Wandering Star

By Clare K. R. Miller

Noemi and her friends escape from a killer who wants to use her unique powers, but that doesn't mean freedom—or safety. Their only hope is one woman who claims to have known Noemi’s mother. With only a name to go on and the killer on their trail, they travel the country in search of aid, hiding from those who would stop them and searching for the truth. But when Noemi finds it, how will she recognize it?

Wandering Star is the second book in the A Star to Guide Her trilogy. If you wish to start at book 1, look for Solitary Star; book 3 is Pole Star.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clare K. R. Miller
• Release date: Jun 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310674099

Clare K. R. Miller

Clare K. R. Miller is a writer of urban and secondary-world fantasy and science fiction for teens and adults.

Book preview

Wandering Star

A Star to Guide Her: Book 2

Clare K. R. Miller

Smaragdine Books

Noemi and her friends escape from a killer who wants to use her unique powers, but that doesn't mean freedom—or safety. Their only hope is one woman who claims to have known Noemi’s mother. With only a name to go on and the killer on their trail, they travel the country in search of aid, hiding from those who would stop them and searching for the truth. But when Noemi finds it, how will she recognize it?

Wandering Star

by Clare K. R. Miller

Smaragdine Books

Text Copyright © 2014 Clare K. R. Miller

All Rights Reserved

Cover image copyright tanitue, via Depositphotos. Star image courtesy Hubble Site. Cover design by Clare K. R. Miller.

Smashwords Edition

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, and locations are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons or events, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

This file is licensed for private individual entertainment only. The book contained herein constitutes a copyrighted work and may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into an information retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electrical, mechanical, photographic, audio recording, or otherwise) for any reason (excepting the uses permitted to the licensee by copyright law under terms of fair use) without the specific written permission of the author.

CHAPTER ONE

The Beginning

I pace slowly, my skirts swishing softly as I move in and out through the trees. There is no clearing large enough to fit all of us, and we are happy enough with that; the near-bare trees will hide us all the more effectively without large spaces between them. I have kindled no magical light, letting the soft light of the stars and moon be enough to see by.

Angeline, Nikol, and I could walk only so far after the tumble through the underground river. After less than a mile my legs began to tremble, and I could hear Nikol’s breathing grow short. We found a small forest to shelter in for the rest of the night, whatever is left of it. But not knowing how close our enemies may be on our trail, we were forced to keep watch. Angeline took the first shift; I slept, but not well. Now I wonder if either of the other two are sleeping at all. I cannot hear the sounds of their breathing.

I continue to pace in circles around them, though I do not watch them where they lie on blankets on the ground, our supplies between them; I watch the trees around us, alert for any sign of movement in them. My nerves jangle every time a dead leaf rattles. Surely I would see light if the Fellowship were to come for us, but perhaps they would wish to be stealthy too…

Noemi, stop it, Nikol whispers, his voice harsh in the darkness. I spin, my heart hammering in my chest, even though I know it is only him. He sits up and pushes his messy hair back out of his face. Your pacing is driving me to distraction. Can’t you sit still to stand watch?

Clutching my skirts, I shake my head. If I sit still I’ll fall asleep, and my feet will go numb with the cold. And this way I can see all around.

He turns his face to the west and squints. The moon is almost set. I’ll take watch now.

It hasn’t been all that long, I say. I can keep going.

He shakes his head and pushes himself up from the blanket. I’m awake now anyway. I may as well. Get some more sleep.

I sigh, unable to argue more at the tempting sight of the warm blanket laid out on the ground. I sink down onto it and close my eyes, but do not fall asleep right away. Now I am aware of Angeline’s soft breathing, only a few feet away. I reach out to lay my hand gently atop hers. She mutters softly in her sleep and her hand turns over so that our palms are together. Finally, I am able to fall asleep.

When I wake, the new-risen sun is blazing at us and I am shivering. It’s too cold to be sleeping on the ground, but we have little choice—and it is at least warmer here than it was on the mountain.

I sit up and adjust the knot of my hair to a more comfortable position. Normally I sleep in a braid, but there is no time for such niceties since we escaped. I look around for Nikol; he is sitting on a fallen tree a few feet away, his back hunched and his eyes hollow.

I have apparently slept enough, for I am ravenous now. I push myself up to my knees and sort through our supplies. Cheese, bread, dried meat. We must divide them carefully, for clearly Paola—my magic teacher, who turned out to be the one killing my friends and who tried to kidnap me—intended the supplies to only be enough for two, and I do not know how far we are to go. I take out a loaf of bread and tear it into three hunks, then similarly divide a round of cheese, using the short knife from the supply cave. Leaving one serving on my blanket for Angeline, I get up and bring the rest to Nikol.

He starts slightly as I approach, and I wonder if he has been half-asleep. I smile and hold out the bread and cheese toward him. Breakfast?

Thank you, he says, accepting them and immediately tearing at the bread with his teeth. I sit down beside him on the log and suddenly realize how ridiculous we must look, him in his fine suit, water-stained and mud-spattered, and me in my ball gown, wilted and torn, both of us eating the plainest of peasant food with our hands. I have not had much time until now to think of how we look, and it makes me smile, though I cannot quite bring myself to laugh.

As Nikol and I begin to eat, Angeline sits up and looks around. She sees us first, then the food I have left for her, and she fetches it and comes to sit with us. She still looks perfect, of course, even with her dress dried in odd lines and her hair a crackling halo from sleeping on it, and I lean in to kiss her cheek as she sits next to me.

We make an odd group, don’t we? she asks after a moment.

I was just thinking that, I say. I had thought we might travel during the day and pretend to be normal travelers of some sort, but unless we can find ourselves changes of clothes, no one is going to take us seriously.

Nikol shakes his head. I don’t think we have much chance of anyone taking us seriously no matter what. We’re young, and we’re not going to get much chance to bathe. I had thought traveling at night would be the best way. We can light our own way, after all, and when or if we must pass through villages, we can do so unseen.

I nod slowly, deciding he is right, but Angeline speaks before I can. There’s no need to make visibility a factor in whether we travel at night or during the day. In fact, I think we should travel during the day simply because it will always be easier. But we can make ourselves invisible.

I let out a breath, smiling. Of course, Angeline, you are right. We must teach it to Nikol.

He sits up straight. Yes. That is an amazing ability. Please teach me.

Angeline nods. It is a matter of letting the light bend around you. It took me a while to master, but it is very useful. She sighs, and I know she is thinking about how little of the magic that Paola was willing to teach us is actually useful—she clearly did not want us to learn to defend ourselves.

I bite my lip in sudden fear, remembering how Paola lied to us about at least some magic. I hope it works during the day. Have you ever made yourself invisible in sunlight? I fear it is more difficult. Paola left out so much when she was teaching us.

No, I never have. Angeline shrugs. There’s no way to find out but to try it. And if it doesn’t work during the day, we can always choose to travel at night.

True. I hastily swallow my last bites of cheese and bread and stand up. All right. I’m going to try it. I close my eyes briefly, making my connection to my star, the Little Mother. It is my connection to this star—which, it is said, will replace the North Star in the sky on Mother’s Day, the beginning of spring—that has made me a target. If only having the connection made me feel more powerful in any way, I would not mind so much.

I slowly spread the magic around me. Invisibility has always been somewhat difficult for me, at least compared to how easily Angeline seems to manage it; to make oneself invisible initially, one must stand very still, and I am not so good at that. I lose the chain of magic once and have to start over again, but then I can feel and see it surrounding me. When it falls into place and my skin goes from shimmering to quite invisible, I allow myself to move.

Well? I ask. Can you see me? Nikol has stopped in mid-bite and is staring at me. I step to the side, and his eyes do not follow. I sweep my hand in front of his eyes, but he does not blink.

No, says Angeline, smiling. You have succeeded, Noemi.

I look around and find a place where the sun breaks through the trees more strongly than here, glowing yellow with the heat of the low sun. I take a few steps and plant myself in the middle of the sunbeam. If I can be seen anywhere, it should be here. What about over here?

Nikol jumps and turns toward me, but his eyes still stare past me. You moved.

Angeline giggles. Very good.

I walk back to them, keeping myself invisible. When I am standing directly behind them, I loose the threads of invisibility, then step over the log and slip back into my seat. Nikol nearly chokes on his last piece of bread.

However, despite the annoyance in his voice earlier, he is grinning when he turns to me. You must teach that to me. How wonderful it would be to walk about unseen! Why did you never use it to come speak with me?

I think back to the times I have spoken with him, either at a dance or at a funeral, and shrug. It would not have served me. It was generally better to be seen than to be thought missing.

He nods, accepting that, and jumps to his feet. All right, then. Teach me. I’m glad I finally get to learn something from you, after all you have learned from me.

Are you connected to your star? Angeline asks. Her voice takes on the cadence of a teacher, but with its higher pitch and its trace of a Lianser accent, it reminds me of Paola’s voice not at all. I begin to relax as we teach our friend the one magic that I know we can pass on to him.

It is noon by the time we have truly taught Nikol invisibility, but he has practiced enough to stay nearly unseen even by our eyes. He only shimmers in the air sometimes. When I tell him this, he wrinkles his nose with disappointment but shrugs. We’ll just have to keep out of sight anyway. It would probably be helpful if we kept out of hearing distance. Perhaps I’ll be the one to ask for directions.

I frown and shake my head. We can’t ask for directions or let ourselves be seen in villages at all until we get at least several more miles away. Paola said that the Fellowship of the North Star is headquartered somewhere near here, but we don’t know the name of the village or even which direction it is in. We’ll have to be extremely careful not to let them even suspect our presence.

Angeline hisses in a breath. You’re right. We’ll have to pick a direction and pass at least two villages before we can try speaking to anyone.

Where is it that we are going? Nikol asks.

Lorelai, I say. Where Agata Nola lives. She sent me a letter several weeks ago, saying that she knew my mother, and offering to teach me magic. Considering how unpleasantly Paola reacted when she saw the letter, I am certain that Miss Nola will at least be able to help us.

She offered to teach you magic straight out in a letter? Nikol’s brows are pressed together to make one black line. Are you sure it is wise to trust someone so foolish?

I shake my head quickly and warm myself with some magical heat, as I have been doing all day. She did not say it in so many words. If I had received the letter a few months ago, before I came to Mrs. Manetta’s School, I would have had no idea what she meant, though I’m sure I would have written her back to discover if she truly knew my mother.

Why haven’t you at least written back to her? he asks.

I twist my lips to the side. At the time, you know I trusted Paola. And I knew that someone wanted to kill or threaten me, so I was not sure whether I should trust the letter. I showed it to Paola before doing anything else, and she burned it. All Angeline and I can remember of the direction she listed is the town name, Lorelai.

He leans against a tree trunk. How will we find it, then? Do either of you know where Lorelai is? I have never heard of it.

Nor have I, I say.

It must be near Lians, says Angeline. It sounds like a Liansish name. We should probably start out going east.

I nod. It does sound Liansish. Are you sure it is not in Lians?

Yes, she says. I would have noticed that in the direction and remembered it. As it is I am sure I remember the name of her road, though I cannot quite bring it to mind. But the road’s name sounded Arknen, not Lianish.

That’s good enough for me, says Nikol, straightening. We’ll head east. He looks up at the sun, then back in the direction from which it has risen. That way.

We gather up our things into two bundles and begin to move. Angeline and I carry the bundles, allowing Nikol to lead first, as he seems to be the most confident about where we are going. It is easy enough to keep the mountains to our left and the sun, as it moves across the sky, to our backs, but I am nervous, looking around at every step for people who may be seeking us.

We cross a number of very small streams in this hilly country, pausing to drink each time, and I suggest that we walk down the stream to disguise our trail. I have heard that animals do this so that hunting dogs cannot smell them. Nikol and Angeline argue me down, however, with the belief that no one is using hunting dogs to look for us, and also the streams are very cold and our feet will freeze with one step.

But we keep going and are forced to climb to the crest of one hill. Anxious by the feeling of exposed air all around, I finally voice my fears. Should we not make ourselves invisible to walk? Who knows who might see us.

I have not seen anyone, says Angeline. And we are so distant from the village there that I cannot see individual people moving, so they should not be able to see us. She points west, where a few dark shapes denoting a village hunker between two hills.

But there could be shepherds or other travelers, I say. We left the small forest behind some time ago. And we do not know if the Fellowship is searching for us. We could be walking directly toward them now.

I do not think they could have any idea where we are, says Nikol. You destroyed the letter Paola wrote to them, and they would never expect you to come down the waterfall in any case.

But if we are walking toward them by mischance, someone could be coming this way any moment to check the waterfall pool for a letter, says Angeline. Noemi is right. I do fear that holding invisibility for a long time will be too tiring.

I have never noticed magic to tire me, I say. But I have not held any magic for an extended time, either.

Angeline smiles. I was always more tired after a night of magic practice, but of course, that means little. We went to bed much earlier when there was not magic practice.

Why don’t you go invisible, Noemi? Nikol suggests. That way if someone comes toward us, they will see only me and Angeline, and won’t guess that you are among us. That is, of course, assuming they have any idea what you look like, and do not believe Angeline to be you.

I don’t know how they could know what I look like, unless Paola has described me in a letter, I say, thinking that perhaps I can simply claim a different name if someone comes upon us. Then I grimace and shake my head. But I cannot assume she has not done that. She would want the others to know who I am. I will do as you suggest. I stop on the path and close my eyes to connect to the Little Mother. The other two stop and turn toward me, as though to watch me go invisible. I cannot help a smile and it breaks my concentration; then I attempt again and succeed this time.

Nikol shakes his head at the empty air. Make sure you keep up with us, Noemi, he says, a little too loudly. If we lose you, we won’t know it.

Don’t fear, I say. If I find myself falling behind, I will speak.

We move on again, climbing another two hills—this close to the mountains, the land is rocky and hilly. I spy what I think to be a shepherd on the slope of a mountain, but he does not look our way. Then, as we are cresting the third hill from where I wrapped myself in invisibility, we see a wider valley than usual below us, and a village spread out in it.

Angeline gasps, and she and Nikol scramble back down the side of the hill. I turn quickly and follow them. What should we do? Angeline asks. Should we go around it?

We shouldn’t go directly through it, I say, making Nikol jump. There would be too great a chance of running into someone that way. We should walk around the outside, but as closely as we can so we do not lose our easterly direction. And you should be invisible, of course.

What difference does it make if we move far from the village? Nikol asks. We have no idea whether Lorelai is to the north or the south. If we make a wide pass around the village and lose our original path, we will still be able to continue to travel east. Perhaps we will even be moving in the correct direction.

That makes sense, says Angeline. And the Fellowship knows the invisibility magic, so perhaps they would be on the lookout for the shimmer that shows when someone is not so skilled at becoming invisible. We should keep out of sight as much as possible.

All right, I say. As long as we keep going. I do not wish to be caught near a village at night.

Nikol, will you carry the pack for a while? Angeline asks. He nods, and they trade, then make themselves invisible. I immediately see a flaw in the plan—or rather, it is what I do not see.

Don’t move yet, I say. We should hold hands. We need some way to ensure that we do not lose each other. I can remember generally where both of you are… I reach out into the air and touch something—Angeline’s shoulder. I slide my hand down her arm until I am holding her hand. Then I reach out toward Nikol as well. My fingers brush something and I hear him laugh.

That’s my nose, he says. Hold your arm still. He reaches up to catch my hand. There. You have the right idea. It would be far worse to lose each other than to come too close to the village.

Let’s walk south a bit anyway, says Angeline. I am growing tired of these hills. Come this way, Noemi. Her small hand tugs at mine, and I follow, pulling Nikol along behind me.

CHAPTER TWO

No One Else

We don’t quite make it out of the hills before Angeline once again turns us east, but the ground has grown shallower and less rocky, and for that I am grateful. I am indeed growing tired; I wonder if Angeline is right that maintaining magic is draining, or if it is simply all this walking. I am used to walking, but not this much, and certainly not in my dancing slippers, which are growing ragged and liable to slip off my feet at any moment.

We pass by the village, and another, larger one is in sight when I realize I cannot possibly take another step. Stop, I gasp, surprised at how much effort it is to speak. We have been nearly silent all this time, not wanting any stray sound to reach the ears of someone we might be trying to avoid. But we are too far from either village for someone to hear us, and there are no shepherds in sight.

The others quickly stop—I can tell only from their grips on my hands.

Are you all right, Noemi? Nikol asks in a low voice.

I almost nod before I recall that he still cannot see me. I think so. I just need to rest. I don’t think I can go on any more today. I release their hands and drop into a cross-legged position on the ground. My feet immediately begin to ache even worse than before. I look around again and, after ensuring that there is no one around to see us, drop my invisibility.

After a moment, Nikol and Angeline shimmer into appearance, as well. I am immediately more comfortable, able to see them again. Angeline kneels on the ground beside me and takes my arm. Maybe magic is draining after all. I don’t think either of us is as tired as you are.

Or maybe it’s just that you never traded packs with anyone, Nikol points out. We meant to each share the burden equally, but you’ve been carrying half our supplies yourself.

I don’t think that’s it, I say. With the pack in a blanket tied around my waist, I have hardly noticed it. But I am not used to walking such long distances, and on relatively little food, as well. I shake my head. I would have thought that magic would not drain the user, since all of it comes from the star.

Invisibility might be different, says Angeline. You have to connect to your star to make it, but not to keep it intact. So it is an extra burden on you.

Regardless, says Nikol, it won’t hurt any of us to rest for the night. I’m finding my legs are tired, too, now that our momentum has stopped. And we should be able to get more sleep tonight.

I nod, closing my eyes for a moment and focusing on the sensation of Angeline’s hands touching my skin. Her touch relaxes and rejuvenates me. Unfortunately, we appear to have run out of forest. It’s all herding land and farmland around here.

We could just try sleeping in a valley, says Angeline. With one of us keeping watch again. Much as I hate to deprive anyone of sleep, we can’t be sure the Fellowship is not watching us somewhere. She casts a wistful glance toward the village, where lights are being kindled as the sun sinks toward the horizon. If only we could trust the village. I would imagine that the Fellowship is not there, considering how long it has been since we left the waterfall, but I suppose we cannot be sure.

Wait a moment, says Nikol. I have an idea. He turns toward the village and stands still for a moment. Then he turns back to us, sighing. There are several people there with magic. I can’t be sure they are the Fellowship, of course, but I suppose it’s best not to risk it.

You can see their magic all the way from here? I ask, surprised.

He shrugs. It doesn’t appear to be geographically limited, as long as I can see what I’m looking for.

But you can’t even see the people, says Angeline. Only their star connections. She purses her lips, thinking. I wonder if it would work to look for people if you don’t know where they are. Perhaps if you knew someone was in a forest, but not where, you could ask to see the star connections and be able to pinpoint them by that light…

The three of us look at each other in horror. The Fellowship could find us in exactly that way. If they were vigilant enough to look everywhere with their magic sight, they could find exactly where I am and come straight toward