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The maiden’s eyes searched frantically for a better answer, but it was too late. The scattered colors in her lungs gave her away. Astra pushed past her, determined to keep her composure, but she couldn’t resist kicking the cistern over as she entered her mother’s study.

Oestera sat behind a quartz desk. Her robes and jewels from this morning retired in favor of a simple Summer dress.

Her silver hair twisted atop her head and balanced in place with the help of a crescent-shaped pin.

She did not look up as Astra slipped into the space, her nose buried in some sort of correspondence.

This was the version of her mother Astra held tight to when disappointment inevitably clutched at Oestera’s jaw. She sank into the plush armchair across from her desk and crossed one leg over the other.

Their eyes both landed on the mud clinging to Astra’s hem.

“I won’t pain either of us with that line of questioning,” Oestera murmured as she shuffled her parchment into a neat stack.

It was a peace offering Astra didn’t expect, easing the tension in her spine slightly as she folded her hands over her knee.

“I would like to hear of your time in Celene. Your father tells me you have much to discuss.”

“I won’t bore you for Father’s sake,” Astra mumbled.

“Come now,” Oestera sighed, leaning back in her chair and setting her pen on the desk. “I’m not trying to offend you.”

Astra reset her jaw, willing away the childish impulse to roll her eyes. “Celene is thriving, if you really care to know.”

“My sources tell me you funded a rather large building project last Winter.”

“The city, like many of your villages, was in disrepair. Someone had to do something.”

“The city,” Oestera clicked her tongue. “Was never meant to be inhabited again after their little uprising. But here we are.”

Celene had rebelled under Oestera’s mother, Selenia. The women who maintained the city, Cam’s mother amongst them, refused to pay their annual tithe after seeing no benefits from the crown, earning them Selenia’s endless stamp of disapproval. Selenia’s unforgiving glare settled in Oestera’s eyes.

Trees and their apples, as it goes.

Astra breathed the rage away, tamping down anything that might give way to sparks to be dealt with later.

“You cannot ignore people into submission, Mother. It only gives them time to plot.”

“I suppose Cameren is thrilled to have your ear.” Oestera’s careful veil slipped, a strange mix of emotions bubbling within her Astra couldn’t quite make out, colors she so rarely picked up on others.

“She has a vision and the support of a thousand women. That’s no small feat. You’d be a wise leader to entertain her thoughts.”

Oestera shook her head. “You know so much, but learn so little, Astra.” She rose, pacing behind her desk, the books behind her illuminating softly by the glow of her pale complexion as she moved.

“Cameren is just one of many, many women who have tried to change the tides of this court under the guise of equity without ever considering the impact on every other realm beyond us. The Lunar Court is a small piece of a very large, consequential puzzle, and you all seem to forget that.”

Oestera tapped her fingers against her arms, crossed in a slow-moving fury.

“We are not just spoiled monarchs, getting fat off the backs of our people, Astra. I know you may perceive things that way, but everything we do here is in the best interests of people across the realms, not just ourselves. We are the stewards of the Living Court’s sentiments, the keepers of all things intrinsic, and guardians of dreams and whims. It is our sacred duty , the very reason the Court Above blessed us with our station in the Courts Between, to uphold the traditions that allow the rest of the courts to function without disruption.

Your field of vision may be too narrow to understand the weight of that responsibility, but everything that happens here has a ripple effect on the hearts of courts from here to Pluto. ”

Oestera sat again, leaning toward her daughter. “You hold the dreams of millions in your palms, Astra Leona. Your passions and delusions of a better world have disastrous consequences when you lose focus.”

Astra swallowed the crimson desire to spit on the polished desk. “I believe those dreams rest in the palms of my sister, as you are so keen to remind me.”

“And I will also remind you that those palms are a mere heartbeat away from being yours,” Oestera hissed. Her eyes glazed over with distant memories of her own mother sharing a similar reality check as news of Leona’s assassination spread across the court. “Act accordingly.”

Astra frowned. “So you’ll never change your mind. Never even consider seeing how things function when power is evenly distributed?”

“The traditions are traditions for a reason, Astra. Because they work. They keep everything in balance and protect us from losing control. We lose control, we risk opening ourselves up to an attack from Solaris, and then what?”

“Fine,” Astra scoffed, out of energy to argue. “Aside from the success in Celene you aren’t interested in, what else may I illuminate Her Majesty the Queen’s mind with?”

Oestera graciously did them both the favor of ignoring her attitude, desperate for Astra to stay calm.

“To solidify our alliances in the Living Courts, we’re going to host dignitaries from each Inner Court for the Solstice holidays.

Thirty years is more than enough time to mourn, I think it’s time we celebrated again.

I need you on your absolute best behavior for the week.

We cannot afford to look anything but perfectly aligned as we prepare for whatever Solan has in store. ”

Astra nodded. “No fire, no fury, no fun. Got it.”

“Lunelle will befriend the new Mother Nature. She’s fresh on the throne and green, but if Lunelle sucks up to her for advice on how to take over a court, I’m sure they’ll be fast friends.

I want you to speak to Ameera about keeping the High Regent of Venus engaged.

They know each other from her family’s service to the Venusian Court and should have much to talk about.

And then Mars…” Oestera pushed a breath through her teeth.

Her own tattered history with their king seared her lungs.

Once betrothed, it had not gone over well when she broke off the engagement to elope with a lowly Earthen soldier, shocking the entirety of the courts.

But what was she to do? She hadn’t expected to Tether to Nayson just days after accepting her Fate as the Martian queen.

“Mars will be a tough sell, as you know. The king declined my invitation but offered to send his son, Prince Omnir, which is generous considering. I’d like you to turn your attention to him and try to evaluate their feelings.

He’s young and inexperienced. He could use someone of your prowess to guide him. ”

Astra’s lips ticked up into a wicked grin. “Careful now, that’s almost a compliment, Mother.”

“Almost,” Oestera agreed.

“What of the Mercurians?” Astra asked, curious if they were attending. Their proximity to the Solar Court was always a spot of fear when it came to allegiances, but it had worked against Solan during The Flare. His outburst hit them hardest.

“Ah, yes. The Mercurian king will be here. He took over the crown a few years ago after his father Descended. I’m not sure if he’ll be much of a strategic alliance, what with the size of their armies still so depleted, but leave him to your father.

The king served in the Intercourt Army at the Earthen camps for years after his schooling. They’ll have plenty to talk about.”

“Well, then,” Astra huffed, clapping her hands together to stand. “You have it all figured out as always, Mother.”

“We have to move quickly and quietly, Astra. Before things take a turn.”

“When do they arrive?”

“They’ll trickle in as early as this evening. We’ll hold a birthday ball in your honor on the Solstice. I’ve arranged for a new wardrobe for your approval. Ameera mentioned you arrived with nothing from Celene.”

“I hadn’t planned on staying,” Astra reminded her. “I know you think my coming home for good is the right thing to do, but I’ve built a home in Celene. A community. I would like to return after this alliance business is settled.”

Oestera studied her daughter, eyes scanning the face she’d known in many lifetimes. When she was quietly raging the way Astra was now, she looked so much like her ill-fated sister, it was hard to breathe.

“If war breaks out… when war breaks out, I can’t risk having you in Celene. You’re safer here. If someone were to get their hands on you?—”

“Ah,” Astra snorted. “Of course. It’s not about my safety, but your ability to leverage me.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Oestera insisted. “You are a target, Astra. That’s all.”

The worry in her tone unsettled something inside of Astra as she turned to leave, catching her off guard. She’s always been set aside in her mother’s eyes, meant as a conduit to whatever ends Oestera saw fit, but rarely had she expressed a fear for her well-being.

“Best behavior,” Oestera repeated.

“Would I ever disappoint you, Mother?” Astra asked, notes dripping in bruised anger.

Oestera did not reply, for both their benefit.