Heir of Skies (The Starbright Series Book 1) by Rachel Higginson

Author:Rachel Higginson [Higginson, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Reckless Siren Publishing
Published: 2012-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Do you have everything packed up?” I asked Seth over the sudsy water we washed dishes in. Jupiter and he were moving to their rental tonight, so my parents had hosted a farewell dinner for them even though we would still see them on a daily basis.

“Yeah, I think so,” he replied as he dried the last plate and set it on a stack of other identical ones.

“Need help carrying anything out?” I motioned toward the pile of suitcases by the kitchen door waiting to be loaded into Jupiter’s recently purchased Chevy pickup truck. The truck was a new model, but nothing too flashy or attention seeking. My father suggested to Jupiter that the best way to fit in around here was to have a moderately priced truck; it was the sad, but honest truth.

“Sure,” Seth shrugged and we left the drying dishes to load up their few belongings.

“So will you guys have to buy like beds and stuff or are you moving that here?” I asked, tossing a duffle bag over the side rail of the red truck.

“No, the house comes fully furnished, which is why I think Jupiter is so excited to get it,” Seth explained while leaning back against the bumper.

“Oh, so that’s what Jupiter looks like when he gets excited,” I mused sarcastically.

“Just wait till Christmas,” Seth laughed, waggling his eyebrows at me.

The night air was frozen at the end of January, but neither Seth nor I let the cold or snow bother us. A healthy glow of Light lit up the white, powdered ground around us as we relaxed against the truck and looked up at our fellow fighters defending the Earth from the expanse of space.

“Can I ask you something?” I ventured, leaning further against the truck and tipping my head up so I could have a better view of the clear night sky.

“Stella, you can ask me anything,” Seth answered quietly.

He knew where this conversation was headed and I was glad. I had been avoiding the discussion for more than a week, trying to build up the courage to pry into his life where he hadn’t invited me.

“What happened to your parents?” My voice was soft and fragile as if the memory of his past would hurt me as much as it had him.

Seth was silent for a long time, gazing skyward. His inner Light flickered like a light bulb about to burn out. I had just decided to tell him to forget it, when he breathed a long sigh and opened his mouth.

“I was nine,” he began and the pain that laced each syllable felt like a knife wound in my own heart. “My parents were stationed here, just like yours, only we were on the other side of the world. I spent most of my childhood on the southern tip of Sri Lanka, in a small coastal town called Galle. My parents worked with a humanitarian group there as their cover, working with the Sri Lankan government to stabilize a small faction of antigovernment rebels.

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