Read Online A Sliver of Stardust by Marissa Burt - Free Book Online Page A

he’d been doing it his whole life and began to edge forward on silent feet.
    Wren pulled on a strap but lost her grip as one of the birds gave off an earsplitting screech.
    â€œStop it, Wren,” Simon said. “Don’t startle them.”
    â€œI’m not doing anything.” Wren glared at the bird. “That thing doesn’t like me.”
    The tips of the falcon’s tail feathers were bright red, the only spot of color in an otherwise brown coat. Just like me. Brown hair, brown skin, brown everything.
    Simon stood in the middle of the grassy lawn, his forearm extended. In one soundless swoop, his falcon alit on his arm. On Wren’s other side, Jack waswhistling at his falcon, which wasn’t moving, but still looked much friendlier than the creature glaring down at her.
    â€œAll right, bird,” Wren said, eyeing the thing. It looked lean and hard, like what it was: a predator. She wondered if falcons were like horses and could sense a person’s fear. “I’m not afraid of you,” she lied, just in case.
    Wren knew the bird couldn’t perceive what she was thinking, but she felt certain it was watching her disapprovingly, ready to screech again at her first move.
    â€œGo on then, Wren. Call your bird like Simon has done.” Mary gestured at Wren’s falcon as though she couldn’t see it. “These particular falcons travel the auroras all over the world.”
    â€œThe auroras?” Wren thought of the breathtaking greens and blues of the aurora borealis. No matter how much she read about it, she was still captivated by the aurora borealis, by the way stargazers had to hunt for the display of colors and yet, once found, it was painted across the sky for everyone to see. “Falcons can fly through an aurora?”
    â€œFalcons can do many amazing things. They are a Fiddler’s secret weapon,” Mary said. “So it’s crucial thatyou develop a good bond with your bird right from the start. Your falcon will become fiercely loyal.” Mary made a gentle clicking noise at Wren’s bird. “After all your hours of training, they won’t tolerate another human companion.”
    Simon looked like he was already best friends with his falcon. It roosted on his arm as though it belonged there.
    Wren scowled at him. What a show-off.
    Jack reached out to his bird and, fast as a viper, the falcon attacked his hand with its beak.
    Any reassurance Wren felt at the fact that hers wasn’t the only hostile falcon faded when she saw that the bird had actually taken a chunk out of the flesh between Jack’s thumb and forefinger. Mary noticed, too, and the next minute she was beside him, stirring up a cloud of stardust like it was the simplest thing in the world. She found some spongy moss, mixed it in with the stardust, and wove a floating spiral of green and gray. She traced an X through the stardust, chanting:
    Cross patch, draw the latch
    Sit by the fire and spin.
    The stardust swirled around her fingers, circling the moss. Mary made a little bowl with her palms, letting the element fall.
    Take a cup and stir it up
    Then smear it on the skin.
    â€œStardust enhances what is already there,” Mary explained. “My mixture merely magnifies the healing property of this herb.” She rubbed the newly made ointment onto Jack’s wound. In a few heartbeats, the flesh had mended, skin knitting together, blood drying up the way an old cut does after a few hours. With only a small puff of smoke to indicate that there had ever been anything amiss, Jack was healed.
    â€œLiza could probably do a better job.” Mary brushed her palms together matter-of-factly. “She is skilled in the healing arts.” Her gaze fixed on Jack. “Jack, too, has shown some strength in that area.”
    Jack stared at his cured hand, eyes wide. “If it means I get to learn how to do that, then I hope you’re right. I wonder if stardust can