Anger simmered under Astraia’s skin, her teeth clenched as she imagined Draven’s back laid bare and blood pouring from his wounds—wounds inflicted by his own father.
If we was not already dead, I would kill him.
The dark thought surprised her, making her inhale sharply. There was no logical reason for her to care. Yet the idea of anyone or anything harming the man at her side made her instantly vengeful.
“Who is your father?” Astraia asked smoothly, trying to mask her fury.
“No, no, Starborne. One truth for a truth, remember?” He smiled smugly.
Huffing, she readjusted herself in her saddle, an ache already settling in her backside. “Very well, what is your question?”
“Your life before your flare. What was it like?” His tone softened, as did his gaze.
She allowed herself a moment to bask in the sunlit pools staring back at her. The fluttering in her stomach intensified, the fiery warmth returning like a lost friend to her spine, flooding her senses. The waves in her mild stilled, a peaceful calm settling over her thoughts.
For a moment, she was sitting on the banks of the sand dunes near her home. Only this time, it was Draven sitting next to her instead of her lost brother. She breathed deeply, blinking to clear the vision, then set her eyes forward on the road.
“From the moment I was able to run, I was trained to be a weapon. My father did not believe in weakness, neither did my mother. They forced us to condition our body and mind, both Elion and me. I knew how to shoot a bow by the time I was eight and could outshoot most of the men when I was twelve. We ran for miles every day, sparred, warped our bodies into soldiers. When we weren’t pushing our bodies, we were honing our minds. We learned literature, history, warfare, and above all, the bonds of the Stars.” She paused, sighing as she recounted her childhood to a man who wanted her in chains only a week ago. “My father desired nothing more than for us to be selected as Starborne. He would sit at his desk, scheming all the ways he would use our destructive bonds to his advantage.”
She laughed, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “How ironic that I was chosen by Sacrifice. The day I turned twelve, the lumenmark appeared, and my father cursed the day I was born. He said I was a disappointment and a waste. He stripped me of my childhood, carving me into his creation, then when I did not meet his expectations, he cast me aside.” Her voice quivered, but she gritted her teeth, forcing the lump in her throat down. “When the Stars never bonded with Elion, my father lost all his senses. He went mad with his craving for power. He even went so far as to experiment with Starshards. That’s when Elion andmy father argued. The night they fought, the night I flared, was the night Power bonded with me, and that night…”
She trailed off, unable to finish the story. Darkness simmered along the precipice of her mind, slithering along the edge, coaxing her to jump—reminding her of her failure.
It is because of you that he died. His blood is on your hands.
Her chest tightened, and her mouth went dry. Spots danced across her vision as she struggled to remain upright in Orion’s saddle.
“Traia, breathe. Listen to me. Breathe. In and out,” a low voice called to her, muffled and soothing.
She obeyed the voice, taking deep breaths through her nose and out through her mouth. The road ahead cleared, and the sounds of birds chirping and hoofbeats were crisp once again. Grabbing her canteen with shaky hands, she drank until her mouth no longer felt like desert sand. When her lungs felt like they would no longer collapse, she looked over at Draven, expecting pity.
But he stared at her, brows furrowed and jaw clenched. “If your father lived, I would take pleasure in killing him slowly then burning him from the inside out so not even his ashes remained,” he growled as small pillars of smoke bloomed from his skin and glowing red veins pulsed up his arms. His eyes flashed golden, rays of sunlight pouring over her.
Her eyes widened, but the red veins dissipated, and his eyes mellowed with every breath he took.
“You are stronger than any bond. Worth more than any bond. And I am sorry your parents could not see that. Just know that I see you, Traia. I see you.” His gaze bore into her, piercing her soul with not only his eyes but also his words.
Despite warnings from her past, the faint whisper of hope that had blossomed in her mind grew brighter. She extended a hand to the whisper, clinging to it desperately.
“Thank you,” she said, grinning at him.
He smiled back, a small, swift gesture that lit her body on fire. The pull toward him intensified, leaving her to wonder if she would drown in the fires of Rage.
***
The ride northeast was blissfully uneventful with little more than a few weary travelers on the road passing them on their way to Volpes and a few deer spooking the horses. Astraia thanked the Stars that they had not crossed paths with any wraiths, despite their main objective to learn more about their origin and hiding places. No matter how hard she tried, she could not eliminate all the dread of facing another demon of Dominion.
Draven had been quiet since their first conversation on the road, offering only a few jests to enrage her. His mind was clearly preoccupied, but despite her burning curiosity, she did not press him. Instead, she focused on the road and their surroundings and occasionally reached out in her mind for her golden thread—the tether to the Stars. In spite of the light floating in the expanse of her mind, there remained a nagging fear that one day she would call out for her tether, and the Stars would once again disappear.
By early evening, they had reached over halfway to Asynjur and were approaching one of the only towns along their route. Altair was larger than the outlying villages, nearly the size of Aquarian. This part of the country was lush and the ground fertile, making it ideal for farming. The town also happened to be the nearest town to the mountains along Virellia’s eastern border, where stardust was mined. The miners and their families lived near Altair, making it a melting pot of working Virellians, the backbone of the province.
As they entered the town, Astraia ogled the number of people bustling between shops as vendors bellowed out pricesfrom nearby stands. Even at this time of day, the streets were crowded, with all manner of townsfolk milling about. Some wore high-end fashion pieces, resembling the garb of Volpes, while others were covered in stardust from the mines and wore overalls.
Children laughed as they played around the shops, weaving between horses and people. It made Astraia ache for a time of laughter she missed more than Starlight in the sky. When Elion would act ridiculous just to incite their father and then laugh about it while they snuck sweets from the kitchen.
Draven motioned ahead, gesturing toward an inn with stables beside it. She steered Orion forward, leading him into the stables, then dismounted. She groaned, rubbing her low back as she stretched and patted Orion’s neck.
A stable boy, no older than ten, bounded up to her, beaming. “Hello, miss. Can I help you with your horse?”
