by Day Leitao
There was a loud knock on the room’s door.
“Saytera!” Dess was calling.
“I’m fine. Just a minute.” She turned to Kerelly. “Anything else to tell me?”
“That was all for now. Keep it a secret. Even if you trust someone, don’t tell them.”
It would be hard to hide that from her friends, but she would try. “Other than that, I suppose the idea is for me just to ignore it.”
“Unless you want to go to Ringon and lay your claim. “
Saytera snorted. “I would last how long? Five minutes?”
“More like one or two.” Kerelly looked at her. “You’re happy here, aren’t you?”
“I am. Finally. No ideas about going anywhere. I will want to learn more about my parents, though.”
Kerelly nodded.
Saytera added, “And I need to learn better matterweaving. Desperately. I don’t regret what I did, but…” She looked down. “Had I been better, I wouldn’t have… killed.”
“You can’t know that. You already did something almost impossible. I can’t imagine you could—”
“I want to learn more.”
“You were training alone, right? Keep doing the same exercises. Once I can bring transmissions I’ll have Yansin prepare more for you. Read our Tomes.” She frowned, thinking. “I think I can maybe get you some...”
“Dess has them.”
Kerelly looked surprised.
“He’s fascinated about Terens,” Saytera added.
Kerely chuckled. “I can see that. Well, some people have the upbringing but not the practice. That might be his case. I’ll let you celebrate. I’ll be at the party. Watching. You’ll hear from me from time to time.”
Saytera still had a question. “Why then… couldn’t you come earlier?”
“Not to draw attention. Now that the gate has been opened, it’s a lot easier.”
“But you left the system before.”
“Those are Blue gates. We use them under secrecy. But every Teren knows about them.”
“You know Blue technology. Do you have contact with them?”
Kerely shook her head. “Not right now. I swear. You’ll learn those secrets, too. But learn the tomes first. And continue your training.”
“I guess I’ll never complain you’re teaching something useless.”
She smiled. “No.”
There was something else she wanted to say. Saytera hesitated, then decided to open up. “I always thought… I was weak. Because everyone could make fire and I couldn’t. I couldn’t even get a pistol to fire. Why—”
“Yansin focused on teaching you how to quench fire. Considering what you just did, I’d say her methods are pretty good, aren’t they?”
“So I’ll never be able to make fire?”
Kerely shrugged. “Can’t you use a lighter?”
“Yes, but…”
“I don’t know, Saytera. When you talk to Yansin, you’ll need to ask her.”
“Yansin can make fire.” Saytera remembered that.
“Yansin can’t turn off a military-class ship from a distance. I don’t think she can even turn off the electricity of any place. Appreciate the uniqueness of who you are.”
“So… I’m not bad at matterweaving?”
Kerelly snorted and started laughing. “Sweety. You are one of the most powerful Terens in existence.”
Saytera felt another chill down her spine but at the same time a small pang of pain that Yansin had never told her that. “That never seemed to be the case.”
“Yansin is a tough teacher. She’ll push you to your best and if she were to see you now she’d tell you where you’re slacking off.”
“I wish…” Saytera had no words. What did she want? Compliments? Validation.
“She loves you, but perhaps she kept her master hat for too long. She’ll send you a message as soon as she can. I promise. I’ll leave you know because you have a party, after all.”
Kerelly opened the door and left.
Dess came in right away. “Are you alright?” He took a moment looking at her. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“I…” How could she say it? “Can’t have people recognizing me. That was Kerelly. She raised me.”
“And you’re upset.”
“Not upset, just surprised.” And shocked and still partly in denial. And so many things more.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Saytera took a while thinking. She didn’t want to carry that burden by herself. She looked at him. “I do.”
Dess knew he’d have a target on his back the moment he decided to take over Staralloy. Now he just learned the reason Saytera had an even bigger target on hers.
He took her hands. “I’ll make sure you’re always safe.”
She smiled. It was probably a lot to take. He hugged her.
After a while, she said, “We’d better get to the party.”
Dess was glad to see his friends, and some of his new friends, the Peace Warriors. It was a historical moment, when they celebrated the union between Mainland and Sapphirlune. Even Marcus’ father had come for the celebration, although he had chosen to keep living in Sapphirlune city. He had been among the few people in its government who had been honest—and now he was proud of his son. For so long Dess thought he was leading his friend astray, and yet, together they had found the answer. Even Sylvia had stopped with the nonsense about not being seen with him in public—but her parents had disappeared, like so many people from Sapphirlune. At least she and his friend seemed to be truly in love.
The Peace Warriors were going to record another united message, even if Saytera would stay out of them from now on. As they were ready to record, someone approached; Tarel.
He went straight towards Dess—and hugged him. “My boy. You have no idea how happy to see you’re alive.”
Tarel had to be joking. No, not joking, performing for the cameras.
The man continued, “I’m doing everything to ease the transfer of Staralloy for you and connect you with importers from other systems.”
Dess smiled and patted his back. “Glad to count on you.”
Perhaps it was good to keep his enemies close. The enemy who had probably ordered the killing of his family, who was willing to destroy a city. At the same time, it was Nadia’s father, and also the enemy who could make things much, much smoother for Staralloy, for the Mainland system. Tarel knew that well. He could fight Dess in court, use his influence to shut him out. Instead, he cooperated with him. And this cooperation was very good for the people, so Dess tolerated him.
Saytera stared at the fire while listening to the powerful waves crashing down in the cliff. This was their real celebration, the Peace Warriors celebration.
They had chosen Cliffbound because the place was so remote. This was where Dess and Saytera had decided to live and build their house. Larissa, Nadia, Marcus, and Sylvia were also going to live in the area. Christina was going to live in Citarella, where she was reworking the military training. Ideally they should focus on peace now, but there was always the possibility that their system could be attacked again, so they couldn’t slack off. But she had come for their party.
Larissa, Saytera, and Nara prepared the crab. Dess was amazing at an industrial kitchen but still learning what to do with real food. Kay was there, and he didn’t bother Saytera anymore. Cynthia, Zack, and even people from the nearby bases were there. They had done their part, too, making sure Mainlanders spread the message and rejected breaking the truce. It almost had not mattered, but in the end it did, and helped them change their planet.
Saytera’s heart warmed at the sight of Lunars and Mainlanders sitting together, some of them holding hands.
Dess sat by her. “I’ve always wanted to see a fire by a beach.”
“Where did you guys make fires?”
He frowned. “We didn’t. We had to be careful with our oxygen.”
Saytera laughed. “Tough life. I wonder
why some people decided to keep living there, and not move to Mainland.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Can’t beat the view. No. I guess they were used to it. But I think people who have moved here are happy, too.”
“Are you happy?”
“Ha, ha. Is that a question?” He then looked around and sighed. “I wish this could last forever. This harmony, hope, peace.”
“Even the brightest star one day fades. This moment is all that exists.”
“That’s great, then. I don’t need to worry about what Tarel will do or if anyone will send a fleet to try to find our weapon.” He rolled his eyes.
More and more there had been pressure for them to tell how the shieldbreaker had been defeated. But this was not a time to think about any of that. “Exactly. It’s time to celebrate what we helped accomplish.”
He looked at the people and had tears in his eyes. “This is amazing.”
Those tears. Always those tears. At least they were happy tears. Saytera brushed a finger under his eyes, cleaning some smudged eyeliner. She’d consider asking him why he’d always wear it knowing how easily he cried, but maybe he knew well what he was doing and was going for the smudged look.
“What?” he laughed.
“Just… cleaning it.”
He took her hand. “Thank you for existing with me at this moment in time.”
“Let’s pretend it’s infinite, then.”
Dess nodded at her, then pulled her in for a kiss.
About the Author
I'm originally from Brazil but I've been living in Canada for over 10 years now. I have some influence from Brazilian writers and Brazilian culture, but I also read popular books in English. I watched some Anime as a kid, my favorite being Yamato. I'm a longtime Star Wars fan and I'm active in the fandom podcasting at Lords of the Sith as Denise.
I've always loved to write stories, and I like to always include romance, action and humor in my writing. I think stories can touch us deeply. I live in Montreal, Canada, with my son.
My books include the Ya fantasy series Portals to Whyland, and the sci-fi standalones The Sphere of Infinity and Star Spark. Check out my blog for some news, updates, and nonsensical ramblings.
Don’t forget to sign up for free books at dayleitao.com and to keep in touch.
