“But I am only half Sakovan,” Lyra protested. “Why should the Sakovans follow me? I don’t even know most of you. There must be someone better qualified.”
“Lyra,” LifeTender stated, “you heard the reading of the Scroll of Kaltara. Three times we refused to follow His Star and we have paid very severely for those failures. There is not a Sakovan alive who will not follow you. We have learned our lesson the hard way. Every man, woman, and child will die this time before we spurn you. We will never make that mistake again.”
“It would not matter if you were a clova,” StarWind offered. “Half Sakovan, full Sakovan. It makes no difference to any of us. You are a gift from Kaltara. Why would we care what your ancestry is?”
“But how will I lead the Sakovans?” Lyra asked. “I know nothing about leading people. It is fun to play at being a leader, but if I decide wrongly now, people will die because of it.”
“Kaltara would not send you to lead if you were not capable,” LifeTender answered. “He will guide your thoughts. You will also have the advice of anyone you wish. The combined wisdom of the entire Sakovan nation is at your command. I have tutored you for some time now. You are sensible and logical, perceptive and honest. We could hardly ask for more than that in a leader. You will do fine.”
“You need only to purge your own self-doubt,” added StarWind. “I should go and check with MoonFlow to see if anything important came up while I was gone. I will report to you when I am done.”
“MoonFlow is dead,” informed LifeTender. “She died when Mekin attacked RavenWing. I am afraid that RavenWing is paralyzed and may die.”
“Mekin?” StarWind asked with tears in her eyes. “The son of GoldenEar? When did this happen?”
“The same,” LifeTender said, “or least that is who he was posing as. Lyra stumbled onto his deception. MoonFlow was talking to RavenWing about him when he attacked. Lyra and I got there just in time to stop him from finishing the job. Lyra killed him before he could finish. It was RavenWing who noticed the Star’s reflection while I was tending to him. He understood what it meant.”
“So that is how he knew,” Lyra nodded. “My ring slipped off when I was chilling the water. I didn’t think anyone noticed. Why did you shout not to kill him?”
“Fear among other things,” LifeTender stated. “I saw his arm and understood what had happened. I was afraid that the same thing would happen to you. It was so quick that I did not realize you were using your left hand. I also thought we might find out who sent him if he was captured alive.”
“So I already made my first mistake,” frowned Lyra.
“Hardly,” smiled LifeTender. “If you had waited as I wished, RavenWing would have died. I had thought he was already dead when I shouted. As I said before, He will guide you.”
“I agree,” StarWind stated. “The only thing Mekin would have told us is who recruited him and I am sure that is not who we are after. We interrogated one of the assassins sent to capture you. Klaarg has been hiring them, but the real power is someone high up in the government.”
“The government kidnapped my father?” Lyra asked.
“Someone high up in it,” nodded StarWind. “I intend to find out who, but just knowing what we do now, I have a decent idea of where to look for Master Malafar. The Imperial Palace has holding cells that are magically blocked. It is the perfect place to hold a mage.”
“Perhaps you should check the intelligence reports now,” LifeTender suggested. “Let Lyra visit with her uncle for a while. We can come back later.”
StarWind nodded and rose and left the room with LifeTender right behind her. “Who would have believed it,” mused StarWind out in the corridor. “A young woman as the new Star. All of the Stars have been men so far.”
“About time Kaltara got sensible,” chuckled LifeTender. “She will do fine. I should have known myself I guess. I have never seen anyone with such power in magic. She sent a force bolt clean through a practice block, with her left hand at that. She put a like hole through Mekin too. I wouldn’t like to be the one to clean that up.”
“That is powerful,” StarWind agreed. “I mourn for MoonFlow. She was a close friend. I try to keep myself distant from my contacts to avoid this sort of grief, but I guess it is impossible to insulate yourself if the Omungans can come into StarCity and kill us.”
“She will be missed by many of us,” nodded LifeTender. “Too many die and I fear that number is about to increase. The Scroll says that we will retake our homeland now. I fear a great many will die.”
“The number of dead will depend on Kaltara,” StarWind stated. “May He be merciful. Where will I find RavenWing?”
“He will be in his bed,” LifeTender stated sadly. “I will see to having devices made so he can get as much mobility as possible, but that will be some time from now. His body has had quite a shock. He will never walk again if he does survive. Try not to bother him today. I want him to rest.”
StarWind nodded as she descended the steps and went to her office. She resisted the urge to stop in RavenWing’s office and see MoonFlow one last time. Better to remember her alive, StarWind thought. She unlocked the door to her office and sat at the desk. Quite a few messages had come in while she was off dealing with the assassins and MoonFlow had categorized them all efficiently. She berated herself and pushed MoonFlow out of her mind. She would deal with her loss tonight after her work was done.
Most of the messages were routine reports, but there was a disturbing theme running through them. Normally mention of Sakovans was only heard in official circles, but the new batch of reports indicated that the general population was talking about the Sakovans. StarWind knew that there was no reason for this unless someone was causing it. She had an ill feeling that someone was trying to direct Omungan public opinion regarding the Sakovans.
Then she came across reports from two different operatives in Campanil. Both reports described the burning watula fields and the general commotion in the city regarding a Sakovan attack. She shook her head and then pushed her wavy brown hair out of her eyes. There had been no Sakovan attack on Campanil. She knew that, but someone had obviously burned the fields and blamed it on the Sakovans. This was serious. She wondered if RavenWing had been apprised of this information and remembered LifeTender’s admonishment to let him rest. She decided that she would have to visit Campanil herself and see what she could find out.
StarWind spent several hours reviewing all of the reports and writing some messages to be delivered to agents. She locked up her office and went out to the perches to find Jostin. The red-haired boy was always around. He even slept with the birds. Jostin saw her coming and scampered over to meet her.
“That was some surprise today, wasn’t it,” Jostin cheerily greeted the Sakovan spymaster.
“Yes, Jostin it was,” StarWind answered. “It is exciting to be alive during the time of a Star. You will remember this day the rest of your life.” StarWind did not add that she would remember it for more than one reason.
“Even out on the roof we could see the flashes of blue light,” the boy ecstatically related. “The sound was deafening, but nobody minded. Everyone is so excited.”
“Times are changing,” StarWind nodded. “I have some messages that must go out tonight. If there are any replies before morning, I want to know about it immediately. I will be leaving in the morning, so if they come in later just …”
StarWind stopped talking and bit her lower lip. She needed someone to take MoonFlow’s place while she was gone and Jostin had to start sharing information with Lyra instead of RavenWing.
“MeadowTune will be my new assistant,” StarWind stated. “You will need to keep Lyra apprised as well. RavenWing should not be disturbed without LifeTender’s authorization. I am not sure how Lyra wants you to handle information for her. You will need to talk to her about it, but I would not do so today unless it is urgent.”