The Starborn by Viola Grace Page B

Halash for the last time. If you are still interested after that, you can come to me.”
    Braenar inclined his head and offered to take her to her students, so the subject was successfully closed.
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    One year later
     
    Wiali dropped the dish she was drying and clutched at the edge of the sink. Tears started in her eyes and fell freely.
    “Wia? What’s wrong?”
    Tally was a great roommate, but she had a tendency to be in the wrong place at the right time.
    “My father just died. The ball of gas and power that was Suek has gone nova. He will not speak again.” Wiali wiped her hands and walked to the couch, sobbing into her drying towel.
    Tally placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled it back just as quickly. “Ouch.”
    “Sorry. There are a lot of emotions involved here and most of them defy description.”
    “An empath should always ask before touching. I know that.” Tally rubbed her hand.
    “Thanks for trying, Tally. And thanks for being my roommate.” Wia wanted to keep the friend she had near her and verbally seemed safe.
    “Thank you for offering. It is hard to find radiation-resistant rooms in this Citadel.”
    Wia chuckled. They had made the suite just for her, and when others began to request them, they had been made aware of how prevalent radiation emitting and resistant species were.
    “I think I am going to leave. Have a nice flight to clear my mind.” She bit her lip and left the room. It was a good thing her mask was made of naturally occurring skin pigments, because otherwise, it would have been smeared and distorted by her tears.
    Several Citadel members paused as she passed them, but she kept forging forward until she reached the upper level. The roof was quiet and the night was still, no wind, no noise, only icy air and starlight.
    Wia left the roof of the Citadel in a rush of power and flew into the stars, her grief building to a fever pitch until it burst in wave after wave of light energy. Flying without atmosphere took some getting used to, but she had been doing it since she was eleven.
    Her silent scream rippled through the sky as she let her loss light the sky.
     
    * * * *
     
    “Each situation you enter will call for a rapid understanding of the culture. You are Readers, and you must use not only your talent, but also your eyes and knowledge of standard evolution.”
    Wia stood at the front of the class and addressed the six students in front of her. One of the new Readers raised his hand. “Is it correct that you were at Halash?”
    Wia nodded. “It is off topic, but yes, I was at Halash a year before it was destroyed.”
    “Did you see evidence of the Hirn?” The young male was wide-eyed.
    She nodded. “Yes. There was plenty of evidence of the Hirn, considering that it was their stronghold for several thousand years.”
    “What did you see?” He was fixated. There was no doubt about it.
    Wia sat up straight. “Ancient races still have surviving members and descendants today. The Hirn may be only an arm-length away. Why are you so interested in them?”
    He blushed. “My mother said we probably had some Hirn in our background. There was no way to check as their genes are similar to many other species.”
    Wia nodded and did something she rarely did. She let her Hirn out. A delicate rack of horns appeared out of her skull, and the tip of her nose darkened. “Hold still.”
    She leaned forward and scented him, his neck, his armpit and a light smell near his groin. Wia sat back and let her horns recede. “You are not Hirn. You have some designer genes, so it may have been a species that was spliced to give the appearance of the Hirn.”
    He reached out and touched her hand quickly.
    She winced at the screech that he let out as his mind was overwhelmed with understanding of her mind and body. “And that is why Readers should not touch strange species without asking.
    “You will learn soon enough that I am half Hirn and half Nyal in my origins