Page 27 of Sea of Stars

“Don’t tell them that I’m a divinare,” I said suddenly. “And don’t tell them about Breghton. Just find men you can trust and tell them that you have found a ruler that will reunite the lands, and that darkness will once again be rid from this world.”

He nodded his approval. “As you wish,” he said and bowed low.

I wasn't used to people talking this way to me and I must have had a strange expression on my face because he began to laugh heartily.

“You're going to make a great queen, Mahlia," he said and smiled. "If I'm able to gain support in your favor, where shall I find you?"

I puzzled over the question. “When the time comes, I’ll be able to find you,” I said, almost certain.

He nodded, understanding that I meant in my dreams. He put out his hand, now accepting the handshake. I placed my hand in his and he smiled. The baby started crying and I reached out to take her. She was heavy and large in my arms compared to the way she looked in her father’s. I had to sit down in order to hold her. She was the size of two divinare toddlers combined.

“Your father is a brave man,” I whispered to the baby. She instantly stopped crying and looked up at me. I glanced back up at Lyntel. “Don’t worry so much about how to raise your daughter. She is strong like you.” I struggled back to my feet while holding the big baby. She had fallen asleep in my arms. Lyntel reached out for her and I gave the baby back to him. Her small head rested against the image sewn into Lyntel's armor.

"Lyntel? What does that sigil mean? Is it for your village?" The eye seemed to peer out of the gear, staring back at me.

Lyntel looked embarrassed. "I don't believe in it, we all have to wear this. The gear symbolizes our groundbreaking discoveries in technology." He paused before continuing, "and the eye is a stab at the divinares. As if we can see just as much as you because we're more intelligent. But please don't take offense, I..."

I started laughing. Here was a man who was going to help me, apologizing for something that his people believed. "I know that humans hate divinares, and divinares hate brutarians, and that we all hate each other. You don't have to apologize to me. I'm so glad that I met you. I was giving up hope."

Lyntel smiled. "Maybe you can finally stop all the fighting. At least you and I can prove that a human and a divinare can be friends."

“Lyntel,” I called as he started to walk into the tall grass. “We’ll get your wife back." My mission was now so much bigger than figuring out a way to free the divinares back at the Iron Gates. I was beginning to realize that the fate of all divinares was in my hands.

He turned back towards me and nodded. “I believe in you, Mahlia. And I’ll do my best to get others to believe too.” He gave me one last smile and then disappeared into the grass, but I no longer felt alone.

Chapter 10

I knew what I had to do. I needed to see what Breghton was up to. If my vision was true, he was heading toward Divinoira with dozens of divinares following him. Breghton had said even more divinares were living at the old castle already. He would gather them in his name as well. I needed to see how many were on his side. I needed to get a better look at this castle.

Jogging, I followed the matted path. They must have had a significant head start. I paused, breathless. I squinted up at the sun and tried to picture the Lords uniting as one to light the earth. Their light shone as bright as ever. I had doubted their existence for so long that I did not know how to accept that I was a part of them. So many horrible things had happened to me in my short life. The only solace I had was that in order to be a fit leader I had to experience pain. I needed to know how it felt to lose the light.

I looked back at the path and began to walk. Every now and then I’d stop and crouch to look at more dried blood. Mikado must have still been badly hurt. He was losing too much blood. I feared he would be dead by the time they reached the kingdom.

Soon the stars were lighting my way. I didn’t stop to rest or eat. I kept walking through the night, wishing I could catch up to Breghton. It would be so easy to show the divinares he was not the rightful ruler. All I had to do was show them my skin. One of them would be able to interpret the symbols.

Determined, I kept walking. I could not stop. I opened my eyes as wide as possible to try to prevent them from shutting. At one point I had to cross a small river. The chilly water revitalized me, as did drinking from the stream. I was so exhausted though, that the effects didn't last long. Instead of walking I began to stumble clumsily forwards. I closed my eyes for an instant and felt the ground beneath me collapse. The next thing I knew I had landed hard on my butt. I coughed as I inhaled the straw’s dust. If I had been more alert I would have noticed the straw on the ground in place of the matted grass. My bottom was sore as I tried to stand and I knew that my fall would leave a nasty bruise.

Dirt walls rose all around me. I had fallen into a pit more than three times my height. My first instinct

was to call out for help, but I knew it would be a mistake. Who knew what the person who set the trap was trying to catch? I gulped thinking about what Lyntel had said about divinare blood. This hole was too narrow and shallow to catch anything except small animals or divinares. I took a deep breath and tried to think of how to escape, but my mind refused to work. I was tired and now frantic. I whimpered pathetically at the bottom of the hole. An image filled my mind of someone dumping dirt back into the pit, covering me slowly. I imagined myself being trapped in the soil, unable to rise with the stars.

I pulled out a bottle from my knapsack and took a huge swig of water to help clear my mind. My hand rubbed against one of the dirt walls and I noticed that it was really solid. I drank the rest of the water from the bottle and plunged the top of it into the dirt wall, screwing it back and forth until it wouldn't go any deeper. The bottle barely moved when I pulled down on it. Quickly, I grabbed a full bottle of water from my bag and pushed it into the dirt a little farther up than the first bottle. I pulled out the lower bottle from the wall and placed my right foot into the crevice that it had made. Grabbing the bottle that remained in the dirt, I hoisted myself up. I pushed the empty bottle into a higher spot in the wall and held it firmly. As soon as I began to pull the full bottle out from the dirt, I knew the cap wouldn’t stay on. The last of my water trickled down the dirt wall, seeping into the wall and the ground below.

I took a deep breath. I tried not to worry about the water as I continued to pull and insert the bottles into the dirt. The cut on my arm burned. I was worried that the stitches were coming loose, but I didn’t dare look. It was slow and laborious work, and the stars were beginning to fade from the night. The sound of crunching straw made me climb faster. I placed my hands on the top of the pit and began to hoist myself out onto the matted path. Before I was even halfway out of the pit I was smacked on the side of my face with a heavy object. I instantly slipped back into the trap and landed sprawled on my back. I couldn’t move. A divinare man with thinning dark gray hair stood at the edge of the hole looking down at me. His beard was an identical color. It was the longest beard I had ever seen, almost down to his waist. His head was cocked to one side as he stared apprehensively at me. He turned and called out to someone behind him. I couldn’t seem to make out his words.

The next thing I knew he was being lowered into the pit by a rope. He stood as far away from me as possible and tried talking to me once again. But I could not make sense of what he was saying. I just kept staring at him. He wore a blue and gray checkered tunic with a belt around his waist. The reason I was staring, though, was because in the middle of his tunic was an imprint of a beautiful white owl, with his wings fully spread. It reminded me so much of Chinook. My head was spinning and I could feel a lump rising on my right temple. I started to imagine the dirt falling down on me again, trapping me. I saw the man look out of the hole and mumble something to someone above. Then he shrugged his shoulders and whacked me in the head again with his wooden cudgel.

***

Breghton was standing alone in a gray stone corridor that was open on one side. It overlooked a large square below where divinares were fighting with swords. But Breghton was not looking at his men training. He was staring at the Assassin’s Dagger which was perched precariously on the ledge. He drew a deep breath and grabbed the dagger. Glowing symbols slowly etched across the blade. Breghton closed his eyes and held the dagger to his chest. He mumbled a quiet prayer to himself as he leaned against the wall behind him. A moment later he held the dagger up to his face and opened his eyes. His face contorted with anger. “Why hasn’t it changed!” he growled and threw the dagger down the corridor. It clanged against the stone. The men battling below stopped mid-swing and stared up at their king.

***

I woke up panting.

“Nightmares?” Asked a voice nearby.

The old divinare with the long beard was staring at me. His face was wrinkly and his eyes were black and filled with anger. My eyes went again to the emblem on his tunic that reminded me of Chinook. We were now in a small room, with dirt floors. A single window let in a few rays of light. It must have been my captor's hut. The man held a cup in his hands and steam floated out the top of it. My stomach growled with envy. I just looked back at him, not acknowledging his question. I tried to move my hands, but my wrists were bound with rope and tied behind the chair I was sitting on. My ankles were bound to the legs of the chair.

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