Chapter 11
Orra sat on the balcony of the north tower watching the Sun rise higher in the sky.
The smoky scent of cooked meat clung to the air even though the kitchen was far below.
She stroked the blond braid at her wrist, letting her mind drift through the years, seeing flashes of history instead of the soldiers roaming the courtyard.
Even though she currently had none of the starbridges in her possession, somehow this still felt like the closest she’d come to righting her wrongs.
The world was changing around her like it had before the Great Divide. Except this time, she sensed the Sun was orchestrating the changes. The Sun was throwing stones and letting the ripples affect everyone else. If only she’d let the Sun direct those changes the first time around.
“I’m going to make things right,” she murmured, dropping a kiss against the braid. Her short dark hair swung against her cheek and eyes, a reminder of the choices that had brought her to this point. “But not on my own.”
“Breakfast is ready in the kitchen.” Aeliana spoke from behind her.
Orra didn’t turn. “Sylmar doesn’t want you up here.
” The tower wouldn’t fall, but the others didn’t trust it.
Which was part of the reason Orra had made it her own little sanctuary.
When she wasn’t out searching for the onyx stone, she was here, contemplating her options, soaking up the Sun’s light, growing stronger.
“Well, Sylmar also asked me to get you to eat more.”
A smile tickled Orra’s lips. “I don’t get my energy from food.”
“And yet I’ve seen you eat. At least come down so Iris doesn’t think you hate her cooking.”
Orra rose and hooked her arm in Aeliana’s, allowing the younger woman to lead her through the tower. It no longer held bodies, but it still had the dank and foreboding feel of a tomb.
“You don’t get your energy from food,” Aeliana said, “and your magic is different from the rest of ours. You don’t even have a starlock.”
Orra hummed her agreement. “Neither does Marnok.” No one had seen their mysterious friend since the battle. He’d received memories from Emeris about his past, things he needed to deal with somewhere else. Yet one more mystery still unsolved, though Orra had her suspicions.
“Yes,” Aeliana agreed. “But… it still seems different. His is limited to healing. He’s clearly on the somatic spoke. You heal and you seem to sift the future.”
“Surely Sylmar has taught you about secondary spokes.”
Orra kept her grip on Aeliana’s arm but moved her free hand to the railing of the stairs. The stone steps were her least favorite part of the tower. It was as if they still held the souls of the soldiers she’d killed in the wake of her magic.
“Even Sylmar has discernment skills on the pneumatic spoke,” Orra continued. “He just prefers to let Kendalyhn do that chore for him.”
Aeliana laughed. “Yes, but the constructive somatic spoke and the constructive pneumatic spoke aren’t adjacent. Secondary spokes are always adjacent.”
A small smile threatened to bloom on Orra’s face. “He’s taught you very well.”
“And you showed up on the other side of the barrier looking like a ghost. How did you do that?”
Orra hesitated. “Sometimes I’m not sure. Every time I push myself to the rim of the Wheel, I wonder if it will be my last time.” They reached the bottom step, and she held out her hand, examining how it shook.
“I thought the rim was elementals,” Aeliana said as they crossed the threshold from inside the tower to the battlement.
“It’s an advanced branch of magic that generally focuses on an elemental, yes,” Orra said. “But it’s so much more than that for me.” She closed her eyes and tilted her face up to the Sun.
“So then… are you a Star?” Aeliana whispered.
Orra considered the question. At one time she could have said yes, but it had been so long since she’d felt worthy of the title. She’d thrown it away along with so many other blessings from the Sun. She sighed and opened her eyes. “What do you know of Stars?”
“Very little,” Aeliana admitted as they resumed walking. “No one’s seen them on land in a thousand years—since the Great Divide. They no longer commune with us because it’s safer that way.”
“The Lorvandan view,” Orra said. “Vendarans would say the Stars abandoned the people as a punishment for their sins. But either way, you’re right—they’ve been gone. What else?”
Aeliana shrugged. “I’ve heard they look human when they come to our world, but in the skies they’re like balls of light. Others say they’re a literal glittering star.” She pulled out her starlock and held up the small shape as if Orra needed the example.
Orra bent forward and pinched the charm between her thumb and forefinger. Her eyes widened as she sensed the lock of hair from within. “Andreas,” she murmured.
“What?” Aeliana asked.
Orra dropped the charm like a hot coal and picked up her pace as they left the Sun’s light on the battlement for the cold halls of the fortress.
“They’re more like balls of light yes, but they’re merely a reflection of the Sun.
They absorb the Sun’s power just like the blood of a half-light.
Except they can hold so much more.” Her pitch rose and she let go of Aeliana’s arm so her hands could move with her words.
“They constantly reflect it, which makes them bright against the night sky. They become less like Stars and more like the Sun. They constantly absorb its power, meaning their own power is limitless.”
“So the Vendarans are right? The Sun is our maker and source of power?”
Orra smiled and let her hands drop. “They’re right about some things. I suspect no one has it exactly right. But my point is that the beings I’m describing have power beyond this world. I may have more power than you, but is my power limitless?”
Aeliana hesitated. “If a Star chose to abandon the sky, then its power would no longer be limitless. It could only absorb more from the Sun during the day, like half-lights.”
Orra grew still as Aeliana nearly touched on the truth. They would realize it soon enough. Better that they hear it from Orra than someone else.
“No Star would choose to be grounded,” Orra said softly. “I was grounded as a consequence of my actions. And I’ll remain grounded until I reverse what I’ve done.”
Aeliana’s breath hitched. “But you are a Star?”
“I was at one time. I’m not sure that’s what I could be called now.
” Orra briefly closed her eyes, all her regrets weighing her down with shame.
She pushed them aside, bringing the topic back to Aeliana and the things she needed to hear.
“We’re all products of our life experiences.
Your blood may say that you’re a half-light, and Cyrus’ might say he’s a human, but the two of you have more in common than you have with many of these Vendarans. ”
Aeliana smiled ruefully.
“And after all this, you’ll both have even less in common with the Lorvandans back across the barrier. You’re not Vendaran or Lorvandan. Just like you, I’m not any one thing. All of us need to take the time to figure out who we are.”
Aeliana’s brow furrowed. “Sylmar wants me to be more Vendaran. They all do.”
Orra hummed her understanding but said nothing more. That was for Aeliana to figure out on her own.
They rounded a corner, and the clink of dishes and murmur of chatter drifted into the hall.
“Still no sign of the starbridge?” Aeliana asked.
Orra shook her head. “No. And I hear Sylmar no longer wants you digging through Mayvus’ research.”
“He has me training with Kendalyhn.” Aeliana made a face.
“Even if he thinks my mother’s wrong about a curse, he has to see we’re missing something.
Mayvus had stores of blood hidden away, and she was researching winex blood and the fluid in their eggs.
There’s something here we need to find. Something other than an onyx stone or Mayvus’ body. ”
Orra reined in the fragments of power attempting to slither out to test the future.
She couldn’t search for every little answer.
Not when her power was so limited. “Your mother’s mind might be broken in some ways, but don’t forget that she is a gifted progeny.
Her spoke’s strength lies in her memory.
She may not be able to communicate it to you perfectly, but the answers you’re looking for could be locked up in there somewhere.
And she’s not the only one with secrets to unlock.
When everyone holds back part of the riddle, it’s impossible to see the solution. ”
Aeliana stopped outside the kitchen door, giving distracted waves and hugs to the young winex filing past her.
It still left Orra in awe that Aeliana had managed to befriend creatures long overlooked as unintelligent enemies.
How had she been grounded for a thousand years without ever considering such a thing?
“What do you mean?” Aeliana asked.
“Hmm?” Orra pulled her gaze from the line of the winex.
“Who else has secrets they’re holding back?”
Orra’s focus blurred as dozens of faces passed through her mind. “Who isn’t holding back secrets?”
She pursed her lips as the blurred faces converged, leaving the image of an onyx stone. One she’d last seen in the palm of an Ahmranan pirate. No, a thief. A murderer. He’d been too terrible to be given the docile label of a pirate.
“Those who are hiding secrets are usually trying to get to the bottom of everyone else’s,” Orra murmured as an afterthought.
She turned on her heel and strode toward the main hall.
She’d spend another day searching the grounds, sensing for the place she’d last felt the stone’s power. It was all she could do at this point.
“Orra?” Aeliana’s words met Orra’s ears as if muffled by water. “Won’t you at least eat breakfast first?”
“No, thank you. The winex need it more than I do. Besides, Holm appreciates Iris’ cooking enough for the both of us.” Orra rounded the corner, ignoring Aeliana’s protests.
She’d meant what she’d told Aeliana. She could no longer consider herself a Star after being grounded for so many years. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t act like one. She could still reflect the Sun.
She ran a finger over the braid on her wrist then pressed it to her lips. “Perhaps today will be the day,” she whispered. “Don’t give up on me yet.”