“I’m so happy for you, Asteria,” she whispered in my ear. “You deserve all the happiness in the world.”
Delia was next, but she also looked concerned as she sat down. “If you’re now together, then what’s wrong?”
I sighed, miserably. “We need to find a way to make it work. I’m to be queen of Day, which means to be queen of Night, we have to figure out a way to simultaneously rule both kingdoms, without upsetting either. Since they have to remain in balance, it’s not like we can just merge them.”
“Oh.” Delia blinked, stunned. “Shit.”
I nodded in agreement. “I promised Calix I would find a way. We mean to change things anyway,right?”
They nodded, and I continued with a firm nod that I wished had any confidence behind it. “Exactly. So, we’ll make it work.”
“I know you will.” Ilta smiled, beaming at me. “If anyone can, it’s you and Calix. We all thought abolishing slavery was impossible, but Calix managed it. We thought starlight power was impossible, but you managed that. I have no doubt that you two will find a way forward. You two just make the impossible happen.”
I thanked her with another emotional hug before it was time to go. Sunrise awaited, and we didn’t have time to dally.
“Pris, walk me down?” I asked, tilting my head toward the door.
She raised a brow at me but nodded, and I wished I had more time to talk to her. I’d have to take what I could get.
“How are you dealing? With Callisto being away?” I probed, knowing if I wasn’t here to talk, it was likely she was keeping it all inside. When we last spoke, she had told me she wouldn’t move forward with a relationship until the fighting was done, and I was curious how she was holding up.
Callisto had been sent to the Dusk border just before we left, and while I knew Priscilla had been keeping busy helping Harpina and Lilith settle the humans in, it couldn’t be easy.
Priscilla sighed just as miserably as I had. “I hate knowing she’s there. It’s got to be one of the more dangerous spots, and I know that’s why Calix wants her there. It makes sense, but?—”
She cut off, shaking her head.
“But you hate it anyway?” I pushed, making Priscilla look at me, big brown eyes locking on mine as she nodded with a distinct pout. I pulled her into another hug, and she clutched me to her.
“I think what I hate even more is knowing she loves it. That shewantsto be there,” she murmured, dejected.
“You two will figure this out,” I promised, having to believe it. “This war won’t last forever.”
Priscilla nodded, forcibly putting on a smile. I hated this for both of them. Despite what she said, I knew Callisto couldn’t be fully happy being gone since she also knew Priscilla hated her being there. I was sure the two of them would figure it out eventually, though.
If Calix and I could do it, so could they.
* * *
Flying toward Sunrise,I watched the rest of Celesterra pass below us. We’d been careful not to pass over Dusk, so we first flew over Day before passing over Dawn. As we neared Sunrise, my heart beat harder.
We’d be passing over my old village on the way to the capital of Panchaia, and I wasn’t nearly ready to deal with that thought. I had no idea what to tell my parents or how to explain the truth to them.
Would they hate me? For not being the child they so desperately wished for? For being Fae?
I couldn’t bear to find out.
So we flew on, and as the jungle became visible, I found myself inexplicably excited. I had never had the chance to see it before, but since meeting Calix, my life had been full of the unexpected.
The capital slowly became visible within the jungle, and I swooped down to get a closer look. I had never seen anything like it, and found myself almost angry that this had been so close all my life, and yet I’d never had the chance to explore it.
The palace was situated where the jungle met the ocean, getting the best of both worlds. Tall jungle trees and hanging plants surrounded the palace, while the sea lapped up behind it. The palace itself was multilayered, and it was hard to figure out where one level turned into another. It wasn’t like other palaces I’d seen with clear floors all the way across. Instead, it seemed to cut across at different points, some levels rising higher in some places, others lowered at points. The entire back of the palace sat on stilts within the water and helped support the back end of the palace, which seemed to be built partially on the rock wall coming from the Tritonian Sea.
Large balconies also extended off the palace over the water, all done in the same yellow-tinged stone the palace was made of. Each tower and turret had a pointed teal cap, making the palace match their royal colors of yellow and teal.
Flying around the front of the structure again, I could see that the jungle had actually started to encroach onto the palace itself. There was greenery growing through the stone and places where hanging plants dangled down from it. There was a winding staircase leading up to the main entrance from the ground, and the plants and flowers surrounding it had started to grow up the railings as well.
The stairs also had water under them, I realized, but not from the Tritonian Sea. It looked like the palace was built over where a lagoon had naturally formed before the sea, and they built directly over it for some reason.
