As the plans for tomorrow were finalized and the meeting finally broke up, Asteria made her way over to me. A bright smile lit up her face, making her eyes twinkle brightly with starlight. It was still so strange to see those familiar sky-blue eyes lit with the stars instead of the sun.
“Come on,” she said, grabbing my hand. My eyes briefly shot to Harpina’s as we passed, and those amber orbs pierced through me. I shook myself, following Asteria through the halls. What happened between Harpina and me was a one-night-only deal. We both knew that.
While Asteria and Calix may believe they could find a way, Harpina and I both knew we had separate responsibilities. Even if those responsibilities occasionally crossed over. But that crossover would be the most difficult to navigate, I imagined. She was Constable of Night, not to mention my sister’s friend, and therefore, not someone I could have any kind of future with.
Not that I thoughtshewanted that. She was clearly a flirt, and who could blame her when she looked likethat? The memory of that wine-red hair tumbling down her back in luscious curls, caressing over the curves of her body as her narrow waist expanded into perfectly graspable hips that my fingertips indented into as she rode above me…
It would certainly stay with me for a while.
But I had my priorities. And right now, that was the short brunette pulling me out of Tairngire’s palace and striding across the lawns to a destination unknown. I could only assume she was giving Calix some time to speak with his sisters about their meeting with his deceased parents.
What a strange world we live in now.
“Where are we going?” I asked, amused as her head whipped back to me with a mischievous smile.
“We’re having twin bonding time, of course!” she responded, her bubbly tone so at odds with the harder tone she’d used around the war table.
Grief rose in my throat. We both should have had the chance to grow up playing together, not bonding for the first time while at war. Rage at my father was a familiar feeling. Like the well-worn shirt that I refused to part with and wore over and over again, despite my mother’s teasing. But now, that rage focused in on everything Aelius had stolen from Asteria and me.
Our childhoods.
And if things went badly tomorrow, possibly our entire lives.
No matter what fate had in store for me tomorrow, I swore by Hyperion I would not leave Adamah without seeing my father dead.
Asteria’s concerned expression had my rage clearing, and I forced a smile upon my face.
“Alright, lead the way, sister,” I told her indulgently. There wasn’t a thing I would deny her anyway.
* * *
I strapped on my armor,looking at myself in the mirror. After spending a few hours with Asteria at the menagerie, I felt more focused. It was amazing to be able to just spend time having fun with my twin after a lifetime of being kept apart.
It was a firm reminder of what was at risk. What had to be protected at all costs.
I sheathed my sword as I looked at the dark hair reflecting my mother, the blue eyes a copy of my father’s. Would Mother look at me the same once my sword took Father’s head?
I knew she wanted him both dead and alive, equally. The business of soulmates was a messy one, and theirs more so than most. Mother wanted her child protected. She wanted the power Father denied her. She wanted a safe world for us to live in.
But I knew, deep down, she wanted Aelius, too.
Mother and I had always been close, a result of the situation I was raised in and the role I’d had to take. I couldn’t shake the feeling that our relationship would change forever if I killed her mate. I thought of how Asteria would react to losing Calix, and grimaced at my reflection.
There would be Tartarus to pay.
Did Mother even allow herself to acknowledge her conflicted feelings? Or did she bury any hope she had for her mate entirely? We’d never discussed it, not really. She’d only told me that the gods had said Father would have to go, so go he would.
I wished I’d hugged her a bit longer before she left for Avalon. Just in case.
She was holding the city now, and I’d sent a relatively sizeable force to hold Avalon against any further attacks. Hopefully, we wouldn’t have to worry about that. If we took Cyrus and Aelius down today, we could all finally begin to move on.
My life had always been on pause. Waiting for this moment before it could truly begin.
I walked out of the rooms they’d given me in the Fallen Star Palace, making my way through the star opal-lined halls. Tapestries of past royals were matched by tasteful decorations that lined the halls, nothing so extravagant as Father would have done.
I paused as I went around a corner and came face to face with the woman I’d been desperately trying not to think about since that night at the camp.
“Prince Arien,” Harpina nearly purred, raising a brow.
