Page 6 of Bound By Stardust
“Yes. I lay in the boneyard as if in death, and the stardust, no, I’m certain you, brought me back to life.”
No, no, no. That couldn’t be right. Stardust had healing properties, but it didn’t bring anyone back to life. Still, six months was impossible. Whatever had happened to him had addled his mind. “I know what I want,” I said, to distract him from his thoughts. Whatever he was thinking couldn’t be good.
His golden gaze locked on mine. “What do you want?”
I wished I didn’t feel breathless when he looked at me, as though he truly saw me, not just a healer but a lonely woman searching for more, something else to fulfill life and bring joy to the empty spaces within me. I blinked and spat out the words that had festered within me, unsaid, all along. “To be chosen.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew my request was wrong.
Every year, the Masters flew down from their floating kingdom in gilded chariots pulled by winged horses. They came to Terrin to collect a percentage of the grains, fruits, and vegetables grown by the farmers. They also took wild animals and livestock. All this was given to them in exchange for protecting us from the monsters beyond our land.
They also bestowed a far greater honor on Terrin, and citizens from far and wide came, hopeful, eager to be picked, for the chosen ones were taken back to the kingdom above and lived in grandeur and wealth. They were also never seen again, but it was a small price to pay, to leave everything behind to live in freedom and glory.
That was what I wanted: a change, an adventure, more than my humble life as the Stardust Collector.
It was a bold ask, because at twenty-eight, I was too old to be chosen.
Each year, the Masters choose five young women, usually between eighteen and twenty-one, and five young men. Somehow, they already knew who to pick, for they read from a scroll, calling the names of those who were chosen.
I’d seen the look on the faces of the chosen ones, eyes shining as they stepped forward to have their lives changed. I was never one of them, but he could make it so. Even disgraced, wasn’t he still one of them?
Drazhan’s eyes flashed, and he stood, casting a shadow, larger than life, across the room. For the first time, his voice was stern. “You don’t want that.”
I lifted my chin and crossed my arms, daring him. “Why not?”
“Something is wrong up there, with the Masters and their floating kingdom. I’m on a quest to find out what it is. I’m certain they tried to kill me because I found a clue. Once I discover the truth, I’m going to destroy them.”
My jaw hung open, and I shook my head at his outrageous statement. Then, I burst into laughter. What a joke.
When I stopped, he was staring at me, something dark in his eyes. “You don’t believe me, and why should you? I’ll tell you my story and you can choose to believe it or not. I hold no influence over the tithe. Those who are chosen are meant to be chosen.”
Drazhan resettled himself at the table. I crossed my arms, frustrated at his reaction to my wish. I expected him to dazzle me with tales of the kingdom in the sky, the chariots that floated across the clouds, and the Masters dressed in golden masks. They had banquets and feasts, dances and celebrations that rivaled even the gods, I was sure of it.
Drazhan didn’t understand what it meant to be a commoner, to work until the skin of my hands cracked and bled, and my feet hurt so badly I had to limp. He didn’t understand what it meant to be the Stardust Collector and walk into a creepy place to behold the glory above, glory I never got a taste of.
Each tithe left me with just a glimpse of how life could be different, easier. Not that I was complaining, but the opportunity to toil no more, to be dressed in royal garments with every need catered to, to live a life of indulgence instead of working myself to the bone, like my grandmother had done, was extremely compelling.
I’d been lucky enough to learn how to read the recipes for healing, but nothing more. I heard rumors of grand libraries in the floating kingdom, meat so succulent it melted in one’s mouth, and the finest wines from vineyards far away.
He didn’t understand because he’d come from that life, a Master born with everything at his fingertips. He lived a life of ease and pleasure, surrounded by beauty.
I didn’t like the way he looked at me, as though he read my mind and sensed my vulnerabilities. My loneliness was getting the better of me, but I also knew if nothing changed, I’d live the exact same life my grandmother did, with no one to share it with or to pass the trade of Stardust Collector down to. Everything ended with me, so why not take a chance and change my life for the better?
Except, he was refusing after I’d saved and healed him.
A frown knit between my eyebrows, and I felt myself glaring at him, my voice hard and clipped as I said, “Please do. Explain yourself.”
He tapped his long fingers lightly on the table, drawing attention to his short fingernails, chewed to the quick.
“I grew up in Hanadith, a city far from here, with twelve siblings. I was restless, anxious to prove myself, and so I joined the Sky Watch. The equivalent here in Terrin would be the knights, loyal to the Masters, but not allowed to enter the floating kingdom.”
Despite my urge to be grumpy, I sat down and nodded. I knew about the knights, loyal to the floating kingdom. They were the men who ruled Terrin while the Masters sat in their lofty seats above, but even though the knights answered to the Masters, they were not invited into their kingdom. It left them with a sort of pining, a longing to dwell above when they were stuck down below.
Grandmother said the knights were strict and brutal because of it. I’d heard tales that made my blood curl of women who went out at night and then ended up at our doorstep nine months later, heavy with child, refusing to name a father. Any citizens caught for misdeeds by the knights were beaten bloody, even for minor misdemeanors.
I’d had an incident once when walking back from the market alone, and I shivered as I recalled it. One of the knights had attacked me, ripped my dress, and tried to force himself on me. Something dark had come over me, and I’d yanked my knife free and carved up his face. It was the only time I felt truly powerful, as though nothing could touch me.
After that, the knights pretended I did not exist, and when they needed help, they sent a young trainee to request supplies and offer me payment in the form of coins.
