Starrlings 1: House of Fire

chapter 14

L U M I

It had been a year since Lumi had last descended the steep winding pass cutting through the mountains towards the city of Singtsu below. A fleet of ten tigers led the procession, with the newest pair - Jinni and Yainni - kept in line by the rest. Lumi and Tai sat in a carriage further back in the convoy. Guarding their carriage was their aunt, riding her pure white tiger, Silka. The empress did not join them for the journey.

Lumi watched their approach into the city through the gap in the curtains of her carriage. It was always a shock to the senses to enter Singtsu, which was a mess of noise, a crush of people and their kinntigers. The streets were thin, lined with dark trees, the roads littered with red and orange leaves.

The commoners stopped to watch the royal cavalry as it passed, and Lumi shrank back from the curtains, suddenly scared of her own people. She so rarely left the palace, and had spent her whole childhood locked away in a lodge in the mountains. She wasn't used to the noise and chaos of the common folk.

But while Lumi hid from view, Tai opened his curtain and leaned out of the carriage. He waved at the people, and the people waved back. Lumi felt paralysed with fear at the throng of strangers outside the thin walls of the carriage, but Tai reached out onto the road, to allow his people to see his face.

On the main road towards the harbour, the street was wide and lined with trees. Halfway along the road their procession passed underneath a huge golden gate, decorated with golden tigers and monkeys. On either side of the road were portraits, each ten feet tall and framed in gold.

One was a portrait of the Empress Kiyo, sitting with her hands clasped in her lap. She wore a gold crown that stood twice as tall as her head. On either side of her stood two children - ten years old. Lumi recognised herself and her brother, as they had sat for the portrait six years ago. The children in the picture looked quiet, unassuming, and reserved compared to their regal grandmother. Behind Kiyo sat her tiger, with dark eyes seeming to glare at the portrait-maker.

On the other side of the road stood a faded portrait, depicting the royal family as it had been more than ten years ago, during the Fire War. Lumi caught a glimpse of her mother and father, both sitting. In the lap of her mother were two babies, both with a tuft of thick black hair. It was impossible to tell which child was Lumi and which was Tai. But Lumi stared up at her mother's face, for as long as she could, until their carriage had passed.

Lumi felt a pang of longing for this city of Singtsu, which she hardly knew, but which had been her home for the last few years. She had no idea when she would see this place again. No concept of how long she must stay in Lombardia before she was allowed home.

They reached the harbour. The city of Singtsu was an island, surrounded by an archipelago of even smaller islands, rising up from the water in strange shapes, some round and some sharp cones, pointing towards the sky. They were covered in green but in the pale light of the day they looked dark grey. The sky and water were both a pale grey.

While the landscape itself was dull, the ships lining the harbour were brilliantly painted in shades of bright blue and green and red and yellow. Each boat flew the bright red flag of the Fire Lands, so that the bay was full of red flags dancing in the breeze.

The suns broke through the clouds just as Lumi stepped onto the ship that would take them to Lombardia. She saw the bay lit up now, the water turning a brilliant dark green in the sunlight. Lumi felt the warmth of light on her skin, before she was led onto the ship and into the dark cabin.

The small hallways and tight spaces of the ship made Lumi nervous. She had never taken a long journey by sea, and she hadn't anticipated being trapped in such a small space for so many days. Her thoughts went to Jinni, who at this moment was being led along the plank and deeper into the ship, where he would not see the suns for days. Lumi at least had the option to walk up to the deck.

And so it was that she spent three days within the cabin of a ship, with nothing to do except worry about what Lombardia would be like.

On the evening before the ship arrived at the port town outside of New Hamilton, Tai and Lumi were taking their dinner in the small dining room on board the ship.

"We dock tomorrow," Tai said. "And we will be taken straight to the school, where we'll be given rooms at the school, like common boarders."

Lumi nodded.

"Kiyo is not here, Lumi. Neither is your precious Auntie V. It is you and me in Lombardia, and you will understand how it works from here. First, you will not speak to anyone unless I am with you. You will speak only when I allow you to speak. You will especially not speak to the prince, unless I am present as your chaperone. You will do nothing unless I have explicitly stated your permission."

Lumi looked down at her soup. She'd been expecting something like this, from Tai. She knew Tai wanted to protect her. They were both in danger at New Hamilton, and Tai knew that he must protect his sister.

"Yes, Tai," she said. She took another sip of her soup, hoping that the conversation was over and that he wouldn't get angry.

• Author's Note •

What's the longest flight you've ever taken?

See you next chapter!

elle xx