Chapter 9 #2
The star beneath my bandage warmed. My gaze dropped to the stew.
Xandros leaned back against the bench, though the careful set of his shoulders kept his wound from touching the bark.
“You should eat.” Xandros nodded toward my bowl.
I scoffed but picked up the spoon. “You sound like Nessa.”
“Well, she was very clear.” He stretched one arm along the back of the bench.
I stirred the stew without looking at him. “So she threatened you too?”
A faint smile touched his mouth. “She informed me that princes can faint as easily as everyone else.”
“That sounds like her.” I lifted a spoonful to my mouth.
His gaze followed it. “She also said you would claim you weren’t hungry.”
“I’m not,” I muttered around the bite.
His eyes moved to the half-empty bowl. “Well, you give a very convincing performance.”
The stew heated my cheeks as I swallowed.
Bramble crept along the bench between us. His damp tail dragged behind him, leaving a dark trail across the wood. Xandros watched him approach but kept his hands where they were.
He hesitated just beyond the prince’s knee and stretched his neck toward a golden clasp at his collar.
“You should hide anything shiny.”
Xandros glanced between us, his brow furrowing slightly. “Will he bite me?”
I shrugged. “Not before he steals from you.”
Bramble turned to glare in my direction, betrayal flooding through our Kindred bond. His whiskers twitched; then his lips pulled back from his small teeth.
Xandros' gaze stayed on him. “That’s reassuring.”
I fished a rather juicy mushroom from the bowl and held it out to my pine marten in apology. Bramble twirled in a tight circle before taking it between his paws. His happy chittering filled the small room as I ran my fingers along his damp back.
Warmth spread beneath the bandage on my palm.
I looked down. Xandros' fingers had drifted closer until only a few inches separated us. A hazy, golden glow illuminated the cloth, thin strands slipping through the weave whenever he moved. They stretched toward him, trembling in the space between us.
My fingers tensed, but I couldn’t make myself pull away.
“Does it hurt?”
I hesitated, unsure if I wanted to admit the truth. Finally, I shook my head.
I watched as the light reached for him. He lifted his palm above mine and stopped before our skin could touch. Heat gathered between us, and the star gave one slow pulse.
The constellations ignited along his fingers. A single strand of light rose from his skin and curled toward my palm. It caught on the glow beneath the bandage.
The pull raced up my arm. My breath caught in my throat, and my shoulders tipped toward him before I forced myself still.
Xandros closed his fist. The strand snapped back beneath his skin.
His hand remained suspended between us for another breath before he lowered it to his knee.
“This is how you followed me through the Veil.”
His fingers flexed against his trousers before he picked up his bowl. “Yes.”
My brow furrowed. Yes . Such a simple answer for such a complex thing.
“You crossed into a realm your people haven’t reached in generations.” I stared at him as he turned his attention to his bowl and tasted his food.
“Yes.” There was that word again.
His jaw shifted as he chewed slowly and then seemed to nod appreciatively as he took another full bite.
I swallowed hard. “Why?”
His eyes moved to the moss covering the wall behind me. Soft green light reflected across his silver irises. He regarded the moss for a long time, his expression softening the longer he stared.
For a moment he looked almost sad.
He turned back to his bowl, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.
“Asterra has been dying since before I was born.”
The silver forest rose behind my eyes. Bare branches of ruined trees bent beneath a darkened sky, while their exposed roots clawed at the thin soil. I thought of the tower collapsing into ash, and that solitary star sinking behind the mountains.
“How long?”
Xandros sighed, his chest rising and falling with the movement.
“The first star vanished generations ago. It wasn’t long before others followed.” His thumb moved across one callus on his palm. “Then our wells began drying up. The silverwood groves stopped growing. And then our Everlight began to fade.”
A low ache spread beneath my chest. “Is that when the corruption came?”
He gave a slow dip of his chin.
“It first appeared in the dead places. Then in animals.” His mouth flattened. “Then in us.”
I thought of Rhian’s pale face, and the dark lines winding beneath his ribs. Whatever had been killing Asterra had crossed the Veil and found its way into my best friend.
Bramble whimpered and buried his head in my hand. I held him a little closer, promising him through our bond that I would do everything in my power to stop this from happening to Rhian.
“Does it always appear where your Everlight is fading?”
“As far as we know.” His gaze dropped to the gold tracing his fingers. “Wherever our light dies, the indigo inevitably follows. We still don’t know why.”
The star I had watched sink behind the mountains returned behind my eyes. I had seen it disappear without understanding everything that vanished with it.
I closed my hand over the mark beneath the bandage. Whatever was killing Asterra’s stars had already found Rhian. Found all of us.
A fist struck the door.
Bramble jolted as Nessa opened it, her breathing uneven from the run. Her gaze moved between Xandros and me.
“Torren’s awake. The First Thorn wants both of you.”