Selenia showed up shortly after you left.
Where are Lunelle and Mirquios?
They haven’t made it back yet, Ameera said, confusion settling over her face.
They left when I did. That’s not possible!
Lunelle’s words echoed in Astra’s mind—Oestera had told her to wait.
Her fear was showing. She knew it. She pictured herself sitting on the edge of the canyon in her father’s painting, her feet dangling over the edge, a bronze hand on her knee. The court’s inner voices slowed, the emotions running low enough for her to adjust, for her anxiety to level out.
“My darling Astra,” Selenia sang from her perch. “How was your Descent?”
Oestera and Nayson both watched their daughter, analyzing every line in her face. Every twitch of her lips.
She set her jaw, searching for a word to encapsulate what she hoped would be the wildest evening of her life. “Informative.”
Alastair left her before Selenia, fading into the crowd toward Lux if the pull on the Tether was a tell as he moved away. Behind her, three thuds and a soft gasp from the crowd announced the arrival of Lunelle, Mirquios, and Arcas.
“Oh, that is interesting,” Selenia grinned.
“Get him help,” Astra cried, gesturing to Mirquios, who collapsed as Lunelle lost her grip on him. Ameera darted from the crowd, several maidens trailing her with various bags and herbs. Lunelle kneeled beside him. Arcas hovered behind her, looking nearly ready to pass out himself.
“What happened?” Oestera asked, but Selenia held her hand up in what seemed to be a favorite maneuver of hers.
“I believe you have something of mine,” she said, her eyes fixed on her granddaughter. Astra nodded, reaching around her neck and freeing the clasp on the locket, letting it dangle between them. Selenia pursed her lips.
“I’ll admit, I’m impressed, Astra. I thought you’d end up in the Court Below permanently.”
“Take it,” she spat, tossing the locket onto the stone pavers between them. She stepped back, desperate to get to Lunelle, to make sure they were okay.
“Don’t scurry off now,” Selenia cackled. “You’ll miss all the fun.”
“I’m maxed out on fun for the day,” Astra argued.
Oestera’s eyebrow twitched.
“I hope you can find some capacity, my darling girl. It would be a shame for the Lunar Queen to miss her own coronation.”
A ring of whispers encircled Astra, eyes widening as the breath left her lungs.
“Wh—”
“You were the first Lunar Heir to return from the Court Below, no?”
Astra shook her head, no words forming on her lips. Her stomach dropped, and she thought for the second time that night she would vomit in front of everyone as she felt the Tether in her chest loosen, Lux moving closer through the crowd.
“And yes! There’s our first champion. Luxuros!”
“I did not—” She gasped for a breath. “I did not participate in the Shadow Ceremony!”
“You didn’t?” Selenia stood from the throne, her deep violet gown falling into a pool of night sky at her feet. “Because I distinctly recall dear Alastair informing me you’d confronted the very worst of yourself in a dream. The call to power you can’t give up. You touched the Lunar Throne, and yet you did not stay. And this evening, surely you encountered the Nether Queen in your travels, yes?”
Astra stared at her, a crimson flare pushing a breath into her lungs.
“If I know Luciela,” she said as she clicked her tongue. “She would have made you an offer you considered taking, hmm?”
Astra’s vision blurred.
