The Lores of Lyra - Rising Star

Miriam’s palms were sweaty. She kept drying them off in the fabric of her pants, unable to keep them still. Looking down, she surveyed the sores on her knuckles: they had healed quickly. Absentmindedly she started to roll her thumbs as she fought to remain patient.

Why didn’t Blake say anything?

The air in the library was awkward as she sat there, waiting for him to respond. She had explained the deal with Annabell in the clearest way she could manage. As she looked towards Blake, she was sure he must think she had lost her marbles. He was staring at her with an odd expression.

“So… You’re saying that your sister, which you’ve found through a telepathic link, is coming to bust you out?” he asked. He opened and closed his mouth constantly before continuing his speech, “And that we have to come up with a plan so we can leave with them to Yildun?”

“Yes.” She nodded in response.

It was clear that he didn’t believe his own ears, in fact, when he put it like that, Miriam also had trouble believing it. The whole thing didn’t make any sense. Although, she figured that if she could accept invisible attackers, then the thought of her having a sister wasn’t too far to grasp.

She hadn’t mentioned the prophecy she found, nor had she mentioned how Annabell seemed to believe that it involved her. It was a vital part, yet somehow she managed to skirt around it. Now she contemplated how to go about this.

Her mother wouldn’t let her leave the grounds—that much she knew. It was highly unlikely that Annabell and Joshua would be given access too.

If Miriam knew anything, it was that Veronica Hertz had standards and limitations; despite being the kindest and wisest woman, she was also harsh and unyielding. It was needed when she travelled among the elite of Kokab.

Annabell had been present in her head for most of the day; they were on their way and with each passing hour, they came closer to Villa Hertz. Miriam scolded herself for not telling Blake yesterday. If she had been wiser, they wouldn’t be under such a time constraint. She couldn’t even explain why she hadn’t told him. Exhaustion was a reason, but also Annabell’s hesitation bothered her.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, she refocused on Blake.

“Do you have any ideas?” she asked.

“Well, depending on when they will be here, it will probably be easiest if it will be at night. That way everyone will be asleep, and the darkness will cover you. In my opinion you will have a better chance of running away there,” he said and looked down.

Miriam frowned.

“What do you mean, ‘I will have a better chance?’ You are coming with me aren’t you?” she asked. Panic spread through her.

He has to come… I don’t want to be alone.

“You want me to join you?” he asked surprised.

“Yes!” she answered.

Blake smiled a dreamy smile before nodding, “Okay then, I’ll join. Now, how are we going to this?”

No ideas came to mind.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” she admitted.

“I’ve snuck out plenty of times,” he said with a wicked grin. He winked once before continuing, “How is the security at night?”

“Well Ma’ has guards up all over the place, only a few places aren’t, and none of them make it easy to get out into the city. The main gate is the quickest route away from here.”

“And you are sure we can’t just ask to leave?”

“Absolutely. Especially with how often the attacks have occurred recently.” She held up her hands as proof. It was pure luck that her mother hadn’t noticed them. But then again, she hadn’t precisely wanted to go to her either—no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake the feeling of betrayal off.

“I thought you said that Annabell was responsible for that though,” he said. Miriam thought about what to answer, but he continued talking before she got any chance to interject.

“Are you even sure that girl is your sister? I mean, it sounds a little weird that they’ll just ask you for help out of the sudden,” he said. The change of subject seemed strange.

“I’m positive, there’s the fact about the adoption, and then this mental link.”

Blake nodded slowly. He didn’t appear to be convinced but apparently decided to let it drop.

“Well, if we had a way to get past the gates and then the guards. It would be easy enough,” he said.

“Easy how?”

“Well, I can just ask permission to take you for a walk around the garden,” he explained with a gorgeous smile that made Miriam’s knees turn weak. So happy that I’m sitting down right now.

“I guess so,” she said with a nervous laugh and a loving smile. He surely was superb in every aspect.

‘We can take care of the guards,’ Annabell’s voice rang through her head.

‘Are you listening in again? I would really like it if you didn’t do that,’ Miriam thought back

‘Why? You afraid I’m going to call you out on your school-girl crush?’ Annabell was mocking her—Miriam could feel it. She hissed loudly in response, which earned her a puzzled glance from Blake.

She pointed to her head. With a roll of her eyes, she explained, “My head is being used as an intercom again.”

“What do they say?”

“They’re saying that they can take care of the guards,” she said.

‘Yeah. Just be there around ten pm tonight, we will just take a refreshing shower before meeting up with you guys,’ Annabell interrupted again.

‘You won’t kill them, right?’ Miriam had to be sure. This whole ordeal was starting to sound more dangerous than she preferred. She was frightened of the repercussions of their actions. Besides, she refused to hurt anyone by doing this.

’No! Of course not!’ it sounded back almost immediately. Miriam exhaled deeply at that, it was nice to know that they at least agreed on this particular case. She felt more relaxed after that.

As she ran over the plan with Blake, she couldn’t stop noticing how eager he looked. For some reason, she couldn’t discern if it was because he was just that bored inside these walls, or if there was something else besides. It didn’t take them long to part ways, each of them going to their room to pack a bag.

’How long do you reckon we will be gone?’ she asked Annabell, wondering how much she should take with her.

‘Just pack enough, but not too much. I don’t even have any clothes. You should see the ridiculous stuff I’m wearing right now. Joshua bought me something from a second hand shop in town. I look like a boy,’ her sister complained. Miriam could hear a mental sigh at the end, which made Miriam giggle.

‘I’m sure Joshua doesn’t think so…’ she teased. The growl she got in response made her burst out in laughter. She was laughing so hard that her stomach ached. It didn’t help when Annabell started cursing at her either—she was just too cute.

When Miriam calmed down, she took a few deep breaths. She was both excited and slightly scared. Acting out was a strange sensation, and it frightened her that she felt so comfortable doing it. It was a muddle between acting rebellious and potentially dangerous, along with the fact she could meet her real family. A stab of guilt accompanied that thought, but she ignored it. Veronica shouldn’t have kept it a secret for so long, at least not in Miriam’s opinion.

She stacked some clothes in a small bag, and contemplated what she would need for the meeting with her Annabell. A twin sister… She had a twin. It still seemed unreal to her. So much had changed, yet she was still in the same position as before.

She looked around her room. This was all she knew. As she thought of leaving, it all saddened her – but not much. Her eyes fell on her desk. The photograph of Veronica holding her as a baby stared back at her. Despite the adoption, hurting the woman, who had cared and provided for Miriam, wasn’t the intention.

With grace, she stood up and walked over to her desk. As she took a seat, her mind focused on the betrayal she felt—this made this whole thing easier to deal with. She reached for a pen and paper and started scribbling a note.

’Veronica Hertz.

I have been contacted by my biological sister, and she needs my help.

I knew you would never agree to me doing this, but please do forgive me.

I love you, mother.

- Love Miriam’

A sigh escaped when she re-read the minuscule letter—it was poorly written, and it didn’t convey the thoughts that she ached to say. However, this would have to do. There were words that she just couldn’t say. She folded the paper neatly on the middle. Walking over to her bed, she hid it underneath her pillow. The maids would find it there some time after Miriam had left the grounds.

With a last glance at her figure in the mirror, she sent a somewhat encouraging smile to her reflection. Woo. Adventure, she tried to give her brain a pep talk, but the enthusiasm was currently dulled. She gave up on it and grabbed her bag. I have to find Blake…

Walking through the halls, she was struck by a form of melancholia. This was all she had known, all she had lived with. A small part of her scolded her for being greedy and ungrateful. It felt as if she was the only one who could take this leap, and it was an necessary choice. A feeling in her gut told her that no matter what she decided on—nothing would ever be the same again.

She found Blake in his room. He was shirtless, bending over his bag. The view was certainly not to complain about. Miriam cleared her throat slightly to make her presence known. He jerked up, and turned around to face her with narrowed eyes. She thought it was a peculiar reaction, but the fleeing thought was quickly forgotten when she stared at his bare chest. It was only the second time she had stumbled across this, but she wasn’t one to complain.

He gave his trademark smirk, when he noticed the center of her attention.

Butterflies erupted inside her stomach, and she felt almost weak in her knees. Solem, I have been hit hard, she thought, I guess I can’t honestly justify teasing Annabell with her crush though.

“Is something wrong?” Blake interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to meet his dark eyes. He seemed worried.

Shaking her head, she held up her bag, “I just wanted to give you this.”

The smile that spread on his face made his eyes look near light blue. Those eyes… She sighed. How can anyone be allowed to be that beautiful?

‘Easy there, sis… I don’t think Blake would like you to faint on his floor.’ Annabell’s intervention made Miriam growl slightly. She was glad that Blake reached for the bag, for then to turn away – if he had seen her tomato colored face, she probably would have buckled down right there.

‘I suppose you know that based on Joshua’s reaction to you?’ she replied. When Annabell became silent, Miriam couldn’t help but to smirk. That’ll teach you not to snoop around in my innermost thoughts, sis.

It was funny. Before this telepathic link happened, Miriam would never have dared to talk to anyone like that. Even though, she hadn’t been able to communicate that much with Annabell—she still felt that she could be herself with the other girl. That must be what real family feels like…

“What’s funny?” Blake asked.

She snapped out of it, and stopped smirking, “I’m just looking forward to this.”

“Heh. That’s good,” he said with a smile that shortly after turned into a smirk, “Was that all?”

Miriam lowered her head to look through her eyelashes. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she wanted to say something.

“Hey, what is it?” he asked and stepped closer. Miriam thought that her heart would jump out of her chest. It was now or never.

With all the strength she could muster, she stood on tiptoes as she reached up and pecked his cheek. After that, she turned around and ran out of the room. Before the door shut behind her, she couldn’t help but notice his smug smirk.

Once she had steadied her frantic beating heart, she halted in the doorway to the dining room. Even though, she had written the letter, she couldn’t help but fell that it wasn’t enough. She needed to see Veronica—to talk with her one last time.

Inside the room, she found Beatrice; the girl was setting the table with cutlery.

“Beatrice, have you seen my mother?” Miriam walked in with slow steps, taking in the magnificent decorations of the room.

“I think she’s conversing with Dr. Johansson in the garden, Miss.” The maid curtsied once before returning to her duties.

That was something Miriam wouldn’t miss. The stiff behavior and respect she always was regarded with – it didn’t help matters that most of the staff seemed to elude her. It was something she had noticed after the latest attacks. Trying to keep herself together, she ignored the lump that formed in her throat. Attempting a smile, she turned around. She was not going to miss being treated as a freak either.

The French doors that led out to the garden were wide open. A heartfelt laughter reached her ears, and she followed the direction to find her mother. She slowed down to a walk, so she wouldn’t interrupt anything.

“Steven, you lovely scoundrel! You are such a delight,” Veronica teased loudly. The words made Miriam halt. She listened intently as the woman continued, “You always manage to make everything seem brighter. “

“I’m pleased to know that, dear. I must say this whole thing with Miriam has taken quite the toll on you, and I’m happy to see you smile again,” Dr. Johansson’s voice answered.

As Miriam listened, she could hear an exaggerated sigh. She walked closer so she could see them.

“I know, it’s unusual, and you have no idea how thrilling it is to tell you finally. When you first walked up to me in the conference room and asked me for a drink. I honestly thought you were just another one of the endless men, who wish to be with me for my money.” Veronica nipped at her drink, “However, your instant interest in Miriam’s sickness showed me quite clearly you weren’t.”

Miriam couldn’t move. Her heart skipped a beat as she tried to think back. Instant interest? For how long had he shown interest in me, mother? The questions built up inside her mind.

“Miriam is intriguing, such a sweet girl with such a massive burden. I admire her survival instinct, some of the attacks I’ve read about—and those I’ve witnessed myself—easily could have been the end of her. She truly is spectacular.”

For some reason, Miriam was offended. She felt as if she was nothing more than an experiment to this man. He was a kid with a new toy. It didn’t make sense because she knew he had gone out of the way to help her, but she couldn’t control the way her stomach churned.

Veronica hadn’t seemed to notice anything abnormal in his words. The woman continued to laugh softly, and as the tears welled in Miriam’s eyes, she turned around to retire to her room. I am a freak of nature. An experiment… Nothing more and nothing less…

The words tugged at her heartstrings, and she contemplated finding Blake. He would be able to make this all go away. She felt broken, with no way out.

The path to her room seemed painfully slow. However, when she was finally there, she wished it had lasted longer. She had nothing to do besides waiting, and she knew that was going to be achingly boring. There was still some time until dinner was served, and she didn’t particularly want to think of that. It would be the last meal with her mother, at least for some time.

Miriam didn’t want to bother Blake either. She wasn’t sure if the stunt she pulled earlier was well received or not. Granted, it was only a kiss on the cheek. Nevertheless, she still worried that she had complicated things.

On a whim, she decided to whip up a conversation with Annabell. It was something she hadn’t voluntarily sought out before, but right now, it seemed like a great idea. She jumped up on her bed and got comfortable before she attempted to get to her sister, ’Annabell?’

She felt stupid for attempting to speak to someone through her mind. On a logical side, she felt extremely foolish.

‘Yeah, is everything okay?’ the voice promptly answered, which made Miriam let out a sigh in relief.

‘Yes, I’m just insanely bored… It’s just that I thought…’ she stopped herself. It was hard when the other girl could hear her thoughts, but she tried to focus on something else while she gathered the courage to ask her question.

‘You thought…?’ Annabell urged.

‘I thought that perhaps… that maybe we could talk? Just for a little bit? I mean, if you want to and if you have time,’ Miriam rambled in her mind, momentarily forgetting how to breathe. The possibility of rejection scared her, yet she wanted to clarify, ’I know you guys are in town now, and I don’t want to intrude or anything. I just thought it could be nice and…’

‘I would love that,’ Annabell interrupted. Miriam beamed with pleasure at that.

‘I am glad,’ she said. She wanted to say something more, but it just struck her that she had no idea what to talk about with Annabell. Pondering about if for a while, she continued, ‘Do you want to tell me about yourself?’

‘There’s not much to say. I was raised at the orphanage in Hydra, never really fit in – you know about the fights already.’ The words were said with a sad twinge.

‘I’m so sorry for asking,’ Miriam apologized. She felt guilty for forcing Annabell to remember.

‘It’s fine – really. In a sense, I’m better now, I guess. I can’t explain it, but Joshua was just telling me how much I had changed since he saved me. I suspect that it’s for the better, though.’

‘I think it is.’ Miriam smiled to herself, ’It’s funny, but I feel so much more at ease now than just a week ago.’

’Trust me, I can relate to that without a doubt.”

‘I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing you later,’ Miriam thought,

‘I feel the same… Listen, I have to go, Joshua keeps blabbering about something, and apparently it needs my attention. I’ll see you later,’ Annabell said and severed the connection, though, not before Miriam heard a stray thought about how boys suck.

Her mind seemed more at ease now. A fleeing thought occurred; she hadn’t thought if they would look like each other—that would be unfair. It wasn’t anything to worry about though. Rolling over on her stomach, she hugged her pillow. She felt incredible.

It didn’t take long before the dinner bell rang. Some of her excitement lowered at the idea of seeing her mother. She had to pep herself before making her way down.

Right as, she was about to leave, she ran over the mental checklist. Blake should have hidden the bags already along with taken care of food for the trip, and the prophecy was neatly folded in the front pocket of her pants. Patting it gently, she smiled and walked down to dinner.

She found them all sitting around the table, waiting for her. She excused her tardiness before taking a seat beside Blake. Her stomach churned as she saw how nonchalant he looked.

Oh Solem, they’re going to notice me acting jumpy. Please don’t let them notice.

She avoided looking up at the adults—the conversation she overheard was still lingering in the back of her mind. But currently she was more worried about the fact that Blake hadn’t regarded her in any way.

Is he mad at me? He can’t be, can he?

For most of the dinner, she remained silent. Her replies were kept short and only occurred when they addressed her directly. She tried to focus on different stuff, but the prospect of getting caught made her feel paralyzed. It didn’t help that she weren’t feeling hungry either. For the most part, she was stabbing her dinner effortlessly, and pushing it around on her plate—only the remembrance of the later events, made her try to fill her belly.

Annabell was nowhere in her mind, but the clenching lump in her stomach slowly transformed to anticipation when the dinner neared its end. Blake cleared his throat, and she looked up to see what was going up.

“Miss, Uncle, can I take Miriam for a walk around the grounds tonight? I wish to enjoy the view of sundown over the lake with her. I saw it from my window yesterday, and it’s positively stunning,” he regarded them politely.

The adults shared a look, which was accompanied by a coy smile before Veronica answered, “Just, don’t be out too late, and remember to wear appropriate clothes. The wind can be cold in the evening.”

Miriam felt a broad grin spread on her face, and when Blake’s hand found hers underneath the table, she was about to burst with joy. Everything is going as it’s supposed to!

The dessert was much more relaxed than the dinner. She found herself laughing along with all of them, and she was glad that this would be the last memory of her mother. Blake’s hand never left hers, and it didn’t bother her that her cheeks had turned to a permanent crimson color.

When they finally broke off, she was surprised to learn that the time had passed in a blur. Only one hour was left to endure before she had to meet Annabell and Joshua at the gate.

‘Annabell? First part of the plan is set. We’ll meet out there at ten pm,’ she thought. There was no response, but that didn’t discourage her. They were most likely on their way already.

Miriam wandered around the house aimlessly; there was nowhere particular she had to be. Blake said that they would meet up and walk out together. She wasn’t sure why they had to wait, but he seemed pretty keen on it.

Instead, she chose to add a silent goodbye to everything—she had lived here all her life and it seemed fitting to perform a proper farewell. Memories came back, with every step she took.

Wandering around from room to room, she looked around at everything she had lived among her entire life. Memories rushed back to her in waves as she remembered each of them.

‘We are close to Villa Hertz now,’ Annabell’s voice rang through her head. The clock told her that reminiscing in the past was an enjoyable pastime.

She ran down to the door. Blake was already waiting for her with her jacket in his hands. She snuck up on him, and reached up to cover his eyes.

“Guess who?” she asked. He didn’t answer, but grabbed her hands, gently removing them before he turned around to face her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” she answered and looked at him through her eyelashes. He winked once before helping her to her jacket.

“Shall we?” he asked and offered his arm. She took it gladly, and together they went outside.

The air was hot from the late evening sun, which hadn’t descended fully yet. It made the sky play in beautiful shades of red and yellow.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked as they walked on the path down to the lake. It wasn’t the right way, but they thought it safer since they could be watched from the house.

“I’m both scared and excited,” she admitted.

“I can understand why. I do hope it’s not anything dangerous they want you to do.”

“I’m sure it isn’t,” Miriam answered. She fully believed it too. There weren’t anything in the snippets of thoughts she had gathered from Annabell that could lead to suspicion.

The cooling breeze felt fantastic against her heated face. Walking so close to Blake didn’t give her skin color any favors. She was nervous, and she praised the stars that they weren’t holding hands. The palm of her hands was damp, and it tore at her insides to refrain from wiping them against her pants.

As they walked towards the gates, they enjoyed the sight of the wondrous Solem descending. When the stars twinkled cheerfully from above, they both remained silent.

It didn’t take long for them to hear the sounds of yelling. They shared a look, and before they knew it, they both started to run as fast as possible. Their footsteps resounded loudly against the tiles of the path, and it wasn’t until the large iron gates came into view that they slowed down. There wasn’t anyone in sight, but with each step closer, Miriam could see a bump lying motionless on the ground. She gasped and covered her mouth when she saw that it was a guard. Is he dead?

She couldn’t move, nor could she speak. The only thing she could do was staring at the body that didn’t move.

The sound of a twig breaking over shook her out of her momentary paralysis. She held her breath as she turned towards the source of the noise. A wide series of feelings passed through her as she found herself face to face with the two people – she assumed they were Annabell and Joshua.

No words were shared. Miriam could hear her heart beating. With careful steps, she neared Annabell.

“We don’t look anything a like!” Annabell exclaimed.

“We must be fraternal twins then,” Miriam thought out loud.

They circled each other and with regard took in the other. Miriam couldn’t help but wonder about their parents, they both looked nothing alike, apart from their height.

A groan from one of the guards caught their attention.

“You will have plenty of time to talk later, I suggest we move from here,” the blonde guy, Joshua, said. With simultaneous nods, they all started running down the road and away from the Hertz grounds.

Their footsteps echoed on the pavement, and Miriam saw that Annabell shoes seemed a tad too large for her. Joshua steered them down a side path, which let over a cornfield.

“I think we should be safer here,” he said. He stopped up and started rummaging through a blue bag, “Please stand still.”

Miriam couldn’t see what he was doing, but it looked like he was mixing something in a small bottle. When he stood up straight and walked over to her, she took a step back.

“What are you doing?” Miriam eyed him with caution.

“Don’t worry. This is something to conceal our scent. He used it on me before,” Annabell explained. Miriam wouldn’t even begin to pretend she understood what that meant, but she trusted this girl – even though she couldn’t explain why.

She stood still as Joshua sprayed them with the contest of the bottle.

“It’s beautiful,” Miriam said, watching the sparks hang around them.

“I know,” Annabell agreed, and they shared a smile.

“We are safe for now. It will wear off in around three hours, so we have to get going. Though, we don’t need to rush so much this time,” Joshua explained to all of them. Then turned to Miriam; “Can I see the prophecy?”

Miriam nodded and took the folded piece of paper out to hand him. He took it and immediately focused on it.

“What’s that?” Blake asked, for the first time speaking since they met Joshua and Annabell. Miriam blushed and remembered that she hadn’t told him about that.

“I…I found the missing page from the b…book,” she stuttered and awkwardly looked at the ground.

Blake muttered something, which she couldn’t distinguish.

“You didn’t trust me enough to tell me about it?” he asked, his voice filled with uncertainty.

“I’m…I’m sorry. It wasn’t that I didn’t t…trust you enough. I j…just had other things on my mind too,” Miriam apologized. When Blake didn’t answer, but averted his eyes—she felt her heart drop.

‘I’m sorry,’ Annabell’s voice sounded in her head. Miriam looked up and met her eyes. She nodded but stayed quiet, she didn’t know what to say.

“Won’t we need to camp over night?” Blake asked, finally breaking the silence. Joshua looked up.

“Yes, though, not until we get away from here,” he said and pointed ahead, “Over there, there lies a little forest, we can camp in there.”

Blake nodded and walked on. The time passed by slowly.

“I can understand why the Elders thought you were the Rising Star,” Joshua said to the two girls.

“What do you mean?” Annabell asked.

“On an autumn night, the Aurora Borealis will show, and as the stars begin to fall from the skies,” he quoted.

“Yes?” she urged.

“The eleventh of October 2011, your birthday, there was a rare sky phenomenon, where the northern lights and a meteor shower showed on the sky,” he explained.

“Oh, I see, but we aren’t?” Miriam interrupted.

“No, the star reading is a little hard to follow sometimes; it sounds more like you two are the key to finding it,” he answered.

Miriam glanced at Blake who was walking with his hands in his pockets, in complete silence. Why isn’t he speaking to me?

“You read stars?” she asked Joshua. He nodded and gave a grunt for answer.

“He knows a little,” Annabell translated when Miriam looked around confused. She accepted it but didn’t say anything else.

Nobody said a word for the rest of the walk. When they reached their destination, they were all exhausted. Everybody chimed in and helped set up a camp. Miriam was fascinated by it all—it was the first time she was out under the stars with no curfew. It was a strange feeling, and yet she couldn’t complain; she loved it all.

The small sleeping arrangements were spread around the campfire, and Miriam blushed by the idea that she would sleep beside Blake tonight. She found a strange sense of responsibility in that, and she basked in it. This is so unbelievable…

Her excitement lasted for the larger part of ten minutes. Then Blake excused himself and wandered off. She tried to hide her disappointment, yet she failed.

“He’s a bit weird that guy,” Annabell said, once he was out of hearing range. Miriam nodded and looked after the retreating guy.

He truly is a bit weird.