Page 46 of A Touch of Stars and Stones
“Raiden was pretty adamant. Even Calix, too. We might not know you personally, but the tradition of training is important to all of us. It’s a cornerstone of everything here in Kirrasia. You’re a part of that now, like it or not. Maybe tomorrow we can start properly.”
The room quietens as I wait for her to respond.
“Can I ask you something?” She looks up, and the hope of a moment ago is crushed by worry.
“Sure.” My heart beats a little harder, and I hope she doesn’t bring up the Transference again.
“Have you ever met another Kirrian like me?”
It shouldn’t make me smile, but it does. No, is the simplest answer and begs to be said aloud, but I hesitate because there are two ways to answer that, at least in my head.
The answer’s the same for both.
“I’m going to take that prolonged silence as you’re not sure how to answer.” She fidgets, pulling her left foot from under her and glancing at the door she closed. “Well, have you ever met a trainee who can do what I’ve done?”
“No.” I shake my head. “But that?—”
She stands, interpreting me. “Ten, there’s nothing that even sounds like me.” She heads to the closed door, opens it, and comes back with a fat book in her arms. “Sure, parts, but it’s all mixed up,” she continues.
“Where did you get that?” My eyes lock onto the text and recognise it. My father worked on the latest version of it for nearly three years.
“Call it bedtime reading. But you’ve not answered my question.” She holds my gaze.
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know what to say. I’ve never met anyone like you before.” The words pop her eyes wide again, and I follow the flush of colour over her cheeks, which only makes me want to smile. She’s affected by me.
I step out from behind the couch and cross to where she’s standing and staring. With a lot more care than I would usually use, I take the book from her, all the while noticing her eyes riveted on me.
“Don’t compare yourself to something written in here or not written in here. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.”
“Your Transference.”
I can’t avoid it altogether, not when it’s such an important rite.
“Yeah. It can take all this uncertainty away. I promise.” The weight of the text grows, and I place it on the table and glance down at the purple stone in my cuff.
“I read that I’ll get something like that from the Maker?”
“Yeah.” I turn back to her. “All of us do. It helps to contain the power that Aslendrix shares with us, harness it and use it. You don’t have that yet. You’re… pure.” It’s the word that feels more fitting for her. “You’re powerful. And it’s spilling out of you in an unusual way, that’s all.” As I say it, I pray to Aslendrix that it’s the truth.
She steps forward, and that urge to touch her beats inside of me again, drawing me in. My mind runs over all the possibilities of what she’ll be, what Order she’ll belong to, and what it will be like to touch her when there’s no fear of what will happen.
I swallow.
And step back.
And think of the date and how close we are to the full moon and the new moon.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Nothing is wrong, I promise.” I smile.
“Are you going to tell your father?”
“About the book? Stars, no.”
“Your mother?”
“Why would I? And I’ve not spoken to her since last night.”
