“Yourking is worried,” she corrected, sitting up straighter.
“Lunelle.”
She huffed a long, irritated sigh. “I am not avoiding Mirquios. I am avoiding… feeling anything. At all. It has been a long few months, Commander, as you no doubt understand.”
Luxuros nodded, his bronze waves slipping through scarred hands as he smoothed his hair back.
“I received a note from Kwan this morning.” Lunelle perked up at this, tucking her ankles beneath her and fixing her eyes on the commander’s fiery stare. “Seems Yallara has reason to believe her brother may be softening in his stance.”
Lunelle’s lips parted, but no words came. She closed her mouth again. It was much easier that way.
“Kwan says she is to be crowned queen, regardless of the outcome of your trial.”
Her eyes narrowed, the confusion settling in the fine lines of her frown. She shook her head.
“What would have changed his mind?”
Luxuros waved a hand. “That’s none of my business, Princess.”
Her cheeks warmed. She wondered for a moment how much he knew, how much Mirquios had shared with him.
“Once Yallara is on the throne, the pathway to felling Pluto is clear. As are Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Earth.”
Lunelle’s heart sped forward, the commander’s own excitement clear on his upturned lips.
“And the Lunar Court, of course,” Luxuros added.
“Of course,” she agreed.
Lux leaned forward, catching her eye. “Whatever you’ve done, Lunelle, it worked.”
She smiled tightly, a well of strange feelings opening up in her chest.
“What does Astra think?”
Lux stood, brushing his palms against his thighs.
“Astra is not actually part of the rebellion yet. I thought perhaps you might like to bind her.”
“I thought the elves?—”
“Didn’t work out,” Lux sighed, glancing toward the window at the endless night. She saw it then, the strain on him. The weight of loving her sister the way he did. The pain he carried in his heart for her.
“You should be the one to do it, Commander.”
His fingertips grazed the leather cord around his neck.
“Is that your blessing, then?”
She arched a brow. “It is a prayer, Luxuros. Don’t fuck it up or she’ll destroy you.” Lunelle sipped her tea. “And I’ll help.”
The commander laughed, though she saw the heat in his eyes flare.
“I suppose I must express the same sentiment to you on behalf of Mirquios.”
Lunelle nodded. “Let us agree to never become enemies then, Luxuros.”
The commander offered her a crooked smile before he faded quietly, taking his heated bloodline with him.
