We parted, and I brushed away her tears before we opened the door to the war room, entering to find Callisto with a horde of people around her. She was directing chaos. People were every which way—grabbing and unrolling maps, going over documents, speaking quietly to one another, or yelling across the room to others. I blinked at the madness until Callisto looked up and smiled fiercely.
“Asteria, good, Pris found you!” She waved me over. “I could use you.”
I walked over, running my eyes over the boards situated around the room with details and people’s portraits added up, then moved to the map table littered with figures. If our enemies ever saw this place, they’d have a field day. Luckily, Calix was powerful, and his reputation preceded him, so despite the attacks, none dared take the battle to Night’s borders, let alone deep within them to its capital.
“What’s going on?” I inquired, looking at Callisto and taking in the near manic look in her eyes. At least until Callisto’s caramel eyes spotted Priscilla beside me and that mania seemed to fade, replaced by a much warmer feeling.
Callisto was beautiful for a human, with light brown skin that shined with health and thick, curly black hair that bounced as she moved. Her face had a pixyish look to it, sweet enough one wouldn’t expect her to be the hardened leader of the human resistance. She wore all leather today, and it hugged her in all the right places—I caught Pris trailing her eyes up and down her body, and I shot a smirk over at her, causing her cheeks to heat.
“We’re getting rumblings about a possible alliance between Dusk and Sunset,” Callisto explained, leaning over the map and moving a pegasus figure to Sunset, placing it beside the phoenix figure on the capital of Biarma.
“They just arranged the alliance with Dawn.” I began, my brows furrowing. “They haven’t even finalized the actual marriage yet, right?” I looked down at the map, trying to visualize Cyrus’s play—because I had no doubt he was behind this.
“You’re correct.” Callisto nodded sharply. “The wedding for Prince Cyrus and Princess Zerlina is set for a couple of months out.”
“He should be waiting for that before moving on to the next alliance, unless he’s so sure it won’t be stopped that he’s not worried about securing it first.” I thought aloud as I stepped around the table, Callisto and several other’s eyes following me.
“We know what he wants: more power and control. He needs to wrest control from his father, prevent his siblings from usurping him, and fight Calix and Night’s forces. We know he plans to use blood magic to amplify his magic and make superior weapons, but even with that, he’s not ready to move against Calix. He knows he can’t stop Night, even with Dawn’shelp. He’s not a fool, and he knows he’s severely lacking against us at the moment. But he’s impatient, and his pride has been damaged, his control threatened. I’ve seen what he’s like when that happens.”
I shivered as the memory of that day flashed through my mind. The way he took his loss of control and sought to exert control overmeto assuage it. I shook my head, pushing the memory back down deep.
“Calix took me, and this is him reacting. He’s not ready to move forward based on the blood magic alone yet, so he’s trying to desperately pull in more allies so he can move now.” I realized. I looked up at Callisto, and she was nodding thoughtfully.
“Do you think he wants revenge for taking you?” She asked, a bit skeptical. “Not many Fae would bother for a human, but if this is pride talking—” She moved her head back and forth as she considered, her curls bouncing with the movement, before she raised her brows expectantly at me.
I fought back another shiver as I thought about Cyrus. That last day in Dusk Kingdom was a creeping specter that refused to stay buried where it belonged. The anger, the excitement, thegleeon Cyrus’s face as he attempted to take me. I thought back to how he fought everyone to keep me—even risking his precious alliance in the process. Paired with his need to dominate…
“He’ll want revenge, yes.” I swallowed hard, forcing the words from my mouth. “Cyrus needs to feel like he’s dominant in all things and he won’t take being defeated by Calix well. But he—he won’t stop until he gets me back, either. He went to great lengths to keep me with him, and I have no doubt his obsession is unchanged.” I blew out a breath, closing my eyes.
“This is a man who tortures humans for sport. I saw his dungeon, and none of what he did was simple informationgathering. He took…pleasure init.” I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to block out the memory of his face.
Callisto had a sympathetic look on her face when I opened my eyes. I appreciated that she didn’t draw attention to my struggle when she continued. “So, we need to find a way to disrupt this alliance before it goes through.”
“Yes, we absolutely do.” I nodded firmly.
I wouldn’t let Cyrus amass more power.Never. My rage stirred, wanting to rise up and act—but I promised it the time would come.Soon.
We discussed strategiesfor close to an hour before we called it. Calix was due to take court with the influx of lords and ladies coming in. Baach had arranged the ball Ilta had talked him into throwing, and it would be happening later tonight. The timing worked out well as the Festival of Faunus was next week, so everyone coming would get two big events out of one trip. I’d asked Baach why he bothered with the ball when the festival was coming up, only to get a near hour long lecture on the differences in party types and court politics.
The girls were all excited for the ball, regardless. Talking about the dresses we’d all found or purchased, the jewelry we’d wear, shoes, and hair—everything that went into preparing for a grand ball. Even Eris seemed more excited than usual, wearing a slight smile as she spoke about her dress. I was glad she seemed to finally be loosening up some.
My only disappointment was Emmie. While she’d finally come out of her room, she refused to speak to us. Eris promised she just needed time, and the healers Calix sent, ones who specialize in the mind, promised that was the case. I wasn’t so sure about that. They had urged me to see the same healer, to talk about my experiences in Dusk, but I refused. I couldn’t bring myselfto vocalize what had happened, and I didn’t want strangers analyzing me. I’d opened myself up quite a lot since leaving Sunrise, but that was a step too far for me.
Running upstairs to change, Delia and Ilta joined Priscilla and I as we made our way. They helped me change out of my training clothes and were able to whip me up a beautiful hairdo and apply makeup in what seemed like mere moments. My dress was gorgeous. It sat off the shoulder with long sleeves. Dark blue ran along the sweetheart neckline before shifting to silver, both colors equally glittering.
We quickly made our way down to the throne room. I had yet to attend a proper court session, despite having an open invitation. My previous experiences had made me wary, but I was curious about Calix’s lords. Plus, Aibeck and Siria would be attending, and I hadn’t seen them since we were all rescued.
Eryx was waiting at the entrance to the throne room, and I smiled when I spotted him. He knew my reservations about attending, and his support meant more than he’d ever know.
He smirked when he saw us, a hand going over his heart dramatically. “Well, if I’m not the luckiest man in all of Celesterra, to be escorting the most beautiful women of the land to court today.”
I gave him a dramatic curtsy in return, “We thank you, kind Sir, for your assistance with this most perilous of undertakings.” My lips twitched up into a smirk as he laughed, and I heard Delia try to smother her giggling in her hand.
“Of course, fair maiden.” He extended his arms, and I took one, while Delia took the other. “Shall we, ladies?” The sparkle in his blue eyes was teasing, but I watched as his eyes roved over Delia with more intention than the rest of us. My eyebrow quirked at him, and he quickly tried to cover it with a boyish smile.
Priscilla rolled her eyes at our antics. “I’m going to wait for Callisto. She should only be a moment. We’ll meet you inside.”
I looked over at her, but she smiled and waved me off, so I nodded, and we made our way into the throne room. Every time I thought I’d seen everything there was to see of Night Kingdom, I was surprised once more. My jaw dropped as I glanced in every direction, trying to take it all in.
