The New Star: Prologue
Night was falling in the city, but the streets were yet thronged with activity. Sijan was playing host to the funeral of Al-Udum the Providential. Unlike most funerals, this was not a sombre occasion, but rather a festival, celebrating the life of the late merchant prince. And so professional mourners revelled in the streets with the family as the sun set, intending on partying until dawn. To the sides were the entertainers and caterers. Among these was a troupe of actors, performing improvised plays atop a makeshift stage for the amusement of the guests. This company had enjoyed much success of late, with the introduction of a new leading lady. Although the rest of the players constantly begged her not to, she always wore a blue mask to perform, which hid the unearthly beauty in her face. Thus she was known as ‘Sapphire’, her real name as unknown as her past.
Tonight the two leading men (both of whom were desperately in love with her) play-fought for her hand as the finale of their melodrama played out. But it was slowly dawning on them that their audience was engaged by something else entirely, something in the sky. Their wooden swords dropped as they, and their beloved, looked to see what it was, and saw something that had never been seen since the unfolding of creation: a new star.
“I wonder if this means something,” said the Maiden.
*
The horse galloped on, bearing its rider more swiftly than any horse ever ridden by a man. But no mortal could have ever tamed Goldmane, queen of the horses of the North. One look at the rider would tell she was no mortal, as she forced the horse on past the dying of the light. Bareback she rode, clad only in a long saffron robe. She wanted to reach Lookshy before midnight, and could not spare even this proud steed a moment, hence her travelling not by the main road but going cross-country, taking a shortcut she had discovered a long, long time ago.
Her haste was of her own doing, for she had almost forgotten the oath she had made to her Exalted favourite-of-the-moment to meet him in the city that very night. She took her oaths seriously, and would not break one if it could be avoided. Which she felt sure this one could. As darkness fell, her gaze moved from the blank hills she bore down upon to the sky, to see the stars come out – a sight she would never tire of. The horse stopped short at her bidding, suddenly. Had she been any less skilled, it would have thrown her to her death. Well, had she also been a mortal. She gazed up at a sight that was wholly new in her experience: a new star.
“What can this mean?” said the Maiden.
**
Dusk came to the battlefield, as the Cathak legion butchered the last surviving resistors of the rebel army of the South. The field had belonged to them from the start, as theirs was a disciplined, veteran fighting force commanded by a dynast raised to the art of war. The rebels had been a rabble, attacking with no coordination, no structure, and no real plan. Unknown to both sides, a small group had been watching the battle from a distance, wagering on individual combats. They were a group of godlings, and a single, flame-haired woman dressed as if to take part in the fight.
At several points she had considered joining in, knowing that single-handedly she could have turned the tide and saved the southerners from disaster. But that would have been unfair on her champion. Her current toy was the Realm’s general, a young Dragon-Blooded out making a name for himself fighting the Empire’s enemies. Now, as the long day of warfare ended and gave way to the long night of victory (for the Realm at least), she pondered what challenge to set him next, and looked up at the stars in which she would write his fate. At once the fiery passion of the young Terrestrial was gone from her mind as she beheld a new star.
“I doubt this means anything good,” said the Maiden.
***
The clock chimed the hour of the setting sun, disturbing the silence that otherwise reigned in the empty mansion. It failed to concern the house’s sole occupant, who sat still at her desk, hand poised over the sheaf of parchment. All she did now she could have had a host of servants attend to at her mere whim, but here in the mortal world she preferred to take matters into her own hands. She signed the order for the sale of the estate and thus completed the final form of all those required to conclude her business in The Neck. As she put down the pen, she reflected on how simple it all was. The Solar that had purchased Mandala House would not take long to find the map, and after that the island. This would bring him and his allies into conflict with the Abyssal Exalted again, and this time there could be no doubt what the result would be. The Deathlord himself might not fall, but at the very least it would bring his current scheme to a premature end. She was pleased.
The sun set, and she walked over to the window to look up at the stars emerging at the ending of the day. There was a new star.
“This will mean more work for me,” said the Maiden.
****
The woman in green smiled quietly to herself as she watched her sister prance about on the crude stage, smug in the knowledge that her sibling was blissfully unaware of her attendance. Then she smiled again at the thought of her sister’s face when she made her presence known. Of course, she would have to be without that mask when the revelation took place for maximum effect, but arranging that would be child’s play for one such as her. After all, only she knew that Mercutio’s fiancé was in attendance tonight, related as she was to the deceased. And that she was insanely jealous of his ex-lover, the company’s former leading lady ‘Crystal’. And that she believed ‘Sapphire’ and ‘Crystal’ were one and the same – why else the mask? And that Mercutio would kiss his lady at the climax of the play. Well, actually, everyone knew that was going to happen, since it was that kind of play. It was a petty stunt, but the woman in green was nothing if not petty.
As night’s curtain fell across the world, the play was building towards its own end. The hero and villain fought to the death for the hand of their lover. The lady crossed the street, the better to observe the drama that would shortly unfold off the stage instead of on it. She began to mingle with the audience. Who, she realised, were looking up at the sky, instead of at the stage. Momentarily puzzled, she looked up as well.
“Oh, that,” said the Maiden.
*****
In the year of the Glorious Scarlet Empire 769, the outcaste princess Mnemon Anna, residing in the sprawling metropolis of Nexus, wrote in her diary:
"Full of enthusiasm and ardour they thronged every highway, a host of civilians outnumbering the sands of the sea shore or the stars of heaven. There were men, women and children, too, who had left their own countries. Like tributaries joining a river from all directions they streamed towards us in full force."
This host was descending on Nexus because it was following the course of the mysterious New Star, which had appeared in the sky at the beginning of the year above the city of Sijan and begun travelling south across the heavens. Everywhere the star passed above pilgrims followed in its wake, full of religious fervour but certain of only one thing: The Star is Important.