“The first Queen!”
“Queen of Day!”
“The Star Queen!”
On and on it went, and the brilliant smile on my twin sister’s face was a thing to behold, with tears lining her eyes and starlight rising around her and giving her a sparkling aura.
I couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to go from a slave to a queen in a matter of months. I was so proud of her it almost hurt. It would be an honor to serve as her General, in a way it had never been serving under my father.
She was a queenworthserving.
Chapter Forty
Asteria
I’d never felt quite soout of my depth.
It sort of felt like I was playing pretend, dressing up in the outfit of royalty and acting out the part.
But this wasreal.
And I wasn’t sure if I was actually up to this task. Calix and Arien, and truthfully everyone else, too, assured me that I was, but I was left adrift as people asked me questions that I had no answers to.
“How do you intend to rule Day Kingdom while ruling Night as well?” Lord Dritan asked me with a raised brow, his face communicating his doubt quite clearly. His red hair fell around his face in long waves, and his dark orange eyes set into a deeply tanned face were quite intense.
“We’re working on a more detailed plan moving forward for ruling both kingdoms,” I told him, giving as polite a smile as I could manage.
If anything, though, his brow arched higher. “Code for: you have no idea.”
I fought a cringe. It really was. I had no clue what I was doing or how I was going to do it.
I knew I didn’t want to lose Calix. I knew I had to rule Day.
Those two things had to find a way to exist simultaneously.
But deep inside, I feared there wouldn’t be a way. That the gods only brought us together for their own purposes, and once we’d accomplished them, we’d be forced apart. Looking at my mother only increased that paranoia.
She was given a mate, and for what? To have me? To bring about these prophecies? Given the promise of an immortal lifetime of love and happiness only to have it yanked cruelly away?
Would that be Calix and me?
I knew how I felt about him, but I couldn’t say the words. Saying the words gave them power. I always knew love had the power to break people, but I never truly understood it until now.
Calix and I hadn’t had much time to discuss our relationship since we’d gotten together. We’d slept together, and we’d made our feelings clear. I’d even moved into his rooms—despite spending only one perfect night there thus far.
A selfish part of me was grateful for that fact.
I didn’t know how to face what was to come. I didn’t know how to explain how lost I remained.
But facing Lord Dritan now, I couldn’t show that kind of weakness. So, I lied.
“I have no doubt that Calix and I will develop a plan that makes everyone happy.” And I hoped he couldn’t see the truth all over my face.
I was still determined not to lose him. I just needed to figure outhow.
The rest of the night was just as strange. Walking around and greeting nobles, meeting soldiers, all of it as the queen… I felt like a fraud.
Even if the gods had shown their approval quite explicitly.
