Untouched

Chapter One - Skye

SICARUS SMELLED LIKE DEATH. Skye Rosevine only noticed it because she had just come back from a trip to Otum, which had thousands of more beautiful trees than Sicarus did. And also, cleaner air. Now, her nose scrunched up upon reentering the seventh kingdom. Sicarus smelled like burning flesh and rotting bones and smoke. And though Skye had realized this long ago, she had locked up her memories of the familiar scent of death and refused to think about it.

Sicarus had the largest crematorium out of all the kingdoms. In fact, the main occupation in Sicarus was working at the crematorium, and everyone referred to it as the Furnace. It wasn't a high-paying job, but it was a safe one. Workers hardly ever got fired, and they only had to work from age seventeen to age thirty-five. It was too bad the Furnace had no workers to make it look at least a little appealing; the decrepit-looking building was in a sad state of disrepair, with peeling paint and dirt coating the walls. The inside of it wasn't much better.

But the seventh kingdom was still beautiful in its own ways. She looked up at the cloudless expanse of sky above her, taking in the hues of honey and crimson. No other kingdom in all of Cade had sunsets as breathtaking as Sicarus did. The last breaths of sunlight shone on the horizon, washing everything in a golden light. In a few minutes, the remaining slivers of light would be swallowed by blue-violet darkness, but Skye always held onto moments like these. She kept them and collected them to remind herself on dark days that the sun would rise again. Skye signed and reveled in the light, wishing the shadows would never come.

She was still staring at the setting sun when she almost tripped over something on the pavement. Skye reached down to examine the cold, hard object that was almost the size of her palm. She twirled it over between her fingers, taking in every detail. It was obsidian black and round, and curiously lightweight. It had jagged edges like someone had scraped it out of another surface.

Realizing what it was with a shock, Skye almost dropped the object. Mavor, she thought. Mavor was an indestructible substance that was mined on Mars. It was discovered twenty years ago, and after the Gifted destroyed so much of their land, mavor was used to rebuild palaces and wealthy homes. It was expensive, and for good reason: it was resistant to the strongest of magic.

But what in the world was it doing here? After studying it for a few more seconds, Skye pocketed it. She would have more time to look at it later, when she wasn't so exhausted from her return trip on the hover train.

Skye resumed walking to the rows of identical two-story houses from the train platform. Home. She was walking home, though after eight years, it still didn't feel that way to her.

"Hey, Skye! You're back!" Skye turned around, scanning the streets for the source of the familiar voice. She looked down the road and saw a girl about four years younger than her careening toward her on a bicycle.

"Slow down! You'll knock me over again, you little rascal!" Skye jumped out of the way just as Aster halted suddenly two feet away and almost flipped over the blue bike. The bike had been a birthday present from Skye, and in the two months since she had had it, Aster had managed to get scrapes on the handles and seat. Also, after a particularly harsh storm, one of the wheels had fallen flat due to Aster riding over some sharp branches. Skye smiled at the memory as she remembered that Aster had hidden the broken wheel from her and tried to ride the bicycle, falling to the ground when it wouldn't ride right. They had replaced the wheel a month ago when Skye had finally scrounged up enough money to go to the nearest auto-repair shop.

Aster ran to Skye and hugged her around her waist. "Skye." She sighed and leaned back to look up at Skye. "I missed you!"

"I'm sure you did," Skye replied, smiling. "I see you haven't gotten any taller than when I last saw you," she teased.

Aster fake-pouted and released her. "Not everyone can be as tall as you, Skye. Besides, I'm only twelve. Maybe when I'm your age I'll be even taller than you!" Aster stood up a little straighter.

Skye laughed. "Maybe." Skye adored Aster, and treated her like a little sister. Aster had been virtually raised by her aunt, since her parents abandoned her when she was three to go work in the capital. But Aster was a ray of sunshine, and Skye couldn't imagine how anyone could leave her.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Aster said, reaching into the back pocket of her jeans. "I saw this when I was walking in the Gardens yesterday and I wanted to give it to you." She pulled out a slightly crushed flower with purple petals and a yellow middle. Its dark green stem was wrapped around her fingers as she pressed the flower into Skye's palm. It was an aster flower.

"I love it," Skye said softly, feeling the flower's soft petals. "I'll keep it with me wherever I go, so you can always be with me even if we're kingdoms apart."

Aster beamed.

"Aster Silva Ales! You get inside this house now, young lady, or I swear I'll ground you until astronauts walk on Mercury," a middle-aged woman of slight stature shouted from down the street, looking stern.

Dahlia was Aster's aunt, her mother's sister, and although she was strict sometimes, she had her heart in the right place. She had no children of her own, so she treated Aster like her daughter. Skye supposed she was more of Skye's mother than her birth mother had been. After all, Dahlia was the one who raised her.

"Sorry, Aunt Dahlia!" Aster shouted back, not looking sorry at all. "I'll be there in a minute!" She turned back to Skye with a breathless look as if she was about to start a whole new conversation.

Skye stifled a laugh. "Aster, you should go now, okay? It's almost curfew."

Aster's eyes widened with disbelief and exasperation. "But we haven't even talked about your hover train ride yet! Was it magnificent? How was the food? How was the view?" She asked excitedly. Skye opened her mouth to say something but before she could reply, Aster added, "I bet it was magical. I want to go on a thousand hover train rides someday." She stared dreamily at Skye, who laughed at her enthusiasm.

"It was amazing. Not as amazing as being here with you, though." Skye winked. "Now get going. You don't want to make Aunt Dahlia mad. I'll tell you everything tomorrow morning," Skye promised.

"Swear on the stars?" Aster asked. A few years ago, Aster had asked this jokingly when Skye had said that planets revolve around the sun, and Aster hadn't quite believed her. The phrase had stuck.

"Swear on the stars." Skye watched as Aster mounted her bicycle and pedaled slowly down the street, looking back at Skye every few seconds and waving. The last thing she saw was Aster's long, dark brown hair as she disappeared into the little white house and closed the door behind her.

When Skye finally reached her house, she was so tired that she could've passed out on the couch. But she made herself walk to the small kitchen and eat her dinner rations. At worst, they tasted rotten and gooey. At best, they tasted like undistinguished slop. Tonight was one of the better nights.

As she swallowed her last spoonful, Skye got up and placed her trash in the incinerator chute. But when she reached the spiral staircase that led to her bedroom, she heard footsteps creaking on the floorboards above her.

Skye allowed herself a moment of panic before she started formulating a plan. There were three exits on this floor: the front door and two locked windows. The windows would take too long to get open if the intruder was an enemy, but if she could just reach the front door...

Suddenly, she felt heat emanating from one of her pockets. She took out the mavor, wincing at the hot surface, but entranced by it at the same time.

The stone was glowing bright blue.