Starbright: The Complete Series

by Hilary Thompson

  And he stands and bolts from the room as though someone were chasing him with a knife. I move to follow him, and then think better of it. He’s obviously out of his mind.

  Still, I jot down what I can remember of his words, thinking I’ll show it to Pasia later.

  I’ve barely finished lunch – still in my office – when Keirna barrels into the room, slamming the door behind her. I sigh inwardly, wipe the corner of my mouth, and write the word lock on my list of things to do.

  “There is too much gossip,” she says without introduction.

  I fumble for words, opening and closing my mouth. It’s Asphodel – of course there is too much gossip.

  “When the men came back inside last night, there was too much gossiping about our work topside,” she clarifies. She paces from one side of my small office to the other, like a prisoner in a cell.

  “People are anxious to know of the world above,” I offer.

  She glares. “I will be the one to parcel out this knowledge.”

  “People will whisper, even if you punish some. Gossip can never truly be stopped,” I warn, even though I know backtalk is dangerous.

  Keirna pauses in her pacing and glances up, measuring me. “True. You have grown stronger in your role in only a few hours. Well done.” She nods and resumes pacing.

  Warning signals spread thickly through my mind. With Keirna, there is always a precarious balance – mine is now strength. If I am not strong enough, she will find a different Second Leader. If I am too strong, she will ruin me.

  Well done could mean so many things.

  “If talking with the women is a problem, then we must figure a way to keep the men topside sooner than planned,” I say, intent on keeping her faith in me as a Leader. Revenge will be nearly impossible if I’m moved to another vocation. “What progress has been made?”

  “Today we cleared a central space for a meeting hall by felling a few dozen more trees. They are stripped of branches, but it will not be enough to build with. And the ground is thick with mud. We’ll need a full week or more of good weather to build a structure large enough for them all to sleep in. I’ve…I’ve underestimated the difficulty of our task.”

  I revel in the tone of confidence she uses – as though I am suddenly one of her most trusted advisors. Pasia’s warnings flash through my mind, but only briefly.

  Everyone I know has schemes and secrets – suddenly Keirna seems so…normal. Even Anyel would be more proud and vengeful than Keirna is right now.

  Then a sly idea strikes me. “You could always separate the men each night – like a quarantine. If they aren’t returning to their homes each night, they can’t gossip. And depending on how we approach it, we could create either fear or a bit of respect for the outside from those left here, clamoring for their turn.”

  Keirna notices my intentional use of we, I can tell. But she doesn’t remark on it. Instead, she only nods. “Good. We will try that. Not quarantine – that speaks of disease.”

  “Perhaps the men have experienced renewed faith while viewing the sun? Sequester is a more religious term,” I suggest.

  A smile spreads across Keirna’s face, her delight making her almost pretty. “Perfect. Well done, Aitan,” she repeats, meeting my eyes. “You will secure a place for the men now. I need to find Saloman.”

  She turns, but just before she opens my door, I summon the courage to ask the question I should have asked the first day. “Why did you choose me? Why are you trusting me with this?”

  Keirna turns back to me slowly, smiling coldly. “I chose you because you are young. Inexperienced, but willing to learn. Aitan, I don’t trust you,” she laughs, and my heart constricts in raw fear. “I’m molding you into exactly what I need.”

  She pivots and exits my office, shutting the door with a firm click. I feel nauseous. Pasia and I discussed as much. But hearing Keirna voice her plan so plainly is paralyzing.

  Even worse than what might happen to me if I fail her is the reality of what I’ve just done to please her: I’ve just devised a plan that deceives our entire community.

  It’s almost as though my personality is splitting and tearing – one half would be content with the simple love of my family and someone like Isa. The other half clamors for the power and the knowledge only Keirna can give me. The words I read each night from her log are beginning to make more sense, now that I’m learning to be a Leader.

  I know I wouldn’t kill. Not for Keirna, and not for my own Leadership.

  But people must be controlled if they are to be led. Keirna’s brand of control works all too well. But reality is changing, and if I plan to survive what’s begun here, I need find my own path.

  I rise and open the door of my office, determined not to hide away a minute longer. It’s quiet, and Anyel is no longer in the lobby. A notepad of scribbles rests on the desk: a list of names with hastily added questions, suggestions, and other notes in a state of such confusion that I have to smile.

  Yes, Anyel was miserable this morning as she took care of her new charges. This sort of punishment is both humiliating for her, and helpful to me. I’ll start my plans by helping the people with their concerns – if an emotion such as fear controls them, perhaps gratitude can do the same.

  I leave the notes on the desk for later and begin to wander the halls, my feet moving as fast as my thoughts.

  I review different options for where the men could stay at night, finally settling on the Training Rooms. The students’ room is the largest, and they can easily be relocated. It would be isolated and easy to guard.

  Brenn is alone in the small equipment room inside the students’ Training Room. Although he is not fully healed and moves slowly, he returned to his position as teacher within a day or two of the escape. He looks at me warily.

  “I have need of this room for the next two or three weeks,” I say without preamble. “The men working topside are experiencing some symptoms of religious fervor, and we plan to sequester them for the time being. I wouldn’t want a mob on my hands, clamoring to see the sun and feel its blessing.”

  Brenn raises his eyebrows at me. He sees through my flimsy excuse, but he won’t question it.

  “Fine. The students can exercise in one of the smaller rooms. But perhaps you should let one or two of the women experience this religious fervor also,” he grins.

  I blink – of course. Keirna wants to stop the gossip, which is impossible. It would be much easier to control the topic. And what better way to win over a religious crowd than to give them hope that they will go topside any day?

  “A lottery system,” I say, the idea forming. “One person each day, or perhaps twice a week. They can be guided to the meadow, then returned quickly.”

  Brenn nods. “I know several who would spread the good word if given a chance. Aitan, you don’t need to force people to be good. Give them the chance, and they will often choose the right path.”

  He turns back to restringing the bows. I consider his words; I’d like to believe him, but I’m not sure he’s right.

  There are so many tasks left to do before the men can stay in the Training Room – food and bedding and changes of clothing. But after forcing myself to leave Brenn, I find my footsteps are tracing the path to the outside door.

  The guards appear surprised to see me, but they do nothing to stop me from exiting the cave. The fresh air warms me instantly, filling my lungs. The sun is not strong now, beginning to settle into the western clouds.

  I don’t walk toward the meadow, where Perce will be directing the men. Instead I follow the remains of a different path, cut by smaller creatures than humans. Soon I’m surrounded by tall trees with spindly arms and pointed needles for leaves.

  The birds sing sweetly above me, and a sense of peace I’ve never really known starts to seep into my limbs.

  I catch myself growing poetic, and I snort. How Anyel would laugh at me now. The power-hungry Leader, waltzing with the birds in the dusky springtime air. I turn back toward the
cave entrance.

  SIX

  Aitan has surprised me with his dedication. He still cares too much for his family, but he is growing more separated from them each day. He could make a strong Leader one day.

  However, I fear he would choose his mother or sister before any of our citizens. His partner, I’m not worried about. She has driven him away on her own.

  As First Leader, it is necessary to love your people as a group rather than as individuals. The good of the group must always supersede the good of the few who are important to you. Friends, parents, siblings, partners, and children must remain part of the community, rather than on a higher level of importance.

  First Leader Keirna’s Private Log

  Settling the men keeps me out for several more hours, and I’m debating where to sleep tonight when I notice Anyel standing in the shadowed doorway of the Training Room. Our eyes connect for a long second before I turn away to finish my task.

  Several minutes later I look up, and she’s gone.

  I sigh, thinking sourly of Keirna’s recent journal entry. Yes, Anyel has driven me away. But I’m partially to blame: if I had treated her as an important part of my life, maybe she would have done the same for me.

  Instead, I helped drive her away by ignoring her.

  I watch Dalen straighten his pallet, and think I would not do the same with someone like Isa, if I had that chance.

  Keirna believes sacrifice is necessary to make a good Leader, and she is certainly right. But I could never sacrifice someone I loved. If Mother and Pasia and Lexan were on one side, and all of Asphodel on the other, my own scales would be balanced.

  What good is protecting a community if none of the individuals are special enough to protect?

  I leave Perce to finish the task and walk in the opposite direction from the Living Quarters – toward the Ministration Room.

  I’m not sure if I just want to pray there, or bypass it to breathe in the moonlight in the secret room, but something is calling me there insistently. Everything is quiet – the daylights have just been doused and all of Asphodel is home, readying for bed.

  I step into the room, ready to breathe a sigh of relief in being alone again.

  Except I’m not alone.

  A small figure is bent in prayer on a bench halfway back. A single candle burns on the altar, its light glinting off blonde curls. Isa lifts her head, fear apparent in her eyes, mingling with the tears.

  My heart twists so painfully inside me that I almost choke on my breath of air. A beat of silence passes before we both move at once. I step down the aisle as she rises and crashes into my chest, her arms wrapping around my waist as she breathes raggedly.

  “They’re dead, aren’t they,” she whispers. “I can feel it. Something bad is happening to Trea and Lexan.”

  I hold her tighter, uncertain how to answer. I’ve never had portentous feelings about people before, but some signs do.

  “The air in here is different now,” she sniffles, raising her head to look at me. I smile – a true Gemini.

  “I can show you why,” I say. “There is a secret room behind that wall. That’s where Astrea and Lexan escaped.”

  She hesitates, then nods, and I show her how to slip into the hidden passage behind the altar. I go through first, and light the candle that rests where I had left it.

  Isa stumbles toward me, gasping at the dark spots of blood and ash on the floor.

  “I was still in the Ministration Room when Astrea and Lexan came through here. But Keirna was waiting somewhere over there,” I gesture towards the water. “Astrea possesses some sort of power…”

  “So she really is the maiden?” Isa’s voice still trembles, but now with hope, rather than sadness, and my lungs expand in satisfaction.

  I nod. “And she threw some sort of fire at Keirna – that’s what burned her face and hair. They escaped here.” I point up at the ledge.

  “I want to see,” Isa says, reaching her hands up the rock wall.

  I realize we can do this together – after all, Lexan and Astrea were able to climb up together. “Here. Let me stand on your knee, and then I can reach it. I’ll pull you up.”

  She grunts a little as I push off her knee, and she falls on top of me when I finally pull her over the edge, but both of us are grinning like schoolchildren again. Without thinking about it, I brush my fingers over her cheeks, smoothing away the remains of her tears.

  Her body relaxes into mine, and her face softens.

  I glance down at her lips, slightly parted.

  Then a bird screeches from somewhere outside, and the moment shatters.

  Isa pushes up and ducks into the passage.

  I hear her gasp as she winds through the rock before me.

  “Stop, Aitan!” she calls.

  I do, even though I don’t want to. Then her fingers find mine in the dark and she tugs me forward.

  “There’s a huge cliff. We could fall into nothing.”

  We step onto the ledge and I look around, noting how the ground below fades away into darkness. How could they have survived a fall like this?

  We stand side-by-side, her fingers still laced into mine, watching the night around us. The branches above bend in the breeze and reveal the moon, not quite full again.

  “The prisoner was from one of the Tribes,” I whisper into the air. Someone besides Keirna and me needs to know these secrets. “I’m sorry – I don’t want to burden you with—”

  “No, I want you to tell me. I love that you trust me enough.” Isa smiles up at me, but a shadow passes over her eyes. “Dalen doesn’t tell me anything.”

  I scowl a bit at his name, but it pushes me to tell her more of what I learned from questioning the prisoner. “There are several Tribes outside. The prisoner was from one, and his mission was to find Asphodel and steal away our maiden. I don’t think he knew much about Lexan, but there was no stealing. They both went with him willingly.”

  “Why?” Isa asks, sadness lingering in her voice.

  “Keirna,” I answer simply, and she nods. “But they will return. Saloman has seen it, although he will never tell the people. Keirna wouldn’t allow it. She wants to be the new savior.”

  “She needs to be stopped.” The harsh determination in Isa’s voice surprises me.

  “What would you do to stop her?”

  “Anything, I think. Trea is my oldest friend. Lexan is a good person. I believe in them, and I would help them however they needed.” She gazes into the darkness beyond, and I believe her.

  “We will need to watch for others like us – others who will support Astrea and Lexan when they return.”

  “People who will turn against Keirna?”

  I nod. “It will be dangerous, but Asphodel is not following the true prophecy any more. That could destroy our future.”

  Isa shivers and I realize how cold the air around us has grown. I slip an arm around her shoulder, and she tucks closer to me.

  “I’ll be your spy, my Second Leader,” she says, a smile woven into such serious words. Her hand rests at my waist, and I struggle not to lose the slight control I have left.

  I want this girl.

  More than I have ever wanted a person.

  Not as much as I want Asphodel, but perhaps close.

  The cursed bird screeches again, nearer this time, and Isa jumps. “I should go back. Mother and Father will notice I’m not in my room, and they worry so much.”

  “Of course,” I answer, hating the words. We scuff back through the tight passageway, then drop to the floor of the secret room. I snuff the candle as Isa enters the next passage, and I follow her.

  As we cross the empty Common Area, I can’t help but feel as though eyes follow me. I glance around, seeing nothing, but the hair on my neck prickles in apprehension.

  Isa pauses at her door, reaching out to squeeze my fingers. She smiles shyly up at me. “Thank you for a wonderful evening,” she says formally, as though we were in courtship. My chest swells with some emoti
on I don’t even dare identify, and my steps are light as I make my way home and slide into bed next to Anyel, who is pretending sleep.

  The next morning slides into the next afternoon, which melts into the next evening, and almost before I realize, nearly a week has passed with the new routine.

  Keirna takes the men topside before the daylights are lit, and they return after the lights are doused. There is no contact that I can find, and she seems satisfied that the gossip-sharing has been stopped.

  Anyel and I rarely speak, and when we do, it’s only about the daily necessities of life, or the citizens she continues to see each morning in the Leadership Complex. From time to time I glimpse Isa in passing, and our eyes lock and time slows until we have passed each other – planets in separate orbit, watching helplessly as we are pulled together and then apart.

  I’m beginning to realize that this solitary Leader’s life will never be enough for me. I need to learn from Keirna, but I want to be – better. I can see now that as long as I follow her, people will hesitate to step closer.

  I’m sitting in my office, reviewing Anyel’s latest notes on fears, questions, and problems, when a young healer apprentice knocks on the open door.

  “Excuse me, please, Second Leader,” he mumbles. “Healer Gloran needs you. There has been an accident.”

  “Outside?” I ask, rising already. The boy nods, and hurries away. I follow as quickly as I can without drawing unneeded attention.

  He disappears once I reach Gloran’s examination room, and I enter to wails. A man, bathed in red and writhing, is being strapped to her table by two large protectors. Someone stuffs a rag in his mouth, and the sound muffles.

  There are so many limbs flying that it takes me a second to realize one is missing.

  Gloran waves at me to sit, and I do, gladly. I’ve never seen so much blood, and the sight is making me dizzy. The man is eventually sedated, and the protectors edge out the door.

  Gloran glances back at me as she wipes some of the blood away from the man’s leg. Or what used to be his leg.

  “The wind was blowing so hard that one of the large trees fell and crushed his knee and below. It must be removed.”