Aftermath
"Can I speak to Mastermind?"
Of all the inquiries about the Rainforest Kingdom's infamous prisoner, Fatespeaker's was the one that surprised Glory the most.
They stood in the throne room of the combined RainWing and NightWing tribes. Glory and Deathbringer were side by side, both looking at their purple NightWing friend with expressions of disbelief. Glory's guards, Banana and Parakeet, watched with extreme curiosity. Fatespeaker fidgeted her wings and awkwardly looked around.
"Why?" Glory's scales shifted against her will. That hardly ever happened now. She glanced down and saw that, to her embarrassment, she was starting to turn white and red. "Just why?"
Deathbringer shot a glare at Parakeet, who had made the innocent mistake of staring at Glory's sudden color change.
"It's Starflight," Fatespeaker explained hastily. She started to say something, seemed to choke on the word, and paused to rephrase it. "He needs to know more about his parents."
"No, he doesn't." Glory's long, elegant tail slowly curled itself around her talons. "Starflight's my friend. I know him. All talking about...that weirdo ever does is mess up his head, and you of all dragons should - "
"Glory," Fatespeaker interrupted, "I don't know who my father is. I don't know who my parents are. Or were. Whatever. But Starflight does, and I think he deserves to know more about where he came from."
Glory studied her carefully. Neither of them took the matter of Starflight's well-being lightly.
Deathbringer casually tapped his talons, his gaze fixed on Glory's face. Whatever he was trying to tell her, Glory was too fully focused on Fatespeaker to determine.
"So...say I do let you talk to Mastermind," Glory said very slowly, "which I might not, and he says something really, really creepy about...I don't know, torturing and killing dragons. And think that's what we ALL are expecting him to do, since he totally did that. What are you going to tell Starflight?"
Fatespeaker looked down. The silver scales around her ankle sparkled as she picked at some leaves on the ground. "I don't have to tell him about that. I don't have to mention that stuff."
"Fatespeaker, does Starflight know that you're here?" Glory asked sharply.
Fatespeaker's talons clenched. "Uh, no. No, he doesn't." Before Glory could say anything she added, "It was Sunny's idea."
"Of course," Deathbringer chuckled, no doubt picturing the little yellow dragon coaching Fatespeaker through this entire ridiculous request.
At this new information, Glory's shoulders became noticeably less tense. She looked from Deathbringer to Fatespeaker, suddenly becoming cheery. "Well, what he doesn't know can't hurt him! Geez, Fatespeaker, you should have told me that in the first place! Starflight doesn't know anything about this whole plan?"
Fatespeaker blinked. "Yeah, but - "
"You're going to go have a little chat with Mastermind, find out whatever you want about him, and not mention a single word of it to Starflight!" Glory said. It sounded kind of pushy, but, being the presiding queen, she had the right to be as pushy as she wished to.
"That's not what I wanted!" Fatespeaker protested. "I do want to tell Staflight about it later! I just...I wanted to keep it secret in case something went wrong."
Glory became quiet again. She sighed, lashed her tail, and said, "Can you promise me that if you learn anything - anything - bad about his family, you won't tell him?"
"Of course," Fatespeaker replied solemnly.
"You better be sure about this." Glory stepped forward, her scales darkening several shades in emphasis.
Fatespeaker managed a small smile. "I'm his friend, Glory."
Glory's jaw clenched. She said nothing, but her dark green eyes communicated plenty. And I've been his friend for the past six years. I know him better than you ever will.
Fatespeaker didn't need any mind reading magic to know those thoughts.
"Okay," Glory said. She cleared her throat and tried to looked a little more bright. Out of everyone's view, she wrapped her tail around Deathbringer's and squeezed. "Fatespeaker, I - I'll let you do it." She turned and shouted, "Guards!"
Three more RainWings appeared, their camouflage scales shifting to bright shades pink and excited yellow.
"Ugh, that's an interesting color, isn't it, Sundew?" Glory muttered, shielding her eyes. "All right, guards, we are bringing the prisoner up for an interrogation today. I want five extra RainWings on the quicksand prison, and make sure none of them run off to chase butterflies! This is serious!" She looked to Deathbringer. "Get me some extra NightWings, too."
"Are you sure about that?" Deathbringer asked. "Wiseflier is on duty today."
"Wiseflier? Wiseflier. Oh, yeah, I remember her." Glory scowled. "I could take that NightWing down a few pegs. She's good, though. I think she'll do fine without extras."
Deathbringer nodded to smugly reaffirm his own decision.
The five RainWing guards all bowed and left, looking very excited to be part of the action. This was definitely more interesting than spending a whole day in hunting lessons with Jambu.
After watching them go, Glory grabbed Fatespeaker by the shoulder. They shared an intense stare-off, both sides unrelenting, until Glory finally broke the silence.
"I'm trusting you with this," Glory hissed. "Don't hurt Starflight. Don't hurt yourself."
"I won't," Fatespeaker said. She lifted her chin and gave Glory a confident nod. "Plus, my totally-real powers are telling me that this all ends up fine!" she joked.
Glory rolled her eyes. "Looks like there's no talking you out of this, so good luck." The RainWing queen let out an exasperated sigh. "Also, uh, I should mention that nobody's really talked to Mastermind since we sentenced him. Don't be shocked if he's - "
"A little crazy," Deathbringer finished.
Glory eyed him testily. "Stop doing that. Stop acting cute."
"Sorry, Your Majesty, I forgot how much you hate exposing your tender heart to the world," he snapped back.
"You know," Glory said, shuffling her wings. "I could bite you right now."
Deathbringer smiled, probably over some romantic joke that Fatespeaker wasn't in on. Then he shared a saccharine look with Glory that made the Fatespeaker feel rather uncomfortable.
Shaking off her moment of distraction, Glory peered out at the sun and grimaced. "As much as I wish I could stay here and talk you out of this, I'll be late to that nursery meeting if we wait any longer." She extended her wing to prod Banana's shoulder, swirls of deep teal swimming in her scales as she did. The RainWing guard, who had been asleep for most this conversation, jumped up and looked around hazily. "Get someone to escort her. Please, be quick."
"Thanks, Glory." Fatespeaker smiled. "Seriously, I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Just hurry up and get it done," Glory growled. It was clear from her agitation that she was having second thoughts. "Don't take any longer than ten minutes. Ask your weird questions and get out."
"I will," Fatespeaker said. "Trust me." She seemed perfectly calm and ready.
Only when the pair of RainWings arrived to escort her did she look visibly nervous.
Deathbringer followed them as far as the edge of the quicksand clearing. With so many nervous RainWings standing around, flickering their scales, he stood out like a black hole in the midmorning light.
"The guards will signal you after ten minutes or so," he told Fatespeaker. "Wiseflier and Loris are in charge today." He turned to what was seemingly an empty space of air. "Right?"
A bright yellow RainWing materialized and nodded. She bowed clumsily and took off, disappearing into the colors of the sky.
Deathbringer leaned over and muttered to Fatespeaker, "Don't tell Glory, but that still kind of freaks me out."
She snorted. Suddenly aware of how many hidden dragons were watching them, she found herself taking a wide, sweeping look at the canopy. Were those really eyes glinting at her from the leaves? She wondered how Glory and Deathbringer kept track of everyone.
"Ten minutes. Don't stay too long," Deathbringer reminded her. He did a quick scan of the treetops and dropped his voice to a quieter tone. "Heliconia lost a friend to the NightWings and Loris was one of the prisoners. Keep that in mind."
"Can't you stay?" Fatespeaker asked.
A hint of tiredness, just a fraction of the massive exhaustion he was hiding, flashed in Deathbringer's eyes for a second, and she immediately felt guilty for asking. It was quickly replaced with his usual look: a mixture of smug calmness and honest confidence.
"I have to organize the hunting classes by noon. Glory won't admit it, but she's cracking under her workload." He paused, his sharp profile glowing with warmer shades of black and gray in the dappled rainforest sunlight. "And let's just say I don't feel like talking to someone like Mastermind right now. I only do interrogations on my vacation days." He smiled dryly.
Fatespeaker couldn't help but sigh. "Okay, okay. I understand. Thanks."
He waved good-bye to the odd collection of guards. NightWings and RainWings alike bowed to him and waved back.
"Tell Glory 'Thanks' for me!" Fatespeaker said.
Deathbringer gave her a final nod. "Good luck. I have to go. Her Majesty won't be kept waiting." His face twitched with a playful smirk. "Hey, maybe we'll actually get some free time today. Fun. "
Ew, Fatespeaker thought, I don't need that image in my head right now.
She watched Deathbringer fly off and then turned back to the quicksand area. Clasping her talons together, she sighed. This is it, Mastermind.
Deep breath. She calmly raised her head. I have to do this.
The biggest NightWing guard introduced herself as Wiseflier and blithely shook talons with Fatespeaker. Fatespeaker didn't recognize any of them, though given how briefly she'd been in the NightWing fortress, she hadn't expected to. An older RainWing, whose scales kept shifting between green and blue, said that she was Loris.
Many of the guards, both RainWing and NightWing, had vines of purple flowers wound around their horns. Fatespeaker looked around and noticed many of those plants growing nearby. She wanted to ask what the name of the vine was, but Wiseflier was already beckoning her toward a group of other dragons.
For someone in charge of torturing a war criminal, Wiseflier seemed pretty upbeat.
"He made fun of me when we had classes together," Wiseflier mentioned coolly as she signaled for some of the RainWings to step back. "Let's see who's laughing now!"
Fatespeaker decided to never get on this dragon's bad side.
The three NightWing guards, assisted by two RainWing ones who had flown down from the trees, began pulling at the ropes.
It occurred to Fatespeaker that word of her mission must have already been sent to the guards. She couldn't even stall herself by telling them everything. So this is happening. This is happening now. She did her best to clear her mind and focus.
She had to put on a brave face. Come on now, Fatespeaker, just pretend you're an assassin like Deathbringer! She tried imagining that she was a tough soldier who did this every day. That helped a bit.
The RainWings and NightWings worked together to pull the thick bundle of ropes up. Fatespeaker watched as they struggled with the task, getting plenty of sand on their own scales.
It seemed like a terribly inefficient strategy for keeping a prisoner. That was probably why Glory had reserved it for the one dragon she absolutely despised.
Fatespeaker wondered how often they let him up for air. Was Glory cruel enough to bring him to the edge of suffocation every time? Even after seeing the terrible things Mastermind did, Fatespeaker couldn't imagine the peaceable RainWings torturing anyone like that.
"Everyone else stand back!" Loris called to the dragons who were not managing the ropes.
Fatespeaker noticed that many of the RainWings looked as nervous as she felt. Then she remembered what Deathbringer had said to her about Heliconia and Loris. How many of these dragons had been personally affected by Mastermind's crimes?
She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. Perhaps a bit more noise, some sputtering and shouting, or more wild, thrashing movements? Instead, she saw a motionless, tightly bound dragon emerge from the sand. He made no effort to move himself as he was hauled up, and he was so quiet that at first she assumed his snout was bound. He coughed once, causing his wings to twitch, and fell still again.
The guards dragged the weak dragon away from the quicksand pit and onto the solid dirt. He was a messy bundle of dark scale and thick rope, his body curled into a tangled, unnatural pose. Wiseflier, ever the dedicated torturer, was already hurling insults at the limp prisoner, but if he could hear her, he showed no signs of it.
Fatespeaker couldn't believe it. This was not the same Mastermind as before, that tall, composed dragon who had led her on a tour through his lab. It couldn't be.
She was suddenly filled with questions. How long has he been here? How often does he eat and drink? Who came up with this idea? She shook her head and reminded herself to focus on the important ones. Starflight. Ask him about Starflight's family.
Loris stepped past Wiseflier and pointed to Mastermind's bindings. "Untie him," she commanded the other guards. The RainWing's voice was clipped and stiff, and she was trembling slightly.
She was one of the NightWings' prisoners, Fatespeaker recalled, but she's here, helping me, even after what he did to her. Fatespeaker now had simultaneous feelings admiration for Loris and anger towards Mastermind.
The guards finished untying the ropes on Mastermind's legs and torso, leaving the ones on his wings. The extra precaution wasn't really necessary, since he was in no condition to even walk.
A NightWing guard brought a bowl of water over. Fatespeaker thought it was a drink. Instead, the dragon tipped it over and poured it on Mastermind's face. A fit of coughing soon ensued. Fatespeaker cringed.
"Give him a moment before you start," Loris advised her, "and don't bother asking why. I already tried. He gives the same awful answer every time."
"O-okay." Fatespeaker stepped forward. Her tail lashed and her jaw clenched. She wondered what Starflight was doing right now. He was probably working in the library, or eating lunch with his friends. He must have noticed she was gone by now, and asked someone about it.
"Okay," Fatespeaker said again. She took a deep breath to calm herself. All the guards except for Wiseflier and Loris moved away, arranging themselves in a circle around Mastermind and his interrogator. Fatespeaker looked around at all of them, then at Mastermind, and gulped.
She smiled. Why? She wasn't sure. She figured it had been a long time since anyone had smiled at him, aside from Wiseflier with her cold grin. He stared at her with vacant eyes. "Uh, hello," she began. He stood up shakily.
Why am I doing this? Just as Fatespeaker opened her mouth to ask the first question, her mind went blank.
This was going to be a very long ten minutes.
"How are you doing?" she asked awkwardly. Stupid. Stupid. What a stupid question.
Mastermind blinked. "I've been better," he joked dryly. His gray eyes shifted as he regarded her, and stirred with some tired interest. His face tightened into a pleasant, if pained, expression, an almost smile.
"I'm Fatespeaker," she said. "I...uh...I think we met...before?"
He frowned and continued studying her. "Oh!" he exclaimed. Though his voice was soft and raspy, Fatespeaker was still able to match it up with the voice she'd heard back in the NightWing fortress. Her memory of a respectable scientist was slowly mixing with the dragon before her. "Yes, I remember you."
Fatespeaker shuddered. The shift in his tone, the tensing in his cheeks. He was just like Starflight. Of course, she'd noticed the resemblance back when she first met Mastermind, but now, after spending so much time at Starflight's side, the similarities took on a new layer of creepiness.
"I'm here to ask you some stuff," Fatespeaker explained. "Some, uh, business." She glanced at Wiseflier and Loris. They were both glaring intently at Mastermind.
His gaze drifted over to them as well, and he frowned. Fatespeaker noticed the laughter lines beneath his eyes, etched deeply enough to remain even in his thin, wasted state. Would Starflight get those as he aged?
"All right," Mastermind said. He looked down and flexed his talons, seeming utterly indifferent to the whole situation. His gaunt tail twitched like it was surprised to be free. "They took everything I brought. All my scrolls. I don't suppose you want any of my recent studies, because those were all - "
"No, no," Fatespeaker interrupted quickly. "I actually wanted to know more about...about you."
"Huh?" Now he was interested. As he blinked at her, she realized that his eye color was actually several shades lighter than Starflight's.
She drew back a little, putting a comfortable distance between them. "Just a few questions about the old fortress and, like, your job."
He nodded. Now looking less resigned and more genuinely involved, he waved at her and said, "Ask away."
Fatespeaker swallowed. "When did you become the official, uh, the..."
"The Royal NightWing Scientist?" Mastermind's voice immediately brightened. "Oh, that was...that was many years ago, actually. You see, Fatespeaker, it's not an easy position to attain. I worked for many years as an assistant to Lateword the, er, late Royal Scientist." Some type of dark amusement twitched across his face at this play on words. "Then after his unfortunate passing, I was the most qualified dragon in the tribe, so Battlewinner appointed me to take his place. His rank. A great honor."
An honor? Really? Fatespeaker thought, recalling the gruesome sight of Orchid, chained and terrified, in Mastermind's lab. "How did that work out?" she asked.
Raising his chin a little with pride, Mastermind said, "She said I was 'quite the intellectual'. Battlewinner herself! Well, that was after I saved her life, so she kind of owed me that." He laughed weakly, then coughed and grimaced. "She...she said that, really. And the council valued me."
"You saved the queen's life?!" Fatespeaker wondered if Starflight, or any of the other dragonets, knew about that.
"Well," Mastermind went on, his gaze drifting a bit, "it was very confidential at the time, but Battlewinner...isn't here now..." He paused for a moment and breathed. He glanced to the side as if expecting the long dead queen to appear from the dark jungle undergrowth. "Yes, so, she was very ill once, and I discovered the antibodies that saved her." Mastermind's trembling chest swelled with pride as he emphasized discovered.
"I did botanical work too," he went on. "I always liked biology. Of course, my job forced me to work in other areas as well. Astronomy. Engineering. Vulcanology."
Fatespeaker remembered the metal suit that was designed for Battlewinner. Given enough time, would Mastermind have saved her life a second time? Now that the queen was gone and NightWing fortress destroyed, no dragon would ever know.
"And...politics. Occasionally. That was not pleasant." Mastermind shook his head and seemed to be trying for a chuckle as he said, "Being based on logic and reason, science obviously doesn't mix with politicians."
That would have been funnier if it hadn't come from a dragon with multiple politically-fueled atrocities to his name.
"What other sort of jobs did you do?" Fatespeaker asked. Other than torturing those poor RainWings, she finished in her head.
"Aside from Battlewinner and the Rainforest Project? Oh, I dabbled a lot. I studied rocks for a few years. It was a phase." He coughed. "You saw my drinking water project. My machine, if they just let me rebuild it... but never mind that. I - I did some genetics. Did you know that you can breed plants? I did. I discovered three new species of shrubs." He paused and looked at Fatespeaker, seeming surprised and happy that she was still paying attention.
"I lectured. Taught classes on math and basic science for the kids. None of 'em really understood it, but that wasn't my fault." He shook his head again. His cool demeanor breaking with a little bit of old frustration. "I tried to start a better education program! Well, actually, that was mostly Farsight. She did all the talking."
Mastermind stopped again. His smile slowly faded from his face, the lines deepening and deepening until he once again looked very sick and thin and tired. His sunken eyes stared past her, their sudden far-off look a little startling.
Taken back by the sudden shift, Fatespeaker prompted him, "Farsight?" She knew that name. It was on the tip of her tongue. Farsight, Mastermind, Starflight. "Was she Starflight's mom?" she asked a little too eagerly. "Your mate?"
Mastermind put his head down, a faint white wisp of smoke curling up from his snout. "Yes," he said, his voice very soft. "Yes. That was Farsight."
Obviously this was a sad topic for him, but Fatespeaker couldn't help feeling excited. This was the kind of stuff Starflight had to know! Her friend would love to hear about what kind of dragon his mom was.
"Who was she?" Fatespeaker tried to ask kindly. Though she posed the question as gently as possible, Mastermind still stared at her like she'd just shoved a knife into his side.
"She was brilliant. Smart. Sharp, in every sense of that word." He was quieter now. His voice rose a bit as he continued, bearing a hint of emotion, but he covered it quickly with more clinical coolness. "She liked math and art and music. Because she knew how they connected. She was always fascinated by the world. Not silly stuff, either, but the things that really mattered. I guess that's what made her so fascinating." He sighed. "And of course that's why, well, that's why I fell in love with her."
Fascinated by the world. That sure sounded like Starflight. So he had inherited his brains from both sides of his family. Fatespeaker's heart ached as she wondered what the world would be like if Farsight was still alive.
"How long were you married?"
Confusion, sadness, and discomfort flashed quickly across the bound NightWing's face. "We...we weren't..."
Oh. Now Fatespeaker felt a bit embarrassed.
"Not officially anyway, but...I mean...was anyone?" Still not meeting her gaze, Mastermind prodded at a lump of sandy mud with his talons. "Weddings weren't exactly a priority, what with the island's circumstances. Impending doom and whatnot." He cleared his throat, causing a short bout of wet coughing. "Anyway. Anyway. Active volcanoes tend to prompt fast romances. Not ours, though. We were something else. We were Mastermind and Farsight: the last NightWing luminaries! Oh. If she were here. If only she were here."
He took a deep breath that rattled in his throat and chest. With the air of a dragon who had finally been defeated, he muttered, "I don't know."
And Fatespeaker felt the most terrible, unexpected sense pity for him. For just a moment, she let herself forget the context of all this and, seeing such a sad, pathetic dragon, wanted to say something nice - and true - to him. "I'm sure your son would love to hear about her."
"Starflight. Yes. Oh, Starflight. Did anyone send him my requests? Is he coming to see me?" he asked.
"He'll visit you soon." Fatespeaker didn't think about the words until they were out of her mouth. She immediately regretted saying them and tried to undo what she'd just done. Guilt crashed down on her when she saw how happy she'd made Mastermind.
"I mean...I mean, he wants to. It's kind of hard for him, what with the long flight here. I don't know if he can," Fatespeaker said. That was a lie. Starflight's flying was decent as long as she was guiding him. He'd flown to the rainforest several times, to meet the new Jade Mountain Academy students. He just never wanted to see his father.
Mastermind's brow creased with concern and confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Um, his eyes," Fatespeaker said, gesturing to her own. "It's hard for him to fly now that he's blind."
Mastermind stared at her. A slow realization came over Fatespeaker.
Oops.
Mastermind's face fell, slackening completely for a moment. His big eyes blinked at her in disbelief. With an expression of unimaginable grief, he cried, "He's blind? Starflight went blind?"
"The volcano," Fatespeaker squeaked. "He...um...the lava during the eruption. He was burned. I'm sorry. I thought...I thought you knew. I thought Glory..."
She stepped back, but Mastermind grasped her by the wing with his cold, clammy talons. His voice got all shrill and arrhythmic, the way Starflight's did when he was scared. "My son's eyes were burned out?! And nobody told me?!"
"He's okay now," she mumbled. That did not seem to soothe Mastermind at all. Her face scrunched up desperately as she tried to figure out how to calm him. She wanted to do something, to say something, and make it all right again. "I'm sorry," she said again "Um, you know I foresaw - "
Mastermind, deep in a sort of sorrow and shock that Fatespeaker was too young to understand, released her suddenly and rubbed at his face. Then, gasping as if struck, he grabbed her by the right shoulder and shook her and pleaded with her, his frail form swaying with the effort. His useless wings, still tied down, strained against the ropes.
One of the RainWings, apparently the only one paying attention, yelped in alarm.
"Let go of her, you freak," Wiseflier growled.
Fatespeaker had forgotten about the guards. She turned around to glance at them. "It's fine," she said. "I'm fine."
Loris stepped forward anyway, and Mastermind quickly let go of Fatespeaker. The RainWing seemed nervous. Looking back at Mastermind, Fatespeaker wondered if his raised voice still scared Loris.
Mastermind was curled up on the ground. His sides heaved and his mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out, as if his lungs were too weak to cry out. Loris came up to him, her wings turning green with fear. He flinched away from the RainWing, buried his face in his talons, and made a horrible choking, groaning noise. Fatespeaker realized that he was sobbing.
Loris gulped and stared at Mastermind with frightened eyes. They're both horrified by the other, Fatespeaker thought.
How was she supposed to feel about that? She reviled Mastermind and pitied him, admired Loris and hated her. Fatespeaker suddenly felt sick, disgusted with herself for instigating and watching this scene. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She didn't understand. She didn't want to. She felt the urge to leap up, fly all the way back to Jade Mountain Academy, and pretend that nothing had happened.
Somewhere behind Fatespeaker, Wiseflier called for the other guards to help her tie up the prisoner again.
Mastermind regained enough of his composure to reach out and shout wordlessly. Though Fatespeaker turned away, he continued to implore her. "Starflight," he said breathlessly, "Starflight, I need to see him. Please." He gasped as Wiseflier pinned him down. "Stop, please! Let me see Starflight. Let me see my son. Please!"
Fatespeaker shook her head and averted her eyes as they returned him to the pit of quicksand. There was a lot of sputtering and thrashing involved. The guards all looked solemn afterward. Even Wiseflier was frowning now.
Loris whispered something to another RainWing, fanning herself with her wings. Then she camouflaged herself and slipped off into the jungle. Fatespeaker watched her go.
"She'll be fine," Wiseflier muttered to Fatespeaker.
Fatespeaker didn't know what to think, who to feel sorry for, or...or what to tell Starflight.
Glory found Fatespeaker a nice treetop platform to sleep on. A NightWing named Secretkeeper and her daughter had offered to let Fatespeaker stay in their hut, but had been kindly refused.
Fatespeaker stared up at the constellations that sprawled across the night sky. She needed to see the stars.
She knew she wouldn't get much sleep.
Even if her head wasn't swimming with thoughts, she would still have a snoring yellow RainWing next to her. Banana had been tasked with guarding her. When Fatespeaker had tried to tell Glory she didn't want a guard, Glory had still insisted because Banana needed the practice. "He'll keep you safe from all butterfly attacks," she'd said tartly.
Glory. Fatespeaker thought about the RainWing. She knew that under all that sarcasm and dry wit, there was a kind, heroic heart. The dragonets of destiny were Fatespeaker's friends, and everyone knew Glory was a wonderful queen.
Glory knew how to rule her tribes. She knew how to deliver justice. Mastermind was only getting what he deserved. Fatespeaker remembered how sad and hurt those poor RainWing captives had looked. She remembered the ceremony that Glory had held to celebrate the lives of the ones who died, all the mourning RainWings who missed their lost friends. She remembered Loris, who was so deeply scarred that she was still afraid of a harmless, crying dragon. Fatespeaker wondered how Loris was feeling right now.
We've done all that we can. This is how it has to be. We gave him a trial and everything.
So why did it feel so wrong?
A shooting star gleamed and fell across the rainforest sky's dark backdrop. Fatespeaker watched it flash and fade.
She sighed, wrapped her wings around herself, and tried to see some meaning in it. Let's see...that was a sign that everything's going to be awesome! Jade Mountain Academy will be a success and everyone will be happy and the cafeteria will have great food. And Starflight will never know anything about his family, ever.
Pretend prophecies weren't going to solve her problem. I really should have learned that lesson from Morrowseer, she thought.
She gazed at the swath of stars above her, shining like the underside of a NightWing's wing. She used to sit on top of Jade Mountain with Starflight and ask him for the names of the constellations, describing the patterns in detail.
"So it kinda has a tail that goes a ways to the left, and then a squiggle."
"Fatespeaker, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Wait, I know this is a real one! I saw it in a scroll once! There's this clump of stars, and then a smaller clump of stars next to that one - "
"They're ALL clumps of stars, Fatespeaker!"
She giggled a little, recalling his exasperated expression and subsequent burst of laughter. Starflight looked different when he laughed - less worried, a bit younger. Maybe kind of cute. Okay, really cute.
Was Mastermind like that, when he was the same age? Had Farsight fallen in love with his laughter?
Fatespeaker rolled over, clutching her head, and tried to forget about Mastermind. Their brief conversation, every word of it, still lingered in the back of her mind. Something about it had disturbed her greatly.
Mastermind loved Starflight. He missed his son more than Fatespeaker could ever imagine missing someone. Mastermind was also a bad dragon, who had done evil things to innocent dragons like Loris. This left Fatespeaker with a moral dilemma, a deep confusion that she knew she would never truly resolve.
Starflight. Think about Starflight instead. What was he doing now? Definitely not sleeping. He was probably still awake, at work in the library. Fatespeaker imagined him holding an inventory scroll as Sunny peeked over his shoulder and read it aloud, the two of them working long into the night.
Was he worried about her? Fatespeaker felt a twinge of guilt. She shouldn't have come here. She shouldn't have gone digging for a past that nobody wanted to know. She should have stayed with Starflight, safe in that library, far away from his crazy family and the messy aftermath of a cross-cultural war.
But this was all for Starflight. This had all started with her trying to help him.
She frowned. Sometimes she wondered if she had made Starflight sad, talking about the stars that he could no longer see. There were a lot of things that Starflight couldn't enjoy without sight: stargazing, writing, any sort of art display.
Nobody liked to bring up his blindness around him, just like nobody ever wanted to talk about his family. Are we all just trying to be nice? Fatespeaker wondered. Does acting like nothing happened make things any better?
Maybe it did. Fatespeaker didn't know. All she wanted to do was make Starflight happy.
If she told him about today, would he appreciate it? Would he be better off if he knew that a mad scientist loved him? No, Fatespeaker realized, of course not. He'd probably just feel confused and sad. That was how she felt about it.
Glory certainly didn't want Starflight worrying about that stuff. She wanted to protect him. Fatespeaker remembered that Glory didn't know who her parents were, either. Glory seemed okay with that. Why didn't Fatespeaker feel the same?
There are things that Starflight should know, even if they don't make him happy, Fatespeaker thought. Because Starflight deserves to pass his own judgment on his father. That's his call to make - not mine or Glory's or anyone else's. And if he's going to do that, he deserves to know the whole story.
A bitter conviction settled in her.
She stumbled over to Banana, her eyes adjusting to the dimness as her natural night vision kicked in. She tapped the young RainWing's shoulder with a talon, and he jolted awake, surprised.
"Change of plans!" she cried. "Tell Glory and Deathbringer that I've gone back to Jade Mountain."
Banana gave her an odd look. She felt a little bad about waking him; he seemed so dazed and tired. "Uh, okay," he said sleepily.
Fatespeaker was already spreading her wings. "I'm going to see Starflight," she declared, mostly to herself. "There are some things he needs to know."