The Argent Star

by Emerson Fray

  Chapter 14

  Kian’s pale brow arched high when Abetha spoke to him. Sheridan and Ren waited on the outskirts of the small town, not wanting to venture too far inside. Most of the rebels ignored Sheridan, even though earlier they’d been hoping to imprison her for life, and kept their glares trained on Ren. She gave one a wary glance, which Sheridan noticed.

  Sheridan took a step closer to her.

  “I’m fine,” Ren said quickly. “I just…”

  “You’re not used to being hated,” Sheridan finished. “They won’t hurt you while I’m here.”

  “You don’t have your kamas though,” Ren stated, looking to Sheridan’s weaponless back. “They have a lot of weapons.”

  Sheridan shrugged. “I don’t need weapons to take any of them down; they know that.”

  As soon as Sheridan said that, Ren noticed the rebels keeping a bubble around the two women just as the people of Mahendra did. She’d assumed it was her fault, but a few nervous looks from the rebels towards Sheridan told her otherwise.

  “Must be nice.”

  Sheridan’s eyes slid towards Ren. “What?”

  “Being feared,” Ren finished. “I mean…it must come in handy. Nobody attacks you.”

  Sheridan’s shoulders rolled back and she said nothing. Ren didn’t know exactly what that meant, but as Sheridan’s eyes met with another rebel Ren imagined it wasn’t always a good thing to be feared by your enemies. Especially if those enemies used to be your friends, or you simply didn’t want them as enemies. Ren realized then that maybe no matter what she did she would always be a threat to the Novaeans. Maybe she would only be able to cause them trouble.

  “So,” Ren said. “This is a bad idea, isn’t it?”

  Sheridan pursed her lips. “Possibly.”

  “But we don’t have a choice.”

  “We don’t.”

  “But—”

  “It’s a greater risk in the forest,” Sheridan confirmed, stopping Ren before she could spiral into a panic attack. Her foot throbbed a moment as she put too much pressure on it, already trying to back away from the situation at hand.

  “Sorry,” Ren mumbled.

  “For?” Sheridan asked.

  “Existing, I guess.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “This was such a disaster, coming here.”

  When she lowered her hands she found Sheridan staring at her. She tried not to flinch back, but the intensity that Sheridan had was just too much sometimes, especially when it was directed right at her. After a moment Sheridan said, “Ren, things were going to happen no matter what the Monarchy did. Whether you came here or not there was a civil war brewing.” Her eyes went over to Kian. “The rebels were here long before the Monarchy.”

  Ren blinked. She knew what Sheridan was trying to do, but it didn’t make her feel any better. If anything it made her feel worse for the people of Novae. “You called me Ren.”

  “I did.”

  “You never call anyone by name.”

  “Not normally.”

  “If all I had to do was get kidnapped for people to act like themselves I would have done that a long time ago,” Ren joked.

  Sheridan whipped her head towards Ren. “Don’t say things like that—you could have been killed!”

  Ren winced.

  Sheridan softened her brow, realizing she’d just yelled. She took a breath to steady herself while Ren tried to gather her own thoughts. Sheridan was first to speak. “Not everyone here will show you the kindness that Abetha has.”

  “I know,” Ren replied. “Are you okay?”

  Ren saw Sheridan’s jaw tighten and her eyes flicked towards Kian once more. He’d begun walking away, a smirk on his face while Abetha headed back to let Ren know what was going on. Sheridan answered, “I will be when we get out of here.”

  Ren sat with Sheridan by a small fire, the smoke floating up and making the shield flicker above them. It was strange for Ren to think that she hoped it would hold, that the Monarchy wouldn’t find them there. She hated herself for wanting Maks to fail when he must be so worried. The lights overhead sparked and reflected in her eyes, blinding her a moment before she returned her gaze to the embers below.

  “It gets cold out here,” Ren stated, wanting to fill the silence with anything. Normally she was happy to sit in the quiet, but with so many people out for her head she was jumping at every sound and movement, even with Sheridan there. She trusted Sheridan could keep her safe from the rebels but she wasn’t sure what else was out between the trees. Her body was feeling better at least, but her arm still hurt with large movements.

  Sheridan gave her a once-over before standing. She nodded her head towards the pit. “Come on.”

  Ren stood and brushed off her pants. “What are we doing?”

  “Something that’ll warm you up and maybe save your life.”

  Ren didn’t reply and just followed. Before they began to cut through the trees Sheridan picked up a torch and swung it around, letting the weight sink into her hand; a temporary weapon, if needed. As they moved, a tiny orb of light formed around them that seemed to vanish a few feet away, making the forest seem even darker than Ren knew it was.

  Ren glanced over her shoulder one last time as she stepped into the pit. None of the rebels were there now, but it still felt dangerous. “Are you sure we should be here?” She didn’t want to go too far without Abetha, their only real hope at keeping the others at bay. Without her nearby Ren wasn’t sure the rebels wouldn’t take the opportunity to attack, with or without Kian’s word. After all, one of them had already attacked without permission.

  Sheridan thrust the torch into the ground, making Ren raise her eyebrows. There was no way she could have done the same, and she patted the hard ground with her foot just to make sure. It felt like solid rock.

  “Yes,” answered Sheridan. She looked to Ren. “I’m going to show you how a Novaean would attack.”

  “I think I learned that already,” Ren said. “They like to attack you while you least suspect it.” The rebel that had attacked her when she first met Sheridan, and then when Kian had taken her…there was an obvious pattern, at least with the rebels.

  Sheridan’s eyelids lowered into a glare. Ren stammered, “I-I mean, I know not all Novaeans are so underhanded, I just meant—”

  “I know what you meant,” Sheridan cut her off. Ren shied away before raising her eyes to meet Sheridan’s. She was so serious, like she didn’t think Ren knew just how much trouble there was on Novae.

  “I know how to fight,” Ren stated. “I’ve taken classes my whole life. I know Naomi wanted me to train a bit but this really isn’t necessary.”

  Sheridan inhaled deeply through her nose before she rushed Ren. Just as Ren blinked Sheridan’s hand was already at her throat, hovering an inch away and proving that she wasn’t as good as she thought she was. Her mouth hung open while Sheridan leaned in closer. “You are never prepared to fight.”

  “I-I-I didn’t realize we had started.”

  “Nobody here cares if you aren’t ready,” Sheridan explained, taking a step back and lowering her hands to her sides. Ren was trying to get a hold of herself, but she couldn’t see anything past a few feet, and there was a loud beating in her ears that drowned out the sounds of the night. Sheridan went on, “They know you aren’t a warrior; they’ll take advantage of that, just like Kian did.”

  “Kian had a gun,” Ren answered.

  Sheridan shook her head, the flickering fire casting shadows across her features. Ren took a step forward just as Sheridan turned, raising her hand in a strike towards Ren’s temple. This time she was ready and dodged the attack, knowing that there was no way she could easily block it. She ducked down and swept her foot at Sheridan’s knee but the experienced Sotarian jumped easily out of the way. When she landed she had a smile and held her hands up. “That was good.”

  Ren lifted herself off of the ground, feeling the adre
naline flush through her limbs. It had been a while since she actually tried to strike anyone, and even when she had it had only been in class. Her hands were shaking, and she thought Sheridan was careful to pretend not to notice.

  The overachiever took over Ren just then. She’d never gotten approval from Maks, and the only place she actually got it was at school; it made her live for teachers telling her “excellent job” or “best in the class”. That was the only reason she could find that would make her lunge forward and actually thrust her fist towards Sheridan’s face.

  Sheridan took a single step back, forcing Ren to stop herself and throw a cross-jab. All Sheridan had to do was take another step back, leaving Ren to feel as inadequate as ever. Her breathing began to grow heavy as she threw two more punches at her Sotarian that again were easily dodged. Ren didn’t give up but she backed off, feeling a surge of anger at herself and at Sheridan. The woman wasn’t even panting.

  “Done?” Sheridan asked.

  “No,” Ren replied. She lunged again and as she went to grab onto Sheridan’s arm and twist her into submission when suddenly it was Ren’s arm being twisted. Sheridan grabbed onto her wrist and swung her around, shooting pain up through her arm. A single hard smack on the back sent her flying to the dirt below where the air was knocked out of her lungs. She coughed, stars dotting her vision. “Yes.”

  By the time she was able to regain her thoughts Sheridan had already taken two steps back, at least Ren thought so by the sound of the movement. Rubbing at the centre of her back, Ren stood and turned, wavering on her feet. Her foot and ankle throbbed, the adrenaline dying down.

  “Wait for them to attack,” Sheridan suggested.

  “I thought the point of this was to teach me to defend myself.”

  “And to defend yourself you need to be attacked,” Sheridan replied. “You have a lot more of Maks in you than you think.”

  Ren stilled, looking up at the Sotarian. Nobody had ever told her she had any Maks in her, except for Naomi; and that was usually to tell Ren she was too stubborn for her own good. It was never so…serious. Ren didn’t take it as a compliment, though she thought Sheridan might have meant it as one.

  “So are you going to attack me again or not?” Ren questioned. She was tired of talking and actually wanted a fight. It was a foreign feeling to her. Was this what Maks felt here on Novae? Crush the enemy before they have a chance to really resist?

  Ren shook her head, trying to focus on Sheridan. But like always her thoughts took over and eventually she held her hands up to the Sotarian. “You know what? I’m not going to learn to survive here overnight and honestly my ankle is killing me.”

  It wasn’t killing her. In fact it had already dulled down to a gentle annoyance. Even her arm was feeling better, despite the twist it had just received. She just wanted a plausible excuse to stop attacking—to stop feeling like her father.

  Sheridan tilted her head. Her lips thinned into a line when the bushes behind her rustled, and Abetha stepped into the bubble of light. “There you two are; I was wondering if Kian had gone back on his word.”

  “I thought you said that wouldn’t happen.” Ren crossed her arms against the cold, finding the movement comforting.

  Abetha smirked. “It won’t. I was merely making conversation. What are you doing?”

  “Training,” Sheridan answered. “Or we were.”

  Abetha huffed. “You won’t be able to train her overnight.”

  Ren pointed at her former Guide. “Exactly what I said.”

  Sheridan rolled her eyes, and she had every right to, Ren thought. There was plenty Ren could learn overnight that could possibly save her life in the future, she just didn’t want to do it here and now. She wanted to sleep, in her own bed back on Earth and pretend like tomorrow she had an exam to worry about. Not dying, not igniting a civil war.

  Rubbing at the back of her neck Ren moved towards Abetha. Abetha held her hand out and waved them both towards her. “Come on, I’ll show you where you’ll sleep.”

  Ren and Sheridan shared a small room with no roof. The broken down building was in the centre of the rebel camp, and knowing there were four walls around her didn’t give her much comfort. She knew if anyone were going to attack them while they slept those walls wouldn’t do any good. She peered up at the leaves as the wind whistled through them, forcing them back and forth. She could just barely make out the stars beyond.

  “You should sleep,” Sheridan stated. “It’s a long walk tomorrow.”

  “I can’t sleep.” Ren shifted on the blankets, finding they weren’t cushioning the wooden floor at all. “Why don’t you? I’ll scream if anything happens.”

  Sheridan shrugged, her silhouette barely visible in the darkness. She leaned against the far wall, making sure the door and Ren were both in her sight. Every so often she would glance up at the sky, and Ren didn’t think it was because she wanted to see the stars just as much as Ren did.

  “When was the last time you slept?”

  “I don’t need to sleep as often as you.”

  “They aren’t going to attack,” Ren said slowly. She was scared, but she knew that much. It didn’t stop her from jumping at every howl in the night but she knew it was true. The rebels weren’t going to attack; if they were they would have by now. And Ren didn’t think they would be quiet about it, either. At least that’s what she kept telling herself. She leaned up and rested against the wall before patting the space beside her. “Come on, sit down at least.”

  After a moment Sheridan finally walked over, her footsteps silent against the ancient boards. Ren wondered how she did it, when Ren walked it sounded like a stampede of wild animals in comparison.

  Sheridan took one last look at the door on her right before sitting.

  Ren said, “See? Not dead.”

  “I don’t believe they’ll attack.”

  “Is it Kian?” Ren asked. “There was always something…between you two.”

  Sheridan’s head tapped the wall, her eyes drifting up. This time Ren could see they weren’t scanning for a threat, or checking for anything out of place; they were gazing upwards, allowing Sheridan’s mind to wander somewhere away from the darkened prison. With a deep breath, Sheridan told Ren to go to sleep.

  Ren didn’t, at least not right away. But somewhere between listening to Sheridan’s calm breaths and another howl in the distance her eyes shut and she drifted off to a peaceful surrender.