She scoffed at my words. “Maybe not to you, but you’re from Aurum Quarter. You’re a part of the stars-damned elite Shade in the Aurelian Guild. You worship a different God altogether.”
“What’s the connection? With him, I mean,” I asked, finally prompting the question that had been on replay in my mind for so long.
“You mean besides the fact he’s theliteralking of Solis Quarter? And I happen to be a resident of the same Quarter?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said with a frown. “Besides the obvious, Raelyna.”
Raelyna hesitated, playing with the hem of my shirt before her lashes finally fluttered up, and sea-glass hazel eyes collided with mine in conflict.
“I made a bargain,” she finally admitted as she gestured to the black mark—a discredited mark—above the palm on her left hand. “I made it after Orela’s Marking Day. She marked as an aetherial affinity for a seer, and after Luc executed our father fortreason, I didn’t want her anywhere near Luc or the temples.” Her nose crinkled in disgust at the thought, the smattering of freckles across her cheeks bunching at the movement. “So I made a deal with him—me for my sister. I have to stay with him,obey him, and come anytime he calls for me. For her—so she didn’t have to serve in the temples.”
“Why would he make that bargain with you?” I inquired, my fingers pressing against the mark on her skin. “Especially when it’s clear that the bargain has been broken.”
“Well, that’s a recent development,” she admitted. “But I, well . . .” She hesitated. “I don’t know. Luc and I . . . we have a complicated history. We were childhood friends, and at one point, I don’t know . . . it could have been more, possibly. But Luc’s father—” She trailed off. “Luc had to prove his loyalty to the throne. When he caught my father sneaking in places he shouldn’t have, he executed him for treason.”
“That’s not right. You know that.”
She let out a soft, harsh chuckle, her fingers tracing the golden ink running up my left side.
“I know that,” she said softly. “But it didn’t matter. He’s the king, and I’m just a lower.”
I let out a harsh laugh, anger flaring through me at her words. At howlittleshe thought of herself. “You aresomuch more than your affinity, Raelyna.” My hand moved on its own accord, tilting her chin up to look at me. “Don’t let him take that from you.”
“But he has my sister. Orela’s entire life is in his hands right now, and I can’t afford to make a mistake that would put her in more danger. I just can’t . . . So if I have to play by his rules, for her sake, I will.”
“You can get her back,” I stated, tracing fingers in a delicate pattern along her thigh as she spoke. “Lucanus doesn’t holdthatmuch power.”
She smiled sadly. “You say that, but life’s not always fair. Sometimes you just have to play the hand you’re dealt. And I did what I had to do to ensure my sister would be safe. I still will, even though he discredited me and broke our bargain becausehe believes I’m affiliated withyou. I can’t afford for anything to happen to her.”
“This won’t last,” I vowed to the female who I now found to be sitting on my lap, her legs straddling me as I looked up at her. “He can’t control you forever, so don’t let him control the narrative.”
She smiled sadly, looking at me with an unreadable expression. “That’s good in theory, but it’s a lot harder in reality.”
“Well,” I replied, a soft smile—I found I only reserved for her—tugging on my lips. “I believe in you.”
She leaned into me then, and every muscle in my body tensed, forcing myself not to claim her here and now. I called on every ounce of strength and determination as her intoxicating scent of jasmine flooded across my senses.
“I’m just so tired of feeling like a pawn in someone else’s game,” she admitted. “These past few years have been shrouded in darkness from my father’s death to Orela’s marking, and now this. Luc was never there for me . . . he’s been the one causing my light to fade out. And now, I’m starting to realize just how much corruption he’s spread through the Quarter.”
“Then maybe it’s time for you to change the narrative. When the darkness feels like it won’t let go, just know that starlight always glows brightest in the darkness.”
“Whydidyou start calling mestarlight?”
I smiled as I looked at her. “Because even in the darkest moments, starlight always shines. And I wanted to remind you to shine even when it feels like the world is caving in, surrounding you in darkness.”
“And what happens if I can’t make it out of the darkness?”
“You have faith,” I replied simply, before taking a deep breath and letting a moment of weakness bleed through my words. “But just know that I will always be there for you.”
“Even in the darkness?” she prompted, her eyes searchingthe depths of mine, seeking answers I couldn’t have possibly had.
“I will always find you, starlight, even in the darkness. But it won’t last forever. Light is coming.”
Whatever it was she was searching for, she seemed to have found it as she leaned further into me, the warm heat of her body radiating across my bare chest. We sat there in silence for a few moments, letting the truth of our words linger between us as our trust in each other grew.
“I’m still mad at you, you know?” she blurted into the silence of the night.
“Really now?” I questioned as I tugged her a bit closer to me. “Because your current position is telling me otherwise.”
