The power of two will be her crown.
Together, they will usher in a new age
Though not without a war to wage.
A queen of stars and a king of night
Are the only hope to see the world made right.”
Cyrus and his plans, the threat of chaos, all of that must be the darkness sweeping across the land. Meaning that Cyrus was planning a new order for Celesterra. The thought of it sent chills down my spine. With the threat of blood magic, we’d be at a disadvantage, and he would surely not allow that advantage to lapse. He’d be killing humans at a rate never seen before.
But that’s where we’d come in.
A light to brighten my darkness.Asteria. Blood certainly did seep, her own lifeblood draining her enough to snap the cage on her magic and allow it to heal her, unveiling my mate.
An eclipsed star lost. Her power was starlight. And if I was right about who she was, then she was indeed "lost" to those who loved her. An eclipsed star, however… an eclipsed moon meant one hidden in darkness. I suppose that was one way to view what had happened to her. Who she really was, was hidden away.
The power of two will be her crown. That one alluded me, but I was sure it would make sense eventually.
Together, we would usher in a new age. That was the line that had my people so eager for so long. The promise of a new, better world in the aftermath. But aftermath was the keyword there.
Not without a war to wage. The war was now here, after all these years of biding my time and fretting about the balance. Cyrus seemed bound and determined to throw this world into chaos and drag the rest of us down with him. Bitter and angry, obsessive and paranoid, I couldn’t think of a worse ruler for the people of Dusk. Even his father, despite being a dick, wasn’t as bad as his heir.
The last lines of the prophecy, a queen of stars and a king of night, are the only hope to see the world made right… they deeply concerned me. They always had. The implication of the world being made right was that, of course, it would first bewrong.And somehow, only Asteria and I together could fix it.
Was the world doomed to fall to chaos?
Knowing what we were up against, I knew I had to get Asteria to talk to me sooner than later. Besides the pull I felt to her as my mate, we had to be aligned to face the coming war.
It was with that thought that I was determined to get through to her. I couldn’t let Asteria be at risk just because I failed to reach out to her when it was needed most.
But I knew everyone in this damn palace would try to ensure she was left in peace to adjust. Blocking me at every angle. In any other circumstance, I’d be grateful to them for it. But now, it was a serious bother.
Thankfully, no one could avoid sleep forever. And I knew without a doubt that Asteria would be there in the darkness of my dreams.
I was probably more excited than I’d ever been to sleep. The drive to see my mate was riding me particularly hard as I tossed and turned in my sheets, wishing I could just reach out a hand and find her within them as well.
One day, if I got this right, she’d be there.
Darkness greeted me as an old friend. I sighed in relief to find myself in the dream space Asteria and I somehow seemed to share.
Details I was never able to fully capture with the barrier in place between us became immediately obvious now. Asteria was floating among the darkness, shining as brightly as a star. And to my surprise, she was petting an equally luminescent dragon.
My breath caught in my throat. I knew the myth of the moon and sun dragons from the time I was old enough to remember the stories my father told me. Always about our ancestors in some way, but spun in a more fanciful way for a child. As I grew older, he began to tell me the true versions, and he’d always insisted the moon dragon was real. The child of Erebus. A many times over great-aunt, I suppose.
And there she was. Just as real as my father had wholeheartedly claimed. I blinked away the sudden moisture in my eyes. I hadn’t cried over my father since I’d learned of his death, and I refused to do so now, especially in front of Asteria.
I nearly chuckled as I realized she waspettingthe moon dragon. It was just such an Asteria thing to do. And surprisingly, the dragon trilled in pleasure at her attentions. At least until she seemed to start nudging Asteria toward… me.
Our eyes locked, and the darkness around me was taken up by purelight.
Chapter Six
Asteria
Dreams heldme in their grip.
Flashes of Cyrus, Calix, Emmie, Harpina, Eryx… on and on. I couldn’t escape their hold.
