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I don’t have any proof that she didn’t.
A burning pain flashes through my core, as heat gathers inside me. My eyes, frozen one moment, only have a second to watch the stars shine in the infinity of space, before I crash back onto the grass, right next to Vespa. Overhead, darkness is fighting light in a blast of purples, blues, and reds.
To my right, I watch Alev of Xion lead a charge toward us in daylight, at the head of his hundreds of knights in black. To my left, the king of night screams as he rushes with his forces.
“Rhea!” Alrion crawls to me, the arrow still protruding from his back. “You were screaming, and then you disappeared. I think Doryn sent you to the void to protect you. I was so afraid. How are you? It was barely a few seconds, but…”
I rise, and my friend falls silent. I don’t know what he sees. All I know is that he’s hurt, in pain. There’s an arrow in his back and I don’t want it there. I take it in my hand and it disappears. Through his torn shirt, I can see his wound shining with silver light as it closes up. He screams, but in instants, he’s staring at me, open-mouthed.
I bring my hand to his cheek. “Thank you for saving me.”
“Rhea—”
I’m Rhea. Rhea Lance. That’s the name I was given by a woman who didn’t love me and a man too weak to think to fight for his daughter. I don’t like it. It doesn’t feel like me.
I feel like a speckle of stardust lost in a world that doesn’t seem the same as it did yesterday, moments ago. It’s weak. It’s beautiful, and something worth protecting from the greed of men, from the horrors of battle.
“I’m Estella,” I tell my old friend, before lifting a palm up in the direction of the two men about to clash on the battlefield.
Both freeze.
They’re far, at least a hundred yards, but I only take one step, and I am right where I need to be, between them.
One is a monster, the other, something else. Something I cherish.
Mate, my mind whispers, and I smile.
Both stare at me in equal horror.
I turn to Alev of Xion, my Kind King, Doplov, and a thousand memories that feel far too removed to truly belong to me crash into my mind.
“Rhea—” I close my fist, and before my eyes, the king of Allea fizzles in a million pieces of ash that fly in the wind.
“Estella,” I repeat, liking the sound of my soul’s name on my lips.
Some don’t like sharing their true names, but I am not bound by laws that could make it dangerous to me. People may whisper it, and I will listen to their plea.
I am the goddess of the lost stars, and there is nothing I will ever fear, in this world or any other.
Never again.
49
CALDORYN
I don't care that she's changed. I don't care that I feel more power coming from the tip of her little finger than I have in my entire being. I only care that she's here, and whole, and hale. I dismount my horse and cross the field in a rush, sweeping her into an embrace.
"I thought I might have lost you. You were fading. I had to send you away, I had to."
She chuckles against my chest. "I'm so glad you did! I met some friends in the void. They were so beautiful, Doryn. The stars."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I can't wait to hear all about it."
The army who followed their mad king is retreating in the distance. I frown as I watch them run, my instincts telling me to give chase, to destroy any threat on Rhea, on us, before they get a chance to regroup.
"Let them go. They can't touch us. We will be known for mercy, not rage or revenge."
Now it's my turn to laugh. "Says the girl who stabbed me for revenge not so long ago."
