Starfinder

THE KNIGHT AND THE KESTREL

MOTH LEFT THE AERODROME grinning with excitement. A flight in a dragonfly was the best birthday gift Skyhigh could have given him, and his ears still rang from the racket of wings and whirring engine. As he walked dizzily along the avenue to his home, his legs wobbled a bit from the ride. Skyknights got used to the sensation, he knew, but young riders like Moth usually threw up. Moth hadn’t thrown up and was proud of himself for that. One day, if he was really lucky, he might be a Skyknight himself.

The apartment he shared with Leroux was far from the aerodrome, in a tall building of orange stone overlooking the city square. It was a building full of poor folks and pensioners like Leroux, crammed into the oldest section of Calio. A hundred coats of paint flaked from the building into the street, and above his head Moth could see some of the place’s occupants out on their tiny balconies. After three years with Leroux, Moth knew almost all of them. He waved up at old Mrs. Jilla.

“Moth,” she called down to him, happy to see him. “I made your birthday cake.” She gestured with her hand. “This thick, with berry cream on top!”

Mrs. Jilla always shouted, even when she was standing next to you. “Thanks a lot,” Moth hollered back. “See you later!”

He began climbing the stone steps to Leroux’s apartment. Decades of wind and rain had worn the stairs dangerously smooth. Moth kept a grip on the rusty metal railing to keep from falling. The perilous trek down to the square had kept Leroux indoors lately. The old knight looked frailer than usual too, unable to shake a cough that had lodged itself in his lungs. Worried, Moth forgot about his lost kite and his ride in the dragonfly. Maybe a party wasn’t a good idea.

When he reached the door to the apartment, a gas light flickered to life over the threshold. Their apartment had one of the few lights that still worked, always coming on at dusk. Moth pushed open the unlocked door and cheerfully announced himself.

“Leroux, I’m home,” he called, stepping inside.

There were only two rooms in the apartment, and Leroux wasn’t in the main living space. Moth supposed he might be napping in his bed, then noticed the top of his white head out on the balcony. Most of the building’s apartments loomed over the square, but Leroux’s had what the landlord called a “mountain view.” They were in the harshest, ugliest part of the country, and having a view of the mountains wasn’t something to be envied.

To Moth’s delight Leroux had decorated the apartment for his party. The old knight had cleaned up Moth’s usual mess of books and papers and had laid out the plates and glasses. Mrs. Jilla’s cake took center stage on the table, a fluffy, pink confection with roses made of frosting.

“Flowers?” grumbled Moth. He thought of sticking a finger in the berry cream but stopped himself. Paper streamers hung from the cracked ceiling and bowls filled with Moth’s favorite snacks were placed around the room. Leroux had spent money he really didn’t have on the party, making Moth feel worse.

“I’ll tell him about the kite tomorrow,” Moth decided, then slid open the grimy glass door of the balcony. “Everything looks great, Leroux. Thanks a…”

Moth stopped talking at once. Old Leroux was sitting in his chair, staring out over the hills. His pet, an old kestrel he called Lady Esme, perched on the balcony’s shaky railing. She had been with Leroux since anyone could remember, much longer than a bird should live, but her feathers looked as bright as an eagle’s. But time had been less kind to Leroux. Gaunt from lack of appetite, his once clear eyes were misty with cataracts. His hair, snowy white, was combed lifelessly to the side.

“You’re home?” said Leroux, struggling to his feet. “I didn’t hear you.”

Moth tried to hide his distress. “Why are you dressed like that?”

Instead of his usual clothes, Leroux had dug out his old uniform. A worn-out gray coat hung down to his knees. On it was emblazoned the crest of his old order, the long-dead Eldrin Knights. He wore the boots as well, scuffed and faded. A great buckle of tarnished silver cinched a wide belt around his pencil-like waist. Leroux stood as straight as he could.

“Like it?” he asked Moth. “It still fits—see?”

The truth was that it barely fit at all. In his younger days Leroux had been quite muscular. “Yeah, it does,” Moth lied. “But why?”

“You turning thirteen put me in mind of it,” said Leroux. But Moth’s reaction had embarrassed him. “I won’t wear it tonight, don’t worry. I just wanted you to see what I looked like once.”

Living with Leroux had never been dull. The old man was full of surprises, and not all of them good. He had always been strange, ever since Moth had met him. Back then he used to spend all day in the square with his kestrel, telling stories about his days as an Eldrin Knight and watching the new breed of warriors sail overhead in their airships. At ten years old, Moth had been enamored of the old man’s tales. Especially the ones about the Skylords.

“Leroux, you should rest,” said Moth. Now that the sun was going down the chill had picked up. “Come inside with me.”

“You sit with me here,” said Leroux. There was room enough for only two chairs on the balcony. The better, less rusted one was Moth’s. Leroux gestured toward it. “Tell me about the kite. Did it fly well?”

“Great,” said Moth as he took a seat. On the floor between their chairs sat a bowl of gumdrops. Moth watched as Leroux picked up the bowl and tossed one of the treats to Lady Esme.

“I figured she should have something special today, too,” said Leroux.

Lady Esme ate every kind of food imaginable, except of course birdseed. At supper time she always sampled from both their plates.

“Who shopped for you?” asked Moth. “Mrs. Jilla?”

Leroux began coughing, answering only with a nod. To Moth the cough sounded frighteningly familiar.

“It’s what happens when you’re old,” Dr. Trik had told Moth. “Keep him comfortable and rested. And keep him away from the candy!”

There didn’t seem much sense in that, so Moth let Leroux eat as many gumdrops as he wanted. Between the old man and the bird, Moth was going to the candy shop nearly every other day. His job at the aerodrome paid only pennies, but he had everything he needed, thanks to Leroux, and didn’t mind spending his money on treats.

“If your mother was here,” said Leroux, popping a candy into his mouth, “she’d be proud of the way you’ve grown up. I’m proud of you, Moth. You know that, yes?”

“Yeah,” Moth answered.

“I know it’s not the same,” said Leroux. “It’s all right to miss her.”

Suddenly Moth couldn’t talk. His mother had been dead for three years now, taken by the same kind of coughing sickness Leroux seemed to have. Being so high up in the mountains made it easy to get sick, but remembering his mother had never gotten easier for Moth. He had no brothers and sisters, and had never known his father. He didn’t even know why his mother had ever come to Calio. All he had was Leroux, a grandfatherly friend who’d taken pity on an orphan.

Far below, the train to Medona blew its mournful whistle, following the winding tracks through the mountains. Dark smoke puffed from its stack, hanging like a cloud in the air. The train was their only real link to the rest of the world, and every time it arrived was an event. Moth liked the train almost as much as the dragonflies and airships.

One day, thought Moth, maybe I’ll be on that train.

“If I can’t be a Skyknight, that’s what I’ll do,” he said.

“Eh?”

“The train. I’ll see the world, even if I can’t see it from the sky.”

“Don’t give up on your dreams,” said Leroux. “That’s what old people do.” He held out his arm for Lady Esme. The kestrel hopped on, her talons gently grabbing the fabric of his coat. “Now that you’re thirteen you can show them you’re a man.” Leroux smiled. “When I was thirteen I squired for an Eldrin Knight. That’s the age to do it.”

“That’s not how it works anymore. They save those jobs for important kids. Sons of lords and governors. Not sons of cleaning ladies.”

It was an argument Leroux always refused to accept. This time, though, it saddened him. “If there was someone I could talk to for you, I would,” he said. “But they’re all gone. No one listens to an Eldrin Knight anymore. Only you and Esme listen to me now.”

“Listen to your stories, you mean,” joked Moth. He reached over and took a gumdrop for himself. “I don’t mind. Never have.”

Old Leroux narrowed his eyes on the mountains. “I have one more story for you, Moth.”

“Really? I thought I heard them all.” He sucked on the candy, hoping for one of Leroux’s grand tales about the land beyond the Reach. It was forbidden for anyone to cross the Reach, and those who tried surely never made it. The Reach bewitched people, making it impossible to cross. But Leroux had done it, or so he claimed, and his stories about the world beyond their own were legendary. “So?” asked Moth. “What’s it about? The Skylords?”

Leroux dodged the question. “Later. Your friends will be here soon.”

“We got time,” said Moth. “I told them to come after supper. Go on, tell me the story.”

“This is a special story, Moth. It’s a gift. To tell you now would spoil it.”

“A gift?” Moth grew intrigued. “A birthday gift?”

“Of course. You think all I have for you is a kite?”

Moth grimaced. “Yeah, about the kite…”

“You’re old enough now to hear this story, Moth.” Leroux settled back in his chair, looking as if he might fall asleep. “And to have the gift.”

The old man had lapsed into one of his senseless moods. “All right,” said Moth softly. “You can tell me the story later. Whatever you want, okay?”

Leroux closed his eyes. “I’m tired. Let me rest a little. Wake me when your friends come.”

Moth agreed, waiting with Leroux until the old man drifted to sleep. His words about stories and gifts baffled Moth, and worried him too.

He’s getting worse, he realized.

Leroux’s kestrel, Lady Esme, had hopped back onto the railing. Instead of eating gumdrops, though, she stared at Moth with the strangest eyes he had ever seen.