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  Carina did as he asked. The guard’s armor was entirely black, as was his visor. She couldn’t make out the man’s face at all as he approached. She felt Darius stiffen.

  When the Sherrerr guard was twenty meters away he said, “Put the boy down.”

  Carina squatted down, expecting Darius to slide off her back, but he didn’t. He clung tighter. “You have to get down, Darius. This man’s going to take you home.”

  The boy buried his face in the back of her neck. Reaching awkwardly around, she gently extracted him from her back and set him on his feet. His head was down and he crossed his arms defiantly.

  “What’s wrong?” Carina asked. “Don’t you want to see your family again?”

  He nodded but didn’t raise his head. The guard had reached them, and Darius turned away from him, presenting the man with his hunched over back.

  “Come with me, Darius,” the guard said, holding out a black-gloved hand.

  The boy made a grunt of refusal.

  The guard sighed with exasperation. “Give me your hand, Master. You must come with me.”

  Darius repeated his grunt, adding, “I want Carina to come too. She’s a—”

  “I can’t come with you,” Carina interrupted before the dreaded word could leave the boy’s lips. “That wasn’t in the instructions, remember?”

  The guard’s blank visor turned in her direction, and she could feel the man’s curious gaze burning into her.

  “Please?” Darius asked, lifting his head, his eyes pleading.

  “I’m sorry, I can’t. But do you remember what we talked about?”

  “Oh yes! I forgot.” The returned memory lit up the boy’s eyes. “Okay, I’ll come with you,” he said to the guard. Still refusing to take the man’s hand, Darius skipped off, heading for home. The guard quickly followed him.

  Carina stood and watched Darius the whole way. When he reached the small door, he turned around and gave her a wave. She waved back, smiling at the young boy’s happy face. Then the door closed and he was gone.

  She looked toward the spot where Tarsalan was waiting and just made out the figure of the woman leaving.

  Hugging herself, Carina began what she feared might be a long wait. She went to the side of the road and sat down next to a small boulder. She didn’t know how long it would take for Darius to tell his mother about her. She’d made him promise to wait until they were alone together, and that could take a while. The Sherrerrs would probably want to have the boy medically assessed after the joyful reunion, and who knew what else.

  Carina passed the time watching the large bugs sing their song and perform their mating dance. She’d been to many worlds in the two years she’d spent as a merc and seen many strange sights. The giant beetles were another to add to her list. She relaxed against the boulder and watched the night’s first stars appear.

  So many suns, so many planets, she mused. Life in so many varieties, sapient and non-sapient, vicious and peaceful and everything in between. In her eighteen years, she’d seen both so much and so little of the galaxy. Was one of those stars the sun that shone on the home planet of her clan? Maybe one day she would find it and mages could return from their exile and live together again without fear.

  The temperature was dropping fast now that the sun had set. Carina shivered and rubbed her upper arms. The wall to the Sherrerr estate was dark gray, unlit by any external lights. From within the compound arose a glow that had to come from lights within the gardens Darius had mentioned. She imagined the lush grounds, with their trees, shrubs, flowers, and fountains, and the little boy playing happily within them, safely home again.

  Darius, have you spoken to your mother yet? Have you told her about me?

  The night wore on, and Carina grew colder. The beetles retired to their underground burrows, and silence fell except for the occasional animal noises in the darkness. In the city, movement in the streets diminished. Carina began to think about where she might sleep that night. She had held a faint hope that it might be within the Sherrerr mansion, though that was looking increasingly unlikely.

  The garden lights went out. Carina was tired and stiff with cold, and her dreams of companionship with other mages were rapidly fading. It was so dark, she could barely see the road. The Sherrerr estate walls had become black and forbidding.

  It was time to leave.

  She stood and stretched her aching muscles. Finding the road by feeling with her feet as much as by sight, she began her return to the city. She had her wages from Tarsalan—any bonus for rescuing Darius noticeably absent. She should be able to find a hostel that was still open, and a hot dinner. And then...she would think about that the next day.

  It was at that moment that she missed Speidel the most. What wouldn’t she have given for a word of advice from the older man?

  The clank of the Sherrerr gate door opening sounded behind her. Carina paused and turned, her defeated heart lifting in hope. Through the gloom, she spotted a guard walking over. Was it the same one who had escorted Darius inside? She couldn’t tell.

  “You,” said the guard. “What’s your name?”

  “Carina Lin.”

  “Here, this is for you.”

  He held out a pouch about the size of a large man’s fist. She took it and pulled it open, but in the darkness she couldn’t see what was inside.

  The guard had already turned to leave.

  “Excuse me,” Carina said. “Do you have a light I can borrow?”

  The man hesitated.

  “Please?”

  His black visor remained enigmatic, but the guard pulled a small flashlight from his belt, turned it on, and handed it to her.

  Carina shone the light into the pouch. A handful of glinting gems were the first items she recognized. They looked valuable. She drew in a breath. The objects that had made her gasp were less impressive than the gems: a tiny transparent box of metal filings, a vial of water, a small container of dust, a firestone, and a bundle of wood splinters tied with a thread: the base ingredients of elixir. Meaningless to an outsider, they were a sign that whoever had sent the pouch knew what she was.

  The guard was shifting impatiently. Carina went to hand his flashlight back when its beam caught another item. This one made her knees go weak. It was a simple, almost valueless object, meaningless to an outsider, but to Carina, it meant everything. It was a pebble, polished to a fine shine to bring out its beautiful colors. It was exactly the kind of pebble her grandmother used to sell for a living.

  Carina drew the strings on the pouch to close it and returned the flashlight to the guard. “Was there any message?” she asked.

  “No. No message. I’d get into town if I were you or you’ll be sleeping on the street tonight.”

  He marched away, leaving her alone in the darkness.

  Carina took a final look at the Sherrerr estate. Somewhere inside was a mage who wished her well. Perhaps it was even someone who had known Nai Nai and understood her connection with the woman, but for some reason would not or could not talk to her.

  For now, the Sherrerr fortress was impregnable and she couldn’t see a way to change that, but in a way she didn’t care. Carina was no longer alone.

  Carina’s story continues in...

  DAUGHTER OF DISCORD

  STAR MAGE SAGA BOOK 1

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  Copyright © 2018 J.J. Green

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  No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  First Edition.