Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Aela was left perched in the sitting room of Tarek’s personal suite.
Everything was gleaming white. Perfect, like his pedigree.
Unlike what Aela apparently was. An abomination, Elnath had called her.
For a realm obsessed with power, one would think they wouldn’t care where the magic originated.
Stardom was filled with inconsistencies in what they valued.
She shook her head. It wasn’t worth her time to deconstruct.
Curved windows that began on the floor and arced into the domed ceiling let in light from Avarice, bathing the white lacquered furniture and polished floors in a warm glow.
Her mind was not nearly as cloudy as the sentinels who escorted her believed it to be.
Upon retrieving her in the unfeeling state she had adopted, her captors had gossiped during the entire trek from the holding cells to Tarek’s private quarters in the palace.
Aela kept each success buried deep within her.
Her strategy required a delicate balance.
Time continued to pass unfelt, and Aela hoped her brewing irritation was portrayed as being disoriented, like Tarek wanted.
The incessant prowl of her power beneath her skin offered a very real distraction from her carefully formed plans and had her feeling on edge.
The skin where the crystal bands rested had become awfully chafed, adding to her discomfort.
How she had survived on Prente without her magic completely obliterating everything, even as it was contained within the planet’s wards, was beyond her.
Well, it did obliterate something.
The village.
The flames and destruction of her dreams lashed out and annihilated her mountain home with Renee.
And now that her memory was restored, she recognized those flames for what they were.
That night, her nightmare had been a memory of her House falling, of her mother sacrificing herself, of her constellation offering their power, of her father being Set in the sky, and of Aela being left alone.
It was no wonder the fire had broken out of the confines of her dream and wreaked havoc upon that village. Her eyes drifted to the shackles around her wrists, her hands neatly folded in her lap. Maybe the bands weren’t a bad thing. Maybe she was too dangerous for her own good.
Her inner-self snapped something in warning, but her strength was waning the longer she was bound—too lulled by apathetic thoughts to give strength to a counter-narrative.
Aela retreated deeper into her mind, carving out a secret place where she was still aware but surrendered the greater area of her mind to the effects of the crystal bands.
The irritation on her wrists faded. What revenge did she hope to get from Tarek?
Why was she needlessly punishing him? Aela stopped rubbing her wrists.
The skin beneath the bands immediately began to heal.
He was trying to rule his system, city, and citizens as best he could.
She shouldn’t blame him for utilizing every resource at his disposal.
And that’s what she could be, wasn’t it?
A resource. Not something to be drained and recharged, but something valued, appreciated.
Footsteps sounded behind her. Her inner voice grumbled, but it was so quiet.
“How are you feeling?” Tarek asked as he rounded the chair, looking down at her.
“Fine,” Aela replied, looking at her hands.
The simple, sleeveless white dress she had been changed into left her arms bare. As her eyes trailed along her exposed skin, the ghost of a sensation, like scraping scales, pebbled along her forearm.
Tarek chased a dark finger from the top of her shoulder down her arm. She tracked the sinuous trail as he brushed her skin, leading down to the band around her wrist. Aela frowned.
“I’m glad to see your skin is feeling better,” he remarked.
“Yes, can the bands come off now?”
“Almost. We need to do something first, then you’ll be taken care of.”
Tarek stared into her eyes, as if haunted by their absence while she had been away. He leaned a hand on the armrest and tipped her chin up with his other.
“I’ve missed you, Aela,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her.
Her lips were numb against his, and Tarek withdrew from the lackluster connection. He turned away from her, and Aela noted the armor that caged him.
We’re going soon.
Again, the voice buried deep within Aela’s mind was trying to say something, but her thoughts had become so muted during her time in captivity.
Captivity? No. Surely not. Not with Tarek.
Tarek would take care of her. Aela quirked her head to the side, listening for the inner voice. “When?” she finally asked after her mind was blessedly silent.
Was she ever concerned about her mind being quiet? She couldn’t think of why she ever feared the silence.
Tarek smiled warmly at her and extended a hand. “Shall we?”
Aela slipped her hand into Tarek’s, and he pulled her to her feet before snaking his arms around her waist. He slowly leaned his head down, giving her time to pull away.
Her breath stuttered, and her neck went stiff as he aligned their lips, coming in for another kiss.
A clearing of a throat halted him and he looked up. Tarek’s hold on her tightened.
“What is it?” he gritted out.
“Everything is prepared, brother,” Tala said.
Tarek’s shoulders relaxed, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. “Excellent. Come, Aela.”
Aela followed Tarek out of his chambers, Tala in step beside her. “You are well?” Tala asked tentatively.
“I am,” Aela replied in a slight monotone.
Tala’s brows pinched down, her large russet eyes raking over Aela’s form. Twin eyes to her brothers widened at something she read from Aela’s lack of expression. She snagged Aela’s hand, bringing her to a sudden halt. Aela’s flowing white skirt flared around them as she was pulled closer to Tala.
“What has he done?” Tala whispered under her breath.
“Hmm?”
“Are you even in there?”
“Tarek will take care of me.”
Tala rolled her lips together.
“Why are we dallying?” Tarek said, striding back to them. “We have a ceremony to get to.”
“I was unaware your plans had changed,” Tala said carefully.
“Yes, well. Our lovely aunt has reminded me time and time again of the proper actions a Primary should take. Now that I have what I need, I can Ascend.”
“Why now?” Tala asked, an edge of panic lacing her tone.
“Because I’ll never have what I am owed,” he snarled.
“The Asterism barely respects me; the other Primaries mock me and think I am not one of them….” Tarek visibly collected himself before speaking again.
“It is past time for me to reign as the Primary I was always meant to be.” He kissed Aela’s forehead before looping an arm around her waist, tugging her into his side.
“The sooner we get to Starhaven, the better. And who knows… maybe a restructuring is in order.”
A large entourage accompanied them from Avarice to the holy planet.
Tarek and Aela were the only celestials undertaking the Trial of the Gods.
Even with the strange crystal bands, her intrigue surfaced—giving her clarity.
Was the Trial like The Games that happened as a recurring eventm and all Houses could submit their champions?
Sentinels and Asters gathered on the packed earth of Starhaven’s holy ground.
Puffs of dust floated from their footsteps into the air.
As the dirt settled, Aela spied white structures dotting the otherwise empty horizon.
Starhaven felt archaic. Frozen in time from when the Gods walked among the stars. Before Stardom had come together, and before advancements and crystalline technology, there was a place crafted by the Gods.
The traveling rings were slumbering, having deposited the host from Avarice.
Aela waited off to the side like the dutiful controlled celestial she should be.
She wished Zosma or Arche were here with her.
But Arche was safely tucked away in her asteroid.
She knew he couldn’t have brought himself to betray Tarek and Tala on his own, so she had done it for him.
Zosma would be livid that she had left him behind again.
Shadows cast from the looming Temple of Arieset ahead of them had her mind drifting to Eros and subsequently the dream she had of him the previous night.
Aela swallowed. She wasn’t sure what to do about that yet.
Not that she needed to do anything. It had only been a dream, but how was she to face Eros again after dreaming about how it felt to move on him, to have his hands blazing trails of heat across her skin and between her thighs?
How would she face him when she couldn’t acknowledge what was brewing in her heart?
Scuffs along the ground pulled Aela from her thoughts, and she wiped her mind blank, retreating back into the deepest corner of her mind. Tarek stepped into view and took her face between his hands. When Aela continued to look through him, he barked for his aunt to come examine her.
Elnath gracefully strolled over, Kaitos, ever her loyal sentinel, a pace behind her.
“Yes, Prime Apparent?”
“Look at her. That is not what I wanted. You said she would be easier to control—not empty.” He rolled his neck trying to work the temper from his body.
Elnath leaned closer to Aela, “May I?” she asked Tarek.
He nodded curtly and left her in Elnath’s care. The Regent sucked in a slow breath, savoring the air between them. Her deep amethyst eyes glimmered.
“If Alrescha could see you now,” she purred. Something in Aela’s chest fractured anew, and her chin trembled.
“Ah, there it is: emotion. Tarek is an imbecile, and he is about to be a very powerful one at that, but just between you and me,” her voice lowered to a whisper, “I let him think he’s in control when you and I both know he’s not.
” Elnath casually tapped a finger on the torque at her neck, then the band encircling Aela’s left wrist then the right, a knowing smirk on her face.
“These crystals are of my own design. Took a millennium to grow just right. A combination of crystals fused together to join their properties for this desired outcome.” Elnath wiggled her fingers before snapping them in Aela’s face.
She craned her neck to the side and called to her nephew. “She’s fine, Tarek. These bands will not be needed once you complete the Trial.”
Tarek made his way back to them. He dragged Aela behind him and dispersed sentinels with orders to fan out. The Asters who had joined to see their Prime Apparent claim more power lingered beyond the first ring of sentinels, Elnath and Kaitos with them, and their own celestials guarding their backs.
Tarek led her not to the Temple of Arieset, but to Taureal.
“After we are bound together, we will bind my city, and I will not need to Set. I will control all their power and yours, and no one will ever question again if I am the Primary of Taurus. Come, precious. Taureal awaits.” Precious.
The name had her recoiling from him, prompting him to tighten his grip on her hand.
“First Taureal will bless our union as the Primaries neglected to give theirs, then I will go to Arieset. Perhaps the rest of the Gods after that, hmm? Who’s to stop me?” he chuckled. They were nearly to the pale marbled steps of Taureal’s Temple.
Aela turned back to look at the Temple of Arieset. The shadows from the columns seemed to lengthen, stretching out for her along the barren ground.
Now.
In a maneuver Zosma taught her, Aela rushed forward and barreled into Tarek’s back, causing his balance to shift while she was able to rip her hand free. She jumped to the side, rolling out of his reach. As soon as her legs were under her, she sprang up, sprinting toward the darkness.
“No!” Tarek bellowed, sending a flurry of vines chasing after her, but he was too late.
Aela bounded up the temple steps before anyone knew what was happening. Blinding white light flared as Aela threw herself in between the columns, and the outside world fell away.