“What’s the rosy pink? In your chest?”
She pressed into him, closing as much space between their bodies as possible, letting the delicate hue rise within her as she tangled her fingers into his hair. The soft pink glow consumed her, a glittering silver thread dancing through the middle.
She swallowed as she felt it glowing within him, too.
“That, Commander, is the kind of love gods tear rifts through time and space for.”
Chapter
Forty-Nine
“Anyone else?”
They’d been at it for nearly nine hours, debating the plan that seemed to rise from Astra’s bones. She’d heard just about every concern in the universe at this point and they’d sorted through every one of them.
Lux slipped a plate of fruit on the table next to her, patting her shoulder as Pluto’s Captain, Kwan, stood to speak again.
“I believe we have enough outlined to move your plan into action, Astra. The details can come together as we go.”
“We’ll put it to a vote,” Astra stood, her legs sore from yesterday’s hike through the Court Below. “Mercury?”
Maeve smirked, lifting a glass of wine. “Aye.”
Astra went around the room, each Nova Captain raising a glass and confirming their support. Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto all followed.
“And the Court Above?”
Alastair tilted his head to the side. “Aye, even if I think it’s a bit dramatic.”
Astra grinned. “If we want word to spread quickly, a little excitement is a must.”
He held his hands up in surrender.
“That leaves the Courts Between. Lumas?” The Lunar Captain nodded, Daria hovering behind him, a strange mix of pride and resentment in her chest.
Astra took a deep breath and glanced over to Luxuros, his smirk permission enough.
“And what says the Solar Captain?”
The air left the room as dozens of eyes followed hers to the Mercurian Commander, arms folded across his chest. The collective swell of chartreuse confusion ringed the room.
“Aye,” he said, a stark confidence in his answer.
“Then we’re decided. This evening at my coronation ball, I will make the announcement. Lumas, Cam, Daria, I’ll need to speak with you. There will be some tumult for our court after and we’ll need to have a plan.”
“Everyone else,” Oestera added. “Make yourselves at home.”
“Are you ready?”
Ameera stood beside her outside the Celestial Hall doors, the buzz from the crowd inside a manageable hum, as long as she focused on quieting her mind.
Astra took one last second to adjust the robes that fell over her hips, their glistening metallics capturing the moonlight in perfect bubbles of gold and silver. The cape behind her flowed like a dream, slipping over the onyx floor and casting a warm hue around her. Originally designed for Lunelle, the maidens worked all night to embroider gilded Suns between the Moons, a touch she was grateful for.
Her mother pinned her hair into a soft cascade of curls down her back. A starry crown balanced at the back of her head like a halo—the gilded stars bounced light all around her, the soft glow nearly letting her pass as a Light Goddess.
Nearly.
She tossed one last look at Luxuros, who faded back behind the doors as they swept open.
