If anyone asks, I was feeling ill and went up to bed, Astra beamed to Ameera.
Where are you actually going?
She grinned to herself, Don’t worry about it.
I’m very worried about it, she huffed.
Lux owes Ehlaria a visit.
Ah, she sighed. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?
Now, you know I can’t promise that.
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
“Nothing for the commander’s passage?”
Loleena Nightlark, Ehlaria’s most trusted advisor, materialized against a tree a few paces from them, her stunning features bearing gold paint across her face, a blush pink gown dripping off her lavender skin.
Astra sighed, plucked the second golden comb from her hair, and laid it down with its twin she’d offered just moments before.
“Well, come on then, you interrupted the party.” Loleena grinned, her pearlescent teeth gleaming under the moonlight.
Four other elves slipped between the trees as they walked, flanking them as Lux’s head stayed on a constant swivel in the forest.
“Fascinating. You make the commander nervous,” Loleena whispered.
“We had a run-in.”
“I heard,” she mused. “I also heard the bastard burned alive for it.”
Astra flinched. “Something like that.”
Loleena’s eyes fixed on her as they climbed over a fallen log.
“If you hadn’t done it, the commander would have ripped him limb from limb. You did the right thing. Besides, it was time he got a break.” Loleena glanced over her shoulder, her starry eyes flashing to Lux. “You must be tired of managing the Solarians in the Midwood single-handedly, hmm?”
Astra stopped. The buzz beside her indicated they’d reached the invisible wall between the Lunar Court and Ehlaria’s hidden city, though the charged energy wasn’t what gave her pause.
Lux grimaced, rubbing the Mercurian emblem across his chest. He could have run, that might have been preferable to the fury he watched bubble across Astra’s eyes.
“How many?” she demanded.
Loleena’s chest tightened into a scarlet spiral. “I’m sorry, I assumed she knew. It’s hard to keep things from the Fire Queen.” Lux did not break Astra’s stare or respond to Loleena as her veins sang with a miserable heat.
“How many?”
“Some.” He glanced at Loleena who could not fight the wavering within her lungs. He corrected himself. “No more than a dozen.”
“A dozen!”
Lux reached around his neck, pulling on the cord of the amulet beneath his tunic. “Mirquios brought me here to protect you, and I’ve done my job. They’ve all been one-off assassins, trying to be heroes, we think.”
“There’s that we again–”
“We as in myself, Loleena, Archera, and Daria. We’ve been working together over the last few weeks to ensure the Midwood and Ellume are thoroughly swept for Solarian activity. There’s been a decrease in spottings since your… encounter. We believe the nature of his death may have sent a message.”
