Page 7

Chapter Five

T he Empyrean Sea inhaled, held her breath, and then sighed as Astra stared across her shadowy waves.

Pale crests shimmered under a full Moon.

Salt stuck to her lips and hair, transforming her gentle curls into a wild tangle of fire.

Surely she wasn’t the first Lunar princess to sulk on these crystalline shores, wondering what the fuck was even the point of trying to change the minds of those that came before her.

“I think this is the longest you’ve ever gone in my presence without speaking,” Lunelle laughed, lying beside her sister in the sand, her hair floating in celestial streaks on the breeze.

“Sorry,” Astra mumbled. “It’s been a long time since I had to go up against the queen.”

“Not even a full day back and you’ve already given up on her, then?” Lunelle picked at her nail beds, unwilling to risk a glance at her sister and see the pain in her eyes. The way her lips pursed reminded Astra of many of the paintings in the halls of great rulers in their lineage.

“That’s not fair,” she protested.

Lunelle chewed on her lip, weighing her loyalties. “I know it’s hard for you to be back here after… well, after everything. But she’s not a monster, As. She just has to prioritize in ways we don’t understand.”

“Sure,” Astra scoffed. “She could at least pretend to care about the world outside of these walls. Celene is not the only city crumbling under her neglect. There are entire villages falling apart, or gone now. The optics have always mattered more to her.”

“She cares,” Lunelle insisted. “She sees a bigger picture than we do, As.”

“I appreciate that she’s trained you well,” Astra returned.

She said no more on the matter, plagued by her uncertainty about what was true.

Perhaps it all was. Her mother hadn’t led a charmed life in the palace by any means.

She grew up under the heavy stare of a woman even less tolerant than she was.

When Leona died, she was plucked from her peaceful life in hiding in the Earthen Court and forced onto a throne she’d all but sworn off.

She never even got a chance to mourn her dear sister before she was shoved into her dresses and jewels.

Astra could understand that, couldn’t she?

Wonders struck her as she traced half-moons in the sand.

Did Oestera sit on these very shores, a Martian ruby pinning her hand to the ground, misery her only companion as she considered abandoning everything she’d ever known for a man she’d just stumbled into in the garden?

Did her lungs ache from screaming into the void, her mother turning away from her pain over and over again?

Did her palms sweat from violent anxiety that shredded her from the inside out as she packed her bags to disappear into the Rift?

Did she ever resent the outlet her sister found in the fire in her veins, the violence she was allowed to get away with simply by being born different?

The very same fire she now resented in her daughter.

Perhaps centuries of women came to the same conclusion Astra arrived to as she sat up, brushing sand away from her drenched skirts. Sometimes, there was nothing to do but endure.

Duty would come clawing for her anyway, so why fight it now, when so much was at stake?

She could let the Solstice slip by, make nice with the courtiers, smile, nod like the perfect princess she’d never be. She could play nice, mind her manners, and maybe even manage to make her mother proud.

Then, she could escape back to Celene. If war was imminent, there was no way she’d leave them defenseless.

Courtiers are arriving , Ameera’s voice echoed. She relayed the information to her sister, who drew in a sharp breath.

“Here we go,” Lunelle laughed, nervous for her sister.

While Astra maintained an easy charm about her, Lunelle knew that she was bound to struggle back in court life after such a peaceful three years.

It was hard enough for her to deal with their own courtiers, but hundreds of strangers, each with their own unique cultures and customs, most completely unaware that the Lunar princess could see every flare of emotion in their chests?

Torture.

I’m going back to my room before the collective excitement of half the courts makes me throw up , Astra beamed, already feeling the rise in opinions even from here as they poured in through the Rift’s Lunar gate.

Lunelle rested a hand on Astra’s shoulder, smiling in the way she had their entire lives.

It took Astra nearly two decades to develop even a shred of control over the way her abilities left her vulnerable.

Lunelle had seen her through a thousand meltdowns, her soft nature forever serving as a tie to reality.

The demigods and goddesses of the Lunar Court had some understanding of what Astra was up against, either through speculation or witnessing her younger years, and they mostly made an effort to suppress their stronger feelings.

But the humans of the Living Courts? They tended to have much less restraint.

Astra envied them. Emerald tendrils wrapped around her chest as she climbed up the dunes below the palace gardens.

It must be so freeing, to let your emotions run rampant without the weight of multiple courts on your shoulders.

The monarchs of the Living Courts bore plenty of responsibility, of course, but they would never quite understand the pressure on a Lunar heir, their well-being resting in their palms.

If the Lunar Court thrived, the Living Courts thrived. If they didn’t, well, the Living Courts would be sure to make their displeasure known.

Gathering her soaked skirts, Astra jogged across the sandy line between well-manicured hedges and wild, unkempt beach, careful to avoid the Lunar gate.

The last thing she needed was someone spotting her barefoot and half-drenched.

Her mother would have her sacrificed before she could make it through her maidenhood transition.

Astra crept along the back of the gardens and palace, skimming by windows and pillars open to the ocean breeze. Silk curtains brushed her shoulders, sending goosebumps down her arms. Maidens flitted in and out of rooms as courtiers flooded the gate, settling them in their wings.

The Venusian Court arrived in a slow lull, dozens of dreamy eyes set against gleaming golden complexions glanced along the paintings and busts as they floated to their arrangements.

Astra watched their waifish features, reflected in Ameera’s bone structure, her lineage carved into the hollows of her cheeks and a curious arch in her brow.

“It’s rude to stare,” a deep voice interrupted her observations, causing her to lurch forward.

Had she been paying attention to her surroundings and not just the ethereal Venusians, she would have felt him sneak up behind her well before he was within speaking distance.

Astra spun, dropping her wet dress to cover her bare feet.

She met a jade gaze, so bright his eyes were practically glowing, green as the first hints of Spring on the orchards beyond the city.

The contrast between his eyes and deep complexion was captivating.

She watched in horror as those eyes slipped over her hips and down to her sopping skirts.

“Are you well?” He asked, concern and curiosity wrestling each other in tumbles of red and blues within his broad chest. They fought for dominance beneath a pale green tunic with a metallic insignia woven into the fabric, a lion roaring.

Mercurian, then.

Astra grinned, slipping away into the shadows of the hall. “You never saw me!”

“I’m not sure it matters if I did!” He called out after her, a divine smile spreading over his full lips. “What would I tell people? A half-drowned goddess is on the loose in the palace? Who would believe me?”

Astra stepped back toward him. “Not only would they believe you, but they’d know exactly who you were speaking of.” She glanced over her shoulder, measuring the distance between the stranger and one of the hidden doors in the halls the maidens used to traverse unseen.

His eyes sparked with a gilded amusement. “Ah, you have a reputation for this sort of thing, then.”

Astra sighed. “No. I fear my reputation is far worse. Good evening!” She bowed her head, unsure if his station demanded it, but felt it was better to be safe just in case.

“You as well.” The man tucked his hands behind his back and tilted his head, the red concern in his chest losing out to the blue curiosity, a victory that delighted something in Astra’s soul as she skipped back toward the door.

A sudden craving to shed her title and engage with the rest of the universe as just a girl overwhelmed her.

“Wait!”

Astra stopped, her fingers slithering along the wall looking for the seam she knew was there but couldn’t seem to grasp.

“Yes?”

He pulled at a chain in his pocket, producing a glittering timepiece. His eyes flickered from the face of the small trinket to Astra’s.

“Happy birthday, Princess.”

She smiled, trying to hide her disappointment that she hadn’t been as anonymous as she’d briefly let herself believe. Her fingers found the crack in the wall she’d been searching for and pried it open.

She tossed one last smile to the stranger before disappearing into the moonstone door.

* * *

She’d been asleep for a few hours when she spiraled into a current, a hazy awareness that she was dreaming kept her from panicking as her head slipped under an icy black wave.

The ocean pulled at her curls, whipping them around her as she bobbed in the water and another wave crashed over her. The air left her lungs, bubbling upward as she swatted at the water, sinking deeper with every attempt to break the surface.

The edges of her vision faded as she fell below the crush, whatever air left within her floating away into the ether.

For a moment, there was a peace she didn’t expect.

And then, there was a blazing heat.

Flames licked at her skin as someone looped an arm around her waist and jerked her back through the surf. She slammed against the shore, the sand clinging to her wet body as she rolled and choked on seawater.

She woke up coughing, a lingering heat still soaking into her skin.