Chapter Thirty-Four
Astra glanced at Lunelle from the side as she stared into the murky depths of the woods. They hadn’t moved far from the bloodstained patch of forest, Astra’s gut stopping her as she held out the locket Selenia had given her.
“Selenia Aurellis,”
Astra said, a wobble to her voice that surprised Lunelle. She’d so rarely seen her nervous.
“We’ve come to return you to your rightful place.”
Astra closed her eyes, the silence heavy between them. Lunelle felt something at the edge of her Soul, a brush against her ribs that reached for something.
Someone, she realized, as a black flash ripped through the woods.
Astra fell back a step, her arm flailing as she gripped the locket tightly. The Shadow circled them, calculating the best way to face the two sisters.
“Steady, As.”
Lunelle said, rooting her feet into the ground.
“Selenia, we’ve come to claim you!”
She let that wisp within her lurch toward the scrambling Shadow as it dipped back into the treeline—call to it. Lunelle drew her in, a stirring in her gut as Selenia’s Shadow darted forth.
Astra held the locket higher, her knuckles white as she clasped it, a frigid breeze arriving as a warning that she was close. Lunelle closed her eyes, too, beckoning the tendril of darkness within her—the one that still wondered what life on the throne might be like—to invite Selenia closer.
She heard the sound of the Shadow smack Astra’s hand, a crack, and whoosh as it clasped shut.
Her eyes fluttered open, the locket swinging violently as if whatever was trapped inside had a change of heart.
“Did… did we do it?”
Astra ran a fingertip over the icy condensation forming on the outside of the metal.
“I think so?”
She fastened it around her neck. Lunelle wondered what the weight of her mother’s mother felt like.
“That seemed too easy,”
she said aloud.
Her sister laughed, a dark smile breaking over her face.
“I’ll take easy at this point. It’s what comes next that’s going to be impossible.”
They started their trek back toward the edge of the forest, but Lunelle’s head was steeped in so many thoughts that she could not keep them in.
“What do you think Arcas was talking about?”
Astra did not turn back as she responded, climbing over tangled branches.
“I’m not sure, Lu, but the Nether queen… she told me that Selenia was Tethered to the Solar God, Lucian. And that she severed it after trading her Shadow to Luciela for a Shadow diamond dagger—the same one I saw Solan use with Leona.”
Lunelle scaled another log, her boots slipping against the peeling bark. She debated if she should add another layer of strange complexities to Astra’s heart—how much more could she possibly put on her?
But, hadn’t keeping it all from her caused half of this?
“Mother asked me to wait at the Lunar Gate before I came through. She said she’d signal me.”
Astra’s lips twitched.
“Did you tell her what we planned?”
Lunelle shook her head.
“No. This was before, in Pluto. She said that she would be waiting beside the gate and that no matter what, I wasn’t to come through until she reached out for me. At the time, I thought maybe it was a ritual thing, a symbolic gesture. But now I don’t know what to believe.”
The mess of skeletal trees thinned as they edged out of the forest, massive gray dunes rising before them. Lunelle froze as she heard something snap loudly behind her.
“What was that?”
Astra asked, her eyes searching the treeline. Lunelle felt the heat spark against her fingertips, ready to jump back, but they eased into a quiet, controlled spark.
She walked faster, unsure she wanted to greet any of the Nether’s strange creatures face-to-face. Her sister broke into a jog to keep up with her.
“We’re almost out, As. Just keep going!”
Whatever was at their heels had no trouble keeping pace with them, her Shadow siphoning off her back to get to it.
She leaped forward, over one final fallen tree, and relished in the dusty sand of the dunes beneath her boots. Astra turned as they broke from the forest, shivering as she caught something’s eye.
“Let’s hustle, Fire and Ice!”
Luxuros yelled from the crest of the dune, the Court Below’s ravaged onyx gate rising over his broad shoulders. Astra skipped a bit at the sound of his voice, a movement so frivolous for their situation, for her in general, that Lunelle could not fight a wash of warmth over her chest as they climbed the base of the silted dune.
“For the record, I really like the version of you the commander brings out. Mortal enemy thing aside. What are you planning on doing about that?”
Their breaths grew short as the sand slipped beneath their steps.
“Small detail,”
Astra said, her laugh shallow.
They pushed to the top, their knees aching and lungs puffing. Arcas and Mirquios both watched her with expressions that did something to her chest she couldn’t have denied if she wanted to—and in that moment, she wanted to. Her head cleared as she remembered his words earlier, his admission of his scheme. Mirquios winced as Luxuros tied off a tourniquet on his leg. Arcas reached forward to steady him, supporting his shoulder.
“Well,”
the king said as he hobbled toward the gate.
“Are we ready to take down a Lunar goddess?”
Lunelle threw her arm around her sister’s shoulders. She still had to carry so much of the burden. Astra turned her eyes toward the king.
“We are. You are going straight to the infirmary.”
Lunelle glanced toward Mirquios as Lux shuffled him over to Arcas, grabbing Astra’s hand and hauling her into the Rift.
Lunelle hung back, her heart sinking a bit as she pulled back on the prince’s hand.
“Shouldn’t we?—”
“Were you genuine earlier—did my mother offer to pay your debts to pretend to court me? Was it all just to clear your ledgers? After everything—after last night.”
Arcas snorted, his lips curling into a crooked smile as he balanced Mirquios’s weight.
“If you have to ask, then I wonder which one of us was pretending, starling.”
Lunelle’s chest flared, the sarcasm too much for her.
“Tell me plainly, Arcas! I can’t take more of these games.”
Arcas shirked Mirquios’s arm away from his shoulders slowly, moving to tower over her.
“Your mother made the offer, and I took it. That is true.”
Her lips wobbled, the hurt welling in that space within her, now consumed with Shadows—and not just hers.
“And I was thrilled to do it.”
He reached forward, hesitantly gripping her cheek. She moved to pull away, but he held her tighter.
“I was honored to be the great Lunar queen’s placeholder if it meant you’d get everything you wanted in the end, no matter where it landed me.”
Arcas glanced at the Mercurian king, turning back to help him into the Rift.
“Arcas!”
“You will not have a king to choose over me if we do not see to this wound immediately. You can finish crushing me later!”
Arcas did not wait for her to pull Mirquios into the Rift, hauling him back to the Lunar Gate as Lunelle trailed them. She’d only just gotten her hands wrapped around his arms when they stumbled through the gate. Mirquios lost his footing, collapsing onto the garden’s pavers with a heavy gasp.
“Get him help!”
Astra cried out. Lunelle could not hear anything—see anything beyond the dense crowd, her only thought was how to get the king back to his feet. Arcas stood behind her, his fingers brushing against her shoulder as maidens rushed forward.
“We need to get him inside,”
Lura said to Ameera, searching through Ameera’s medical kit.
Arcas leaned forward to help the king up as Lura began mixing various powders into a liquid. Lunelle followed behind them as they dragged Mirquios through the crowd, her grandmother’s voice rising above the courtiers in a chilling sneer.
“Don’t scurry off now, you’ll miss all the fun!”
Lunelle did not care what she missed. The halls of the palace were empty as they moved in one mass toward the infirmary, maidens handing Ameera and Lura anything they called out for. Arcas helped push Mirquios’s limp frame onto the first bed he saw, the king’s eyes half closed as Ameera pressed a tonic to his lips.
“It's for the pain,”
she said as Lunelle’s lips parted.
“He will be okay, but he needs to sleep, the repair work will be far too painful awake.”
“That’s what this one is for,”
Lura said, passing a thin vial to Ameera. “Lu,”
she said, grabbing her focus.
“You should be in the garden for Astra.”
The Tether in her chest burned at the thought of leaving him.
“I will stay with him,”
Arcas said.
“Your sister needs you.”
Lunelle found his gaze, like a quiet midnight, about to protest once more.
“Go,”
he repeated.
“We will both be here when you’re done.”
She swallowed the wave of tears battling to break free. He squeezed her hand once more before she left, running back to the garden where courtiers backed away from the throne in the center, their eyes wide, fixed on the body of a goddess lying still against the stones.
Astra stood motionless, Lux on the ground beside her, as the color drained from her face.
Lunelle’s stomach churned—she’d missed quite a bit. Her mother was already well into damage-control mode.
“Aren’t we so fortunate that the Lunar queen Astra Leona’s first act upon the throne was to defend her court from a premeditated attack by the Solar God Lucian? Hardly a minute into her reign, and she’s already proven herself to be a wise and decisive leader.”
Oestera turned to Astra, a strange light from within her that Lunelle had never seen before.
“Now, I know this was a lot of excitement for one day, so please, retire to your rooms. The maidens have prepared an evening tea service to help everyone get some rest before tomorrow’s coronation!”
Lunelle watched as her mother leaned into Astra, speaking quietly as she fought the tide of courtiers breaking into the palace. She pushed through their baffled faces.
“Mother?”
she asked, unsure just how much she’d missed. Lunelle and Astra stared at one another as councilwomen flurried in circles around them, responding to a series of orders Oestera barked, her lips curled into a smile.
An actual smile.
She’d orchestrated it all—every second of it—as always. Her mind could not reconcile all of it; the weight of the trades made in the dark confounded her.
“Let’s go, ladies!”
her mother said, a wild delight beneath the sounds. She swept into the palace, leaving only her daughters to stare after her, both wearing the same shocked expression.
Astra spoke first.
“Was she… smiling?”
“I believe so.”
A maiden leaned toward them on her way to gods knew where.
“Your Highness?”
Astra pointed toward the palace.
“You just missed her.”
“Actually,”
the maiden said, a quiet delight on her lips.
“I meant you.”
Lunelle could not suppress the astonished giggle as Astra’s eyes rolled back in her head. She stepped forward, catching her as best she could, as several maidens rushed to assist their newly crowned queen as she fainted to the floor.