A general disappointment, not directed solely at her for once, but there all the same.
She saw Nayson as Lunelle did—somewhat disheveled, strangely fixated on his plate, and ignoring Tula beside him as she asked after his latest painting.
They just seem at odds, Lunelle sent back. She smiled numbly at something Arcas said, the Plutonian prince’s grim demeanor absorbing any light from the full Moon above. Astra studied him. She’d ignored him before, so certain he would hardly be a memory in her life, but as the days wore on she realized it would behoove her to understand the stranger.
His face was long, drawn constantly into a sharp, arrogant point at his chin. His skin was a pale cerulean, the same shade Astra imagined the Earthen sky stretched over a fair Spring day might be. He was young, starved for power, and dangerous after the ego check of the Outer Courts ousting him.
“Princess?” Astra and Lunelle’s heads both snapped toward the end of the table, where Mirquios stared at them expectantly.
Lunelle forced her gaze away from him. He’d meant Astra.
“Sorry,” Astra winced, the chill of her mother’s stare settling into her bones.
“I was telling Arcas here what a talented rider you are. He has an affinity for dragons.”
“Oh,” she sighed. “Do you ride?”
Arcas shook his head, hardly letting his eyes leave his teacup. “I don’t. But I find them fascinating. We don’t have them in the Outer Courts.”
“Perhaps you could introduce him to Riverion,” Luxuros said, lifting his head from his plate for the first time since breakfast was served.
“Do not take the prince near that beast!” Oestera declared, the sturdiness of her tone drawing the eyes of the entire table. “You’ll forgive me, Arcas, but Riverion has a history of unpredictable behavior around men,” she followed up, smoothing her skirt as she spoke. Her eyes blazed against the morning moonlight, two silver flames burning through Astra.
“Odd,” Mirquios observed. “Luxuros seemed to find him quite amiable. I’ve yet to brave the introduction.” The commander set his fork down, glaring at Mirquios.
Lunelle’s voice shrieked in Astra’s mind. Astra Leona, you let the commander meet Riverion!
No! No. Astra set her lips. Lux snuck up on me in the roost. He threw himself in Riv’s claws before I could get the warning out!
Lunelle eyed her sister carefully, an amused smirk crossing her fair lips.
“I’m sure Riverion would be nothing but kind to you, Your Highness,” Nayson declared, louder than necessary as he gestured toward Mirquios. “He respects the worthy. Right?”
Astra looked from her father’s bewildered expression to Mirquios’s deeply entertained grin.
“What do you say, Fire Queen? Would I stack up to the commander in your beast’s eyes?”
Luxuros hung his head forward, reaching for another cup of coffee.
“Only one way to know for certain, my king,” Astra said, her breath strained as a rush of giddy pink ran through Mirq’s chest.
“The commander can have Riverion’s affections,” Mirquios said, sipping his tea as Lunelle watched him. “I will not fight that battle.”
Nayson arched his eyebrows and drew in a long, unsteady breath as Tula attempted again to engage him.
Astra had little else to contribute for the rest of the meal.
“You told him!”
Astra shoved Luxuros against the damp cellar wall of the distillery. She’d hauled him down the stairs after breakfast, her nerves wound tightly in her back, sweating.
“I had to,” Lux hissed, hands dropping around her waist as she batted at his chest. “I had to,” he repeated, holding her blazing glare. “When I returned to our rooms this morning, he was… also… on his way back and we ran into one another! We’ve been friends for thirty years, he knows me too well. He saw it all over my face.”
“On his way back from—oh. Oh,” she breathed, tapping her fingers against the commander’s leather vest. “I see.” She bit back the blush warming her cheeks, glad for her sister but distressed that their secret had already gotten away from them twice in one morning. “This is impossible,” she sighed. “Maybe we need to keep our distance, at least until we figure out the Mirquios and Lunelle of it all.”
His hand splayed against the small of her back, the cool air beneath the palace driving her closer to him.
“Perhaps you’re right. I could go back to Mercury for a few days. Let things cool off.”
