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“It’s true. They did not exist until I was well into my five or six-hundredth cycle. It’s hard to remember.” She raised a teacup to her lips, lost in the memories of a lifetime of lore.

“The gods did not interact with the Living Courts for millennia.

They pulled their strings like puppeteers, but they were never to take advantage.

It was an unspoken rule. But Silas, the first Solar God, fell in love with one of his devotees.

She was a Solar Witch, a worshipper of his who used the power of light to practice magic, and their love child inherited both his capabilities and her magic. He could wield both.

“Silas was consumed with the idea of creating an army of these halflings and spent centuries procreating with as many of his Solar Witches as he could. As they started their own families, the powers carried through their bloodlines without his interference.”

Ehlaria rose, searching for another volume in the oak shelves along her drawing room wall. She pulled a black velvet book, one Astra’s hands knew the weight of well.

“Rowena, the first Lunar Goddess, caught on to what he was doing eventually.” Ehlaria set the book on Mother’s stack. “She was jealous, naturally, but did not have the same ability to spread her bloodline, of course. So she made a deal with the Nether Queen.”

“Luciela?” Oestera’s bright eyes scanned through her texts. She held up a thin manual. “The Gods’ Guide to Shadow Bargaining?”

Ehlaria nodded. “She told Luciela that if she gave her the Shadows of Descended Solar demigods, she would raise up an army of Shadow Goddesses to defeat Silas and take both thrones in the Court Above. Once she wielded both powers as the Divine Queen, she’d free Luciela from her bonds to the Nether and elevate her to the Court Above. ”

“Why would Luciela give up power over all the Nether?”

“Luciela never wanted to be the Court Below’s mistress.

She was sent there for rejecting a Tether with Silas.

It’s a long story—one for another time. What matters is that Rowena made a deal with Luciela.

But there was a problem. The Shadows of the Solar Gods were given to Rowena’s worshippers hoping they’d inherit the powers left behind.

“And they did. Sort of. The Shadow Goddesses were immensely powerful, but they were only half of a whole. The Shadows cried out for their Souls, searching for them, yearning to be reunited. They’d find each other, form Tethers, and then become twice as powerful as they were intended to be.

Rowena was never able to overtake Silas’s armies because they kept falling in love. ”

Oestera scoffed. “Sounds tedious.”

Ehlaria eyed her, a smirk forming on her lips. “Your time will come too, Rebel Queen, and it will knock you so far back onto your ass you’ll regret every snide comment you made to your sister.”

Her cheeks reddened. It was then Astra noticed the ring on her finger, a ruby. “The Martian Prince does not seem like the Tethering type,” Oestera said.

“No,” Ehlaria laughed. “He doesn’t, does he?”

“I can’t focus on that today, Ehlaria.”

“The Light and Shadow gods became an issue.

They realized they were powerful—and numerous—enough to confront the Court Above and overthrow them.

They were sick of their Fates being up to passive leaders who only cared to involve themselves when their power was at stake.

Fearing them, the Court Above came up with a plan.

“To make them believe they were getting their fair share, they offered them their own courts.

They divided them into the Lunar and Solar Courts Between—not quite Ascended, not quite human.

They gave the Solar Court stewardship over all things logic and math, science, and agriculture, as well as time.

They gave the Lunar Court the mystique—intuition, emotion, magic, and spirituality.

They crowned a Solar King and Lunar Queen and then they got to work.

“The gods sowed hatred and bias between the royal families, ensuring that no new children would Tether to their better halves, hamstringing their powers. For good measure, they cut the courts off from one another, too.

“It took generations, but the Lunar and Solar Courts developed their own traditions, cultures, and belief systems. Monarchies became established, the Ascent system fully took root, feeding a constant line of Ascended Lunar and Solar rulers, and no one was ever able to claim that Divine Throne, keeping the Court Above as the final layer of power. All the things you know today are because the gods wanted you kept in the dark.”

Oestera’s eyes were wide, her pink cheeks sucked inward as she chewed on this information.

“I have to get to Leona. She needs to know.”

“Leona knows in many ways, Oestera. Ways unspoken. The Tether reveals things in unseen, unheard riddles. Take that black novel on the top with you. Read it. If you want to do something with the knowledge you’ve gained, you need to understand the full story.

Start with the Rift—the only reason it exists is because a Shadow Goddess and Light God fell in love. ”

Astra released Oestera’s hands, the echo of Ehlaria’s words sending a shiver through her. “How did Leona and Solan even come across one another?”

Oestera’s eyes darted to Ehlaria.

The ancient queen’s lips twisted into something like a smile. “Fate is a strange beast.”

“And sometimes Fate comes in the form of a Lunar Elf Queen who just forgot she invited both the Lunar and Solar heirs to an Equinox party.”

Astra turned toward the culprit in question.

“How many times have you done this, Ehlaria?”

“A few dozen,” she admitted. “But we’re getting close this time, I can feel it.”

Astra glanced at Lux who looked like he might vomit.

“Leona and Solan tried to ignore it,” Oestera said.

“They did their best for years after they met. Solan married, had children, he did everything he could to be a dutiful king… but Leona called to him. Over and over. When she lost her grip on her sanity, we knew we had to stop the gods’ cursed rules that made it impossible for them to be together.

You two probably don’t even realize the danger you’re in, do you? ”

Astra’s eyes widened as Lux’s grip tightened on her knee.

“I think we both have a decent idea of what a cruel twist of Fate the Tether can be.”

Oestera nodded, her smile falling. “For centuries, the Solar and Lunar heirs that Tethered tried to ignore it. They let their hate for the other side overrule their hearts. They went mad, they killed themselves or each other to put an end to the torture. And if they didn’t, the Court Above intervened.

Leona and Solan were as careful as they could have been. ”

They twisted away again, landing in the gardens just outside.

“Hurry, Os!” Leona’s voice hissed as Oestera skipped across the garden pavers. It was late at night. The palace was quiet as they both flung themselves into the Rift. Leona reached back for Oestera’s hand, weaving their fingers together as she reached for a thread.

A pale green cord.

They landed at the Mercurian Gate, greeted by the kind gaze of a familiar face. “Kind Antares,” Oestera bowed and he returned the gesture.

“Through that hall,” he pointed to a door Astra had passed under before. “Solan arrived half an hour ago.”

Leona nodded, pulling her sister into the servant’s hall. Antares followed behind them.

They wove through alleys behind two Solarian soldiers, disappearing into the passage behind The Dune.

“Here!” Maeve Maelstrom waited for them, her bright red lips and aventurine beads illuminated by the Sun rising beyond the alleyway. She pushed open the back door, beckoning them in. Leona and Oestera bounded down the stairs into a basement’s cozy sitting area, chairs Astra recognized.

Solan occupied one, his High Lady Estelle in another. Leona greeted them both warmly, placing a kiss on Estelle’s cheek.

“How is he?”

Estelle beamed, “Oh, he’s a dream, Leona. I hope you’ll meet him one day.”

A ripple of emerald pain ran through Leona’s chest, but she smiled despite it.

“Enough pleasantries,” Maeve snapped, standing in the middle of the group. “We’ve got business to discuss.”

“Neptune and Uranus are in,” Solan reported. “I met with both of their leadership this week. They’ll back us.”

“Pluto, Jupiter, and Saturn are still out. But I have hope they’ll come around soon,” Oestera chimed. “Mars is on board.”

Astra searched for her finger, still wrapped in a red ruby.

“We’re headed to Venus tomorrow,” Antares added.

Leona stepped forward. “Earth is arriving any moment to the Lunar Palace. We’ll wine and dine them this week and feel them out. My sources believe Mother Nature will be thrilled with a chance to stick it to the gods.”

“The numbers are on our side,” Solan said, his eyes holding Leona’s.

“I had a full map of the courts drawn up to track our progress,” Maeve said, handing each leader a thick scroll. “I didn’t want to send them through the Rift, just in case. Take them with you, and Oestera,” she leaned closer. “What’s going on with the…” she gestured to her chest.

“The what?”

“Something in there is weird. Different.”

Oestera shrugged, unsure what she could mean.

She climbed the steps after her sister as they left with their charts in hand, a tearful goodbye between Solan and Leona too hard for her to watch.

As they sailed back through the Rift, she pressed a hand to her chest, unsure of the strange feeling knocking against her ribs.

“I’ll see you at breakfast,” Leona sighed, exhausted. She left Oestera in the gardens, the Moon just peeking over the hedges. Oestera perched herself on the fountain, but no sooner did her shoulders relax than she was back up, the sound of boots hitting the pavers surprising her.

Several dozen Earthen soldiers faded out of the Rift. Mother Nature in all her gilded glory parted them like an ocean. Maidens rushed around, grabbing trunks and bags, ushering them into the palace.

Oestera waited a moment. She didn’t want to get swept up in their current.

“Princess?” a warm voice called out to her, like something she’d never heard before. The notes were akin to the smooth Earthen clay coffee mug Leona had brought her back once from a visit.

Oestera spun, and she never stopped. Her entire world fell apart as an Earthen soldier, late to arrive, reached for his chest.

They stared in a stunned, reverent silence as the Tether took hold. And she knew in that moment exactly why her sister risked entire courts just for a glimpse of Solan.

Why she was about to do the same.

She twisted the ruby ring around her finger, the air leaving her lungs.