Starsinger

The Moon

Aaron hobbled down the corridor. His limbs felt strangely new, as if they were not quite his own. He wasn't sure he trusted them yet.

But there was no pain. She had spared him that, too.

Two soldiers stood alert in dress blues and golds outside the room, perking up as Aaron stepped towards them.

"I apologize..." one of them trailed off as he looked Aaron up and down, trying to figure out how to address him. Too shabby for a lord – too shabby for anything, really. Aaron hadn't bothered changing out of the thin linen tunic and breeches he'd had on in the recovery room.

"Sir," the soldier eventually settled on. "This room is restricted."

"I'm her friend," said Aaron. The word felt inadequate, but he didn't have any others.

"Sorry sir," piped the second soldier. "Crown's orders."

A flicker of rage flared up in Aaron's skull. "You can shove your orders--"

"Let him in."

The voice wafted through the cracked door like a breath of spring, making the soldiers jump nervously. Aaron pushed through without another word.

Queen Tatiana glanced up as he entered. The room was small, with no furniture except for a single chair and a large bed.

Aaron bowed stiffly. "Your Majesty."

"Kyrmate Talus," said the queen. "You look much recovered. Have a seat."

He didn't want to sit. He stepped close to the bed, trying hard to keep his breathing even.

Sapphire looked so small against the bed, a tiny brown figure dwarfed by the expanse of white linen, her dark blue curls fanned out around her head. Her eyes were closed but Aaron could just make out the shallow rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

He realized he'd been clenching his fists so tight his knuckles had gone pale. He released them reluctantly.

"What's happening to her?" he asked.

Queen Tatiana persed her lips. "It's a normal process. When a vlynnkhora – well, when a starsinger awakens, there is a certain coming to grips that must take place. A sort of communion between the starsinger and their power. Or between the starsinger and the gods, if you hold to the old tales."

"Unconscious?" Aaron demanded. "For weeks?"

The queen looked back down at the bed. "Power grows as we grow," she said softly. "When we are small, it is easier to adjust to its newfound presence. You have your whole life to learn the weight and balance of it. How to carry it. Sapphire hasn't had that luxury. She has significant adjustments to make, and that will take time."

"But she will wake up. She'll come back."

"That is up to her."

Aaron fought the urge to clench his fists again. Instead he stared at the queen, watched her cool grey eyes as they studied Sapphire's face. He had never been so close to her, he realized belatedly. Not since the night of the masquerade when she'd pulled him aside for a warning. Keep your eyes open.

Since then she had stalked them. First through the amberglass, keeping tabs on her scout, and still later through the invisible strings she'd tied around each of them. Raelyn. Sapphire. Me.

"It's a wonder," Queen Tatiana breathed, and Aaron twitched back. "I spent half a lifetime studying the prophecy of the Astral Cycle, years training Raelyn to receive the burden of her destiny. But I got it wrong."