Page 10

Chapter Ten

Asteria

“Lesson one: fueling your fire and redirecting your rage.” Calix began, standing in front of me on the cliffside. He said it would be easiest to release my fire and fly here, and I couldn’t say I wasn’t looking forward to it. Just that brief shift I’d experienced was amazing, and I couldn’t wait to try it again.

“Find the rage inside you. Think of things that usually enrage you.” He instructed, and I thought back to Cyrus. To the rage I felt when he had me captive.

“Once you’ve felt that rage, I want you to shift into your dragon form. Take all that rage and spit it back out as flame,” Calix continued, and I let the rage build and build inside me.

When I finally felt that spark in my blood, like it was heating inside my veins, I let my dragon form take over once more. The shift from Fae to dragon was just as surreal as the first time, even being more aware of what was happening now.

Still, I focused on Calix’s instructions, and I let the rage flow out of me, fire spitting from my maw over the cliffside and out into the sky.

“Good! That’s a good first step!” Calix yelled up to me.

We spent the next few hours this way, until I was a bit more confident in my shifting abilities and beginning to understand how to release my rage in a healthier way. Though, I feared I still had a long way to go. This was all stuff Calix learned as a kid, and here I was, twenty-one and unable to handle my own emotions.

Or my magic.

I’d tried several more times to summon it, but it still wasn’t answering me. It left me frustrated and feeling decidedly useless, but Calix promised I’d get there.

But I wanted to get there now . I hated feeling like I was failing at being Fae. I may not have wanted to be Fae, but I was , and I didn’t want to be this bad at it.

“Come on.” Calix swung his arm around my shoulders, leading me back to the palace. “We’ve got places to be.”

“Where are we going?” I asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“Out for the night.” Calix smiled wickedly, with just a hint of fang, “I had Ilta plan it out for us, but I figured you could use the night to blow off some steam after this afternoon.”

A part of me melted. Knowing he’d thought ahead and arranged this for me, anticipating the truth I’d learned and everything after would be difficult for me… I had to choke back tears, but I let myself fling my arms around him in a hug.

He froze for only a moment, before his gigantic arms swallowed me up and hugged me back.

“Thank you, my dorchadas,” I mumbled into his chest, feeling overwhelmed by the strength of my emotions in this moment.

His breath hitched, and I realized I hadn’t called him that since I’d learned the truth about our bond.

“Of course, my réalta,” he murmured into my hair, some of the stiffness leaking out of his limbs as he hugged me to him.

We both stood there, suspended in this moment, until the sound of someone clearing their throat had me jumping back.

Priscilla stood there with a smile on her face, looking slyly between Calix and me. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got to get you ready if you want to be on time to go out.”

I raised a brow in disbelief. “We’re on a timetable?”

Priscilla rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly. “You know Ilta.”

I couldn’t help the laugh I let out, and I turned to Calix with a shrug. “I guess I’ll see you soon.”

Priscilla grabbed my hand to pull me with her, but Calix caught my other before she could. “Of course. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

The words were so innocent, but his tone sent shivers down my spine. The sultry promise within made me suddenly glad we’d talked out some of our issues.

But I had to remind myself we weren’t there yet. I wasn’t there yet. I had so much to figure out and not much time to do it. Not with a war on the horizon.

Priscilla giggled as she dragged me back to my room, “So…” She dragged the word out, waggling her eyebrows at me.

I rolled my eyes at her, pushing her shoulder playfully. “So, what?”

It was her turn to roll her eyes. “Don’t you so what me! You two obviously talked. Are you going to make me drag information out of you kicking and screaming?”

I laughed as she put her hands on her hips, looking entirely willing to do just that.

“I’ll tell you if you tell me about you and Callisto,” I countered, raising a brow. Priscilla blushed, and I couldn’t help but laugh as she pushed me into the door to my room.

Delia was waiting, and she also had an expectant look on her face. “How’d it go?”

“Asteria was just about to tell me.” Priscilla teased, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. I noticed it had grown out a bit. It had been shoulder length when we’d first met, but it was now past her shoulders, and I realized I’d actually managed to keep a female friend for long enough to see such changes. It was novel and exciting all at once.

The two pushed me into the chair at my vanity to begin getting me ready. While Priscilla wasn’t technically my lady-in-waiting as Delia was, she enjoyed helping me get ready when she could. It was a familiarity we both enjoyed.

“Well, as it turns out, I’m the lost princess and heir of Day Kingdom.” I tossed out as casually as I could, just waiting to see their reactions. Keeping my smirk contained was a herculean effort.

Both paused, Delia with her hands already in my hair and Priscilla with a brush halfway to my face. Delia leaned over to see my face as Priscilla sat back against the vanity top.

“What the fuck?” Priscilla screeched, and I couldn’t help the laugh that burst out.

“Yeah, that’s about how I felt.” I agreed, nodding.

“Wait, are you serious?” Delia asked, mouth gaping open as she rocked back on her heels.

“Unfortunately,” I grunted.

“Unfortunately?” Priscilla asked incredulously, her eyebrows flying upwards. “Asteria! Don’t you realize what this means?”

“You mean aside from the fact that my biological father is apparently hunting me down? That he and Cyrus are already working together, and who the fuck knows what will happen now?” I asked seriously, but she shook her head at me.

“We’ll get to all that in a minute,” Priscilla said sternly, grabbing my shoulders and meeting my eyes. “Asteria, you’ve been wanting to help all the humans. If you have power in Day Kingdom, like Calix does here in Night, the two of you will be able to make real changes to Celesterra.”

I sighed, rubbing a hand over my eyes before Priscilla swatted my hand away with a glare for nearly messing up her work.

“It’s dangerous, for sure, but Priscilla is right,” Delia added hesitantly, her warm brown eyes lighting up. “You and Calix will surely be able to use this. Two rulers are better than one when it comes to making changes like this.”

“But I’m not the ruler!” I argued, throwing my hands up. “I’m only the heir. King Aelius—” I paused, having just connected in my brain that the king I picked apart at Placement Day was my actual father . I took a deep breath. “King Aelius wants to find whoever the power of the heir went to, right? Meaning, he’ll be hunting me down. And Cyrus knows it’s me. His alliance with Day hinges on turning me over.”

“But he’s your father. Won’t he be happy it’s someone in his bloodline?” Priscilla asked hesitantly, shaking her head in confusion.

“Well,” Delia began, before biting her lip. “Aelius is very old school. He was enraged when his son wasn’t chosen as heir. If the reason Arien wasn’t chosen was because…”

She trailed off, her eyes meeting mine in the mirror, and I picked up her thread. “Because I was.”

She nodded, “Exactly. He won’t be happy to see a woman chosen as heir, blood or not. I would recommend waiting to see what happens first. I’m sure the others can advise you better as to tactics and politics, but be careful, either way.”

I nodded, agreeing easily. I wondered how Arien felt about being skipped over. I thought back to Placement Day, when we had met one another’s eyes. He must have known. Just as the queen did. But he was… By the Otherworld, he was my twin brother.

This was absolutely wild .

We talked ourselves in circles as they got me ready. Thankfully, the revelation of me being an actual princess had waylaid any interrogation about Calix. But as we walked down to meet everyone, I couldn’t help looking myself over in any mirror we passed by.

The short silver dress had called to me from my overflowing wardrobe. The memory of my scales still fresh in my mind, along with the knowledge they matched the starlight I couldn’t figure out how to call.

The dress had an almost corset-style top with purple boning and glittering silver fabric, but it had a deep V in the middle that went to just under my breasts. The silver fabric extended to the skirt, slinking down over my hips and ending right at mid-thigh. Delia and Priscilla had helped me pick out matching jewelry, and the silver necklace dipped down much like the necklace I’d worn to the party in the Hedone room, reaching halfway down the open expanse of skin.

Calix was waiting in the rotunda with Baach, Eryx, Ilta, Lilith, and Titan. His eyes blew wide as he spotted me and left the others behind as he made his way over to me.

I looked up as he came to a stop right in front of me. His hand came up to my face, fingers lightly trailing down my cheek. “You’re trying to torture me, aren’t you, my réalta?”

His voice was roughened with an arousal that immediately had me reaching back for him. I let my fingers land on his lips, trailing over them lightly as he groaned. I smirked, my fingers trailing from his lips to his neck, until I could wrap my hand behind it and into his hair. I leaned up on my tiptoes, pressing my body into his.

“Hmm… maybe,” I whispered into his ear. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.”

With that, I walked away, over to the others who were watching us in amusement. Eryx laughed and put an arm over my shoulder, steering me out the front doors of the palace and onto the walkway.

Ilta grabbed my free hand, pulling us along. “Come on! Tonight is going to be great!”

As it turned out, our first stop was dinner. Ilta led the way into a cute little restaurant. Its entrance was outlined by a line of Nymph trees with branches draping down onto the walkway. Moonlilies and starbells were planted between them, and the scent reached me easily. My enhanced senses as a Fae were something I was still trying to adjust to, but the smell of the flowers being so much more intense was definitely a benefit. They were lovely, and it felt like I got to experience them on a whole new level now.

But it was Calix’s scent that was going to truly do me in. It was all too easy to ignore the scent of the others. Titan’s scent struck me as somewhat familiar, but it was hard to concentrate on when Calix’s night and fire scent overpowered them all. Whether it was because his magic was that much stronger, or because he was my mate, I couldn’t be sure.

Ilta bounced up the engraved wooden door and led me in, and I realized the door’s engravings represented all the elements. Inside was similar, with each corner of the restaurant representing a different element. The mishmash of decor actually blended perfectly together, with the very center of the restaurant where each elemental theme met, being where the bar stood.

“Oh, King Calix!” The woman at the hostess stand bowed her head. “I’ll get a table together for your party right away.” She quickly assured him before bouncing away to do so.

Calix sighed, shaking his head. I smirked back at him. His people wanted to make him happy, despite his wish to be treated like everyone else when he was out. I wasn’t surprised to see some still jumping to assist when he showed up.

The hostess came back swiftly and led us to a table in the fire section, fittingly. She knew at least one dragon sat here, but I could only imagine her shock if she knew another sat with him.