Epilogue
EPILOGUE
Elara sat on the golden throne, rubble around her, a gentle breeze from the jagged hole in the ceiling tickling her cheek. She cast a pale glow over the throne room, the same colour as the moon now shining in the sky outside. The din of excitement and drinking came to her, muffled. For days, citizens had crowded outdoors, gazing in wonder at the new heavenly body in the night, staying out under its cool silver rays. When it had first risen, it had been to terror. Oceans had crashed and shifted, tidal waves flooding the coasts of Celestia. Wolves had howled and her people had screamed as the gigantic luminous orb had taken its place in the skies.
Five days had passed, and the usual burgundy of the Helion night was now pitch black—only the stars, and skeletal moonlight, illuminating it. Each kingdom’s light had been snuffed out by Elara’s livid, monstrous shadows. She had sworn to Enzo that if he was taken from her, she would turn the world to darkness, and she was nothing if not true to her word.
Enzo’s body was being guarded around the clock by Leo, Isra or herself, as the new King of Helios’s soul rested in the Dreamlands and his body remained in the land of the living.
And she? She was still Elara. But she could feel in her bones something ancient. Something that had long slumbered, and was now awakening.
Dark circles shadowed her silver eyes, which flitted to the door as she heard the clatter of footsteps. Torra’s dark form sashayed down the throne room, her hair pulled back severely from her face.
‘I was wondering when you would show up,’ Elara said quietly. Torra made her way to the throne and bowed before her. With an impatient gesture, Elara motioned her to rise. ‘So I take it you heard the news?’
Torra raised her brows. ‘The whole world witnessed the moon rise into the sky out of nowhere. It’s a little hard to miss.’
‘Did you know this whole time?’
Torra cocked her head. ‘The prophecy was made known to me before I knew the full truth. I could only guess at it, until I laid eyes on you at the coronation ball. That look you gave me—those eyes—that was when I knew. I confirmed to Merissa who you were. She has been helping you both all along.’
‘Ah, the prophecy.’ Elara leaned back in her throne. ‘I will fall in love with the King of Stars and it will kill us both. It seems the wording was a little off.’
‘On the contrary.’ Torra gave a cunning smile. ‘The Sun is the King of Stars. He ruled above them all. With you, his queen.’
Elara’s silver gaze pierced her.
Torra spread her hands. ‘Well, you did fall in love with a Star, and you did both die…’
‘The person I once was died,’ Elara breathed.
‘Prophecies…such tricky little things. Filled with riddles.’
Elara sighed as Merissa appeared at the doors. She walked hurriedly down the throne room, her face glowing in the twilight. When she reached the throne, she looked between her mother and Elara.
‘My Queen,’ she curtsied. ‘Mother,’ she added coldly.
‘How many times do I have to tell you, Mer? There’s no need for any of that. For the love of Stars, Elara is just fine.’
‘Sorry.’ Merissa smiled sheepishly, giving Torra another wary glance. ‘Leo’s drawn up the information you requested from Asteria. And Isra has organized a list of duties that need attending to in quick succession both in Asteria and here. Your throne is vacant. Ariete is still nowhere to be seen. Then there’s the matter of your official coronation.’
Elara looked at her sharply, and Merissa paled a little.
‘I thought I wrote to the Asterian council and told them that a coronation won’t be going forward until Enzo wakes,’ she bit out.
She’d been relieved to hear that despite Ariete’s destruction of the palace and murder of so many of her court, one or two of her father’s advisors had survived, and were trying to gather a supporting council in her stead.
‘They’re worried that without someone to officially take rule of Asteria, more opportunity for rebellion will arise, for others to stake their claim.’
Elara sighed, rubbing her temples.
‘I think I’ll take my leave now,’ Torra interrupted. ‘I need to return to the Heavens, and put on a show about how horrified I am by your awakening.’
‘Is Ariete not aware you’ve been helping us, now that he knows who Merissa is?’
Torra shook her head. ‘I’ve led him to believe I shunned my daughter a long time ago. That she is on the opposing side of our cause.’
Elara nodded, deep in thought. ‘Thank you, Torra. If I have need, I’ll call for you.’
Torra bowed, kissing Merissa on the cheek before summoning a deep pink starlight, and vanishing before them.
‘As to what I was saying,’ Merissa continued gently once Torra had left. ‘You are next in line to the throne. With Ariete nowhere to be found, there is no better time than now to return to Asteria and take what is rightfully yours. Then there is the matter of Enzo giving you his crown…Helios could also be yours if you wished.’
Elara steepled her fingers as her attention drifted. The details of court seemed so trivial. A coronation, claiming her throne…She was apparently Queen of the Stars-damned Universe, thrown from the skies.
‘I’m not returning to Asteria yet,’ she murmured. ‘And I’m sure as the Deadlands not ruling over Helios without Enzo.’
‘You’re not?’
She rose from the throne. Without glancing at Merissa, she walked out of the throne room and down the grand hallway until she emerged into the gardens.
She knew Merissa was following her, and waited as she looked upon the forget-me-nots that Enzo had made grow with his light.
When Merissa had settled beside her, she spoke. ‘I will appoint a member of the Helion council that I trust to oversee court matters in our absence—they can liaise with the Asterians too. Ask Leo to gather me a list.’
‘Our absence?’
Elara breathed in the scent of jasmine, heavy in the black night. She smiled gently at the silver orb in the sky, before her thoughts turned venomous, as her gaze caught on the twinkling stars surrounding it.
‘I made a vow to my soulmate. We are going to awaken the Sun. We are going to find the Celestes. And then the Stars will fall.’
THE END