Suspended in the Stars

Talie

I'm falling through the air.

Darkness surrounds me with only one spotlight focused on my descent. Above me, a canopy of stars. Below me, blackness. The crowd holds a collective breath in anticipation as I seem to hang there, suspended in the stars.

My dress wings out behind me, the base a bright, tiger orange that bleeds into a bodice of deep turquoise. It wraps tight around my torso in intricate ropes and twists, Zeras crystals dotting it like constellations. Their iridescent surface sends out rainbows like arrows into the dark.

This next move is new, something no audience has seen yet. On a normal night, I wouldn't be worried about performing it, but tonight is different. It's laced with a lingering sadness that preoccupies me. And in this business, distraction can be deadly.

Queen Laerkin has been assassinated. The news has only just reached us, but that's the way of travelers, always days—or months—late to current events. I can't afford the grief right now, but it's hard to ignore. She was a good queen, kind and gracious to the galaxy her husband still rules. Her death, sudden and violent as it was, is sure to signal future ramifications for an empire in a tenuous relationship with its neighbors.

"Mommy, she's falling!"

The child's shriek yanks my attention back to the present. I'm almost a little too low, but not yet.

My hands fly out for the timed release of the next fly bar. It's feet...then inches away. I snatch it and propel myself forward, legs and pointed toes swinging to gain momentum. At the apex of the arch I let go and twist. My arms wrap across my body, legs flying over my head in not one, not two, but three flips before I extend out.

The next timed bar has released and I'm there to meet it. Both hands grip the cool metal and I flip one hundred and eighty degrees so my abdomen rests against the bar. Arms push straight and I smile. All white teeth and confidence as if I didn't almost plummet to my death on the duraplast floor.

"And that, folks, is Talie Zarna – the Soaring Staress. Give her a round of applause." Delmar's magnified voice fills the auditorium. It's greeted with cheers and applause that echo against the curved walls.

My spotlight extinguishes and I'm left swaying in darkness, rolling sore shoulders and thanking the stars I'm done. It's been a long day and I can't wait to relax, take a bath, and sleep.

Delmar continues the post show wrap-up and, with a subtle nod from me, one of the stage hands retracts my fly bar to the descent platform. I climb on and it discreetly takes me down to the showroom floor where I can exit offstage.

A rush of cool air greets me in the backstage hallway. It carries the scent of dreyhass and I wrinkle my nose.

"Sorry, Sti had a little accident tonight." Raxon tries and fails to hide his grin. Gray, cat-like eyes hold their usual laughter, but he's exceptionally amused at my reaction.

"On stage?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Actually, right where you're standing."

I look down where my bare feet rest. It's clean now, but just the thought makes me jump forward several feet.

"There too," he says. I can hear his grin.

I make a face and rush down the hall to more of his laughter.

"Where are you running to?" Freyda comes around the corner, her black and white makeup gone. Still, her lips are inked like midnight and she wears a simple, floor-length tunic the color of dried blood. It's belted at the waist, the attached gold loops a cultural signifier of her status: elite.