“Aurelia,” Odelina fretted, and I nodded, a sob fighting past my lips. Aelius would come for an update on his son,his heir, all too soon. She couldn’t still be here.
“Asteria. Her name will be Asteria.” A hush met my declaration. I looked up to Odelina, who looked uneasy.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? The gods could take offense,” she asked, but I shook my head.
“Asteria has blessed her, and she will look out for her where I will be unable to,” I assured her confidently.
“What do you mean, my Queen?” the midwife asked, and I looked at my trusted lady, who nodded solemnly.
In a flash, the midwife fell dead to the floor. An unsavory business, but better a quick death than her telling Aelius anything.
Odelina wiped the blood from her knife before returning it to her skirts. “I’ll have those loyal to us remove the body quickly.”
She popped outside, likely to grab the guards belonging to my cousin. Without Beltane, I would be lost here in the capital. He was one of the very few aware of the truth. And he would be ready when the time came. In the meantime, he would help my son where he could.
Aelius would be furious that he wasn’t the heir. But he was a prince, nonetheless. He would have to fight harder to prove himself, but I would raise him to understand why and what the stakes were.
“Arien.” I smiled at my little boy. “You will be Asteria’s warrior. She will wear the crown, but you will be her blade.”
Odelina came back in, and sure enough, Beltane and several of his most trusted entered the room. His men went to remove the body while he made his way over to me.
“Odelina filled me in,” he informed me softly. “A female heir?” I nodded in confirmation, and he whistled lowly. “Things are certainly changing.”
“They are.” I agreed, a smile growing. “But it must be a necessary change. The gods wereveryclear.”
He nodded in understanding and smiled down at my babes. Asteria giggled at him while Arien just batted him away before reaching his hand out toward Asteria. Their eyes locked on one another, and Asteria reached out until their little hands touched. Tears filled my eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to take them both and run in that moment.
“Aurelia, I should get her out of here while we still can,” Odelina interjected quietly.
I closed my eyes, biting my lip to contain my sobs as reality set in. I forced myself to nod. “Hold them for me for a moment?”
Beltane quickly grabbed Asteria, looking more emotional than I expected. “Let me at least say goodbye.”
A tear leaked out against my will, and I smiled sadly while Odelina took Arien for me.
“Can you bring me my jewelry box?” I asked her, and she nodded, confused, but shifted Arien into one arm as she went to grab it.
Once she brought it back, I quickly searched through my necklaces, finding silverium and star opal pieces I could use. I grabbed them and, using my magic, reformed them into something new. It wouldn’t fit her now, but when she was grown, she would have a piece of me, of her home and family, along with the soulmate she’d be kept from.
“Here, make sure the family you’re taking her to gives her this when she’s old enough to wear it,” I instructed, handing the finished piece to Odelina, who agreed solemnly.
I took Asteria back from a teary-eyed Beltane, holding her to me as my stray tears fell onto her baby-soft cheeks.
“This is not the last time you’ll see me, my little star,” I told her, sniffing back my tears so I could get through this. The pain inside threatened to rip me apart. I wanted nothing more than to keep her with me. To raise her to be the amazing woman I knew she’d become. To have the opportunity to keep her safe and happy myself. But instead, I was forced to hand my daughter to strangers.
I’d have to trust them,humans at that, to raise her right. To keep hersafe. I nearly scoffed. They couldn’t keepthemselvessafe; how could they be trusted to keep my precious little girl from harm?
It was impossible to just hand her over and hope for the best. But the gods had made it clear that I was to make the impossible happen.
I would have to ensure she was protected somehow.
Resentment for Aelius rose fiercely within me. This was allhisfault. My daughter being taken from me was a direct result of the threat he presented to her life.
“We will see one another again, I know that in my heart,” I promised, choking back tears. “Know your mother loves you more than anything, and that she will be fighting for you every moment we’re apart. You will come home to an army and court ready to see you in your rightful place.I swear it.”
A hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked up to meet my cousin’s eyes. He nodded, and my face crumpled as I handed Asteria to Odelina, giving a parting kiss on her forehead, “I love you, my little star.”
As Odelina escaped out of the hidden door leading to the planned escape route, I collapsed into heaving sobs.
