Isleptlike the dead that night, for as amazing as flying on a dragon was, it exhausted muscles I didn’t even know I had. Then Titan and Harpina, who had decided to join Titan in training me, worked those exhausted muscles to their breaking point. By the time I was done, I was forced to take a nap just to be able to get through lunch. I wasn’t used to so much physical activity, but I had to acclimate to it if I wanted to be part of the Resistance and the coming war.
I didn’t have magic, super strength, or speed like the Fae—I couldn’t go to war on a hope and a prayer. I needed to know how to fight. Titan assured me that he would get me to a sufficient level of skill in time, and Harpina promised to teach me some dirty tricks females could use while fighting. Once I got to that point, anyway—I had to manage holding a sword for longer than a minute without my muscles screaming first.
After lunch, I decided to wander around the palace to familiarize myself with the areas I hadn’t been to yet. I stopped to examine the art on the walls, which seemed to be depicting the Otherworld, especially Tartarus for some reason, when Calix walked around the corner—stopping short as he spotted me.
“Asteria.” He smiled, walking towards me, and it was only then I noticed Ilta trailing his steps. “What brings you over here?” I was in a part of the palace that contained offices, so I had no real reason to be here.
“Sorry.” I winced, ducking my head so my hair hid my face from him. “I just wanted to explore a bit.” Old Gods, maybe this was a bad idea. Cyrus would have been—
“You don’t have to apologize, you’re free to explore as you wish.” Calix insisted, looking somewhat bemused by my apology.Right, Calix and Cyrus were two very different people. Cyrus had instilled a fear in me that was hard to shake, but I had to stifle that instinctual reaction. I was free now, and Cyrus couldn’t touch me. I would repeat that to myself until I stopped acting like the scared mouse I certainly wasn’t.
“If you aren’t busy though—” Calix began, a hopeful gleam lighting up his eyes. “I could show you the place I told you had to be experienced in person. My meeting this afternoon was delayed so I have time if you do.” He looked genuinely excited at the prospect, but Ilta looked between us with an indecipherable expression on her face.
I bit my lip, knowing it wasn’t exactly smart to be alone with him, but—I was too curious to see this mysterious place. Curiosity won out over caution.
“That’d be great.” I replied, and Calix’s face lit up with a smile that made my agreement completely worth it—the man could blind a girl with that thing.
Calix brought me out to the stables, where we saddled up Elatha and Arianrhod. I was pleased I’d get some more practiceriding, no matter where he was taking me—though after riding on a dragon, a horse just couldn’t compare. But I would take what I could get, anything to experience that thrill of flying through the wind, completely unfettered.
I followed Calix’s lead as he led us over to the east side of the palace, opposite to where Cosmic Dust Stables sat. Moving out past the palace grounds, we came to a small river that had a bridge arching over it, leading to the other side. The bridge was made of some kind of gleaming gray stone, with specks in it that sparkled in the sun. We led the horses over the bridge, their hooves clopping loudly on the stone, and were immediately enveloped into the woods. The sound of hooves was replaced by rustling leaves and bird calls, and my next inhalation came with the scent of wood and faint floral notes.
The forest itself was made up entirely of Darkelm trees, stretching high to the sky with thick black trunks, their branches extending out like they were drunk—more squiggles than straight lines, branching out every which way. They were topped with red leaves that looked like blood against the black wood.
“They change color throughout the year.” Calix informed me as we trotted along the path carved through the woods. “Since it’s the Harvest season, their leaves are red, but they’ll shift to silver for Zima, and then into green for Pranvera and in Sommer they’ll become a shining gold.” I looked around, trying to picture the different colors.
“What’s your favorite?” I couldn’t help but ask, curious which season brought the best view of the forest.
Calix paused, his brows flying up in surprise. “I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me that.” He barked a laugh, but then took a moment, giving the question some consideration.
“Silver.” Calix nodded, his gaze seeming to look somewhere far off, and I wondered what he was seeing in that moment. “When the trees turn silver, the forest looks like a blanket of stars froma distance. With the prophecy—” He stopped abruptly, shaking his head. “Anyway, silver is my favorite, even if I prefer Pranvera and Sommer as far as weather goes.” He smirked, trying to shift the conversation, but I was stuck on what he hadn’t said.
“What prophecy?” I prodded him, but Calix just shook his head, and it was clear I wasn’t going to get answers right now. I knew the royals all had birth prophecies, gifted to the parents by the Oracle prior to their children being born, but Liviana also spoke her fair share of prophecies, so it could really be anything.
“We didn’t have these back in Sunrise.” I offered, looking around at the Darkelms, hoping to nudge the now deathly silent king into talking once more. “We mostly had shatay trees, which always had green leaves.”
Calix nodded, head turning slowly to look at me. “I’ve been to Sunrise many times, the capital anyway. It’s well known for those jungles, and for good reason.”
“I didn’t live near the jungle.” I clarified. “That’s mostly all up north. I lived on the coast in a little village that surrounded a vineyard.” Speaking of Sunrise brought my parents to mind, and the many questions that would forever be unanswered—how were they doing, were they okay, did they miss me? I’d tried not to think of them at all since Placement Day, and I suddenly felt terrible about that. I thought it would make it easier, just to bury it and move on, but this place, and these people, had been ripping open all the seams I’d stitched around my heart, until every single thing I had buried in there came roaring out.
Calix seemed to sense my shift in mood, concern shining in his eyes, and it felt like he was staring straight into my soul.
“Tell me about it.” He urged softly. “About your home.” He somehow understood intuitively that I was struggling, but his words left me equally choked up.
“It wasn’t home. Not really.” I confessed, before it all spilled out of me in a torrent. I told him about growing up in Sunrise,about my parents, even about the girls in my village and Soren. By the end, I was red faced and embarrassed to have unloaded so much on him, but Calix just smiled softly at me.
“Thank you, Asteria.” The aurora was back in his eyes, and I couldn’t help wondering what I’d said to stoke such emotion in him. “For trusting me with your past. I know it’s not easy, but I’m honored that you shared it with me.”
I looked down, letting my hair hide my face as I tried to find words to respond, but after spewing out so many, I’d apparently run out. I just nodded, and Calix let me be, riding along in silence as I gathered the pieces of myself back together. He was too good at figuring out my emotions, somehow knowing exactly what I needed.
As we trottedalong the path, a few bugs had flown into my face here and there, and I’d swatted at them as I’d been talking, but now that silence had overtaken us, the bugs seemed to nearly triple in number—all of which had apparently decided to target my face. I sputtered as I tried to get rid of the rapidly increasing number of bugs, but for every one I swatted, three more appeared.
“What in the Otherworld?!” I shrieked as I almost fell off the horse trying to dodge them.
Calix’s chuckle was distracting, deep and throaty, sending a shiver through my body. “They’re starflies. It’s strange, they normally avoid people.” His purple eyes were sparkling with dark laughter as he watched me try to get rid of them.
I gave him a look, letting him know exactly how unimpressed I was by his leaving me to deal with them on my own. As one landed on my arm, I jumped in the saddle—thank the Old Gods Faethren horses don’t spook like normal ones. I looked down at the insect that assaulted me, and paused as I finally got agood look at it, realizing it was actually quite pretty. Unlike the gross bugs I’d dealt with in Sonmathion, these had long gossamer wings in a shining silvery color, their bodies layered with a sparkling refraction of light that gave off the appearance of millions of colors. It looked like the refraction of a diamond or a star opal, with a multitude of colors hidden within, leaving me riveted by their beauty.
“See? Nothing to worry about.” Calix exhaled breathily, and I swung my head towards him. The reverence he showed was certainly more than the situation called for, and I tilted my head, disturbing a few of the starflies in the process and causing them to flutter around my head.
