Music of the Distant Stars by Alys Clare

turned to see who it was, feasted his eyes on the vision of her sweet face and fallen in love.
    It had been as simple, as easy, as that.
    And now she was dead.
    His eyes filled with tears. He crept away, leaving the safe place from where he watched and sang and melting back into the darkness.
    She was dead. And he knew what he must do.
    First, he must write a song for her, for he would not allow her to be forgotten and it was up to him, who had loved her, to make sure that her sweet essence lived on.
    There was another task too, a far less pure and gentle one.
    Straightening his back, his jaw set in a hard line, he went hunting.

SEVEN
     
    M y brother is a habitually early riser, wide awake and padding quietly about so as not to wake anyone else long before the rest of the family stirs. I am not; Edild often has to shake me quite hard. The exception is when I have something serious on my mind, and that was the case the morning after we’d got back from our hopeless search for Derman and I’d heard the invisible singer for the second time.
    I love my brother Haward dearly. I had so hoped he would find happiness with Zarina; she was so good for him, and I’d noticed that his love for her – and hers for him – had filled him with a new belief in himself so that now he barely stuttered at all. Last night, as he’d hurried to support me, the tongue-tying stammer had come right back.
    He filled my mind as I lay awake in the thin light of dawn. I sensed he was calling out to me. Silently, I slipped out from under the bedcovers, pulled my gown over my shift, picked up my boots and let myself out of the house. The chill air struck me like a slap, and quickly I reached back inside for my shawl. I ran across the village, and just as I approached my parents’ house, the door opened and Haward emerged.
    We grinned at each other, both of us struck by the strange link between us that had brought us to this spot at precisely the same instant. He opened his arms and hugged me. He smelt of home. After a moment he said, ‘We’re going to search again as soon as it’s light. If we make an early start there’s a while before we have to start work.’
    We . ‘Who’s going? I can come, for a while anyway.’ It would not be long, for Edild had warned me we had a great deal to do that day and I dared not be absent when she wanted me.
    Haward smiled. ‘You’d be an asset, for sure. Hrype and Sibert will come, and Father said he’d spare us as much time as he can. He’s going to bring Squeak.’
    ‘That’s good.’ My little brother is one of the most observant people I know. ‘I’ll—’
    Haward grasped my hands in his. ‘There’s something else I’d much r–rather you did,’ he said. The stutter, combined with his sudden, deep frown, gave away his anxiety.
    I said a silent goodbye to my happy little daydream of me being the one to find Derman – quite unharmed, of course – and bringing him safely home, cries of, However did you find him, Lassair? Did you use your magic powers and dowse for him? ringing in my ears. I looked at my brother and said, ‘Whatever it is, I’ll do it. You only have to ask.’
    His face intent, he said, ‘Watch Zarina for me.’
    ‘I will!’ I replied. ‘Only, I’ve got to get back to Edild’s quite soon, like I said, because—’
    He shook his head. ‘I don’t mean right n–now. I meant, watch out to see how she copes with Derman’s absence. Whether she goes on being as distressed as she is now, or whether—’ He stopped, shaking his head.
    I did not understand. ‘But you’ll probably find him this morning, or else he’ll come home by himself!’ Even as I said the words, I did not believe them. ‘Or perhaps not,’ I muttered.
    Haward opened his mouth to speak, then, with a glance over his shoulder towards the house, took my arm and led me away along the path. Whatever he wanted to say, I knew it was very important. I waited, dread flooding through me.
    ‘Lassair, Zarina