A Dark and Starless Night

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Eve shifted in her seat, already growing numb from sitting on the wooden bench. It had been a few hours since they'd left the palace behind them, and Eve had taken to reading a book as soon as Rik and Fin had started to doze off, clearly not as fresh as they'd looked. Ali was working away at a piece of embroidery, which had surprised Eve.

Her eyes moved over the same sentence for the fifth time before she closed the book, rubbing her forehead. A sigh spilled out of her and Ali's nimble fingers stilled.

"That's the third sigh out of you," she said, putting her embroidery hoop down in her lap.

"I can't distract myself," Eve said, putting the book on the bench beside her. "Every time I try to read, my mind wanders back to the murders."

Ali crossed her legs, very unsubtly kicking Rik in the shin, pulling him out of his nap. Eve smiled slightly as Rik straightened up, rubbing his face and taking a sharp breath.

"I can't say I'm not relieved we're out of the city. It was hard not to be constantly worried about you after what happened."

"What happened?" Rik asked, his voice groggy.

"Eve was attacked," Ali said, her voice chastising.

"Ah," he said, sitting forward and resting his forearms on his knees. "I'm glad as well if I'm honest. At least here you won't be able to refuse having guards." His smile was soft and playful.

Eve rolled her eyes, settling back, but a smile warmed her face.

"I'm getting better at using my powers," she said, pulling a small shimmer of light into her cupped palms. "Soon I might be able to keep pace with Ara."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Rik said, a twinkle in his eyes. "She's good at it, isn't she?"

Pride warmed his voice as he sat back, bracing his arm on the windowsill.

"She makes me look bad," Eve laughed. "She's got a head start as well. By the time she's my age, I don't think I'll be able face her."

Rik joined her laughing and Ali picked up her hoop again, needle poised over the cloth. She hesitated before setting it all down again.

"Maybe you'd feel better if you talked about it," she suggested, shifting to face Eve. "You haven't had anyone to hash everything out with, have you?"

"I-" She hadn't. She'd spoken about it in bits and pieces, but had kept most of it to herself. "It worries me," she admitted, gripping the book in her lap. "All the victims had that talisman. And it's almost definitely related to the Isle. What if... what if the murders are racially motivated?"

She hadn't said that out loud yet, but it would make some measure of sense out of the madness. Anything else – the thoughts of dark creatures that haunted her – was too... mystical, too magical. She couldn't believe that Star Eaters were real. No. Humans were monster enough to murder three people and make an attempt on her life. And people had killed over more trivial things than race.

"Islans and Zyrnans are practically one and the same," Rik said, his words fast. "There aren't even custom checks between the two. I can't see that being it."

"I think I agree," Ali said, her hands folded neatly in her lap. "In a city this large and diversified, it could easily be a coincidence that they all had that talisman. It's probably an omen of good fortune or something."

"You're both being either wilfully or blissfully ignorant," Fin said, making Eve start. She'd been feeling irritation grow at the easy denial from Rik and Ali, but she'd been managing to supress it. The last person she expected to agree witrh her was Fin. "Zyrna colonised the Isle with classism and politics, and more recently than you might want to think. Most natural born Zyrnans think themselves better than Islans. Some of those people are bad enough to think that interbreeding of those bloodlines should be illegal."