Starbright: The Complete Series

by Hilary Thompson

  I knock on my door and ask my guard to take me to Irana. He shakes his head, and I look closer at his eyes - brown, not blue. My guard has been changed.

  I go back to pacing. Sometime while I was gone today, the portrait of Justice has been moved from the throne room to hang on the wall near my couches, and I pass it again and again as I force my brain to focus on finding a way out of this mess.

  I make a mental list, not dissimilar from those Charon dictates.

  I do seem to be using my power of fire in the way it must surely be intended - to burn away the darkness of people’s sins. But I can’t do it without killing the person, which conflicts with the sense of Justice.

  I should be able to summon the fire, cleanse the people of their darkness, and then allow them to live.

  That should be how I serve Justice - the pain will be their penance, but keeping their life means the scale of light and dark will become balanced.

  Balance.

  Of course.

  I laugh out loud at my idiocy, and the sound echoes back at me, brief and unpleasant. The True Prophet must surely have given up on me by now. I knock on my door again. The guard opens it a few inches, his brown eyes tired beneath his mask.

  “Can you take me to see Irana?”

  He shakes his head, frowning at the repeated request.

  “How about the prisons? I need to speak to Lexan.”

  Another silent no.

  “A walk around the gardens?” No.

  “Charon?” No.

  “Is there anywhere you’re allowed to take me?” I cry in exasperation.

  He nods, and I sigh.

  “Hade?” Yes.

  Of course that one is a yes. I grab a thin black robe which covers very little of my thinner black pajamas and hurry to follow the guard down the hall. He turns into a corridor I’ve never seen before and soon stops at a simple wooden door. He produces a key and unlocks an ordinary lock.

  I pause, wondering if Hade is really inside such a room - with his obvious penchant for showing off and playing games, what could be behind such a plain door?

  The guard opens the door and holds it wide, gesturing for me to enter first. Inside is so black I cannot see my own fingers before me, and darkness is complete when the guard shuts the door behind me and turns the key.

  Panic rushes up my throat and I back toward the door I just entered through, finding only rough wood. I force down a scream and feel along the wall. I turn a corner, then another, and another, until I feel the door handle again. A box, with no way out.

  I pound on the door. “Hade! Guard! Let me out of here!”

  A low click sounds from behind me and a sliver of light enters the black box. I follow it, pushing open another door. My eyes take a few seconds to adjust to the brightness of the space before me.

  And the color!

  Hidden within a palace of complete black and white, the Destroyer of Tartarus sits before me on a pile of cushions, resplendent in every color and hue of the natural world. Even his own night robe is a brilliant greenish-blue. He looks for all the world like a peacock preening in a nest of ribbon.

  “Welcome, Astrea,” he says, his voice low like an animal trying to lure me closer.

  “I need Lexan,” I say, too annoyed and confused to waste time. He watches me without expression. “I need him - his power of Balance - to keep the people alive.”

  “Explain.”

  I try, and he listens, his eyes thoughtful. When I finish, stuttering finally into silence, he simply shrugs.

  “That’s hardly something you had to stay up so late to tell me.”

  “Well? Will you bring him to the practice tomorrow?” I’m really working to control my temper now. My palms feel dry and itchy with the heat they’re suppressing.

  “I suppose we can try your theory. If it doesn’t work, you’ll find another way. I don’t doubt you, Astrea. You might doubt yourself, but I know your power could be boundless - all on your own.”

  I look down at the floor, examining its inlaid mosaic of birds flying through fields of flowers. All I’ve ever wanted was to be independent - to make my own destiny.

  I remember my own words to Stian, so many weeks ago: I want someone who will stand by my side, but trust me to save myself.

  I let him kiss me for that, after Lexan had bruised my jaw, his anger at my recklessness too much. But really, Stian never let me stand alone. He even admitted that I would need saving, when Zarea wouldn’t.

  I thought I had everything figured out then.

  Hade interrupts my memories. “We will try your idea tomorrow morning. Tell the guard to have Lexan brought to the courtyard. Oh, and to feed him.” He waves his hand as if to dismiss me, and looks back down at the book he holds open on a crimson cushion.

  I wait a few more seconds, but he continues to ignore me. Then the door clicks open behind me, although nobody waits there. I pass through the blackness again and emerge in the semi-lit hallway with my new guard.

  “Back to my room, I guess. Hade says to bring Lexan in the morning. And feed him the best food you have,” I add, my stomach churning at the idea of Lexan being starved or tortured.

  Because of me. Everything bad is happening because of me.

  My idea has to work. There isn’t any time for failure.

  The heat of the pavers is overwhelming, even in the mid-morning sun. I’ve only been adding to the heat with my nervous practicing on the woodpile.

  Just when I begin to think that Hade was lying to me, a pair of guards exits the palace door with Lexan between them. I dart over and examine him.

  “Did you eat? Are you hurt? What happened there?” I interrogate him, my fingers prodding a bruise at his left eye. He winces but grins, all lopsided like usual.

  “Missed you too.”

  One of his guards bends close as he unties Lexan’s hands. “Please, Lady Justice,” he whispers. I startle, but try not to draw Hade’s attention to the man. “My cousin and his wife’s in the group today. Please don’t kill them. They’s naught but good people.”

  Lexan ducks down to look in my eyes and I know his question without having to look back.

  “I…yesterday…I couldn’t do it without you. Everyone died,” I finally manage, my voice thick with the shame of failure.

  Hade strides over to us and the guard snaps back to his mute anonymity.

  “Lexan, Astrea hopes that your presence will allow her to burn the darkness from a soul without actually burning the life from a person. All the people here today sincerely hope she is correct.” He chuckles a bit at some macabre joke he thinks he’s made.

  “You need to be the Balance for my power - my Judgment,” I add. Lexan nods, and I can’t deny the surge of relief I feel at the determination in his eyes.

  Together we face the crowd. Several guards have been milling around the group of citizens, keeping them upright and quiet beneath their blindfolds and gags. One guard breaks away and pulls a middle-aged woman toward us.

  My hands are shaking as I clench and unclench my fingers, praying to the sun to keep my fires focused.

  Lexan steps close behind me, and I feel the familiar warm strength of his body against mine.

  “What do you see?” he whispers in my ear. I close my eyes. The woman has some darkness in her, near her stomach, but she is definitely a minor case. I lean back to answer him.

  “She has much more light.”

  “Then how do I help the Balance? We can’t add darkness.”

  “No, I think you need to Balance my power. It’s too intense. I can’t make it focus just on the souls, and I can’t make it stop once I’ve started.”

  I feel him nod against my hair, and the movement sends a shiver skittering across my shoulders.

  “Begin!” Hade yells, his eyes narrowed at us.

  “Take off her blindfold,” I ask the guard in a sudden moment of inspiration. The woman is shaking so badly she can barely stand, and the guard grabs her arm as she tries to back away from me. He
r fear breaks my resolve a little.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Lexan says. She darts a glance at him, then holds it a little longer. Her body grows more still as she stares at him, and I take a deep breath to keep the grin off my face. Lexan knew what to do without me even asking.

  Her eyes shift to mine. She seems calmer, but I see so much fear. So I send her as much bravery as I can muster. I watch as her legs stiffen and her spine straightens. She stands tall and ready for what we will do.

  Again, I pray that I don’t burn away her light.

  I close my eyes and focus on the black spot near her abdomen. Lexan’s fingers press around my collarbone, almost as if they are molding the fire I hold in my palms. They flex and bend, and the flame responds by focusing into a sharp blue knife of fire. I guide it toward the darkness.

  The woman gasps as the flame touches her, and her breathing quickly becomes erratic and panicked. Then I feel Lexan distilling the air around us, giving her more lift, and giving me more power.

  The darkness shrinks until it is only a tiny dot. It doesn’t go away completely, but my flame seems to reach its limit. It retreats back to my palm, and I feel the ice begin to sink into my veins like always.

  I open my eyes. Lexan’s hands still rest on my shoulders, but I can feel all of his air being directed to the woman as she gulps deep breaths.

  I grin and gulp back a nervous laugh. She is alive. I burned away all but a tiny bit of the darkness, and she is alive. The guard releases the woman and she staggers back a few feet. An expression of beatification forms on her flushed face, and a bolt of joy flushes my chest.

  “Thank you, Lady,” she manages, sinking to her knees in a bow. I incline my head politely but I can’t resist the grin from spreading across my face. When she stumbles away, I spin around and throw my arms around Lexan’s neck.

  “We did it! Thank you so much, thank you!” I stutter, so happy I can barely form coherent thoughts. I burned away her darkness - and she lived! Lexan’s arms hold me tight and I lift my face up to kiss his cheek. But at the last second he turns toward me, and I catch the corner of his lips instead.

  I break away in embarrassment, but not before I see the look of hard, pain-edged desire flicker across his face. My body thrills in answer while my mind spins with regret, and I feel the heat rising between us.

  Hade must notice it too, for he claps his hands at the guards. “Again!”

  My arms slip from Lexan’s strong shoulders and I turn back to the group of citizens. Where the woman has retreated, a line has formed - eager, repentant souls ready for their absolution from Lady Justice.

  Just as I close my eyes and raise my hands to feel for the next person’s darkness, Lexan’s fingers slide just a little lower on my collarbone. Despite the flare of heat, I shiver. He ducks his head and whispers, “What more proof do you need? We are meant to be one, Trea.”

  Then he draws back, and I flush all over again as my mind helpfully lists all the ways in which we could become one.

  By the end of the morning, I am nearly overcome with fatigue and the numbing cold that fills my veins when I call the fire from my body. And I’m extremely tense from the constant touching - no matter how many times I push Lexan’s whispered words into the corner of my brain, they continue to slink past my closed eyes.

  I watch the guards lead Lexan away, back into the palace. I wonder where they will take him, now that Hade knows how much I need him. Panic begins to coil in the pit of my stomach, but just as I turn to beg Hade to let him stay, Lexan turns and catches my eye. He flashes me a halfway grin and words appear in my mind: I’ll be fine, Trea.

  Then he’s gone, leaving me alone with Hade.

  I gather my courage around me like a cloak and face Hade, my chin high as I watch the newly cleansed people being led away.

  Yesterday, the guards fled this courtyard with stories of a murderous and hopeless Lady of Justice - a broken savior who would only intensify the Destroyer’s power.

  Today, I have cleansed nine people of darkness. I have killed none. Today, I have nine apostles who will go into the streets and proclaim how Justice was given to them by the Starbright Maiden.

  “Tomorrow we do another experiment,” is all he says to answer my satisfaction. “Tomorrow you will burn away the light.”

  “The light?” I ask, unease tightening like chains across my chest.

  “Yes. Now that I know what your power is meant for, I wish to see how I can use it, of course.”

  “You can use it to cleanse people from the darkness!” I repeat the words stupidly.

  Hade laughs lightly. “But I am the Destroyer. The only thing I wish to cleanse is the light.”

  With a flourish of his knee-length linen jacket, he turns and strides away, leaving me gaping after him. My guard grasps my arm and pulls me back inside, nudging me along the hallways. My legs keep forgetting to walk as I process Hade’s plans, and finally the guard winds my arm around his neck and half-carries me back to my room.

  He deposits me on the bed and leaves. I blink around me, tears forming at the idea that I’ve come so close to succeeding, only to fail again because I’m still under Hade’s control.

  Then the voice in my head - the one of Justice - reminds me that I’m a star, and no human can keep me prisoner forever. I shake off the thoughts of what I must do tomorrow and begin to pace again, willing a plan to form with every step.

  When Charon comes to collect me from my breakfast in the morning, I lay the foundation for the plan I’ve designed.

  “Lexan will be there this morning?” I ask. Charon nods, walking even faster so I must jog a bit to catch him.

  “I want to know of Stian’s recovery. And the other girl, Zarea. Before I do anything else for Hade, he needs to show me where they are.”

  Charon snorts a laugh. “That will never happen. Hade is drunk with thoughts of your power, but he isn’t reckless.”

  “Please. They’re my friends,” I whisper, channeling as much of the lost, lonely girl as I can.

  “As long as they do not anger the dungeon guards, they will stay alive. Hade does not dispose of leverage.”

  He refuses to look at me the rest of the walk, but I feel triumphant that I’ve gotten this much from him. Now that I know they are all in the dungeons, I can rally Ama and her friends to help me. I can use Pacem’s collection of birds to spy.

  I can defeat Hade, if I am careful.

  Lexan is waiting when I arrive, and Hade immediately puts a man before us.

  “Remember what we discussed,” is all Hade says to me.

  We rush through our ritual of sending our subject serenity and bravery, then I close my eyes and search the man’s soul. It is fairly dark already, with only a few spots of white near his heart. I begin to focus on them, burning them away.

  “What are you doing?” Lexan asks. He can’t see the light and dark, but he must feel a difference. I only shake my head, screwing my lids tighter together. Lexan’s fingers tighten on my skin and he grunts a little, but he doesn’t let go.

  He trusts me, and he shouldn’t.

  I feel the man’s darkness growing stronger, larger, as I shrink the white spot in his heart. I steal the goodness from him, bit by bit, and I hate myself for it every second.

  But soon I start to feel stronger and warmer - even a little giddy. The look of gratitude on the woman’s face yesterday suddenly makes sense. Just like I absorbed a bit of the people’s cold darkness yesterday, I think I’ve absorbed some of the man’s light. And it feels so good. Addictive, even.

  I pull at the light a little more, feeling suddenly greedy.

  “I won’t do it!” Lexan cries, dropping his arms and backing away from me. Without his hands to focus the flame, I lose my aim, and the man begins to scream in pain. My eyes fly open before I can stop them, and he bursts into a writhing mass of flames on the ground. I cry out wordlessly and drop to my hands and knees, huddling into a ball - as if anything could possibly block out the sound and the smell
of another person dying from my actions.

  Lexan pushes past, nearly knocking me over. I glance up in time to watch him bend down to the man, using his hands to somehow smother the flames. He draws all the air around us into himself, and I suck at nothingness for a several seconds, mouth open like a fish.

  Then the fire withers and Lexan funnels the air around us again. The man twitches and moans on the pavement. He is alive, but only just. I close my eyes, curiosity getting the best of me.

  Sure enough, I have burned away most of his light. His is now the darkest soul I’ve seen, besides Hade’s. Then the soul shivers and begins to shrink in on itself, and I know the man is dying, despite Lexan’s effort. He was too badly wounded to survive.

  Add another death to my tally.

  “I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong,” Lexan says in my ear, kneeling beside me. “I backed away. I screwed up what you were doing. You didn’t kill this man - I did. I’m sorry, Trea. I’m sorry.”

  He stands and hurries away, his guard lumbering after.

  “Well, we have established that you can indeed burn away the light, as well as the darkness.” Hade says. He offers his hand to help me stand. I ignore him and push up on my own.

  “But he died anyways.”

  “Only because Lexan failed to complete his portion.” Hade sighs. “The whole matter is distasteful, really, how you need him to keep the wretched people alive. He’s weak. Not enough darkness.”

  “We’re meant to be one,” I mutter under my breath, and as much as I’ve resisted this reality over the last few years of my life, today I wish I’d done what everyone told me to from the beginning.

  How many people have died from my stubborn pride?

  Maybe even Mother would still be alive. Or Lexan’s father.

  “There are many ways to be one,” Hade says, leaning in to grasp my arm. “It does not need to be true love to be a partnership.”

  His fingers brush up my bare skin then back down as we walk, and for a moment, I wonder if he is speaking about Lexan at all, or if he means himself.

  We walk back into the palace, and the cooler temperatures cause the strength I gained by absorbing the man’s light to surge inside of me. I feel better than I normally do after using my powers.