“What is it?” Astra asked.
Lunelle’s eyes cast to the floor as she searched for a crack to melt and disappear into.
“Lunelle,” Astra whispered. “You can tell me anything. I’m your sister.”
Lux rubbed his chest, stepping closer to them. “She deserves to know.”
A deeply troubled crimson embraced Lunelle’s throat as she swallowed.
“While we were away, I Tethered.”
Astra gasped. “Oh gods, not the Plutonian!” She rubbed her temples, pushing down the bile in her throat. There was something off about Arcas, something she couldn’t understand, something?—
“Not Arcas,” Mirquios said, his eyes closing as he let out a slow breath.
Astra stared at the space between them, their bodies leaning toward each other unconsciously.
Orbiting one another.
“As,” Lunelle whispered, her chest swelling with all of the suppressed colors she’d been holding back from her sister. The only set of eyes Astra cared to look for flickered over her, his burning amber irises assuring her he hadn’t told their secret.
That she shouldn’t tell it now.
Lunelle bit her bottom lip, unable to look away from her sister as she absorbed the information. Mirquios left his perch from the wall and set a hand on her shoulder.
With all the gentleness of a king attempting to prevent war, he explained, “I never would have agreed to our deal and put you in such a precarious position if I so much as suspected. I’d crossed paths with your sister a dozen times before we left. I never dreamed…”
He glanced down at her, a slip of rose smoke rising to his lips as he smiled.
“We were trying to find a solution,” Lunelle whispered. “A way to sever it. We weren’t going to tell you until we had a plan.” Another glare left Lunelle’s face, but her hand rose to rest on Mirquios’s, and at once Astra saw it.
The portrait of a king and queen perfectly suited for each other. Their mild temperaments and soft pastel hearts swirled into a jade breeze.
“Oh.” She let the vision wash over her.
Lunelle’s eyes welled with tears, but before they could spill over Astra felt a snap inside her lungs, and a whoosh of relief flooded into her bloodstream, springing forth from her chest in the form of hysterical laughter.
“Oh my gods,” she cried, falling into a chair and covering her mouth. “Oh,” she laughed again, her face twisted in horror. “No wonder you’ve been so strange!”
Lunelle let a short chuckle escape. “The day you told me you Tethered to Mirquios I felt a piece of me die. I thought it was because I was losing you… but I think I was losing both of you and didn’t even realize it. We’ve had every historian we know between the two of us hunting for a way to sever the Tether.”
“No!” She stood, pushing the chair back behind her. “You shouldn’t! You can’t!”
Lunelle shook her head. “Well, we certainly cannot?—”
“Yes, you can! It makes perfect sense, Lu. You’re both so similar, so calm. Like tranquil seas.”
“Boring,” Mirquios snorted. “You mean?”
“No,” she laughed. “The world needs more of you two and less of my uncontrolled burn, I assure you. And besides, it’s not like we had chemistry on our side. I’d begun to wonder if I could go the rest of my life without—” Astra cut herself off, blushing. Mirquios frowned, but it was the strain in Lux’s forearms as he gripped the back of a chair that caught her eye. “Sorry.”
Mirquios sighed. “I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t been a concern for me, too. Forever is a long time.”
Astra nodded. “Indeed.”
“So you’re not angry? Or hurt?” Lunelle watched her face closely.
Astra shook her head. “Who am I to fight Fate?” Her eyes darted toward the commander in time to see his lips twitch in a pained smile. “We signed no contracts, there are no hard feelings on my end. I assume Mirquios told you the truth of our deal? And it’s not the first broken engagement Mother has navigated.” The thoughts rushed out. “This is a good thing, sister.”
