Starborn Legacy (A Starborn Series prequel)

Chapter seventeen

Phoebe kept her eyes on the woods. The fire of the funeral pyre was still blazing behind her, and would be for many hours still to come, but the rest of the mourners had left by now. Even though the light it cast was bright, it did little to cut into the gloom just beyond the treeline.

"I told him not to come," she muttered as she chewed nervously on her thumbnail. "Maybe we should have waited to tell him about the funeral."

"He would have been so upset if we hadn't told him," Rue said. Her voice was hoarse from crying; she sounded exhausted, defeated. "I know you're just looking out for him, but don't be so hard on yourself. Connor can make his own decisions — even if they're questionable ones."

It had been an unsettlingly long time since Phoebe's father had escorted Connor from the clearing. At the time, Phoebe and Rue had exchanged a nervous glance, but said nothing. It didn't matter how badly Phoebe wanted to raise the alarm, she knew better than to draw attention to what was likely happening in the cover of the trees. But now that sense of self preservation gave way to fear. She hunched her shoulders in shame, knowing that she was failing her cousin yet again.

"I should go check on them," she said. "I'll come up with some kind of excuse to bring Dad back—"

Rue grabbed her arm and clutched it tightly. "Phoebe, look."

Phoebe turned her head and followed Rue's gaze. A figure was emerging from the darkness along the path that connected the clearing to the rest of Ardent.

"Dad!" Phoebe called when she realized who it was. She hurried across the clearing to meet him and prepared to play dumb. "Where did you go? Is everything okay?"

Her father waved off her concern as if he was batting away a mosquito. "I was tending to your mother. She always gets quite emotional after ascensions."

Phoebe pursed her lips and chose not to mention that her mother had looked fine to her when she left a short while earlier. She waited for her father to say something about Connor, but instead he turned his attention to Castid, who was stoking the pyre.

"Is there anything else you need, dear friend? Anything at all?"

Castid shook his head and offered a sad smile. "You've done more than enough. Thank you."

"Not a problem at all." Phoebe's father paused for a moment, his eyes darting between Rue's father and the burning pyre. "If it would make things easier for you and your family, my neighbors and I can take care of the preparations for the connection."

It took everything Phoebe had not to cringe at her father's desperation. Even when faced with a family in mourning, all he cared about was talking to the Stars. Knowing him like she did, Phoebe imagined that having to delay the connection ritual had been driving her father crazy.

Castid blinked, clearly just as taken aback by the sudden shift in conversation as Phoebe was. But he regained his composure quickly. "That would be greatly appreciated, Lance. My family and I are so grateful for your hospitality." Phoebe couldn't help but do a double-take at the sound of her father's name. People so rarely called him by it that sometimes she forgot he had one. But if anyone could get away with something as disrespectful as calling Ardent's leader by his given name, it would be a Starborn.

Phoebe's father stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's our pleasure. Right, Phoebe?"

She nodded dutifully. "Yes, of course."

With that, her father bid Rue's family a good night. As he led her back toward home, Phoebe gave Rue a tiny wave.

They were enveloped in the darkness that shrouded the path when her father finally spoke.