Lunelle frowned. “I know she wouldn’t. That’s the problem. She’d sacrifice herself the moment she suspected, but I fear what my mother will resort to if Mirquios is no longer an option. She’d likely throw her at Arcas, or another court.”
Luxuros buried a pained laugh.
“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to picture a scenario in which Astra does not turn Arcas into a pile of ash within five minutes of meeting him.”
His laugh melted into a grimace, a well of thoughts opening within his chest that Lunelle would have followed if they weren’t on such a pressing schedule.
“You know, she might just be the key,” Mirquios said. “When she finds out your mother is forcing you to marry him, she’ll burn the entire court to the ground for you.”
Lunelle wrestled with the way that image pulled at her heart.
“We’re heading to Mercury this evening,” Luxuros said. “We have to meet with our Nova captain, perhaps Astra could come along and we could catch her up?—”
“No,” Lunelle said.
Mirquios turned to her, stunned by her clipped response.
“I do not want Astra traveling between courts. The Rift is dangerous for any of us with how much activity we’ve seen with Solan over these past few months, but she’s… it’s too dangerous. Astra comes with her own set of risks, too. She can be volatile and short-sighted?—”
Luxuros straightened his shoulders.
“Forgive my bluntness, Princess, but you do not know your sister half as well as you think if you fear her safety.”
The commander bit back something else, his eyes narrowed in defense of Astra.
Lunelle squared herself to him. “I am sure in your time with her, you’ve seen her proclivity for flames first, questions later.”
Mirquios cleared his throat. “I know that was true of her in her younger years, Lunelle. But the commander has been keeping me well updated on her abilities and the discipline she’s developed. You should see the work she’s accomplished in Celene alone?—”
“What of Celene?” Lunelle asked, confused as she looked to Luxuros.
Lux shrugged. “I do not know anything about Celene,” he said. “But from what I’ve seen in Ellume and often in response to my own pushing, your sister spends the majority of her energy sparing us the wrath of the Fire Queen, not unleashing it.”
Lunelle did not care. She did not care what they thought they knew about her sister, or even if they were right. She could stomach the consequences of her own actions, but she could not stomach Astra paying for them.
“Promise me you will not take Astra into the Rift,” she said, eyes locked on Mirquios. “And while we’re at it, we cannot ask her to give any more of herself to the rebellion until she knows what’s happened. I cannot allow it.”
He sighed, the Tether pulling between them.
“Promise me.”
“I promise,” he relented.
She turned to Luxuros.
“I will make no such promise to you, Princess. I cannot. And I cannot keep your secrets from her forever. You need to tell her tonight. As soon as possible. Or I will, whether I mean to or not.”
She eyed the men. Luxuros was the closest thing Mirquios had to a brother, and yet there still wasn’t the same cursed blood between them. The fear of losing one another was not carved into their bones the way it lived in ancient markings on hers.
Lunelle stepped toward the commander, her slender frame dwarfed by his as she held his gaze.
“Whatever it is that has passed between you two, whatever it is you think you understand about her… if you’re wrong, Commander, I assure you will pray for the wrath of the Fire Queen over her frigid sister.”
Lunelle left the library in an icy silence, stilling her heart as she prepared to see her sister again.
Lunelle waitedoutside the Celestial Hall until the last possible moment to enter. She could see Astra’s red halo, feel her uncertainty as she quietly wound her way to her seat at the council’s table.
“Ladies,” her mother began as Lunelle made it through the first set of seats. “As you all know, Pluto has declared their intentions to join the Lunar Court and Inner Courts as tensions build with Solaris. Solan’s armies are gathering in the rings of Saturn and Neptune’s seas. We cannot hesitate to send a message of unity.”
