Page 132

“It’s okay. Did you get my package?” She beams, flicking on the light in her bedroom, and as she rubs the sleep away, she sees my swollen, tear-filled eyes. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

“I just miss you so much. I miss Virelia. I never should have gone into politics… these last few years, it’s been so non-stop… I miss my normal life.”

“Hey. You went into politics because you wanted other people to have that normal life. It was under threat. It still is.”

I take a deep breath in. She always knows exactly what to say. “That’s true.”

“What’s going on over there?”

“I don’t know. Cold feet, maybe. The dress you made was beautiful. Thank you. How did you…”

“I only designed it. Did it come out okay? I didn’t have time to make it and send it to you, so I sent the specifications to the best tailor on Colossus. He’s got five hundred years of experience, and a team. He said he could get it done in time.”

“That must have cost a fortune.”

“That’s the funny thing! He did it for free. Said it was an honor. Did you know there were Aurelian tailors? I was shocked. I never could have pictured those aliens in front of a sewing machine.”

I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. “I didn’t. I guess when you have thousands of years to life, you need something topass the…” With that, I can’t hold it back any longer. I sob, tears streaming down my cheeks.

This isn’t me. I’ve faced down so much worse and kept composure. Ever since being through the Rift, I’ve been shaken to the core, realizing how fragile this all is, and every second I spend in the real world is so overwhelming compared to that endless darkness that opened in welcome to me.

“Hey, hey. Is that what’s bothering you? Imagining living forever? Don’t worry, big sis, it’ll be fine. This life-or-death stuff, it just is what it is. We adapt. That’s what humans do. That’s what makes us different than Aurelians. They live the same lives over and over, copies of themselves going to different wars, fighting different battles, but it’s all the same. Humans… we’re alive. We change, and that’s what makes us,us.You’ll adjust. Talk to me. What’s Colossus like?”

I grab a tissue from the coffee table and blow my nose, composing myself. “We haven’t really been into the city. It’s beautiful, but it feels so… sterile. Like right now, I’m in Prince Bruton’s palace. Well, they call it an estate, but it could fit a king and an army of servants. There’s hundreds of these places, and that’s just the ones for the Elites. The“smaller”—I make air quotes to punctuate my sarcasm—“mansions are bigger than they have any right to be, and so many of them are empty. I can only imagine what this planet was like thousands of years ago, before endless wars decimated them.”

“Did you meet the Royal Family?”

I shiver, and wish the fire was roaring. “Yes.” I bite my lip. I want so badly to spill the confrontation I had with Queen Jasmine, but I swore to secrecy, and in that, I was acting in my position as Prime Minister. “It went… worse than expected,” I say, keeping vague.

She bites her lip.

“What, June? You’ve never been one to hold back what’s on your mind.”

“Did you meet the younger brother? Cal?”

“Yeah, why?”

She rolls her eyes, shifting in the bed, sitting up with her back against the wall. “Ugh. There’s like, no holo-vids of him or anything. But I found a picture, and I’ve got such a huge crush.”

“On Cal? He’s not your type at all!”

“What’s he like? Never mind. It’s pointless. If he was my Fated Mate or whatever, I would have known, right? Like felt it in my mind or something?”

“Knowing Cal, he’s the one Aurelian who could figure out how make you two Mates through some scientific formula. He’s… he’s strange, June, and he’d drive you crazy. Like today. He was thinking about something deeply and he just… froze up, like a statue.”

She smiles. “Well, if that happens, I’d just sit and look at how pretty he is.”

I smile, feeling better already. “I wish you could be here for the wedding. I’d introduce you to Cal… Gods, I can’t believe I’m going to be married without you as my maid of honor.”

“Well, that’s not the real wedding anyways. When you’re back on Virelia, we’ll put this one to shame. I went to check on the four seeds you planted. The omens are good. They’re sprouting strong. You’ve got a real future—even if your in-laws are insane.”

“Thanks, June.”

“Anytime,” she says, with a huge yawn. I wish her goodnight, and end the call, gently wrapping the dress back up in the package. I want the first time my triad sees it to be on our wedding day.

It’s looming, and I push down any unease. Less than a week on Colossus and we’ll be in the Arena of the Gods, in front of thousands of Aurelians, saying our vows. I’ll be a princess.

I return to the bedroom, the three huge beds filled with my triad, each laying back in the dim, warm light. I slide under the covers with Doman, letting him wrap me up in his certain grip, burrowing myself against him.