starfall. [ Rhysand ]

XV

the third task.

"Kiara, are you okay? Kiara, wake up," she recognised that voice, the one that had filled her dreams. Rhysand was in her head again, although she still didn't understand the mysterious bond they shared or how she could always feel a thread pulling her to him.

"Good to see you're alive," she heard his voice in her head as her eyes fluttered open. Her cheek pressed against the cold stone floor, while her hands were bound to the throne room. She looked around slowly, her head pounding. She saw sentinels patrolling, but thankfully, Amarantha wasn't on the throne, eyeing her like prey, as usual. Kiara had lost track of time since the second task; the days had blurred after Amarantha ordered the Daematis to invade her mind more frequently.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Kiara glanced around and spotted Rhysand leaning on a column at the far end of the room, playing with a dagger. His expression was impassive; no one could tell he was communicating in her mind. She wondered if she could respond to him.

"Of course you can, you silly Star," he playfully chided her, earning an annoyed grunt from Kiara.

"How are we able to do this? How can we talk in our sleep? I never got to ask you," she wanted to add that she had never got the chance to ask him after she found in the garden the head with his signet on it but she decided to avoid the subject.

"I don't know," Rhysand shrugged his shoulders, letting out a sigh as he balanced the knife on his finger. He did know very well instead.

"You fought back," he finally said after a moment of silence.

"I fought for myself, something I should have done months ago. I fought for why I was brought here. Somewhere, someone needs me, and I want to be there for them in their time of need," she declared, though she had no idea how to find the person that called for her or if she could ever escape Amarantha's grasp.

"You could just start asking if anyone made a wish on the night you were born," Kiara scoffed at his suggestion.

"Yeah, and say, 'Excuse me, did you happen to make a wish on Starfall?'" Rhysand's knife dropped suddenly, causing those in the room to react, but when they realised it was just a clumsy accident, they lost interest. Rhysand didn't pick up the knife though; instead, he locked eyes with her as if she'd said something unbelievable.

"Wait, were you born on Starfall?" she was surprised by his astonishment, perhaps because Starfall was a significant event in the Night Court.

"After Lucien and Tamlin revealed I was a Star, I asked the scribe in the Night Court if he could show me the astrological charts of the night I was born, and I discovered it was on Starfall" After learning about that mesmerising event, she wished she could witness it once in her life, but it could only be experienced in the Night Court, and she didn't trust Rhysand enough to be accompanied by him.

Rhysand was shaken to his core. Kiara had been born on Starfall, and he had made a wish that night. Was it a coincidence? Was she not only his mate, but she was also destined to fulfill his wishes? He couldn't believe his ears.

"Are you okay?" Rhysand left her, and only then did Kiara realide that he had helped her distract herself from the pain in her limbs and her throbbing head. Especially her head. The migraines felt like knives stabbing into her forehead, temples, and eyes. She wished for the pain to end while she wondered if she'd said something wrong to Rhysand. He still remained a mystery to be solved.