Children with Stars in their Veins (Chapter 7)

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 sky had been an endless expanse of grey all morning, the sun hidden behind a stretch of clouds that blended in with the sombre monochrome around it. The wind was biting and fast, throwing everything around and ruining what little composure everything had before exposing itself to the harsh outdoors.

Isadora pulled her jacket tighter around her, as if that would help stave off the wind at all. The woollen collar of the wrapped coat tickled her neck and jawline. The stray pieces of her hair not collected back blew across her face and she must have already tucked them back dozens of times by now.

Warm hands grabbed her own and she met the gaze of her father, whose brows were curled in worry. She didn’t blame him.

“Will you be warm enough?” he asked. He held up her bare hands, paler than usual. Almost an ash colour. “Your hands will freeze. Here.” He let go of her hands to remove his gloves and carefully replaced them on her.

“It won’t be cold much longer, it’s already starting to warm,” she pointed out, but didn’t protest. She offered him her best smile, chest tight. “I’ll be good, Dad. I’ve got everything I need, you know I do.”

He smiled and let out a breath, nodding. “Yes, yes. I know. I’m just worried, you know.” He placed his hands gently onto her cheeks and bent down to kiss the crown of her head. She closed her eyes and tried to soak it in. She wouldn’t have this again for a while. “I love you, Isa.”

“I love you too,” she murmured, and gently extracted herself from his grip. She turned to her mum beside him, who wore a watery smile. Her pale grey eyes were glistening, but she wasn’t crying. Isadora wrapped her arms around her mum’s neck and felt arms around her waist in return.

“Take care of yourself, you hear?” Mum whispered in her ear. When she pulled away, her mum tucked a wayward strand of blonde hair back behind her ear. “And Mishal. He’ll need you.”

She smiled and nodded. “Of course. I love you.” And then, reluctantly, she pulled herself from her parents’ clutches.

The Citadel loomed above them, the dark grey stone and rich wood dull in the grey light. The beautiful ivory staircase leading to the grand, hickory wooden doors was the only thing that held any lustre.

Leaning against one of the stone columns at the base of the stairs, Ashael waved her over. He looked small, wearing a coat too big for him. Still, he stood up when she approached with a bright grin on his face that warmed her.

“I have something for you,” he said, sans greeting. He pulled out a book-shaped object wrapped in leather from the satchel at his waist. She held out her newly gloved hands as he offered it to her, and he pressed it into them. “I hope you’ll find use for it.”

She eyed him, unable to help the smile that spread over her lips. “You didn’t have to get me anything,” she said. He shrugged, biting his lip and grinning, as she began to unwrap it.

It was a beautiful, albeit heavy tome, covered in supple red leather that was smooth to the touch. It had copper inlay, swirling around the edges in lovely curves. It would glint, she was sure, under the right light. The title, in the same copper, read The Book of Everything, Vol. 1.

“It has just about anything you could think about in it, little facts and tidbits, enough to give you flavour on, well. Everything.” Ashael was bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet. “You can find myths and legends, properties of different plants, the basics of writing codes in tapestries. Did you know that you can hurt a demon with a dagger forged with trueblood?”

She laughed. “Excuse me?”

“It doesn’t even give backstory. How’d anyone know to try?” He chuckled and ducked his head. “Because blood has iron, you can separate it— well, I’m not entirely sure, you’d probably need a really powerful mage to separate those kinds of minute particles—”

She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. Ashael stilled for a moment, and then rested a hand on her neck and kissed her back. It was sweet and she pulled away after only a moment to rest her forehead against him, breathing in time with him.

“Ash.” She lifted a hand to his face and brushed her thumb over his cheekbone. “I love your rambling, but I’ve got to say goodbye to the others too.” She pulled away and he looked a little dazed, his smile dimming. His eyes already pooling with tears. She continued rubbing her thumb along his cheek and did her best to smile. “I don’t think I’m going to run into any demons either.”

It made him laugh, at least, even though a tear slipped out of his eye. “Yeah, uh huh. I know, I just…” He sighed and nodded. “I’m really going to miss you, you know? I wish I could come with you.”

She patted his face and shook her head. “You have to finish your apprenticeship.”

He leaned into her palm. “I’ll wait for you. You know that right?”

Pressure began to build at the back of her eyes, and she blinked quickly, leaning forward to steal another quick, chaste kiss. She couldn’t start crying yet, she hadn’t even gone to the others yet. Alanna and the others needed her to be strong, or she didn’t think she’d be able to leave.

“Don’t spend all your time in the library,” she reminded him. “And make sure you take care of yourself.”

Ashael placed a hand under his chin and blinked, shying away coyly as if to say, who, me? It looked stupid with tears running down his face, but she laughed anyway. “I wouldn’t dream of defying Her Highness’ request.”

She shook her head again before taking a step back. She pressed a kiss to the tips of her fingers and held it up in the air as she backed away. Ashael did the same, eyes already red, but he was smiling.

The rest of them were huddled on the opposite side of the staircase, except for Mishal who was still speaking to his own mother away from everyone else. The rest of the expedition and Margaretta were finishing the preparations for their caravan, making sure the horses were ready and that both their carriages were in working order without rust or dents.

Cassius, Ember, and Alanna were all sitting on the steps, while Rowan stood behind them with folded arms. They looked grim, staring out into the distance with their hair in a loose braid, wearing a cloak that billowed out around their legs in the wind. Ember’s face was in her hands, and she stared at the ground with an empty expression, eyes hollow. A black bandana held back her hair and saved it, mostly, from the wind.

Alanna was already crying in her place between Cassius and Ember. Her hair was up, curled into a bun, and she wore her warm trousers and a grey sweater, arms tight to her chest. Cassius’ hair was an absolute disaster and looked duller, darker than normal. He donned his fur-lined jacket, which he was trying to recede into. He wasn’t crying but looked about to start at any given moment.

When Alanna noticed her approaching, she leapt from the stairs and crossed the space in seconds. She barely caught Alanna as her sister barrelled into her legs, still small and baby cheeked. Alanna’s arms gripped her in a death hold, and she sobbed into Isadora’s hip.

“You can’t go! You— you can’t leave me behind!” Alanna’s voice was muffled, but her words were clear.

Her heart split and she had to close her eyes and inhale deeply to keep from breaking apart right then and there. When she opened her eyes, she saw the rest of them had moved closer. Cassius was watching her with dull, grey-ish eyes that were darker than she remembered. He looked older, more serious, and it hurt her to see that kind of weight on him.

She carefully pushed Alanna away and then crouched down in front of her. Sobs rolled out of her sister so badly that she seemed to have trouble breathing.

“Little Pika,” she said quietly, trying to keep her voice level. Alanna brought her hands to her face and Isadora caught them before she could hide away. “Hey, hey now. Look at me. You’re going to be ok. You have Oriole, and Rascal, and Ember, ok? They’ll help you, they’ll be here with you.” She bit the inside of her cheek and ran her hand over Alanna’s hair. “I’ll be gone for just a little while, and then I’ll be back, and it will be like I never left.”

“I want you,” Alanna whispered, but her breathing was beginning to even out. “I want you and Stormy.”

She continued to stroke Alanna’s hair, and her sister’s sobs began to slow. “I know. But you’re very strong, and brave. This isn’t forever, just for a little while, and then I’ll come back and we’ll be together again, all right?” She looked back at the others. “All of us.”

And then she let go of Alanna and stood up. She approached the others and offered each of them a tight embrace and a kiss on their foreheads. Cassius shivered at her touch and wouldn’t meet her eye.

Mishal finally came over then, his gait awkward, and avoided everyone’s gaze. He shoved his hands into his jacket.

“Mish,” Cassius muttered under his breath, eyeing Mishal darkly.

In response, Mishal scowled. But it did get him to look at Cassius. “Cassius. You’ll get into unspeakable trouble, no doubt.”

Cassius shrugged and attempted to look nonchalant, even though he still looked on the verge of tears. “You’ll be insufferably boring, no doubt.”

Mishal rolled his eyes, but there was a miniscule twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Rowan stepped forward and pulled Mishal into a tight hug, resting their chin on his shoulder and shutting their eyes. “Be careful.” They glanced over to Isadora. “Both of you. Take care of each other.”

As they pulled away, Mishal nodded and looked uncomfortable again, glancing down at the ground. As Rowan stepped away, Ember approached. Mishal was the one to pull her into a hug, even though she barely reached his torso, and he let out a long breath.

She had to glance away from a moment. Reality had begun to set in, had begun to actually set in. They were leaving, they weren’t going to be here tomorrow. They’d be separated. They had never been separated before.

When she turned back, Alanna was stepping away from Mishal, and he was beginning to look wrecked. As Alanna stepped back towards the others, Cassius reached a hand out to place on her shoulder, making no moves to approach Mishal for his own goodbye, which wasn’t all that surprising.

But then, all the work she had done with Alanna immediately unravelled like loose threads. Alanna began to shudder as sobs ran through her again, and she turned to hit Cassius on the chest weakly.

“You can’t— you can’t let her go! She’s as good as your— your sister, you can’t— can’t let her go! You can’t—!” Alanna hit him again, even weaker this time, and then crumpled.

Cassius caught her, but not without a look of surprise and a backwards stagger to steady the both of them. He pulled her into his arms as Alanna completely broke down, anything she said now completely incomprehensible.

“We’ll take care of them,” Ember said softly, tears staining her cheeks. She looked determined though, not crumbling like the others. She met Isadora’s gaze and nodded.

“Isadora, Mishal! We’re ready to leave!” Margaretta called. “Mount up, and we’ll head out!”

“I love you all,” she told them, her breath fogging the air and coming out faster than was natural. She could hardly do it, keep herself together and remember how to breathe. “Be safe.”

“You too,” Rowan said, eyes glistening.

As they approached the caravan and were guided over to their two lovely mounts, the bells began to ring out through the Citadel, filling the air with a graceful, almost sorrowful song that resonated in her chest. She loved the sound of the bells, the lull of their ringing and the peace it brought her.

Now, as she pulled herself up onto her palomino, the dam broke and she began to cry. She didn’t want to leave them, didn’t want to leave her parents or Ashael. It was too late now.

A hand stuck out beside her and she glanced over to find Mishal watching her, face drawn. He looked as ill as she felt, but he held out his head steadfast and was only shaking a little when she took it.

word count:

2,184