The Star Dwellers (3 page)

“I don’t know,” Tawni answers honestly. I nod
absently. “If I don’t make it, leave me and find your mom.”

“I won’t leave you,” I say.

Tawni opens her mouth, presumably to argue,
but then snaps it shut and nods. She remembers who she’s dealing
with. I’m not known for changing my mind.

“Let’s go,” I say, shouldering my pack.

“I
’m just a guy,” I
say.

“And barely even one at that,” Roc adds,
smirking. Sometimes I wonder why he’s my best friend.

Mr. Rose shakes his head. “No, you’re more
than that, Tristan, and you know it. You’re an idea.”

“Yes, and you’re betrothed to my sister,”
Elsey chimes in eagerly.

I laugh, half because the notion of ideas and
betrothals is ridiculous, and half because Adele’s ten-year-old
sister is really growing on me. “I’ve just barely met your sister,”
I say to Elsey.

“I saw the way you looked at each other.
You’re practically engaged.”

I want to get off the subject because I feel
embarrassed talking about Adele and me—whatever we are—in front of
her father. Without looking him in the eye, I say, “What do you
mean
an idea
?”

“Like sliced bread?” Roc asks unhelpfully.
“Because I’d say sliced bread is a way better idea than Tristy
here.”

Adele’s father chuckles and shakes his head
again. “You two are worse than brothers.”

“You haven’t met my brother, Mr. Rose,” I say
grimly, automatically reaching up and touching the area under my
eye. The last time I saw my fifteen-year-old brother, Killen, he
and his cronies beat me senseless. My eye is still black and
swollen.

“It’s Ben.”

“Right…Ben,” I say, still feeling weird about
calling Adele’s father by his first name.

“You’re more than just a guy because of who
you are.” I raise a hand to object but Ben waves me off. “Hear me
out. Just because you’re from up there”—he motions to the high rock
ceiling above us—“doesn’t mean you are one of them. And that’s my
whole point. Despite the fact that you’re the son of the President
of the Tri-Realms, the chosen one, the next great leader of this
world, you aren’t a tyrant. You don’t support your father’s
politics, am I right?”

I nod slowly, trying to understand where he’s
going with all this. “But that just makes me an enemy to the
government. I’m a thorn in their side—a criminal who must be
brought to justice. I’m sure my brother has already told my father
what I’ve done. They’ll be hunting me with everything they’ve
got.”

“We could dress you up like a woman and then
they’d never find you,” Roc suggests. He’s being particularly
unhelpful this morning.

Ben ignores Roc and says, “You’re thinking
about this all wrong. You’re an
idea
, Tristan. The idea that
someone from the Sun Realm could be on the side of the people in
the Lower Realms; the idea that someone from within the highest
government ranks is helping the Moon and Star Realms; the idea that
injustice will not go unpunished. If we can get the moon dwellers
to believe in that idea, maybe, just maybe, we can unite the
people.”

I gotta hand it to this guy, he knows what to
say to get the blood pumping. He is a born leader, and I’m just a
guy. He should be the one leading a rebellion, not me. I’ll help,
sure, but I don’t want to be the one. Ben is a big man, strong and
capable. When I first met him—when Adele and I broke him out of
prison—he looked haggard, his black hair and beard long and
disheveled, his body strong but battered. After only just two days
he is a new man. First he used my sword to trim his hair, cropping
it medium length and getting it off his ears, and then to remove
his beard, leaving a neat goatee as his only facial hair. Next, he
got cleaned up in the subchapter 26 reservoir. When he was done, I
barely recognized him, and probably wouldn’t have known him at all,
if not for his piercing emerald-green eyes, the same eyes born by
Adele.

“I don’t think I’m the right—”

“Yes—you are.”

I can tell he’s not going to back down, and
the last thing I want is to argue with Adele’s father. “What do you
want me to do?”

Ben smiles, as if he knew all along I’d
listen to him. “For a start you need to meet with the Vice
Presidents of the Moon Realm.”

“There are dozens of them.”

“We’ll start with one—one I know will listen.
She’ll get the rest of them to one place for a meeting, and then
you can work your magic.”

“I have no magic.”

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

I sigh. Before I left Adele, I told her I was
willing to do whatever it takes to help her people, the moon
dwellers. The time has come for me to keep that promise. “Okay,” I
say.

“You’ll be wonderful, I just know it!” Elsey
says excitedly, clutching my arm. I flash her a smile, which
doubles the size of her own smile. There are so many of Adele’s
features in her face, and yet her temperament is so different.
Elsey is bright, cheery, formal—a miniature woman. Adele is
sarcastic, tough-minded, slightly solemn at times. I close my eyes
and whisper a silent prayer for her safety.

Roc is staring at me, the edges of his lips
curled slightly in his classic
I-know-what-you’re-thinking-and-I-think-you’re-a-dork
smirk.
His naturally brown skin makes him blend in with the brown rock of
the cave wall behind him. I ignore him. “So where are we headed?” I
ask.

“The place where it all started,” Ben says,
his eyes serious. “Subchapter 1 of the Moon Realm.”

I’ve been there, of course, but I don’t
really remember it. I’ve been everywhere as part of my duties as
son of the President.

“That’s the subchapter with that big fire
parade, isn’t it?” Roc asks. Roc is better at geography and culture
than I am.

“Correct,” Ben says. “And the home to Theresa
Morgan.”

I lean my head back and close my eyes, trying
to remember why that name sounds so familiar.
Ahh, yes.
Middle-aged woman, sharp as a tack, short red hair.
“I remember
her. Vice President Morgan. One of the few VPs who wasn’t a
complete puppet. She negotiated hard—finally got my father to lower
the taxes by a few percent. We even threw in some free boxes of
medicine. I liked her.”

“She’s a close friend of mine,” Ben says.

I want to ask how he knows her, but I don’t
think he’ll tell me. Behind his sparkling green eyes I sense there
are fathomless mysteries.

“I’m growing tired of this place, Father.
It’s cold and dank in this cave. When shall we depart for
subchapter 1?” Elsey’s head is cocked to the side and her nose is
all scrunched up. I can’t help but smile.

Roc mimics her facial expression and tone of
voice. “Yes, Father. It’s cold…and
dank
. We must leave
before all bounce has been removed from our step.”

Elsey giggles and jumps up, trying to grab
Roc, but he leaps out of the way, besting her with his agility and
speed. He gets behind her, picks her up, and tickles her around the
sides of her stomach. She giggles louder, desperately trying to pry
Roc’s hands from her. Ben is chuckling heartily, his dark stubble
throbbing up and down with each chortle.

I laugh, too, but stop when Adele’s face
flashes into my mind. She’s not laughing, not even smiling. Her
face is serious, grim, straight-lipped, and heavy-eyed. Even in
this form, her face makes my breath catch in my throat. I wonder
whether I am seeing a memory, or whether my mind has invented the
image of its own volition—or whether I am somehow seeing her across
the miles, through rock and stone. If so, I feel bad. We are
laughing and she is not.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asks, looking at me
suddenly. His smile is gone too. I can still hear Elsey’s
unfettered laughter, but it feels distant.

I shake my head. “It’s nothing.”

“I felt it, too,” he says.

I nod. I’m not sure why I’ve been chosen to
have such a powerful connection with Adele, but I’m glad for it.
She’s changed my life. “I’m worried about her,” I admit.

“Me, too,” Ben says. “But she’s strong, like
her mother. She’ll be okay.”

I find it odd that he compares Adele to her
mom, particularly when referring to her strength. He seems so
strong, and from what she’s told me, it was he who trained her to
fight. There must be something I’m missing.

I realize it’s quiet again in the cave we’ve
been hiding out in. Roc and Elsey are once more sitting on the rock
floor close to each other, panting from the exertion of their
tickle fight, listening to my conversation with Ben.

“Adele is okay, right, Father?” she asks.

Since Adele left to start her journey to the
Star Realm with Tawni, a full forty-eight hours have passed. We’ve
spent it hiding out in a cave on the edge of subchapter 26, but
Adele has likely spent the time marching through a tunnel
potentially filled with sun, moon, and star dweller troops, any of
whom could have easily mistaken her for the enemy.

“She’s fine,” he says, and I take as much
comfort from the confidence in his words as Elsey does. “And we can
leave this cave right now—I think we’ve taken more than enough time
to recover.”

“Let’s leave this
dreadful
cave right
now,” Roc says, once more imitating Elsey, which brings another
scream and peal of laughter from her. She has really taken to him
and I am glad. Although Roc gets on my nerves sometimes, he has
such a good heart and has always made me laugh. I feel moisture in
my eyes and I blink it away quickly, but not before he notices.

“Aww, is Tristy getting emotional on us? Wah
wah!” he says.

Now it’s my turn to attack and although Roc’s
fast, he’s not fast enough. I spring to my feet and close the gap
in seconds, knocking him flat on his back as he tries to twist
away. Using my knees for leverage, I pin his hands over his head.
“Who’s your master?” I say.

“Umm, Elsey,” he says, which makes Elsey
giggle again.

Pushing one of my knees into his midsection,
I say, “Wrong! Who’s your master?”

“Uhhh!” he groans. “Okay, okay, your dad,
President Nailin, is my master!” he yells.

“Wrong again!” I shout, releasing his arms
and dragging my knuckles across his scalp.

Roc yelps and tries to grab me but I’m
already back on the other side of the cave. Elsey is giggling
uncontrollably and even Ben is chuckling. I can tell Roc is mad,
but one look at Elsey’s mirthful grin and his face softens and he
joins in the laughter. I feel happy for another moment, but once
again, I feel bad about it. Adele can’t be a part of it.

After gathering our few measly
possessions—Roc’s pack and our swords—I start to stretch out my
body, preparing for the long trek we have ahead of us.

“What’s that for?” Ben says, motioning at me
as I touch my toes.

“I don’t want to cramp up after only ten
miles,” I say, feeling sheepish all of a sudden. I really am bad at
geography, and I wonder if perhaps subchapter 1 is closer to 26
than I think.

“I would agree with you if we were going to
walk.”

“We can’t take the trains; they’ll be looking
for us.”

“Not on
our
train,” Ben says
cryptically. Evidently he’s not going to tell me any more than
that, so I just let it go. Darkness is surrounding the cave mouth,
casting eerie shadows across the opening. In this case, darkness is
our friend, our co-conspirator. It’s time to go. We snuff out the
dual torches we’ve been using to light our cubby hole and move out,
Ben first, then Elsey, then Roc. I bring up the rear. It’s the most
dangerous position and I want it.

Outside, the underworld is a mystical place.
The thin day/night panels on the roof of the expansive subchapter
26 cavern are slowly dimming, veiling the city in the murky haze of
unnatural twilight. Looking in from the outskirts, the city is
quiet. From our vantage point, subchapter 26 appears to be just
another silent moon dweller city. The reservoir that circles the
city blocks us. We had to ford it to reach the cave—we’ll have to
cross it to get back. The black water threatens us, but I’m not
scared.

There’s not much that scares me these
days.

Ben noiselessly slips into the water, leaving
barely a ripple as evidence of his entrance into the man-made
stream. He turns and extends his arms, wordlessly beckoning to
Elsey.

“I jumped from much higher than this before,”
she whispers. He is being an overprotective father. And she is
being a young girl coming into her own. Elsey easily drops the
three feet to the water, which churns silently and steadily
clockwise, ceaselessly patrolling the city it provides sustenance
to.

Roc is next and is less confident. He has
never liked the water. After casting a furtive backward glance at
me, he lines up to perform an awkward jump. I shouldn’t do it, but
I can’t help myself.

I kick him in the butt.

His arms windmill two, three times, and then
he drops in a tangle of arms and legs. Because the distance is
minimal, his splash is weak, albeit greater than his predecessors’.
I follow him into the water, timing my jump so that the slight wave
I cause hits him in the face just as he comes up for air.

Spluttering and wiping at his eyes as if
they’ve been sprayed with Mace, he blubbers, “That was mature.”

“From the king of maturity himself,” I say,
laughing.

Ben bobs up next to us. “Guys, I know it’s
hard for you, but let’s try to take the next ten minutes seriously.
This may be the most dangerous part of our journey.”

My face feels warm as I wish I hadn’t let
Adele’s father down already. I have to do better. But it
was
fun.

Roc wipes the final drop of moisture out of
his eyes and smirks at me. “Can’t you ever be serious?” he
says.