Mirquios left her at the Mercurian gate, pointing to a hall across from where Lux had taken her when they visited The Dune. The Sun was long gone, leaving everything in a cool, dull haze.
Astra followed the hallway in silent steps, wondering where, exactly, the aventurine doors led. Lux’s room, perhaps. Or maybe a courtyard. Her hands rested on the smooth, pale green doors before she shoved them open.
A sprawling open-air market unfolded in front of her, dead silent at the late hour. Stalls were boarded up, lamps extinguished. She strolled through tents and carts, patchwork covers tossed over artists’ precious work and shelves of rare artifacts. A swirl of foreign spices lingered in the air, dancing with delicate perfumes. It looked like it went on for a mile. She was tempted to stop at a cluster of shelves housing books from the Outer Courts, but a throat clearing caught her attention.
She spun, hyper-aware that anyone could be here in the dimmed lights.
“Miss?” A woman stepped out of her tent, maybe a few years older than her mother. “I have a gift for you.”
Her wide, green eyes were just like her king’s.
“For me?”
“Yes,” she whispered, the same lilting accent as Mirquios and Luxuros entrancing her as she dipped behind a clothing rack. “Here.”
She pulled Astra into her tent, incense burning in the corner drifting a soft, herbal scent across her collarbones. She ran her fingers over the racks, the fabrics rich in color and delicate to the touch.
“This one.” The woman handed her a deep green pile of fabric.
“What—”
“Put it on. He was right, green is your color.” She made a show of busying herself behind her makeshift counter, so Astra wasted no time. She slipped the ornate coronation robes off her shoulders and let them fall into a heap of silk on the floor, replacing them happily with a simple, unremarkable dress that fell in a dark wave over her hips, stretching over her curves.
She’d seen women wearing similar dresses when she was here last time in the street. Sturdy, comfortable, normal.
“I’ll put this one in a bag.” The woman reached for her coronation robes but Astra waved her off.
“Could you sell them?”
Her eyes widened. “Miss?—”
“Could you?”
She nodded.
“Then they’re yours. Where did he want me to go next?”
Her lips pressed into a smile. “End of the stalls, two rows over.”
Astra ducked out of the tent and jogged lightly toward the end of the market stalls, much more mobile in her new dress. She rounded the corner and saw it—one singular lantern lit, dangling over a wooden sign with an Earthen court insignia carved into the grain.
However much he paid the poor teenager waiting behind the counter was not enough. His eyes sparked when he saw the queen and he lurched to life. He reminded her of Nayson, the same kind, warm eyes, and olive complexion.
“Evening, miss,” he called. “Coffee?”
Astra glanced around, expecting to see Lux waiting, but she was alone. Her heart raced as she approached, a kettle already singing over the fireplace behind him.
“Coffee would be great,” she smiled. He crushed dark beans against each other in a metal burr, collecting the grounds in a cloth before resting it over a clay mug. He poured slowly, letting it bloom before running the rest of the water through.
Astra felt the pull of him in her chest but held her gaze on the cup as she reached for it, lest she ruin his entrance. A bronze hand jutted out beside her, landing on the cup first.
“Oh,” Lux murmured. “My mistake.”
Astra turned, letting her eyes linger on his hand before sliding over his arm, clad in Earthen armor she hadn’t seen before. She couldn’t stop the grin from breaking over her face at his earnest expression, committing to his bit.
As their eyes locked, he reached to the back of his neck and pulled at the leather cord, letting the amulet fall to the ground. He dropped any last inner defense he might have clung to all at once, the rush of it crashing down on them not quite as intense as the first Tether, but so much more beautiful. Lush greens, dreamy blues, sweet violets—they all tangled with passionate reds and pinks, vibrant sunshine yellows and oranges.
They swept around her, catching her breath between her ribs.
