to slip away and I feel the anger returning, doubling in force.

  His hand grasps my wrist and suddenly I feel like I’m suffocating. I try to push past him to get out of the enclosed space of the bunk bed but he only grasps me tighter, circling an arm around my shoulders.

  “Trea, you’re burning up. Are you sick?”

  “Let me go,” I manage before I slump against him, a sudden fever sucking away all my angry energy. He doesn’t let go. He holds me tighter as I begin to shake, suddenly cold and weak.

  “Maybe instead of trying to suppress your fire, you should learn to use it,” Lexan says, but I barely hear him through the fog in my brain. Then I shut him out completely.

  I hadn’t realized we both had drifted into an exhausted sleep until a loud banging on the front door jars us awake. Lexan stumbles off the bed, rubbing his eyes, and hurries to the door. I follow but stay out of sight.

  Brenn rushes in, out of breath and nearly tripping over the doorframe.

  “They’re moving Stian. Right now!”

  I immediately feel guilty for sleeping instead of coming up with a plan, not to mention waking up in Lexan’s arms. I struggle to tug my slippers back on my feet, grabbing the light jacket I wore this morning. Lexan is doing the same, and soon we are all running out the door toward the Common Area.

  I have no idea what we will do when we get there.

  The Common Area is nearly empty; everybody is at work, and the preparations for the gathering have not yet reached the hall. A clump of protectors waits around the cell, laughing and calling rude comments.

  I don’t see Keirna anywhere, and that too makes me nervous.

  I hear keys jangle against metal and I beg my brain to think, desperate for a solution. One of the protectors notices us and calls for us to stay back.

  Lexan and I obey, but Brenn keeps moving. He acts like he’s only here for the show, and they allow him to get closer. Lexan steps in front of me, a hand behind his back gently keeping me from running forward.

  Stian stumbles down from the cell, landing hard on his hands and knees. I start forward, as though to catch his fall, but Lexan’s hand presses against my stomach, warning me.

  Brenn says something that makes all the others laugh loudly and he pushes a little closer, now only a few feet from Stian.

  There are six protectors, each armed with a bow and at least a dozen sharpened arrows, plus knives at their belts. When did protectors start carrying knives?

  There’s no way we could outrun all of those weapons, sprinting across such a wide open space as the Common Area. We could duck into the back tunnels, but there are too many routes, too many opportunities to meet an enemy.

  This is not the time to rescue Stian. We’ll have to wait. My heart smashes against my sternum as I think of just letting him go. Allowing Keirna to have him again.

  “Gentlemen, control yourselves,” a stern, cold voice calls from across the room, sending a shiver across my shoulders. Aitan stands with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, watching the boisterous guards. The protectors snap to attention, shuffling to form a neater arrangement around Stian. Brenn steps a few inches closer.

  Aitan says, “Men, I’ve been asked to bring the prisoner to see First Leader Keirna immediately. I believe she wishes to…question him…in more detail.”

  The guards grin and glance at each other, and I wonder how much they know about Keirna’s questioning techniques.

  They pull Stian to his feet and bind his hands tightly in front of him with a thick rope, then begin in our direction. The hallway that leads to Keirna’s offices is just beyond the passage to the Ministration Room.

  They will have to pass us to get there. As they approach, I can see Brenn’s eyes darting around, looking for even a shadow of an opportunity.

  Aitan crosses the middle of the room in long strides, reaching us before the slow-moving group. He glares at Lexan and jerks his eyes subtly in the direction of the Ministration Room.

  “Now,” he mouths.

  Then, loudly, he calls, “You two, move along, out of the way!” Lexan pulls me forward a few feet as I gape at Aitan.

  Is he helping us?

  “Thank you, men. Keirna does not appreciate a crowd, so I should only need two of you from here. The prisoner is tied, yes?”

  Four of the protectors step backward, but they don’t leave, unsure at this change in their orders. The remaining two stand at either side of Stian, and Aitan walks in front of them. Brenn steps back but also to the side, now directly behind Stian. His body is shielding Stian from view.

  One of the four calls to Brenn to get out of the way, but he just laughs back that he’s only here to watch. I notice he is acting slightly drunk, stumbling a little.

  Lexan pulls more insistently at my arm. We are maybe twenty feet from the Ministration Room and Stian another twenty farther.

  As we get closer and closer, my breathing grows shallow and my vision tunnels to Stian – he’s close enough to see me, and I try to catch his eyes. Maybe I can transfer some courage to endure whatever Keirna has planned.

  Then Lexan pushes me abruptly into the passage, blocking me with his body. I claw at his arms, my temper flaring. How dare he come between Stian and me now?

  “Stop it, Trea! I’m trying to tell him something!” Lexan hisses.

  I twist around Lexan just enough to see Stian’s eyes widen as he connects with Lexan’s stare. Aitan slows his walk almost imperceptibly as he nears us, and Stian is now only an arm’s length from Aitan’s back.

  Suddenly I notice a glint of metal at Aitan’s waist. In a flash I can barely see, Stian rips a long knife from Aitan’s belt, throws his tied arms around Aitan’s neck, and swivels their bodies to the protectors, using Aitan as a shield.

  Brenn steps to the side, holding his hands up to show that he isn’t a threat, but I see the glint of a knife hidden at his belt, too. All the protectors are yelling, the four shouting for help as they hurry toward the group, hands up to show they won’t attack.

  They rush toward Stian, but Aitan yells hoarsely for them to stop. The knife is pressed tightly against his throat, nearly breaking skin.

  Stian walks slowly backward a few steps, using the curve of the wall to guide him to Lexan and me. He drags Aitan with him, the knife still gripped tightly in his bound hands.

  “Brenn! Take a shot!” One of the guards yells in desperation as they approach the door. Brenn aims and hurls his knife, but it only glances off the rock, a few inches from Stian’s head. I smile. Brenn never misses.

  Stia
n ducks into the hallway with us, his arms still tight on Aitan, who has grown very pale and is struggling to breathe as Stian winches his neck tighter.

  I jump at him. “Let go, Stian! Let him go!”

  Stian doesn’t seem to understand, because he continues to force Aitan down the hallway and into the Ministration Room. Brenn hisses at us to hurry through the passage, and Lexan ducks inside before the sentence is finished. Brenn wedges a bench in front of the door to slow our pursuers.

  I realize that Stian is not going anywhere until Aitan is dead, and I jump at him again, pressing against Aitan’s chest to catch Stian’s face between my hands, forcing him to focus on me.

  “Let him go – he’s one of us! Stian!” As his eyes come into focus on mine, I hear the knife clatter to the floor and Aitan gasps for breath. Stian lifts his arms away from Aitan, who falls into me, coughing. I steady him as much as I can while Brenn shoves Stian toward the passage. Brenn pauses to yell for help, trying to keep his cover story.

  Stian stumbles clumsily into the passage and I push impatiently against him from behind. He’s too slow!

  Aitan sits heavily on a prayer bench, then grimaces as he slices a wide cut on his own shoulder, near the curve of his neck. I meet his eyes as he opens them, my eyes wet with tears.

  “Thank you,” I say, and then I duck toward the passage.

  The door bursts open and I can’t keep myself from looking. A knife shines in one man’s hand, glinting before it hurtles in my direction. I freeze.

  Then Brenn blurs in between me and the blade, and I hear a thud. A gasp. Then nothing, because Lexan has doubled back and pulled me into the passage.

  “Brenn!” I scream as Lexan shoves me through the passage.

  Lexan and I burst into the small room, where Stian is trying awkwardly to saw through his ropes. I fall to the floor again, my stomach heaving.

  “We have to go help him, Lexan!” I beg, my eyes blinded with tears.

  “Trea, you know Brenn would never want that. We have to leave now, or we’ll all be killed.” He has already cut Stian’s remaining ropes and is shoving him toward the ledge. Lexan struggles against Stian’s bulk and weakness, but finally Stian is up, and he disappears into the tiny opening.