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Chapter Fifteen

“G ods be damned,” Astra cursed under her breath as she tightened Riverion’s tack.

“What?” Ameera asked, slinging a satchel over her wyvern’s saddle. Astra groaned and pointed at the door to the roost as it flung open.

She might not drown in his heat any longer, but she knew the sound of the commander’s boots as they stomped down the palace halls and the strange tightening in the air in any room he entered.

“Good afternoon, Commander,” Astra said cheerily, stepping in front of Riverion as though she could hide the saddle and tack she’d just finished fastening. “I thought you were staying in Mercury for the day?”

Luxuros folded his arms. “I had the strangest feeling that I shouldn’t leave you two unsupervised for so long. Can’t imagine why.”

“We’re visiting Ellume for a poetry reading,” Astra said, the same lie she’d fed to Nayson an hour earlier.

“I don’t suppose you’re any better at lying?” Luxuros asked as he turned to Ameera.

“How—”

Luxuros tapped his temple, glaring. “Call it intuition.”

“You can’t come with us,” she declared, folding her arms. Luxuros stepped closer, staring at her over the bridge of his knotted nose.

“I’m not going to let my king’s fiancée traipse around a city with gods know how many Solarians in the court?—”

Astra stomped her foot. “You can’t forbid me from going!”

“If you would let me finish?—”

She threw out the only shred of control she could think of. “I am to be your queen, Commander, therefore you answer to me ? —”

“ Oh!” Luxuros laughed, a dark, murky thing. “That’s hilarious. Oh my gods,” he reached for the stable wall, bracing himself as Astra turned red with irritation.

“Please,” she huffed, rolling her eyes. “Let me know when you’re done.”

“My queen,” Luxuros dropped his head, kneeling before her, chuckling between breaths. “My queen, please, bestow upon your humble servant?—”

She’d had enough. “Commander.”

“Grant me this, Your Merciful Highness, Goddess Divine?—”

“Commander!”

A tear formed at the corner of his eye. “Would that I be fortunate enough to receive just a drop of your kindness?—”

“Luxuros!” Astra stomped her foot as she hissed his name, well and truly furious with him. “You’ve made your point!”

He rose from his stance, standing entirely too close to her as he reined in his laughter. “If you had let me finish, Princess, I am not trying to forbid you from going?—”

“Great! Thank you.” Astra turned to fling her leg over Riv’s saddle but a thick hand caught her belt, yanking her backward.

“But I am coming with you.”

“You’ll do no such thing!”

“As long as you have that ring on your finger, I’m responsible for your well-being, Astra!”

She held her hand between them, smirking as he saw it bore no such jewel. “Looks like you’ve got a free night, Commander.”

Luxuros groaned, throwing his head back in frustration. “And what am I supposed to tell Mirquios when some Ellumian criminal sells his fiancée off for parts? Do you have any idea what the head of a Lunarian dignitary is worth in Solaris?”

“Tell him to light a candle for my Ascent.”

Luxuros growled, “You are unbearably stubborn!”

Astra opened her mouth to protest but Ameera stepped between them. “It’s not the worst idea, As.”

Her eyes sliced through her friend, shocked at the betrayal.

“Ellume is not the same city it was the last time you visited, Astra. There are entire neighborhoods that would skin you alive just for your last name. It wouldn’t hurt to have some muscle on our side.”

Astra’s bones rattled with something like a premonition—a knowing that Ameera was right.

“I don’t want to hear a single complaint about our plans.”

Luxuros folded his arms, satisfied with his victory.

“Done.”

* * *

“I don’t think it’s fair that Ameera got her own dragon.”

Astra sighed. She’d enjoyed nearly a full hour in silence, drifting through the Midwood, when Luxuros stopped pouting and finally said something from behind her.

“You’re too heavy for a wyvern and we don’t have the supplies for a second dragon. Didn’t I say no complaining? Besides, I thought you liked Riverion.” Ameera zipped ahead of them on her smaller creature, her scarlet wings carving elegant curves in the skyline.

The commander rubbed at an ache in his chest as he leaned away from her. “He’s fine. It’s just a little crowded.”

“No one said you had to be up my ass, Commander. Scoot back.”

Luxuros didn’t move, grateful that Astra couldn’t sense anything within his chest, especially the discomfort he battled as Riv dropped again, jolting him closer to her.

“No fighting!” Ameera called out as she dropped below them. “I can’t listen to you bicker all day. We still have four hours before we’re in Ellume.”

“Fine,” they both sighed.

“What is the plan for Ellume?” Luxuros asked.

Ameera’s eyes flickered to Astra’s face, unsure what she should divulge to the commander.

“That’s none of your business,” Astra said. “You’re basically a stranger, Commander.”

He snorted. “Aren’t you the woman who accepted a marriage proposal after forty-eight hours?”

Astra gasped, a silver ribbon of furious shame tightening in her spine. “It was seventy-two, first of all. And second, I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand the nuances of a Tether.”

He bristled. “Someone like me?”

Astra tapped Riverion on the back of the neck, letting him know she was leaving him in charge.

She twisted in the saddle, swinging a leg over the commander’s lap as she turned to face him.

She tucked her brows together and lowered her stare, carving a frown to mimic the pained scowl he so often wore.

“You’re right, Luxuros. You’re the portrait of someone looking to weave the threads of his very soul into another’s.”

Luxuros leaned forward, letting the soft heat of him sink into her skin as a wicked grin slipped over his lips.

“You’re doing it all wrong. I do not scowl , I stare angrily into space as I pray to every god I’ve ever heard of that your stubborn ass will finally listen to something I say.

” He stroked the worn leather over his chest, his face falling into the exact expression Astra imitated.

He sensed it immediately, huffing a sigh before he reset his face into a neutral mask.

“I know I annoy you,” she said, a rare moment of vulnerability softening her eyes. “And I know that we’re stuck together whether we like it or not. But you could at least try to be less miserable around me.”

He let this sit in the air between them for a moment, absorbing the foreign sincerity in her words. “It would make me more comfortable if I knew what we were in for,” he finally said.

Astra appreciated the effort and opted to reward him.

“Ellume’s High Priestess, Ivonne Bloodmoon, is a known contrarian.

She and my mother have a contentious relationship.

Ellume has always been a sore spot for my mother’s control and if Solarians are in the court, I have a hunch they’re coming in through Ivonne’s gates.

At the very least, she’s hunting for the same information we are.

Ameera’s translator reported that she requested a translation of the same novel just a few weeks ago. ”

“Do you think she’ll talk to you? What’s your strategy?”

“I’ll request a meeting with her and feel her out,” Astra said, shrugging.

“That’s it?” the commander asked.

“What do you mean?”

His eyes narrowed. “What if she refuses to speak with you?”

“She doesn’t need to,” Astra said. “I just need to ask her a few questions and read how she reacts.”

His thick brows arched, and his head tilted. “Read?”

“Her emotions.”

“Oh, the things that change with the wind? The things that you can’t access in anyone who’s had a lick of training against you?”

“Even your Mercurians, who you’ve clearly trained well, are still readable to me, Luxuros. You’re the only person I’ve ever met that I can’t get a single trace on. It’s infuriating, frankly.”

“It’s meant to be! You think I’m going to give a volatile demigoddess unfettered access to my inner world? Are you mad?”

Astra shrugged. “I’m a tad disappointed that it’s merely self-control. My working theories were born with a stone for a heart or cursed by some sort of witch.”

Luxuros snorted. “Not nearly as mysterious.”

“On the contrary, Commander. Willfully blocking me is much more intriguing than any mystic magic could ever be. The secrets you must keep.”

He held her gaze, two fires burning against the night sky. Astra turned back around, draping herself over Riverion’s neck, enjoying the whirl of the emerald oaks beneath them as they sailed across the island.

“What’s that?” Luxuros asked, gesturing to a stone gate at the edge of the Midwood, the icy blue Somnia curling around it.

“Celene,” Astra said, unwilling to elaborate.

“Ah,” he nodded, sensing not to push her.

They glided over the rest of the Midwood, the trees breaking against mountain chains and azure lakes before the gleaming crystals of Ellume rose through the clouds. The rainbow river of the Rift poured over their heads as it fell toward the Ellumian Gate at the center of the city.

“We shouldn’t land in the roost!” Astra called out to Ameera. “It’s getting late—we won’t be able to get to the temple until tomorrow. I’d like to catch Ivonne by surpr?—”

“ Fuck !” Luxuros hissed behind her, an arrow sailing between them. Riverion reared backward, a steamy snort blinding Astra as she reached for the reins and the commander’s arms, wrapping them around her waist as she pulled back.

“Hold on!” She called, searching below for Ameera. Another arrow sliced through the air. The commander held onto Astra with one arm and reached for the arrow with another as it arched back toward the ground. He held it between them, examining the markings in the shaft.

“Up, up, up,” he called into her ear. “Shit’s Solarian, As!”

Astra leaned forward, tapping Riv’s neck as he bolted straight up into the sky.

She searched for Ameera’s energy. Where are you?

Above you. I’m fine!