Under a Starless Sky novel Chapter 14

Lakewood was official name of the province by the lake, and it was easier to go here from his first campsite than it was to go Midelay. He was going to go to West Midelay, but he encountered a party on their way to the province, and both his sisters were in attendance. He saw them coming and waited on the road until the party arrived at his position on the path. It was worn enough to be a road, but they didn’t call it that. The sky was overcast and the road was muddy after a rain. The party saw him, too, and though they were pretty sure it was him, their formation changed. Three females came to the front of the group and hastened their pace. They were to first to meet him. These three had risen to the rank of Torchbearers- they held staffs, and likely could light them up, if not produce magic.

Tian was lead, followed by her peers. Chelle, and Mar.

“Shen,” Tian said. “You travel more than anyone I know.”

“In circles,” Chelle said. Mar laughed.

Tian frowned at them. They were peers and she couldn’t correct them.

“May I accompany you?” Shen asked.

“You appear to be going the other way,” Tian said.

“I have changed my mind,” Shen said.

“Umph, circles,” Chelle said. “Just like boy, no direction. No vision.”

Tian was aware of Shen’s clenching of teeth. “The road is free. You may join us.”

“You may trail us,” Mar said. “I forbid you to have conversations with Tama or Candace.”

“That’s harsh,” Tian said.

“I second that,” Chelle said.

Shen bowed. “I have changed my mind again. Would you be willing to carry letters?”

“Does she look like a courier?” Mar snapped.

“Everyone who travels is a courier,” Shen said. “By law. One of these is addressed to N’Ma. Who better to carry them than Tian?”

Mar gave a signal for the group to hold, not catch up.

“I accept,” Tian said.

Shen brought forth the courier bag and retrieved the letters from it. This wasn’t a trade of courier bags.

Chelle took them from him. She found them appropriately addressed, and she knew the intended recipients well. She was puzzled by the stamp.

“There is no symbol here,” Chelle said. “Who produced these?”

“I am just a dumb boy. How would I know such things?” Shen offered.

Chelle bought that. Tian knew it was from him, but didn’t give it away.

“The script is decent, do you recognize it?” Chelle asked Mar and Tian. They denied. “Who gave these to you?”

“I simply agreed to carry for bread,” Shen said.

“Maybe it’s an apprentice, and they’ve not earned their mark. Even we don’t have marks yet,” Tian said. “I’ll carry them.”

“We should open the seal,” Mar asked.

“You would open something not addressed to you?” Tian said, collecting the letters. “Do you want to be drummed out of the Sisterhood?”

“Hold on,” Chelle said. “What else do you have?”

“Just trade,” Shen said.

“Gift it to us, in exchange for carrying your obligation,” Chelle said.

“Give me my obligation back,” Shen said.

“No, we’ve accepted,” Chelle said.

“Without first negotiating a trade,” Shen said. “Carry it without.”

“This is not a negotiation. You gift us the stuff, or we take the stuff,” Chelle said.

“Chelle,” Tian said. “This is dark.”

“Gift it,” Mar said. “That’s the easier path.”

“This is not a gift. This is robbery,” Shen said.

“You asked permission to join us. It was granted. Gifting is expected,” Chelle said.

“The road is free…” Shen reminded them.

“You didn’t ask for the road,” Mar said. “You asked for company. That has value. You chose this path by not participating. This conversation is delaying us and costing you. Hand it over.”

“I will not…”

“Rule of two, you will go along,” Chelle said.

Shen surrendered his bag of trade.

“Fall back, walk with the men, or go your own way,” Mar said.

“Do as she says,” Tian instructed. “Run along. We’ve given you more time than the trouble you’re worth.”

Tian pushed on. Her peers followed. Chelle shoved Shen, knocking him on his butt into a puddle. He was tempted to get up and run away, but he sat there as the others past. He didn’t meet their eyes and he had no auditory information that they were concerned. The men and adolescents who trailed didn’t look at him or address him. He was all but invisible to them.

They were out of eye sight when he recovered emotionally and made a decision to go to Lakewood. There was an orchard there, and he harvested for the elderly woman in charge. Without a bag, he took only the fruit he could carry. He went to the lake, waded in against all instinct, as it was freezing cold, and bathed the mud off himself, his clothes, and his fruit. He collected his courier bag and went to Lakewood’s Tower, and warmed himself by the fire pit. Even with the fire, he found himself shivering. He suspected it was due to having spent so much emotions. Tian brought him an empty bag and departed without speaking. He slept by the fire. The next morning he harvested more fruit, which was very specific request, requiring him to climb a tree. He was also given a bowl of water and instructed to collect grubs from a fallen tree. The tree was alive with grubs, having been farmed specifically for the grubs. He also collected mushrooms and a fungus which went great with stew.

“I’ll let the cook know to give you a stick of five,” the elderly woman told him.

“You can tell the cook she can gift my share of grubs to someone in need,” Shen said.

Shen wandered down by the lake. Tama was in the water, playing with her peers. She was a much better swimmer than her peers, thanks to the training of the Sea Gypsies, but he had no idea how they could tolerate the cold. Adults swam, too. Men and women were swimming. There were three canoes that were now sufficiently packed that they seemed unstable to him, but the owners were preparing for their journey ‘in.’ Across the lake was ‘in’ and towards the mountains ‘out.’ He noticed one of the boat captains had his bag, and was likely still filled with the stuff he had collected. Had he known there were floaters here, he would have come straight way as he might have had better trade.

Shen sat down by a tree, pulled his journal out and began drawing the canoes and the owners. Everything about them reminded him of Chinese. They were petite, thin. They had long hair, tied into a tail. They wore wide brim hats, and grey trousers that fell to their knees, and two layers of shirts. A thin undershirt, and a gray over shirt with long sleeves and a high, floppy neck. He had no idea how they navigated. The only artifact that might help was the sun, traveling East to West. With the copper wire, chunk of steel, and battery he made out of fruit in coconut shells, he had managed to make a magnet. He failed making a compass. A sliver of the metal was definitely magnetized. It responded to the chunk of steel, it stuck to his knife, but floating it on a leaf failed to produce the desired effect. Either there was no magnetic field, or, he had done something wrong. He couldn’t imagine what he was doing wrong.

He finished capturing the woman next to her canoe, securing her gifts which she netted and tied. He wondered if the boats ever rolled. He began drawing boats from memory, wondering if he could improve their shipping technology. The simplest upgrade would be to turn a canoe into a catamaran. A sail would likely improve things, too. These folks were smart, and so he was surprised he had yet seen a sail ship.

“You’re drawing things wrong.”

Shen was startled out of his drawing. There was a thin boy, about his age, and clearly the descendent of Chinese.

“Did they send you to spy on me?”

“They older boys instructed me to taunt you for wanting to be a girl,” he said. “They want me to provoke a fight and prove myself.”

“Tell them if they want to fight, they can come taunt me themselves,” Shen said.

He sat down. “May I see it closer?”

“Are you afraid of being feminized?”

“No,” he said. He accepted the book. He brought it back and forth until he could make sense of it. “Mom tried to teach me to write, but I am stupid.”

“Or blind,” Shen said.

“I am not blind,” he said.

“How many apples on that stump by the water,” Shen asked.

The boy looked and said ‘five.’ There were no apples on the stump.

“How many fingers am holding up,” Shen said, giving him two fingers.

The boy clicked. “Two.”

“You’re a clicker,” Shen said.

“So are you,” he said, giving Shen his book back.

“What’s your name?”

“Endel,” he said.

Shen offered his hand. The boy didn’t take it.

“Why aren’t you taunting me?” Shen asked, taking his hand back. They didn’t shake hands. He was mad at himself for even trying the gesture.

“I don’t know,” Endel said.

“Yes, you do,” Shen said.

“I feel sorry for myself,” Endel said.

“Well, that’s an odd thing to say, that requires explanation,” Shen said.

“I am different. I am awkward. You remind me of myself, different, ridiculed, but not giving up,” Endel said. “Also, I have seen you being courageous. I would like to be that.”

“Courageous?” Shen said. “Anyone can be that.”

“You’re at a different level of courageous. Also, you are kind to fire huggers. I was ridiculed for doing that. They said I am too soft,” Endel said.

“Bento?”

“Yeah,” Endel said. “He gifted my mom.”

“He’s your father?” Shen asked.

“My mother is a floater. She was attacked by irks on the shore, and Bento stepped up to defend her, taking on the full brunt of the attack. While they attacked him she was able to retrieve her sword,” Endel said. “She took down four irks. I saw it with my own eyes. I was crying the whole time. It’s why she left me at Lakewood. She wanted the men to toughen me up.”

“Wow,” Shen said. “That’s some story.”

Boys gathered and began ridiculing Endel. Both Shen and Endel stood. Endel got up and fell back behind the boys, who became physically harsh on top of verbal.

“There is no need for that,” Shen said.

“Stay out of this, rogue,” the oldest said.

“If you want to fight, pick on someone your own size,” Shen said.

The boy hit Shen in the face with a closed fist, and then kicked him, pushing him back into the tree. Shen didn’t fall. He came forwards again.

“I am not really your size,” Shen said.

Shen was hit again, and knocked to the ground. He got back up.

“Fight or stay down,” the boy said.

“I am not staying down. We can do this till you get tired…”

The boy hit him until he was down, but didn’t stop, just pummeled on him until an adult came and interfered. The man began beating the boy, and his friends scattered.

“Stop,” Shen said. “Please.”

“Stay out of this,” the man said.

“He and I were working this out,” Shen said.

“That’s not the way I see it,” the man said. He turned to the boy. “Get yourself to the barracks.”

The boy ran off.

The man turned to Shen. “You are off limits. You don’t talk to us, we don’t talk to you,” the man said. “Engage us again, and I will beat you worse than Rolo did.”

The man walked away. Shen sat down. He was hurting. He was aware that females had witnessed, but had not intervened. This was boy stuff. Part of the game.

Tama had gotten up to go intervene and Candace stopped her. “No. He has to learn this.”

“It’s not necessary. He’s not aggressive,” Tama said. “He never harms anything or anyone.”

“He’s aggressive in different ways,” Candace said.

“Ask someone to heal him,” Tama said.

“Go back and teach the swimming,” Candace said.

Tama went back to the water. Her peer, Eloa, laughed. “There’s no way that monster is your brother.”

“Call him a monster again and I won’t instruct you further,” Tama said.

“He’s a coward,” Eloa said.

A couple of the other girls agreed.

“Because he won’t fight? He didn’t run away. That’s not cowardice,” Tama pointed out.

“Well, he’s also stupid,” Eloa agreed.

“He would risk his life to save people. He is the bravest person I know,” Tama said.

“Want to bet?” Eloa asked.

“What?”

“Pretend you’re drowning, see if he comes,” Eloa said.

“No, I don’t have to do that to know…”

“Then shut up about how special your brother is, because he is nothing,” Eloa said.

Tama swam out a ways. She began splashing. Bobbing. She yelled help. The other girls yelled help, enthusiastically playing the part.

Shen was in the water before Candace and her peers. He arrived at his sister before Candace. He was confused when she ceased struggling, seeming quite satisfied. Candace was angry and started to scold her when Shen made a noise and disappeared beneath the water.

“Everyone out of the water,” Candace said. “Go!”

Tama dove going after Shen. She saw him sinking, reached for him, their hands missing. Candace went after her, got her by the arm and dragged her towards shore. They arrived on the shore.

“I could have helped him!” Tama yelled.

“What was it?” Roa asked.

“It was an alligator,” Eloa said.

“It wasn’t an alligator,” Candace said.

Tian was there, along with a number of other adults.

“There are no alligators in this part,” Florence said. She was the Light holder for Lakewood.

“Something took him,” Roa said. She looked like an older version of Eloa. “That much seems clear.”

“He was in a fight,” the man said. “Maybe he was injured more than I was aware.”

Tama began to cry. “It’s my fault. I was stupid.”

Candace hugged her sister.

Eloa touched Candace. “I was wrong. He was brave, and he may have unknowingly sacrificed himself for us.”

Tama turned to her and punched her, closed fist and would have pummeled her had Candace not pulled her off of Eloa. Roa pulled Eloa away.

“Water is off limits till we know more,” Florence said. “Gather everyone by the fire. Now.” She clapped her hands and everyone moved, but Tama who stared at the water. Candace took her hand, looking out at the water. “Both of you, fire side, now.”