Free Starfinder: A Novel of the Skylords by John Marco Page B

here,” said Moth. His voice was easy as he watched the spiraling kestrel.
    “She knows she’s home,” said Fiona. “She’s happy.”
    Moth felt happy, too. But also worried. “Do you think they’ll come after us?”
    “Maybe.” Fiona shrugged. “If my grandfather wants that star-thing bad enough.” She got a puzzled look on her face suddenly. “Why don’t others come?” she wondered. “Why don’t more people try and cross the Reach?”
    “Some probably do,” said Moth. “They probably get lost. We almost got lost.”
    “But why is it forbidden to try?”
    “It’s always been that way,” said Moth.
    “I know, but why? Why can’t people come here? It’s not dangerous. We sure haven’t seen anything like a Skylord yet!”
    Moth wasn’t sure how to answer. “It’s just forbidden, that’s all. That’s why folks don’t know how good it is here.”
    Fiona went back to sky-gazing. “It is good here. Good and free.” Together their eyes tracked Lady Esme through the air. Fiona gave a pensive sigh. “I wonder who she is,” she said. “Is Esme her real name, do you think?”
    “That’s what Leroux called her, so yeah, I guess so.”
    “I bet she was a beautiful woman. I bet she had all sorts of men in love with her.”
    Moth tried to imagine what Esme might look like as a woman. She’d have golden hair, probably. Long, like a girl in a storybook. And a proper voice, too, instead of an annoying screech. It would be a pretty voice, good for singing, because Leroux liked music.
    “How much he must have loved her,” Fiona continued. “He spent his whole life trying to help her get back here.”
    That part of the puzzle remained a mystery to Moth. “Why didn’t he?” he wondered. “He could have just walked on through the Reach like we did. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
    When Fiona didn’t answer Moth rolled his head to look at her. She was still staring up at Esme, but seemed a hundred miles away. “Fiona? You okay?”
    She whispered, “I think she’s lucky.”
    “Who?”
    “Lady Esme. She’s lucky. I don’t think anyone will ever love me as much as Leroux loved her.”
    “Go on. Why would you say a fool thing like that?”
    “Because people love beautiful things. They don’t like awkward things, things that are too tall or too boney.” She tugged a strand of hair out of her head. “Too red.”
    “What’s beauty got to do with anything?” said Moth as he sat up. “Everyone’s got a different opinion on that anyway.”
    “That’s ’cause you lived your whole life in Calio,” Fiona argued. “The ugliest place in the whole world. Back in Capital City people know what’s beautiful and what’s not. And I’m not.”
    Moth scoffed, “Who put all that flapdoodle in your head? It doesn’t matter what some high-up Capital City snob thinks of you, Fiona. My mother taught me all that matters is what we think of ourselves. You keep going around thinking bad of yourself and it’s just gonna follow you everywhere.”
    He stood up, stretching his arms to the sky to end the conversation. He looked around, spotted the place where they’d left their coats in the flowers, and knew it was time for them to go.
    “We should move on now,” he said. “We’ll need to find water soon as we can, maybe locate someone who can help us around here. Someone who knows Merceron.”
    Fiona sat up, wrapping her arms around her legs. “Try the star machine again. Maybe it’ll work now.”
    So far Moth had hesitated trying the thing again. If it didn’t work, they’d be stuck wandering, bumbling around their newfound world. But he agreed reluctantly, rummaging through the pocket of his coat. Unwrapping the instrument’s cloth, he headed back to Fiona. “I was gonna wait till nighttime.”
    There were no stars in the sky, only the sun and a few puffy clouds. Moth cradled the instrument in his hands, still unable to decipher its mysterious markings. Fiona sat beside him,