Starfall: A Starstruck Novel (19 page)

“Even when we’d positively identified her, no one was quite sure yet what that would mean,” Dad points out. “Faxon was still in power at the time.”

“Exactly,” Mom says. “Of course we hoped the news of her survival would revitalize the Resistance against Faxon, but for all anyone knew, Princess Emileia would never be more than a symbol, a rallying point for Nuathans and
Echtrans
.”

In other words, back then there’d been no particular reason we
couldn’t
date—not that they were admitting we had. “So how does that whole Consort thing work? Is it like an arranged marriage?”

Dad sets down his fork. “Essentially. It’s traditional for the Sovereign to pair with a descendant of a previous Sovereign. Such pairings are believed to strengthen the qualities we look for in a leader, keeping the Royal line robust.”

“So she and Sean are cousins?” Yuck.

“
Distant
cousins,” Mom emphasizes. “But both from the Royal House, yes.”

“And neither of them get any say about this? I thought Nuathan society was supposed to be all forward-thinking?” No wonder M wasn’t a fan of the idea when she first found out. Was Sean?

Mom and Dad exchange one of their speaking glances before Dad answers. “The Sovereign and her Consort understand that observing tradition will be a stabilizing influence after everything Faxon did. That’s far more important than whatever their personal preferences might initially have been. According to recent reports, they both seem comfortable with the prospect.”

“But when we first told M—the Sovereign—who she was and everything, we didn’t tell her that part?”

Mom sighs. “Everyone assumed all traditional Consort candidates were killed long before we learned the Princess herself had survived. You may remember hearing how Faxon massacred hundreds of Royals, while others managed to flee to Earth?”

“But if the O’Garas escaped and were on Earth all this time, why—?”

“No, they stayed.” Dad’s now using his “politics” voice. “They went into hiding in a Nuathan farming community, concealing their identities while spearheading the Resistance against Faxon’s rule, at great personal risk. Quinn and Lili O’Gara are among Nuath’s greatest heroes and I’m sure they raised their children in the same spirit. Not until they were betrayed, late in Faxon’s reign, did they leave Nuath, smuggled aboard an Earthbound ship.”

Wow. Sean never bothered to mention he and his whole family are heroes, which is pretty cool.

“So, did Sean and the Princess find out about the Consort thing at the same time? And when did you—we—find out?” I don’t know why I’m harping on that particular point so much. Maybe because Sean’s the best friend I have so far, so I want to understand him better?

“Nearly everyone believed the Princess was killed at the age of two, which made the idea of a Consort moot,” Dad reminds me. “Even after the O’Garas arrived in Jewel, we had no idea Sean was of that particular lineage, only that they’d been Royals in exile, and heroes. It was Sean’s uncle Allister who revealed the truth, to us and to the Princess.”

“Far too abruptly, in my opinion.” Mom’s face prims up with obvious distaste. “A diplomat, Allister was not.”

“When was that?” I ask.

“Not until November, well after the events we told you about.”

I assume she means the battle here in Jewel, where my family helped keep Faxon’s forces from killing the Princess and invading Earth. Which I now realize must be why they made me her Bodyguard, and also why she summoned Grandfather to Mars and named him her Regent.

“What I don’t get is why the Sovereign—and Sean—are back in Jewel at all. Shouldn’t they be on Mars, doing whatever it is Sovereigns and their Consorts do?”

“Do you remember what I told you in Ireland about the need for accelerated emigration from Nuath to Earth?” Dad says.

I think for a second, since that was when I was still kind of fuzzy. “Because the power’s running out sooner than expected?”

“Yes, due to Faxon’s excesses. Since her Acclamation, the Sovereign has been working hard to persuade people to relocate from Mars to Earth. The news reports say that she returned to Jewel, and to high school, in order to lead by example, to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to discreetly and peacefully fit into
Duchas
society.”

Huh. If I was supreme ruler of Nuath, especially after living my whole life in a podunk town like Jewel, I’d want to enjoy it for more than a few months. Guess that means I’m not exactly Sovereign material.

Finally, I ask the question that bothers me most. “So, if Sean and the Sovereign are both on board with that Consort thing, why aren’t they a couple now? Sean says they’re not, though they’re obviously friends. Isn’t that a little strange?”

Another long look between my parents. And when Mom answers, she doesn’t quite meet my eyes. “Whatever their reasons, I imagine it’s personal, Rigel, and something they’ll need to work out between themselves. I’d, ah, recommend against getting involved.”

Dad nods. “The last thing you’d want to do is interfere with a pairing that will go so far to restore confidence among our people, both here and back on Mars.”

In other words, if they do know what’s going on with M and Sean, they’re not telling. Maybe they’re right that it’s none of my business. But I still want to know.

*
   
*
   
*

Though my memories of the last year are as stubbornly elusive as ever, over the next few days at school I do my best to fill in more blanks. The guys on the team help by answering some questions about what happened at school and Sean gives me a little more info about non-school stuff when we manage to pair up in Weight Training.

Friday I have to go light on the weights since tonight’s our first game. Not till class is half over do I get a chance to talk privately with Sean. “Hey, tell me about when you and your family were in hiding and stuff. Must have been scary?”

He does another incline press. “Only the last week or so, when we had to bug out in a hurry. Before that, we just lived like Ags—farmers—in a little village. Mum and Dad snuck out to secret Resistance meetings, and a few times we even had them in our house, but they never let me or Molly sit in on them. Then a meeting got raided. Our older sister was captured and the rest barely escaped. They seized a lot of records, so it wasn’t safe to stay after that. We were lucky a ship captain was willing to smuggle us out.”

I guess that part was exciting enough. “What, um, happened to your sister?”
 

His mouth twists, making me sorry I asked. “She’s…mostly okay now. Still back home—in Nuath, I mean. They’re still treating her for mem— uh, for what Faxon’s people did to her.”

“What, did they torture her?”
 

“Yeah. Pretty much.” He’d obviously been about to say something else, though, and stopped himself. Something else I’m not supposed to know about?

No, I’m being paranoid. Probably just something he’d rather not talk about, which is totally fair.

“My folks consider your whole family heroes,” I tell him, hoping to lighten his mood. “Sounds like all our people do.”

“Nah. Here, help me with this.” I guide the weights back onto the rack, even though he doesn’t really need my help. “You’re more a hero than I’ve ever been, what with that big battle last fall and everything after. Like on Mars.”

I snort. “Yeah, well, I’ll take your word for it, but—”

“Doesn’t seem quite real? I guess it wouldn’t. But the news stories then said you and your family helped fight off a whole bunch of Faxon’s people, that you risked your life to protect the Princess. That much is common knowledge, even if I can’t say much about the other.”

Meaning whatever happened on Mars
isn’t
common knowledge? So maybe they don’t
want
me remembering it? “Thanks, man. My folks have barely even let me read news stories. Something else the Healers warned against even though it seems like it would help. Might jog something loose, you know?”
 

Now Sean looks uncomfortable, like maybe he said too much again. “Yeah, you’d think. But maybe they have their reasons.”

“Right.” Now my mood is souring. Not knowing stuff is getting really old. Which reminds me to ask about all those other
Echtrans
at school—our Chemistry teacher and the new vice principal, who sometimes patrols the cafeteria at lunchtime.

“Oh, yeah. There was another one last year, too, a Ms. Harrigan, but I think she’s gone. Not sure about Mr. Abbot. I think M said he’s a friend of your grandfather’s? But Mr. Cormac—Cormac’s actually his first name, by the way—is M’s official Bodyguard. Came here from Mars with us. Guess they decided putting him in charge of school discipline would make it easy for him to do his job without raising suspicions. You’ve got to admit, he looks the part. Way more than Mr. Pedersen did—the guy everybody used to call ‘The Warden.’”

“What happened to him?”

“Retired, I think. Anyway, pretty sure that’s all of us. At the moment, anyway.”

I want to ask Sean more questions but class is nearly over. Besides, what I most want to ask—what the deal is between him and M these days—is basically off-limits. When I hinted about it to Molly yesterday, she just said she “hopes everything will work out.” But the way she said it made it even more obvious Sean still has it kind of bad for M.
 

On my way to last period, it occurs to me one way I can repay Sean for telling me so much stuff might be to help get the two of them back together. M’s been acting a lot more friendly in general in the classes we have together, though we haven’t really talked much since that once at the computer. If I get a chance, maybe I’ll mention Sean to her, kind of nudge her his way.

The past couple afternoons Ms. Raymond had us all working separately, on different stuff. A good thing, since I still get kind of jumpy and tongue-tied around M. But today we’re both at the same computer as before, fact-checking stories for our first online newspaper of the year. Which means I can start my campaign to help Sean right away.

I skim the print-out of the first article and read the highlighted bits out loud to M, who starts typing search terms into Google. When one of the pages takes a while to load, I plunge in.
 

“So. Sean O’Gara. Great guy, huh?” I try to keep my voice super casual but realize as the words come out how stupid I sound.

And, yeah, the look she gives me is startled and a little suspicious. “What?”

“Sean. You know. Molly’s brother?”

“Yes. I know who Sean is. What about him?” Definitely suspicious now.

“Um, just that he’s been helping a lot, filling me in on some stuff my parents didn’t bother to tell me. He seems like a really nice guy.”

M tilts her head back to look me straight in the eyes—which makes her
look
like a Sovereign. I try not to squirm under that direct gaze.

“Did Sean tell you to say that?”

“What? No! Of course not. He’d never— I mean, I know you guys used to date. But aren’t now. And I know about that whole, um, Consort thing…”

“Sean
must
have mentioned that part.”

I quickly shake my head. “I already knew. Found out back in Ireland. My parents talked about it some, too. Sean, not so much. But he’s… You should probably talk to him. Work things out. Or something. Don’t you think?” Jeez, I sound lame!

M tenses up and frowns. Then she narrows those incredible eyes, like she’s trying to bore right into my brain. But after a long, nervous moment she relaxes and even smiles.

“So Sean’s been nice to you, helping you? I’m glad. Because I actually, um, asked him to do that. I always hoped you two would become real friends, but—”

“But I never liked the Consort thing? No, Sean didn’t tell me that,” I add quickly when her perfect eyebrows go up. “But I figured, from a couple things he did say—”

She holds up a hand and I immediately shut up. I mean, she
is
the Sovereign. “Rigel.” Her voice is softer now. Gentler. “I really hoped once we were in the same room together, especially once we had a chance to talk, you might start to understand. But I guess it’s going to take, well… Don’t freak out, okay?”

“Freak out?” Even though I have no idea what she’s going to tell me, my heart starts to slam against my chest. No matter what it is, it’s
got
to be something I need to know. “Okay. I won’t.”

“Good.”
 

I wait, bracing myself for whatever it is she’s about to say. But instead of revealing something shocking, like I expect, she just reaches over with her hand and touches my forearm.

A jolt, like some combo of electricity and adrenaline, shoots up my arm and through my whole body until I swear the hair on my head must be standing straight up. I scramble backward so fast I nearly fall off my chair.
 

“What was that?” I whisper wildly. “What did you just do?”

I’m shocked to my core by what just happened—whatever the hell it was. But she just looks…expectant. Like she’s waiting for something important to happen.
 

Funny thing is, I do feel like I might be on the verge of some kind of breakthrough. Or maybe a breakdown. I hold my breath, also waiting, though I have no clue for what. But the seconds lengthen and her expression slowly changes from eager anticipation to uncertainty and finally disappointment.

“You don’t… You’re not…?” She doesn’t look or sound regal now. More like helpless and confused. I feel a weird urge to comfort her.

“What did you do?” I repeat instead, needing
some
kind of explanation. Surely her mere touch doesn’t affect everybody like that, every single time? Or is that how the Sovereigns keep people in line? Except it didn’t hurt, exactly. More like it…energized every cell in my body or something. I feel more awake than I can ever remember being.
 

Pressing her lips together like she’s trying not to cry, she swallows, hard, and looks away. “I, um…I seem to have fried another computer.”

Sure enough, the screen is black. I try tapping the space bar, in case it just went to sleep, but no. “Did you say
another
computer?”