But what about Day Kingdom?
They’d been waiting on me for years, preparing for me to take the throne. My mother and brother worked tirelessly to ensure I could come in and take power.
My heart was tearing in two. There was no other way to explain it.
“Calix…” I trailed off, unsure how to continue. He shook his head at whatever my mother had just said before turning back to me. He softened immediately, running his fingers down my cheek.
“It’s late,” he said quietly. “Let’s get some rest. We can reconvene tomorrow and sort out plans for moving forward.”
“Of course.” Arien rushed to say as our mother opened her mouth. Aurelia glared at him, but Arien just walked toward me.
“Asteria.” He dropped to one knee, bowing his head. “I swear myself to you, the one true queen of Day, from this day, until my last day. I will be your sword and your shield. I will stay in your service as long as you will have me. This I promise you, my Queen.”
Emotion clogged my throat, and I struggled to form words. “Rise, brother.”
He looked up, slowly rising, and I gave him a teary smile. Unsure if there was a formal way to do this, I just went with what felt right. “I accept your service. From this day, until your last. But beyond being my sword and my shield, I wish you to be my brother first and foremost.”
Tears formed in his own eyes, and he nodded his head heavily. “Of course, sister.”
I threw my arms around him, and I spied my mother watching. A slight smile lit her face, though she looked uncertain.
I was just as uncertain when it came to her. I wasn’t sure where we stood, or where we might stand one day. But I knew, deep inside, that my twin would at least always be there, whatever may come.
Chapter Twenty-three
Calix
I was fumingas I led Asteria back to the royal apartments so we could talk. The nerve of Aurelia to try to tear Asteria and me apart made my blood boil, and I was near spoiling for a fight. Arien had seemed genuine in his desire to support his sister. But Aurelia wanted to put her on a throne as a figurehead, even if she wouldn’t admit it.
Aurelia had been building power within Day, ostensibly for Asteria, but she also expected Asteria to come to them with no real idea of how to rule. Aurelia had expected to run the show, as she clearly did with Arien. She’d raised him to be her soldier. Similarly, she wanted Asteria to be her key to power.
I didn’t doubt she loved her, but I knew it would be a battle of wills between them. I was so glad Asteria had stood up for herself and what she believed in, and I could see the pride Arien felt when she did so as well.
She was meant to be a queen. Of Day or Night, or some mixture of both, I didn’t know. The prophecy given at my birth clearly tied into the one given at her own. The gods made it clear we were meant to face this together.
Aurelia could fuck off with that separation bullshit, as far as I was concerned.
I opened the door and led Asteria in, watching as she took in the living space around us. The walls had been covered with dusky purple wallpaper, with star opal left around windowsills and doorways for a touch of sparkle. There were several halls leading off the main room to where the numerous bedrooms were, enough of them to fit the entire royal family at its largest.
A gigantic fireplace dominated the space, with a large black dragon head in the middle, its eyes and teeth sparkling with star opal. Its arms came out at each corner, and its claws gripped the edges of the fireplace. Its tail snaked down to the bottom to create a separation between the black wooden floorboards and the fireplace itself.
Two plush tufted black sofas sat vertically before it, and two grey armchairs completed the seating arrangement. A star opal coffee table sat between the two sofas, and a white rug ran underneath the seating arrangement.
Asteria took it all in as I paced the room. She watched me with a frown, and I could see her thoughts working behind her eyes.
She eventually rolled her eyes and began poking around the room. I watched her with amusement, still trying to get my anger under control.
“Where’s your room?” she asked suddenly, and I raised my brow at her.
“It’s this way.” I pointed down one of the halls to where the king’s room was located. I’d stayed in one of the other rooms before my father died. When he did, I was then expected to use the king’s room whenever I visited. It still left me slightly discomforted.
I’d had to do the same in the palace, moving into my parents’ rooms. It was something that always happened when an heir became king. My father had moved in when his own had died, but it was still so strange after all these years.
My palace’s steward had informed me that my father had rearranged the rooms when he took them over, trying to make them his own and less like his late father’s room. My grandmother had still been alive, making it even more awkward for him. She was expected to move out of the bedroom she had shared with her late husband to let her son move in. She’d done so with no complaint, but it never failed to be incredibly strange to me.
I’d redone my rooms immediately, even mourning that I was getting rid of the aspects that reminded me of my mother and father. At least here at the fortress, there was less emotion attached to the spaces.
Asteria immediately took off down the hall, and I followed after her, fighting a smile despite my mood. When we came to it, she breezed right through the door, and I had the image of her doing the same to my bedroom at home.
