Page 65

Ignatia

A throne of silver and white sits before me under a sky of gray clouds.

Yes, the throne room has no ceiling. The walls of cement are jagged, as if a giant yanked the roof off.

I look down to my hands and hair. My hands are wrinkled and my hair is dark gray instead of brown. I narrow my eyes down at my stomach and realize I've gained some pudge.

Since when was I so elderly?

“Father will be happy to see you,” a gentle voice chirps beside me. I turn to the middle aged woman with dirty blonde hair beside me. Her skin wrinkles at the corners of her familiar forest green eyes. “He's been waiting all of his life to see you again.”

I squint and scan her face. Sabina?

“He really changed when you left all those years ago. He's never been able to move on from you.” Possibly Sabina smiles but there's a hurt that shines in her eyes.

If she's really who I think she is…“You mean… Amias never married?”

“His heart always belonged to you,” Sabina nods. “He couldn't give it away to anyone else.”

My heart drops. I love him, but because of that, I hoped he would move on.

He had dreams and wishes to fulfill. I didn't want to be the reason he gave it all up.

Though it wouldn’t be right to judge. I'm guilty of doing the same.

"Sabina? What’s this talk about-"

I turn around to the raspy voice behind me, different yet familiar.

There, standing under an archway to the room, is a skinny elderly man. His head is full of hair still, but thinner and white, and he has wrinkles around his eyes and the ends of his lips. His cheeks seem soft for his age though.

His jaw hangs, and as soon as I look into those familiar blue eyes, I recognize him.

"Amias…" I whisper.

“Ignatia…”

I make an effort to run over to him, though I can't move as fast as I would like from my back aching, so it's more of a hurried walk.

Damn, I really need to work on my back muscles.

We’re finally close enough to embrace, and I give him the tightest squeeze I can manage. I smile so much it already hurts my cheeks. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," he murmurs. We pull away from the embrace to make eye contact. "You've been in my soul all of these years."

"It's not the same without you,” I whisper.

He chuckles before holding my hands. "We have so much to catch up on."

"Yes we do," I let him lead me out of this place as I wrap my arm around his. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off me.

Finally, back together at last.

I blink and suddenly he’s not in front of me. Instead, I'm facing the burning star as I'm lying in an abandoned den I found to keep myself warm during the cold night.

It's been about seven days. I've made it to the desert. Caelestia shouldn't be too far now. I've walked through endless white sand for two days.

I sigh as thoughts of the dream flood my mind. Amias and I reunited at the end of our lives. I have already cried too many times to sob again, but the thought of having to wait so long fills me with dread with what's to come before then.

I miss him… but I have to wait until the world is ready for us.

I twist my body in the dark den to get my backpack from behind me. I take the cold metal water bottle from the side pocket, with a layer of blue sparkle covering it to keep the liquid at its temperature.

It's almost empty. I have been using it sparingly.

I climb out of the den with my backpack over my back. I will find my new home soon. I just have to keep going for about one more day, and I'll be there.

◆◆◆

It took all day, but I finally made it

Caelestia, the kingdom of fire and stars, stands tall in front of the orange sunset. The buildings on the skyline stand like towers of sand, sharing it's same color. The lights inside each window are as orange as Estrella's star.

I can't bother to walk into the city. I'm tired from traveling so far and the heat of the star.

It's finally night, and I am close enough that I can go tomorrow morning.

But for now, I take one last sip of water, zip up my jacket for the night and lay down on the sand.

I'm close enough. I'm safe. I'm safe in Caelestia.