Children with Stars in their Veins (Chapter 35)

a/n: hey, thanks for checking out Starry Veins! This is the novel I wrote for Round V of LMS, and it's still a first draft! While I don't discourage any feedback, I prefer not to receive feedback on grammar! I'm not polishing this draft up yet, so I'm not as concerned about editing. I am, of course, open to all feedback, but I ask that you keep this in consideration! Thanks <3

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[Isadora]

The journey to the City of Bells was arduous, with a lack of horses now but also less people and sans the two walking, outdated carriages that clomped along at a turtle’s pace. Or it felt like it.

Jax had gone now, riding north to handle some situation in in Glacier’s Keep. Isadora was comforted only by the knowledge he had a letter for the other four, and he would deliver it to them on his journey.

Mishal was quiet too. He looked contemplative more than upset, and she wondered if he wasn’t coming to enjoy this more. Rowan would have, she was sure. So would Cassius and Ember. They were so curious, the world would fascinate them.

She exhaled, glancing up to try to spy the city on the horizon. She flinched when she found the walls rising above her, the immense, smooth stone walls with towers lining it, each filled with a small bell that gleamed under the light of the sun, casting down towards the western horizon.

The road leading into the city had turned to white brick, and it glowed like silver in daylight. She sucked in a breath, holding it in pure wonder as they passed through the huge, gilded iron gates, swung open for free passage.

Building rose and stretched out around her, far too distant and tall for her to see the end of. Her heartbeat rang in her ears and she was careful not to breathe to deep, for fear the illusion of the beautiful city would shatter.

Jax was right. It was an incredible city, rising above her and filling the landscape as though it belonged. Commotion was already high in the streets as they trudged in, dirty and probably rather dishevelled from all their time on the road. She could do with a bath.

But after she saw the city.

Horses and carriages and steam-powered wagons trudged through the streets. Merchant and stands lined them, brilliant and colourfully dyed shades to protect from the harsh light of the sun. There was music coming from somewhere she couldn’t see, and the shriek of children as they ran through the streets, called after by parents or relatives so they didn’t go too far.

As they walked deeper into the city—where Margaretta was leading them, she wasn’t sure—she saw someone standing on the step of a building. They threw a cloud of dust into the air and muttered something under their breath. Their lips became a dark and vivid blue and tiny veins of the same colour spread from their mouth, and the dust all turned to snow in the air. She caught a flake in her palm and laughed. The mage waved at her and winked as she passed.

“Look at everything!” she said, clutching onto Mishal’s arm. “There’s so much! Isn’t it incredible?”

Mishal did not look nearly as thrilled as she felt, but still he nodded. “There is certainly a lot here.”

Gracia fell into step on her other side, and gently touched her arm. “We’ll be heading towards a manor house deeper in the city. Margaretta and Jax have a friend here, who we’ll be staying with while we’re here.” She pulled a slip of paper and a mechanical pen from her bag slung across her shoulders. She wrote something hurriedly and handed it over. “That’s the address. If you can’t find it, ask for The Humble Countryman. It’s a cartographer’s store. Maps of inhabited areas. If you want to explore the city, of course.”

“Oh, can we?” she asked, taken aback. It hadn’t even occurred to her to wander off. “Yes, I’d love that.” She glanced down at the address, and then at Mishal. “What about you?”

He glanced around them, as if expecting something to jump out and attack them. “I’ll stay with you,” he said. He looked to Gracia. “We’ll catch up then.”

Gracia smiled. “Have fun. Don’t get lost.”

Once Gracia had caught up to Margaretta, and presumably told her what was going on, Isadora turned to Mishal. “Where should we go first? Or, rather, what should we look for? We have a whole city to explore!”

He shrugged. “I don’t know where anything is.”

“Well, we’ll find something then. Come on.” She ushered him along through the busy streets, weaving and dodging through the swaths of people bustling about the city.

An hour later, she had accosted them some kind of honeycomb treat and ended up with ribbons in her hair, still not entirely certain how that had come about. As she trekked them through the streets, the sun now gone behind the walls and a hazy dusk settling over the city in ambers and oranges and pinks, she spotted a strange looking booth.

The cloth that sheltered the lone woman sitting inside was midnight blue and embroidered with beautiful silver thread, depicting abstract images that she couldn’t even begin to interpret. A parent was ushering their child off the booth as the lady bade them goodbye, and when they had cleared, she could read the painted sign that hung off the front of the stall. Oracle.

She smacked Mishal behind her. “Let’s get an oracle reading.”

He sighed. “It’s brought falsified, Isa. Future isn’t predetermined, it’s always changing.”

She smacked him again. “They have visions of possibility though. Their predictions could be true. Ashael told me all about this, and besides, they wouldn’t go through the rituals they have just to see falsifications.”

Before he could say anything more, she approached the stand and smiled down at the woman running it. The woman had a slight frame and beautiful auburn hair, glossy and running down her shoulders. Her light brown skin was unblemished. She glanced in their direction as they approached, though her gaze remained at hip-level. This close, Isa could now see her eyes.

They were made of tiger’s eye, beautiful polished and shimmering ever so slightly. They shifted with her movement, though Isadora knew by what Ashael had told her they were not for seeing on their material realm.

The woman smiled at them. “Good evening. May I tempt you for a taste of what is to come in your lives?”

Isadora sat down across the booth from her. Mishal followed at a more sedated pace, hesitant. “My friend and I would love them.” She glanced at the sign which stated price, and slid over the appropriate coin, though she had little to begin with. “I’m Isadora, and this is Mishal.”

“Isadora and Mishal,” the woman said, her voice warm and smooth. “I’m Inala.” She took the coin with a slender hand, nails painted a deep burgundy. “Who would like to start?”

She put her hands across the table. “I will.”

Inala smiled. “Very good. Very confident and assured. You have good qualities.” She took Isadora’s hands, covering them with her own, and inhaled deeply. Her eyes began to glow, shedding a dim golden light across her high cheekbones.

Warmth spread up her hands, and she swore she could smell a bonfire somewhere close by. Then herbs, medicinal ones, and something like burning iron.

“You are powerful. You will be, though you—” Inala frowned, tiger’s eyes shifting as if watching an unseen image moving before her. “Your future is so rippling, so unclear. I see a tower, and rising peaks. I see snow and I see a forest, and ruins and I see—” She stopped, and suddenly, her grip tightened on Isadora’s hands, nails digging into her skin. She jumped in surprise and fought not to pull away as Inala’s grip became painful.

Inala’s eyes grew glassy for a moment, almost rosy. And, to Isadora’s horror, from her left eye trickled a pale and watery drop of what looked to be blood.

“Inala?” she asked, heart racing.

“I’m okay,” Inala said, though she was still frowning. She removed her hands from Isadora’s and reached up one to wipe away the bloody tear that had streaked down her cheek. “It happens, occasionally. It’s no harm to me, though it is alarming, I understand.” She smiled, though now it looked tight. “Your kindness, above all else, will endure even through the darkest of times. Take heart that your light will shed upon everyone around you. You have a sister, yes? Younger?”

“I do,” she said, exchanging a secret smile with Mishal, who looked uncomfortable. “Her name is Alanna.”

Inala patted her hand. There were red marks in her skin where Inala’s nails had dug in. “I saw her. She is incredibly strong.” She turned to Mishal and patted the table. “And for you. Your hands, please.”

She nudged his shoulder, and he gave her a Look, before putting his hands over the table. Inala smiled as she took them, looking already better. There was still a faint smudge of blood over her cheeks.

“Oh. So many possibilities, so many fates. You’re both going to lead very interesting lives, I can promise you that.” Her smile faded as she focused, the stones darting around once again. “I can feel your loyalty like a pulse, it’s bright and brilliant and true. Whoever you give it to, they will be a very lucky person indeed, and their lives richer for it.” She tilted her head. “I see someone.”

“Who is it?” Isadora asked, curiosity tingling in her chest.

“I’m not sure, the vision is shifting. She— no, it’s gone again. Oh, no, there’s someone else. He’s much clearer.” Inala stared right past Mishal. “Your golden falcon.”

Mishal twitched. “My what?”

Inala didn’t answer. Her fingers flexed on Mishal’s hands. A mist began to cloud over her tiger’s eyes. Isadora glanced at Mishal and found that his face had drained of colour. She forced herself not to reach out to him, not wanting to disrupt the magic. “Stormy?” she whispered.

“I smell blood,” he murmured. “It’s so much.”

“You’ll save him, or you’ll damn him. They’ll do something awful to him. Wait— his eyes.” Inala squinted, so tightly that her seer’s eyes were almost no longer visible. “They’re so bright.”

Mishal’s breath came shallower, quicker. “Who? I mean— How do I save him? What about his eyes?”

“They’re blue.” Inala’s grip went slack over Mishal’s, and she let out a long breath. “One way or another, whatever you choose, you will become oathbreaker.”

Mishal yanked his hands away. Inala startled at the sudden break of contact, then bowed her head. She was shivering slightly.

“Isa, I think we should go,” Mishal said, voice hoarse and taut. He stood up, and the stool he had sat upon clattered to the ground.

“Stormy—” she tried, softening her voice.

Inala leaned forward, her eyes clear and gleaming once more. “Wait.”

“We need to be go—”

“When you hear the bells, you’ll know it’s time to go home.” Inala shook her head and leaned back. “Yes. The bells. I wouldn’t stay on the path you’re walking.”

Isadora desperately wanted to ask what that meant, but Mishal looked ready to lose the snacks she’d given him earlier. She righted the stool he’d knocked over. “Thank you so much, it was very lovely to meet you. You have a wonderful practise here.”

Inala tilted her chin up, and this time, her tiger’s eye gems stared right up at Isadora, meeting her gaze as though she could see her. Isadora shivered.

“Yes,” Inala said, softly. “Watch out for yourself, Isadora.”

She nodded and felt stupid then because Inala wouldn’t be able to see the gesture anyway. “Of course, you too.” She turned to hurry after Mishal, who was making his way out of the market square and out towards the main thoroughfare.

Once she caught up to him, she grabbed his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, voice steady again but low. “Let’s just find this cartographer’s manor.”

“Okay,” she said, heart sinking in her chest. Mishal quiet and shaken was not a sight she enjoyed. She wished she could wrap him in blankets as she did with Alanna, and kiss his forehead, and make everything better, but she couldn’t. It didn’t work like that, especially not now.

As they made their way back, she couldn’t help it though. She knew he didn’t want to talk about it, but she was holding on to something Inala had said.

“Do you really think that when they ring the bells, we’ll be able to go home?”

Mishal glanced over to her, clearly taken out of his brooding by surprise. Then, the severity on his face eased, and he glanced down at his hands.

“I hope so.”

word count:

2,103