Scorched Starlight

Chapter Four

Kido

Chapter Four

My heart begins to race as her lips near mine.

I can't quite remember how we got to this point. I'd been attempting to catch some sleep on my first night in our new home, and failing miserably. Surprisingly enough, I didn't seek much comfort from a residence I've never seen before today. My new room currently has a sack of clothes in one corner and a book shelf with four books on it in another. Alek and the rest of the staff shan't join us until tomorrow, and they're the ones meant to get everything in order. So in the meantime, I'm essentially living in an empty shell of a room.

Despite my better judgments, I'd retrieved the Light Blade from its nook under my bed, having loosened one of the floorboards to concoct a secret compartment just like Mother's. I'd dared not touch the weapon since my last encounter with it. Mother's ethereal face clouded in mourning colors still haunted me.

But as I laid in bed waiting for sleep to come, I'd been wondering if I could try and convince her to talk to me, to explain - Everything. So I shot a quick glance to the bedroom door to make sure it was shut tight, and lifted the blade to my face. I'd stared at the glass almost longingly, waiting for the image to appear fleetingly as it had before.

It was then that I saw the girl.

I had wondered if there could be more than one spirit in the sword, as I'd remembered the flick of emerald green that had first appeared in the blade, but I'd never expected this. She was curled up in a ball on the floor, her eyes cast on something out of my view. She flicked them up to meet mine, and I drew in a breath at the sugary brown of them. Her dark skin illuminated her eyes jarringly, and her hair was twisted into a soft bun atop her head, with little ringlets hanging down, framing her face.

I'd noticed the three white dots around each of her eyes, as well as the white lacy band imprinted across her forehead, and the pointed tips of her ears. A Fae. I've never met one before, but I've heard about their talents. For all of the civilians of Ishigaki that Father had urged me to shake hands with over the years, so they can "get to know their Prince," he'd never taken me to the Forest of the Fae.

I'd opened my mouth for a royal introduction, and the image disappeared just as fast. Rolling my eyes in frustration, I tucked the weapon away once more, resolving to track down O bāchan in the morning and get some answers. The last thing I remember is my head landing softly on my pillow, and my eyes peeking out at the night sky from under the curtains to count the stars.

And now we're here. The girl I'd seen in the Light Blade hovers just before my face, her hands brushing against mine. I would assume it's all a dream if I couldn't swear I could feel the way her skin is warm to the touch. But I can.

"Who are you?" I'm yearning to know. If Mother is within the Light Blade, then surely it's more than just a prison for the most immoral beings in the world. So where did this girl come from? The movement to form the words reestablishes how close her mouth is to mine. She flips her lips up into a coy smile, and raises an eyebrow.

"I'm the girl from the glass." She says it as if it's obvious. I'm desperate to ask more, but she takes a step closer, and I find myself motionless. Time stops as her lips part slightly and her eyes flutter closed, and despite the fantasy of it all, I can't help but feel extremely uncomfortable.

After the loss of my mother, having to abandon the house I grew up in, and now being saddled with the responsibility with what is apparently one of the most powerful weapons in the world, although the girl is strikingly beautiful, I know there is no chance of this ending well.