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Chapter Eight

“G ood morning, future Queen of Mercury!”

A white blur bounced up and down at the foot of Astra’s bed, much too enthusiastic for the early hour.

“What time is it?” Astra groaned.

“I brought you breakfast,” Lunelle chirped, flopping a tray piled high with pastries near her feet. “Figured you’d rather fight a dragon than deal with last night’s regrets by the hundreds in the dining hall.”

“Goddess bless you,” Astra mumbled, smoothing her hair. She was thrilled to avoid the heavy hangovers of the nobles—wait. “What did you call me?”

Lunelle giggled, tossing her sister a knowing glance. “Like you didn’t spend nearly all of last night on the arm of that king, or tucked away in your study with him.”

“That doesn’t signify?—”

Lunelle’s amused gaze flashed. “Please. Since when are you so modest with me? He looked at you like you were the Mother herself. You can pretend all you want, As, I know what I saw.”

Astra didn’t respond as Lunelle fussed with a croissant, pushing a cup of coffee in her direction.

She’d much rather her sister assume she had feelings for the king than poke at the fear coiling in her chest. She sipped the hot liquid slowly, letting it soothe the ache in her uncertain bones.

Her sister watched her with playful eyes, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

She took three long, measured sips before setting the mug down, Lunelle’s eyes still watching her. Oh, fine. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to plant seeds in case she did have to go with the plan swirling around her mind . “He was not terrible,” she admitted.

“Oh , I knew it!” Lunelle sprang up, spinning in a circle. “The mighty, infallible Fire Queen has a crush on a king, of all people!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Astra muttered into her coffee cup. “I have much more important matters to worry about. I have to figure out how to get Mother to release me back to Celene.”

Lunelle pulled one of Astra’s hands into hers. “Mother is not keeping you here to punish you. Things are getting more tense by the minute across the courts. We need you here.”

Astra dismissed her, choosing instead to focus on the buttery pastry and berry jam before her. “Tell me how your night went.”

“You know me, I prefer to observe,” Lunelle said. “Not nearly as exciting as your night.”

“You could do with some excitement,” Astra mumbled around a bite of pastry.

Lunelle glared as she plucked a strawberry from the tray. “I have plenty of excitement coming my way in Winter. I’ve been in training misery for my coronation trial. Last month, I caught Mother lining up portraits of eligible nobles to nominate as champions.”

Astra frowned. It may be frustrating that her mother was actively trying to auction her off, but at least she didn’t have to endure a coronation trial.

“Anyone interesting?”

Lunelle shook her head, her lips falling into a pale line. “How should I know? I’ve been locked in Lunaria for thirty-two years. You’re my only friend,” she laughed, squeezing Astra’s hand. “Allow me to use this week as a distraction and live vicariously through you.”

“While you’re observing , can you keep an eye out for anything strange?” She made every effort to keep her voice even as if asking about the weather or tomorrow’s dinner menu, but her chest broke into a cherry-red alarm.

“Did something happen?”

“No,” she answered much too quickly. “I just have a feeling, Lu. Something is off.”

Lunelle nodded, never one to second guess her sister’s premonitions. “I should go. I have meetings all day with these courtiers. Whoever scheduled Mars and Venus back to back should be hanged.”

Astra laughed. “Perhaps your meeting with Venus will go long and run into the Martian prince’s nap time.”

Lunelle’s lips curled into a smile, a soft giggle flowing over her shoulders as she left. “I’ll see you at the beach this evening?”

“With bells on!”

* * *

Astra reached for her fourth glass of moonshine under the linen tent, staked into the soft sand of the Empyrean shore.

“Perhaps you should slow down,” Ameera whispered.

Astra’s eyes focused on the roses dripping from the center of the lavish tent. Well, they made an attempt to focus. Ameera may have had a point. She sighed and set the glass back down, gladly accepting the water her maiden offered instead.

Beyond the tent, courtiers played their hands at a spirited round of Star Cross. They gripped wooden mallets and batted glowing orbs down the beach toward silk nets, whooping and hollering as they went.

At the tables, older courtiers played dice games and cards. Astra plopped into an empty seat and Ameera sat across from her as she shuffled a deck of divination cards. Their slick, painted faces made a satisfying clicking sound as they slipped over one another.

“What will it be?”

Ameera sighed. “If it’s another bad omen, please don’t tell me. I’ve had enough.”

Astra smirked, flopping out three cards from the top of the deck and turning them over in quick succession.

“All coins,” she muttered. “You best go put some money down on Lunelle’s team,” she said as she waved her hand toward the Star Cross court. Ameera did not hesitate to take her advice.

For better or worse, Astra’s intuition was rarely wrong.

“How much for a reading?” A low voice hummed as Mirquios slipped into the seat across from her.

“First one’s free,” she chuckled, sliding Ameera’s cards back into the pile.

“I’ve never had my cards read before,” he confessed.

Astra shuffled the deck, letting her fingers move on their own accord, reluctant to twist Fate any more than she was already conspiring to. “They only mean what they mean,” she advised. “There is no magic within their colors or names. Whatever they stir within you is exactly what’s meant to be.”

Mirquios nodded, leaning back as he sipped his drink, watching her with heavy eyes.

He was handsome, she allowed herself to admit as she set the deck on the table.

She closed her eyes, waving her hands over the deck and listening to the whispers in the wind for numbers. They rushed forth all at once. Thirteen, forty-one, nine, twenty-six.

“Gods above,” she murmured, opening her eyes and counting through the stack as the numbers arrived. She laid each card out in a diamond configuration.

“The Lovers,” Mirquios said, grinning as he reached forward and ran his fingertips over the card closest to him. “Well, then.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Astra warned. “You have to consider it all within the context of each other. You don’t get to pick and choose.” She studied the cards, letting the story before her fall into place.

“The Lovers are reversed to you, signaling something may be out of balance, or blocking you from receiving the kind of wholeness you could have. And The Tether is also reversed.”

“That doesn’t bode well.”

“It doesn’t bode anything, Mirquios. Only what you want it to.

” She pursed her lips, running her fingers over the brightly painted colors of the other two cards.

The Nether Queen and The Rift stared back at her.

“Fascinating,” she whispered. “There’s so much in transit here, a grand weaving together of threads?—”

“The Nether Queen is suspicious.”

Astra’s lips curled. “She’s not nearly as scary as one would think. We often associate her with Descending, with death, but she really represents change—acceptance of your flaws so you can be your most authentic self.”

“Huh.” Mirquios nodded, unsure what to make of that information.

“It only means what it means,” she repeated.

“I hate that,” Mirquios said, laughing as he drained his drink. His eyes flickered to the edge of the tent where a large group of Venusian and Earthen courtiers entered, the volume escalating rapidly. “Would you like to go for a walk?”

Astra nodded, stacking her cards neatly and placing them back in their wooden box as she rose. Her skirt dragged behind them as they carved a path down the beach, away from the raucous crowd. The stars glittered above, punctuating their comfortable silence as Astra tiptoed at the edge of the water.

Mirquios watched her from the grass line, delighted in the way she glided into the surf. He stepped forward, drawing in a deep breath. “May I be forward with you, Astra?”

She stopped skipping over the rolling waves and turned, her silk skirt folding in the tide around her ankles. “Of course.” Her blood twisted like the currents below as he spoke, eyes fixed on the shoreline.

“We’ve heard rumors in Mercury that a certain Fire Queen has a much more progressive outlook on the world than her contemporaries.”

Astra chuckled, folding her arms around herself. “That’s a kind way to say it. My mother thinks me a foolish dreamer.”

“The powers that be always do. I think we might have similar dreams, Astra.” Mirquios stopped pacing. “I heard about a restoration project you helped fund. Celene?”

Her eyes widened. “You’ve heard of Celene?” The confusion tangled in her throat. They’d done so much work to keep Celene quiet and protect its fragile ecosystem, if the Mercurians knew about it, who else did?

“Only whispers,” he assured her. “I believe there is a woman there who left a Mercurian village to seek refuge from her husband. Alana?—”

“I know her,” Astra said quickly, the young woman’s face so clear in her mind. She’d arrived half-starved, with deep purple bruises around her neck.

“She sent word back to her sisters, one of whom is friendly with a member of my court. When she heard of the project, she told me. We’ve been discussing Mercury’s future for a long time, and the court system.

When we heard a Lunar princess was proving the concept…

even without your mother’s invitation, I would have sought you out for your advice. ”

Astra shook her head, hardly hearing him. “Do your courtiers know what you’re considering?”

“Only a select few. As you can imagine, there would be outrage and counter-movements. The establishment will not distribute power easily.”