Lunelle dodged a maiden as she cut through the room. She slipped along the wall and to her window, determined to stay out of the way. Below, in the palace gardens, the Venusians bathed in the soft moonlight, their ethereal bone structures catching and holding onto any light they could.
“Do not forget to pack her long sleeves,” a commanding voice cut into the room.
Lunelle spun as her mother, Queen Oestera, strolled into her bed chambers with High Priestess Tula on her heels, dutifully scribbling notes as the queen spoke.
“It’s the middle of Summer,” Lunelle protested.
Her mother stopped, her endless celestial gaze searing against Lunelle’s skin.
“Pluto may be a great distance away, but they still see the Sun, darling. You’ve yet to contend with its harsh burn.”
“Oh.” It was all she had to offer. She hadn’t considered how drastically different the Plutonian Court might be from hers. She’d hardly had time to come around to the fact that she was heading away from home at all, let alone as far away as possible. “And you’recertainyou need me there?”
Oestera tilted her head, a soft smile tugging at her lips. “I will not always be here, Lunelle. This war will be fought for years, not months. It’s important the Inner Courts see you as the leader you were born to be, and this summit in Pluto is an excellent chance for us to hone your skills as the Lunar queen.”
The words settled like stones in her gut.
“The prince?—”
Oestera waved her hand. “He is young. Frightened. He has no one to guide him through the disaster he’s found himself in. We can be the wisdom he so desperately needs.” The queen pointed to a set of delicate pearls, their pale blues and whites swirling on a gilded chain. “Pack those, as well. They bring out her eyes.”
Lura darted forward silently and plucked the strand of pearls from Lunelle’s vanity to pack away.
“And are we concerned about this prince noticing my eyes?” Lunelle asked, a brow raised.
Her mother shrugged, eyes focused on another sparkling set of gems.
“If we find the prince to be amiable, I don’t see why he shouldn’t be considered for your coronation trial.” Tula and Oestera exchanged a quick glance, Tula’s pen gliding across her parchment as she tracked another string of thoughts. “We’ll leave within the hour,” Oestera declared, sweeping from the room.
Lunelle sank her hip into the bay beneath her window, her pale complexion somehow holding even less color.
“You forgot about your trial in all the excitement,” Lura said quietly, handing Lunelle a cup of warm tea.
“I hadn’t forgotten about the trial,” Lunelle corrected her. “But perhaps I’d forgotten about the champion aspect.”
Forgotten was generous—she’d damn near forced it out of her mind as the day drew nearer. It wasn’t that she was opposed to the ritual itself. The coronation trial held a beautiful significance for both her family and her court, but she’d never quite understood why she couldn’t go it alone—why champions were forced to participate and compete for her hand.
Lunelle blushed a deep strawberry, annoyed by the image of a man beside her at the end of the trial as if he would bear the same weight in any form.
Lura hummed quietly beside her as the rest of her maidens cleared out, pulling trunks and garment bags behind them.
“Much can change beneath the Summer Sun, Princess,” Lura murmured.
Lunelle turned toward the window, watching the Venusians trickle toward the Lunarian Gate. They fell gently into the Rift’s myriad of colors whirring beyond the crystalline arch, letting it take their lithe frames up and into the ether—no hesitation, no fears.
None of that godsdamned uncertainty that whispered into her ear, even now.
What do you actually want?
Lunelle watchedher sister dart back into the palace, her shoulders tense as she eyed the Rift humming beyond the gardens.
The Mercurians did not hesitate to slip into the current of colors, falling back into the mystic river from the edge of the Lunar Gate’s platform with a frivolity she envied.
“It is simple,” her mother assured her. “Not nearly as daunting as it appears.”
Lunelle bit her lip, watching the Lunar Sentry and maidens begin their entrances into the Rift.
“You’ll fall in, but it cradles you in a way, it doesn’t feel like a free fall. You’ll locate the Plutonian thread—it’s a deep sapphire—and grab hold. It will pull you to the Plutonian Gate, and that’s that.”
