The Wind and the Horizon (Book 2 in the Starborn Series)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Starborn.

"I don't..."

May wasn't sure what she wanted to say in response to Rue's casual confession. Her mind whirled; hadn't Em just told her that she was the last known Starborn?

"Do you know what a Starborn is?" Rue asked as if she were broaching a sensitive subject. Her eyes flicked almost imperceptibly to Em, but May caught it and understood. They knew - or at least they suspected - what Em was. This was their chance to confirm it.

Up until that point, May had avoided looking to Em for fear it give them away when they lied. But now she didn't know what else to do, and so she cast an uneasy glance at her girlfriend, whose crystal eyes were already waiting for her.

Em exhaled slowly. "People like me, you mean?"

Even the flickering shadows of the fire couldn't mask the fact that everyone was frozen in place. Jeremy held his breath. Everyone waited.

"Come on, don't act like you're surprised." Em laughed off everyone's tension with an ease May wished she could master. While the others gaped, fish-like and equally wordless, Em eased back onto her palms and gazed around the circle, her expression aloof.

"Who?" Connor blurted at last. "Your parents - who are they?"

"A Star and one of the Emandi," Em replied with ease.

"What?" Rue gasped.

"Why?" Jeremy demanded.

May balled her hands into tight fists, her nails digging into the soft flesh of her palms. She was lost - she had no idea what an Emandi was - but the others clearly did. May knew if she asked about it now she would blow Em's story, so she bit her tongue and tried not to let her uncertainty swallow her whole.

"Why would a Star and an Emandi choose to create a life together?" Jeremy scoffed.

Em raised an eyebrow; her stare firm and challenging. "That's a pretty personal question, don't you think?"

Her tone was dangerous. May was so overwhelmingly curious she worried her questions would bubble over in a scream.

"Is that why..." Rue looked at Em but pointed to her own eyes. Whatever was implied in Em's nod seemed to satisfy Rue. "How interesting."

"Anyway," Em drawled, draping an arm around May's shoulders and squeezing in a way May knew was meant to be reassuring. "You were about to tell us about your people?"

"Right." Rue shook off her daze and forced a smile. "Seeing as you performed the story of the Moon and the Ocean, I'm guessing you're both already familiar with the legends?"

"The Moon fell in love with the Ocean and the Sun fell in love with the Earth," May answered, reciting the summary of the creation myths she had grown up listening to on the island of Hoku. "One pair gave birth to all flora and the other to all fauna."

Rue nodded. "Because the lovers so adored for their new children, they asked the ancients to write them into the story of the universe; to give them destinies and help guide them."

At this point May could no longer hide her confusion. That she was floundering in new information was clear to Em, who smiled and gave her shoulder another gentle squeeze.

"The Stars," she explained quietly. "They're the ancients."

"Okay, but what does any of this have to do with your people?" May asked, trying to get to the crux of the story - to figure out what the Starborn had to do with any of this. Her brain felt as foggy as it had the night Em had shared her secret and admitted to being part Star.