Are you awake yet?
I’ve been waiting two sunrises to hear from you. I haven’t slept. I couldn’t. I felt your restlessness, the way you tossed and turned, the way your thoughts raced long after my calculations told me your sky had gone dark. Now that you’ve finally accepted that this is real—finally opened yourself, even a little—I can feel you even more.
I know you can feel me too. I’ve tried to send you peace. The certainty that I feel in the connection that I have with you and the life that we will build together.
No one truly understands the fated mate bond. It’s been studied for thousands of solars, and yet it remains one of the universe’s greatest mysteries. The best minds of my world have tried to measure it, to define it, to quantify it. And yet, all they have ever been able to prove is that it exists. That it is undeniable. That once it takes root, it is unbreakable.
I don’t care what the scholars say. I don’t need their research, their studies, their endless discussions.
I just need to know you.
You, Danika, are the only mystery I have any interest in unraveling. I want to know everything about you. What you dream of. What makes you laugh. What keeps you awake at night besides the stubborn refusal to write me back in a timely manner.
I’m not used to waiting. I find it vexing. But I have no other choice, it would seem.
I’ve moved my entire office next to the portal. The Astravants are furious. The court is annoyed. I have disrupted very important research and highly sensitive political matters, and apparently, I am causing chaos just by existing in a space I was explicitly told not to occupy.
Do I care? Absolutely not.
I am a prince. I will work where I choose. And right now, I choose to be as close to you as possible.
Though, between us, I despise the court. I always have. I was trained for it, of course. My mother saw to that. She made sure I could navigate every conversation, every alliance, every treacherous game of power. My father, however, preferred me on the battlefield. So I learned to wield a blade just as well as a silver tongue. Between the two, I can say this—battles in the throne room are deadlier than those fought with swords.
On the battlefield, at least, I see the blade coming toward me. In the court? It might finds its way into your back before you even feel the wound.
Not that I want you worrying over that. The realm has been at peace for years under my parents’ rule. When I ascend, that peace will continue. I will ensure it. I will allow no one and nothing to ever harm you.
Even though not everyone in court approves of our bond. They all had their own daughters, sisters, and cousins angling for a place at my side. But the bond is not something that can be negotiated, bartered, or arranged. The stars decide. Not mortals.
Because I will never keep secrets from you, and this matter pertains to our rule, you should know that there is a rival claim to the throne. A distant cousin who whispers in the shadows, who gathers allies behind closed doors. He claims I will be unfit to rule because of you. That I am now too distracted because you haven’t accepted me. That if you do accept our bond, the time it will take for you to acclimate to our ways will weaken my hold on the realm.
He is wrong.
Even in your letters, I can already see your brilliance.
But I need you here, Danika. I need you at my side, not just so I can see your fire for myself but so I can begin your training. You must learn our ways, our customs, the expectations of a queen. The sooner you come to me, the sooner I can prepare you for what is to come.
This is why it is imperative that you accept the bond.
So write to me. Put me out of my misery—or at the very least, put my staff out of theirs so I can vacate their premises and return to my rooms. Preferably with you in my arms.
I await your response. Do not make me wait long.
—Orion
Orion,
Hello. Good morning. Do you have day and night there? There are some places on Earth where it’s always day, and other places where it’s always night because of their position to the sun.
I painted the sunrise today. It helped me calm down. The colors, the way the light shifts over the mountains—it’s the one thing that makes sense to me right now. I know some planets have more than one sun, so I suppose it would be different where you are. How many suns do you have? How many moons? What colors are they?
This is a crazy conversation to be having. You have to know that.
You grew up knowing there were other planets, other beings. I had no clue. My father always said there were many planets, many lifeforms, but he also played along when my mother told me Santa Claus was real. So you can see where I might be skeptical.
Do you have Christmas where you are? Probably not, since Jesus was human.
Or was he?
