“Hey,” he hissed, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to him. “I’m not going to apologize for ensuring you’re safe. Especially if I’m not going to be around to protect you.”
She rolled her eyes, yanking away from his grasp, fire sparking in her veins.
“I protected myself for thirty years without your help. I hardly need a bodyguard. You’ve seen what I’m capable of firsthand!”
Lux scoffed, “And how much progress have you made with me? You’re a completely different woman than the one I met in these very gardens. That’s because I pushed you! And don’t you dare act like you hated every second of it—you get off on proving me wrong at every turn, Princess.”
She stomped forward, seething. “Mother above, if you spent half as much energy on getting to know yourself as well as you think you know me, we wouldn’t be in such a fucked up?—”
A throat clearing stopped Astra mid-sentence.
They turned toward Mirquios and Lunelle at the same time, both of their faces perplexed. Lunelle spoke first, already settled back into her perfect princess mask.
“Do you two need a moment?”
“No,” Astra swallowed, stepping away. “The commander was just leaving.”
“Are you not staying, brother?” Mirquios asked, clearly unaware of his commander’s plans.
Luxurious did not so much as glance at his king before turning back toward the Rift. “Send word if you need me.”
Astra did not wait for either of them before stomping off to her bedroom, desperate for sleep, the Tether mocking her with each step.
“Hello?”
Astra wiggled bare feet against the soft dirt and pavers of the palace gardens, all the right elements but in all the wrong order. The moonstone pavers formed criss-crossed lines across the courtyard instead of a central square around the fountain. The hedgerows swayed gently in strange ripples.
Astra glanced at her hands, a golden glow contrasted under the moonlight.
“I know you’re there,” she called out to the ether, a dark chuckle echoing off the fountain in response. Heavy boots knocked against the pavers as Lux rounded the hedges. He stopped fifteen paces away from her, a satisfied smirk painted across his lips.
“Did you bring me here to apologize?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Even in my dreams, you’re a nightmare.”
“Is that how you really feel, Fire Queen?”
“I don’t think you want to hear how I really feel.”
“That’s probably true,” he whispered, a wave of purple guilt rising over his shoulders. He had no need to block Astra in this version of reality, she already knew too much.
“The night we met,” she started, taking a few steps forward, gesturing to the hedges. “Why engage me at all? You could have kept running.”
His jaw tightened, falling in line beside her as they strolled across the garden. “You ask as if you wouldn’t have run after me.”
“You didn’t know how stubborn I was yet,” she laughed.
“Oh, yes I did,” he countered, tucking his arms behind his back as they reached an arch in the hedges, now on opposite sides of the carved opening as they were all those months ago. “We’d heard a great deal about the mighty Fire Queen at that point, and every report was a harrowing tale of the fierce leader who couldn’t be stopped.”
She shook her head. “You’re avoiding my question.”
“I tried to run,” he answered, his eyes holding onto hers. “Knew I should have. I begged at least a dozen goddesses for the strength to do it, but you were right there. I knew I was leaving that evening and I didn’t plan on returning until I’d severed the Tether or sorted it out somehow. I just wanted one moment with you.”
“And you used it to tease me?”
“I used it to scare you,” he whispered, his words harsh. “I used it to make you hypervigilant of your enemy. If I was going to leave you, I’d at least ensure you had your wits about you. You saw how many Solarians I caught in the Midwood. I needed you to feel fear for once in your stubborn life.”
“How did you walk away?” She caught his hand, leaning into his palm. “I keep telling myself that if you could do it, so can I, but here I am.” She drew a shaky breath.
