“Not from where I stood today, girl. Thank the Stars I showed up when I did and thought to grab two Guards when I heard a ruckus in the alley. You’d have gone to Solrend if I hadn’t.” Delphi touched a hand to her heart and lifted it to the sky, an act of thanks to the Stars.
Astraia tried not to roll her eyes at the sign of honor. Delphi believed the Stars were still attentive, alive, listening. But the skies were silent. The constellations did not answer. Not anymore.
“I had the situation under control. But thank you.” Astraia nodded toward Delphi and stood up to leave, tugging her cloak to cover her head once more.
I’ll get it back, with or without the Stars.
“Hmm. Well, take the day off. I don’t need your help with deliveries today,” Delphi replied, “But be careful. You still owe me.”
“Noted.” Astraia slipped out the door.
She scanned her surroundings. The hunter was nowhere in sight, but an eerie coolness crept up her spine, as though a million eyes were watching her every step.
***
It took half the time as usual to reach her apartment. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple, but not from the heat. She was walking around a dangerous city, unarmed, with a bounty hunter stalking her—unsettled was an understatement.
Nervously, Astraia shoved her hands in her pockets to try to subdue the anxiety that threatened to cloud her mind, only tofind something crumpled in her pocket. Astraia stopped mid-stride and pulled out the small piece of paper. Unfolding it, she found only three words scribbled in ink.
Dawn. Starfell Woods. It was in Delphi’s handwriting.
“A few hours? Really, Delphi?” Astraia muttered to herself as she scrunched up the paper in her fist and held tight until she could burn it. Delphi was shrewd, but Astraia could not be too careful covering her tracks.
Rest from the day would have to wait. She needed a few hours to prepare for the journey to the River Hydraneas, including preparing her horse and provisions. It was a two-day ride there and back on side roads that were not well traveled. They would need to avoid the main road to prevent unnecessary questions and any searches from the Celestial Guard. Those were the terms Delphi set, and Astraia never questioned them.
Resuming her trek down the street, she turned toward the stables near her apartment to secure her horse when she saw it. Plastered on the wall next to her was a large piece of parchment paper with the royal seal affixed at the top.
By order of the King of Astradeon, King of the Celestial Court, His Royal Majesty King Maelrik. Any whereabouts of Starborne are to be reported to the Celestial Court for acts of high treason to the Crown. The Starborne are a danger to the entire kingdom and the future of the realm of Astradeon. A reward of great value will be granted to anyone who brings in a Starborne alive to the Celestial Court. Long live the King.
Astraia swore under her breath. This was why Leolus had been arrested and why the bounty hunter had followed her today. An influx of bounty hunters hungry for their share of the reward would mean not only precarious living in Tenebris, but also increased presence on the roads in and out of the city. An unwanted presence that would surely cause obstacles on her journey to the river.
She ripped the parchment from the wall and crumpled it in her hands. She would add this to Delphi’s note to burn tonight.
Chapter 3
Oh, but to marvel at the brilliance. To cast a plea into the heavens, with intrepid certainty. To cling to the echoing of wisdom. To assuredly bask in the blanket of fate. Oh, but to wish for such a time as this. To witness unshakable brilliance in the void.
Starless Night
DAWN SEEMED TO TAKE A millennia to appear as Astraia waited on the outskirts of Tenebris, the main pathway leading into the Starfell Woods to her right. The morning fog had settled on the woods, making it even more ominous than the stories surrounding it. It was said that after the Shattering, many of the mythical stewards of the Constellations were cursed to their beast forms and roamed the Starfell Woods. Vicious bears and wolves lurked in the shadows, their humanity completely forgotten, ready to spring on any unsuspecting travelers.
Astraia’s horse, a black stallion, paced nervously at the forest’s edge. Even he was wary of the tightly packed trees and the shadows that drifted between the branches.
“Shhh, Orion. It’s okay, boy.” She stroked his head. He had traveled into the woods before on one of Delphi’s shipment details, but it did not make the woods any less unpleasant.
She tugged her navy cloak tighter around her with a shiver. She had barely slept last night. For once, she did not dream, but the anxiety of being found again by the amber-eyed bounty hunter tormented her thoughts.
Her ears pricked when a new noise emerged in the distance. A second set of horse hooves broke the silence around her as they trotted up the path from the city, toward Astraia. She removed her bow strapped to her back, nocked an arrow, and aimed for the trail.
The bow was her ideal weapon. She spent years honing her skill, at her father’s behest. She had been gifted the bow along with her Celestial dagger on her eighteenth birthday, both works of art. Intricate star carvings adorned the bow. It was made of Starwood, a rarity that had only grown in what was now the Celestial Wastes. All the Starwood had been destroyed in the Shattering when the Stars collided with Astradeon, creating the Wastes and the Shardlands—a black desert devoid of life. The bow was truly the only one of its kind.
Her hand absently reached for her Celestial dagger, only to remember it was missing. The blade had been forged by the best swordsmith in Astradeon, using forbidden Starshard remnants mixed with steel, giving it a black sheen.
Sounds of the horse and what sounded like the wooden wheels of a carriage grew louder as they made their approach toward the forest. Astraia kept her gaze locked and her breathing slowed, controlled. She pulled her bow taut, feeling the bowstring strain under the pressure.
A brown horse appeared first through the trees that lined the road, a man seated on the buggy being pulled behind it. Behind him, two men on horseback kept an even pace. The lead horse drew closer, and Astraia could just make out the driver’s face. She let out a sigh and lowered her bow.
“Yeer a tad skittish aren’t ye, girl?” the man said loudly as he brought the horse to a stop in front of Astraia.
