“Astra,” Oestera whispered, something like tears forming at the ridges of her eyes. “Hold it together. I’m afraid we’re in for a long night.”
Lunelle’s sweet spirit moved over Astra, her slender frame rushing toward them as courtiers dispersed.
“Mother?”
Councilwomen closed in around them. Both Archera and Tula whispered to maidens, sending them in every direction.
“Archera, send for Ehlaria. Someone from Mercury, get Maeve here! Tell them to check their wrists. Commander—” Oestera glanced around the panicked garden, catching Astra’s eyes as she tried to comprehend what the fuck was going on. They both landed on Lux’s motionless frame strewn across the pavement. “Oh dear, Alastair! Wake the poor boy, please!”
Alastair appeared from the rustling crowd, tapping Lux on the back again.
“Hey, big guy.”
Lux’s brows furrowed, one boot in this realm and one in another, but he had the wherewithal to glare at Alastair.
The god grinned. “So sorry about that. If your queen here hadn’t finished Selenia off today, I couldn’t blow my cover.”
Lux shook his head as Oestera stooped to meet his eyes.
“Commander, could I send you to Earth to fetch my husband? You know the court better than any of the maidens.”
Lux blinked slowly and looked for Astra.
“I don’t know what’s going on, either,” she said, shrugging.
“All will be revealed, Astra, I promise,” Oestera said, turning toward another maiden who asked her a muffled question. “Yes, tell him to check his wrist. Girls! Girls,” she said, resting a hand on each of her daughter’s shoulders. “Go change into something comfortable and meet me in my chambers. We have a lot to discuss.”
Astra glanced at Lunelle, who shared the same apprehension, twisting around their ribs in flickering yellows and oranges.
“Let’s go, ladies!” Oestera chirped, disappearing into the palace, a bounce in her step that put Astra on edge.
“Was she... smiling?” Astra asked.
“I believe so,” Lunelle said, astonished.
“Your Highness?” someone asked from behind them.
“You just missed her,” Astra mumbled, pointing toward the palace.
“Actually, I meant you,” the maiden said.
The last thing Astra heard before everything whirred into a black void was Lunelle’s muffled laughter.
Chapter
Forty-Six
Ameera’s voice floated in a gentle wave through a sea of fuzzy half-thoughts. Astra’s eyes fluttered open, her mouth dry and stuck together. “As?”
“Here, drink this,” a familiar voice murmured as someone pushed a cup of tea between her lips.
“Ehlaria?”
“Your Highness,” she chuckled.
Astra’s head swirled again, the edge of her vision dissolving as she fought to hold on to consciousness. “I need everyone to stop doing that. Now.”
“Is that your first official order?” Ameera smirked as Astra’s vision clarified.
