DEACON’S STAR SNEAK PEEK
Prologue
By M.C. Solaris
“Starr, I’d like you to meet, Feura,” Mara said gently, with that warm, motherly smile of hers.
Starr eyed the shy young female standing before her with skin of burnt gold and midnight hair.
“She’s now a part of our family.”
“Hi, Feura.” Starr only said it to be polite because that was what Mara and the other castellans at the home—her home—had taught her. But she wasn’t interested in making another friend only to lose them either to being adopted or becoming better friends with someone else in the family because they thought she was just too “fiery” and “strong.”
At least, that’s what Jillian—her last and final friend and supposed “sister”—had told her after she had single-handedly ruined Jillian’s tea party by accidentally burning everything to smoking ashes (including the table, food, presents). Jillian even suffered a very minor burn by trying to save her favorite doll.
Starr hadn’t meant for that to happen. She’d only been trying to impress Jillian and the other females by lighting the candles on the cupcakes in a flashy way. Instead, she only managed to alienate herself further. The other females were now wary of her and she knew that they only sat next to her at the dinner table because Herb and Mara made them because the two head castellans were big on family.
“Hi, Starr.” Feura’s voice held a foreign lilt and was as soft and airy as a whispering breeze.
Timid eyes of fiery sunlight met Starr’s for a split second before gluing themselves to the floor.
“Feura’s only a year older than you and is a fire elemental just like you.”
Starr felt excitement burst inside of her. There had never been another fire elemental in their home before. But she quickly snuffed out the excitement that ignited within her. Fire elemental or not, Feura would soon find out that Starr was too flashy and fierce and that the other females steered clear of her now.
“Starr, honey, why don’t you show Feura around.”
“Okay.” Starr nodded, deciding to start with the outside. It was a sunny day and she didn’t want to waste the sun. Plus, she knew Jillian and the others were inside right now.
Feura was a silent shadow next to Starr as they walked around the house and toward the back.
“Your voice is strange,” Starr said with the innocent bluntness of a young. “Where are you from?”
“La Rivière Du Temps.”
“I don’t know where that is,” Starr’s brow wrinkled a bit in thought. “But I like the way your voice sounds.”
“Thanks. It’s near the Paris crossing.”
Starr nodded. She had heard of the Paris border crossing before because all young were taught about The Barrier and the major crossings into the human world as it was an important part of their world and history.
For the next little while, Starr showed her new “sister” around the home. Feura spoke very few words during the tour but her interest was apparent.
“Do you want to see where I practice my fire?”
Feura nodded, her eyes sparking with interest.
“It’s great. I can practice as much as I want and I don’t ever get in trouble for burning things. As long as it’s within the fire circle though. We’re not allowed to use our fire freely outside the circle without one of the adults though.”
Feura nodded.
Starr guided them to the practice area that had been built just for her. It was a large clearing of dirt far away from the house and anything that could catch on fire, including grass or trees.
“You can’t get burned, right?”
Feura shook her head.
“Can you make a fireball?” Starr asked, conjuring a ball of flame in her tiny palm. The flame was small but Mara said that one day she wouldn’t be surprised if Starr could conjure big ones, maybe even the size of a basketball.
Feura’s eyes lit up. “Woah. I can’t do that.” To show, she conjured a single flame that would perfectly fit the size of a small tabletop candle.
“I can go bigger,” Starr half-whispered, as if sharing a secret. “Do you wanna see?”
Feura nodded, thoroughly entranced.
Starr looked around to make sure no one else was near and then closed her eyes to concentrate. She called forth the inner flame within her core—called and called until she felt her entire hand tingle and burst to life.
At Feura’s delighted gasp, she opened her eyes to see a giant fireball engulfing her entire hand and part of her forearm.
“Woah. That’s so cool!”
“You wanna see if I can go bigger?” Starr asked, her soul singing and practically jumping for joy at Feura’s curiosity instead of frightened rejection.
Feura bobbed her head excitedly.
Again, Starr closed her eyes and concentrated hard—harder than she ever had before. She wanted to impress Feura so badly. Maybe then Feura wouldn’t leave her like the others had. Maybe then she’d have a friend.
She called forth her inner fire and kept calling and calling, even when her whole arm began to tingle, then her torso, then—
A deafening whoosh and slight boom sounded out along with a frightened cry.
Starr’s eyes flew open to see both her and Feura’s clothes had been burned to ashes. And there was now a large blackened circle on the dirt around them as if an explosion had gone off.
Immediately, Starr had flashbacks of the tea party with Jillian and other incidents caused by her fire. An awful feeling flooded her, dousing her excitement. She knew that she ruined everything. She knew that Feura wouldn’t ever talk to her again and instead, would go hang out with the other females and avoid her.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean—“
“Woah!” Feura laughed for the first time. “Can you show me how to do that?”
Even after a few years of Starr teaching Feura, her sister of all but blood had never been able to conjure as much fire power as Starr. But that hadn’t stopped them from becoming the best of friends and being attached at the hip wherever they went.
They had made pacts to be best friends forever and promises to go to school together and live together until they got mated, only to then have homes right next door to each other.
If only that was what the fates had blessed them with...
Copyright © 2021 by M.C. Solaris
Author’s Note: I hope you enjoyed getting a tiny glimpse into Starr’s distant past… which absolutely plays a part into her and Deacon’s story! ;)
PS: If you haven't yet tried the Orion’s Order series, you can dive in at Calypso’s Heart (book 1) and then immediately continue on to Rhyker’s Key (book 2)!
PPS: Deacon’s Star is now available for pre-order!