Captain NorthStar Lightwalker's Arc

Chapter 10 of 14

After the plates were cleared, a council member touched NorthStar's elbow and nodded toward the trees. They walked past the lantern light to a small carved table set between two living trunks, a low flame burning at its center. The man sat first and gestured for NorthStar to join him. "A quiet word," he said. "Away from her ears." He slid a brass badge across the wood. Its leather backing was already stained with swamp mud, as if it had been waiting for NorthStar all along. "Your seat," the man said. "Name your price and it pins on tomorrow. A trade route. A title for your engineer. A blind eye on the freeze report. Whatever keeps you comfortable." He smiled. "We all start this way." NorthStar looked up. Through the branches he could see the rival's gray coat on the railed deck of a treehouse above them, watching, listening. The offer had a witness. Refusing wrong meant losing two votes, not one. One foot. One order. NorthStar picked up the badge. He turned it in his hand, then set it back down, mud-side up. "I won't name a price," he said. "Not because I'm proud. Because the day I owe you, I stop being useful to anyone at this table — including you." He pushed the badge an inch toward the man. "Vote how you need to. I'll still build you a dock when you visit." The council member's smile thinned. He pocketed the badge without a word and walked back toward the lights. Above, the gray coat withdrew from the treehouse rail. NorthStar sat alone at the small table a moment longer, watching the flame. He had lost the vote. He had kept the seat worth having. When he returned to the deck, Admiral Voss was waiting by the steps. She had seen the man come back empty-handed. She did not speak. She only nodded once — the smallest thing — and moved aside to let him pass.