Page 147 of Born of Starlight
I took his hands in mine, and he tightened his arms around me. With time away from those woodlands, from the past betrayals that haunted him for centuries, Fen was growing lighter.
The last time I saw Amara for weekly tea, she had commented to me in private that she hadn’t seen Fen look so happy, so himself, in a very long time. My body warmed at the thought that I was able to dull the ache in his heart, at the notion that somehow I had given him something he needed.
There was so much that required our attention, but under the glow of the morning light, with him near, it felt as though it would all be alright. One of his hands slipped from mine to return to where my nightdress ended, meeting my bare thigh.
“We have work to do,” I warned despite craving his touch. When he slid the silk fabric upward an inch, I whimpered.
“Do we?” he drawled into my neck.
“I suppose that I could spare afew‘fleeting moments’ of distraction.”
In Helos…
The bell tower above sings.
The rage of Mattock’s heir hits my tongue—tangy and metallic. He is crowned on the abbey steps, and the people cheer. That rage could easily be turned lethal.Yes, the new Sun King would live long enough to see that anger through, unlike his father.
I lick my lips, thinking of the sweet taste of Corric’s agony as he maddened to death in that high castle above me as a crown is placed on his son’s head.
If only the golden-haired enchantress had been easier to mold, I could have been freed sooner. She’d been so desperate for purpose, so full of that same rage that radiates in the new King as he accepts a crown he does not want.
The bell tower continues to ring a sound of hope. As the crowd cheers for their new King, I look down at them. I see what they all might look like with the skin rotting from their bones.
When the Star Origin had come to bargain, the taste of the starling’s death had been so sweet. I almost hiss at the memory of it, forgetting what body I am in. To absorb her death…it would have been pure bliss.
“Let her live,” the Star Origin had demanded.
I had answered, “Release me, and she shall live.”
“That is not a fair bargain. We will release you. But upon your freedom, you will return the full power of the Origins to our descendants.”
“I beat you all once. What makes you think your younglings can defeat me now?”
When I accepted her terms, she’d snarled.
They might try to stop me. But now I walk the lands again while they lay dormant in that world in between. I will grow strong enough to finish what I started—if only with a little help.
King Emmerick Mattock turns to me. “I’m ready to return to the castle.”
