The strange twin to the Lunar Throne beside it was now clearly a Solar Throne—the same runes from his cuffs were emblazoned on the back of the gilded crystal arch. She dropped her gaze, showing him the Lunarian coronation robes around her feet, moons embroidered along the hem. When she glanced back up, running her fingers along the arm of the Lunar Throne, he pulled away from her.
Lux shook his head. “Was that the Court Above?”
“I don’t know,” she said, confused. “It might not even be a real place, it could be symbolic for all I know.”
“The music you heard, the call to the throne, it was Solarian.”
“What music?”
“You didn’t hear it?”
“I felt something like music, but not clearly.”
Lux cupped her chin in his hands, enveloping her easily in his grip.
“Who are you, Astra Aurellis?”
“Who are you is the better question, isn’t it? What secrets are hiding within you?”
They stared at each other, frozen in the golden glow of the morning light, unable to detach, unable to move forward.
“The looking glass. Does it sing, as well?”
“Yes,” he whispered. “You heard it?”
“Barely. Just a distant buzzing, but it’s like I knew it was singing.”
“Fascinating.” His fingers lingered against her skin, burning his fingerprints into her face, marking Astra as his whether he meant to or not.
Where are you? We should get back, Lunelle’s crisp voice bounced in the halls of her mind, making her jump back from his touch.
“They’re waiting for us,” she said. “For me,” she corrected.
Lux cleared his throat.
“I’ll escort you back. Wouldn’t want you grabbing the wrong thread and throwing your ass into enemy territory,” he explained.
“It’s no longer your job to worry about my ass, Commander.”
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Lunelle and Mirquios waited at the edge of the Mercurian Gate, now filled with courtiers and their daily travel plans.
Most of them politely pretended not to know who they were, but a few stopped and stared, leafy green curiosity ruffling their chests. It had been thirty years since a Lunarian Princess was spotted outside of the Lunar Court, and now here they both were.
Fire and Ice.
“You’re confident Mother doesn’t suspect your affiliation?”
Lunelle nodded. “Yes. And I intend to keep it that way. It will make things easier when I take the throne.” Astra hesitated to say what she wanted, causing her eyebrow to arch.
“What is it?”
“What if Mother is part of whatever Selenia did? What if she helped her set Leona up?”
Lunelle turned this over in her mind. “I don’t know. I can’t imagine them in leagues with one another. When you were first born, Selenia and Mother frequently fought about you. I was little and didn’t understand most of what was going on, but it always felt tense. She doesn’t seem to have much affection for her mother. ”
