Chapter 39
But what is light without the dark? It is nothing. For what then can it cast away? Nothing. Light cannot be without the dark. But not so of the dark. For what is dark without the light but deeper, richer, heavier? For dark does not cast away. It invites.
Starless Night
DEATH SMELLED LIKE IRON AND dirt.
That was the first thought Astraia had once the blackness took her. Her body jerked, pain searing into her arms. She bit back a scream, puzzled as to why she had pain after death. Then a rumbling sound and men shouting jerked her awake.
Her eyes flew open only to realize it was still dark. They throbbed with a headache that threatened to split open her skull. Taking a deep breath, she steadied her nerves and tried to gain her bearings.
She was lying on her side against a hard metal floor.
She attempted to stretch out her legs only to find her confinement was not as long as she was.
Reaching for her bonds, she felt nothing, not a flicker of Power or Sacrifice.
Her mind was still, no waves or ripples across the surface.
The golden thread of her tether was also missing, though she could faintly make out the Stars in the horizon of her mind, just out of reach.
Moving her arms, she felt the manacles slip around her wrists, the cool metal grating against her skin. The memory of Draven kneeling in the dirt, aching for her and the Celestial Guards ambushing them came flooding back.
Draven…where was he?
“Draven!” she croaked, her voice hoarse and throat dry.
But no one answered.
Her face knocked against the metal floor again as her body jostled inside the cage. She was moving. The cage was moving. She shivered on the floor, noticing her cloak was gone, as was her dagger and bow. She was totally defenseless.
Angling her face upward, she could see a small slit in one side of the rolling cage, light flickering through.
She just needed to sit upright, and she could see through the crack.
Rolling onto her stomach, she pulled her knees in, sliding them across the metal floor until they were under her.
Using her core, she managed to sit back on her feet, lowering her head so it did not hit the low ceiling.
With one last grunt, she bent her legs to the side and finally was upright, sitting on her rear.
She gasped from the effort, biting on her cheek against the pain lancing her broken arm.
Leaning forward, she pressed her eyes up to the slit in the metal box, blinking to clear her vision. A man near the cage shouted, and the box jerked to a halt.
Astraia nearly fell over from the sudden stop. Cursing, she readjusted herself and tried to peer through the opening again, but the side of the box in front of her was yanked open.
Blinding light struck her, and she closed her eyes, looking down at the ground instead.
A hand grabbed her good arm and dragged her out of the box, forcing her onto her feet. Her legs wobbled, but she found her balance as she tried once more to open her eyes.
“Move!” a rough voice commanded, pushing her from behind.
Absently, she walked forward, letting her eyesight adjust to the stone walkway below her first before raising her gaze ahead.
A massive set of ornate double wooden doors were closed in front of her, two Celestial Guards flanking either side.
One of them nodded to the Guard behind her, then the doors were being pulled open.
The doors opened up to a colossal room with arched ceilings adorned with crystal chandeliers.
The walls and floors were made of glistening black marble, inlaid with stardust, giving it the illusion of a starlit portal to another realm.
Firelit sconces along the walls illuminated the floor with dancing firelight, and at the far end of the room were floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Aetherdeep Sea.
The waves in the distance crashed, unforgiving as they lapped the shore.
But it was not the waves that caught her attention, nor the ebony room before her.
It was the black wooden throne with intricate stars cut into the wood, and the man sitting upon it, that made her see red.
“Move!” The Guard pushed her again in the back, grazing her wounded arm, causing her to gasp from the pain.
Putting one foot in front of the other, she stepped onto the marble floors, her heels clacking on the hard stone. She picked up her head, rolling her shoulders back as she marched forward.
The man on the throne glared at her, his dark eyes brewing with detestation.
A golden crown adorned with glittering Starlight crystals sat upon his head.
He wore a robe of furs, the sleeves widening at his wrists.
His hands rested on the arms of the throne, flexing with every step she took toward him.
Evil coursed in the air around him as dark shadows crept around the throne.
The clanking of the chains from her manacles echoed off the marble walls, and the Guards near the man tensed, arms resting on their swords. They were afraid of her.
Good, she thought, smirking at them.
“Stop!” the Guard behind her ordered, yanking on her manacle chain.
Her arm screamed, but she bit down on her cheek until she tasted blood.
“Bow!” he commanded, pulling her downward with the chain.
Her feet faltered, but she managed not to topple over as she was forced to her knees. She kept her gaze fixed on the man before her, piercing him with daggers.
“Leave us!” the king shouted, looking at the Guards next to him.
They hesitated, hands still resting on their blades.
“Now!” he yelled, face red.
The Guards scurried away from the throne, exiting through a door behind her. The Guard behind her shifted but did not move as he loomed over her.
She smirked at the man on the throne, unblinking. “Hello, Uncle.”
Maelrik clenched his teeth, gripping the arms of the throne—her throne—so tight his knuckles paled. “Astraia Solenne. Alive, I see.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“You were always a disappointment,” he snapped.
“No matter. A minor inconvenience that will soon be remedied.” He looked over her head, at the Guard behind her, and gestured for him to come forward.
“Levi, you have served me well. You have delivered the most dangerous traitor to me, and you will be greatly rewarded.”
Boots rang out on the marble as the Guard stepped from behind her.
She felt heat rushing to her face, knowing this Guard had a hand in her capture and likely the capture of Draven.
She had not seen signs of her hunter, and her stomach dropped at the idea that he might be dead.
She gritted her teeth, pushing damning thoughts deep down into the abyss of her mind, where her darkest thoughts stayed.
Her chin tipped up. She would not allow herself to spiral. Breathing slowly, she stiffened as metal armor moved next to her, preparing to memorize the Guard’s face so she could tear it off him one day.
As the Guard came into view, his head was covered with a helmet, obscuring his face. He knelt before the false king, bowing his head.
“Rise, Levi. Stand at my right hand. You have earned it.” The king gestured toward the side of the throne, and the Guard stood, walking over to his new position.
“And remove your helmet, Levi. I wish the traitor to see her captor before she is thrown into Pyrgos so she may see your face in her nightmares.”
Astraia paled, her stomach plummeting. Pyrgos was the tower of the forsaken.
The stone dungeon on the farthest part of the castle.
Where men and women were tortured into madness or locked away until the world forgot their names.
The stone tower was endued with stardust, making it impenetrable from the outside or inside—and he was sending her there. Death would have been more merciful.
Her gaze drifted to the Guard. His hands hesitantly rose, sliding off his helmet.
And amber pools looked back at her.
Astraia could not breathe. Her heart cracked in her chest. Her pulse froze in her veins. The room around her closed in, and she was suddenly hot, sweat beading on her forehead. She began to list to the side, her body slackened as she fought off unconsciousness.
“Astraia Solenne, you will be taken to Pyrgos, where you will give the remainder of your pathetic life in service to the Crown, finishing what my brother started.” The king grinned, his black eyes glistening in the firelight.
Shadows appeared to lurk behind him, ready to strike at any goodness left in the world, sinking fangs into noble intentions.
The condemning sentence rang in her ears, but she was unmoved. It made no difference to her now that heartbreaking truths were unveiled.
Her entire soul stared into the eyes of the one man she had broken walls for, healed broken pieces for—only to have them shattered again.
The waves of her mind were a hurricane, forcing the whisper of hope into submission and driving it deeper and deeper until it could not breach the surface for air.
The walls she built solidified once again, spiraling up and up until only the Stars could climb them.
And her heart, the one that cracked years ago and was mended by breathless embraces under an oak tree—that heart turned cold.
The hairs on the back of her head stood up as fury and hatred seeped into her soul, her heart, her mind.
The edge of the cliff called out with shadowy whispers, compelling her forward to the brink of the dark abyss.
She peered down into the void, balancing on the precipice of total abandon.
Just a single step, and she could forsake the shred of light she clung to.
But a gentle voice broke her trance, drawing her back from the cliff. A voice that she had accepted as finite and had stored safely in the depths of her mind. A voice she had not heard in days.
She followed the voice, treading in the waters, pulling her fingers through the murkiness as she searched. A glowing orb of light bounced along the waves, washing over to her. Hand outstretched, she grabbed it and held it tightly, letting it send a small sliver of warmth into her body.
“You are Starlight, Astraia. You will not fall.” Elion’s bright face flashed before her eyes, his voice a melody to her ears.
Steeling herself, she refocused on the false king. She straightened her spine and slowly, cautiously, planted one foot in front of her, pushing herself from the ground, and stood upright.
The king's eyes bulged, watching her rise from the jet-black polished floors and stand to face him. There was no hint of fear in her eyes as she stared at him, daring him to do his worst.
Without a word, she turned her fierceness onto the real villain. The one who made promises of trust, offering her an elixir of healing only to poison her instead. She might not have access to her bonds, but she still pierced Draven with her eyes, praying her glare blinded him.
She could have sworn she saw his jaw clench, but she did not care if he harbored regret. She prayed to the Stars that his regret bred demons in his mind, consuming him with nightmares that left him screaming in the night with no one to offer him solace.
“Will that be all?” She ground out each syllable, her tone dismissive. She spoke directly to the hunter, not bothering to shift her attention to the king.
“Levi, get her out of my sight!” the king spat, his shout bouncing off the marble walls as he surged from his seat. “And this time, do not kill any more of my Guards, or you’ll be in a cell next to her.”
The Guard nodded and replaced his helmet, his amber eyes disappearing behind a shroud of betrayal. He marched over to her, grabbing her manacles by the chain, and drove her forward, away from the king.