"𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐔𝐏," 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐃; 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐒 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐌𝐘𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒.
𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙃𝙄𝘾𝙃 the youngest archeron was
born with her soul bathed in starlight.
...
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✧ ˚ 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐇-𝐋𝐈𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐒, leaving anyone's imagination to run wild with the possibilities of what could be lurking within the darkness. The only other times Asteria had roamed these halls, she had not once been alone; accompanied by either her sister or Rhysㅡthough, she supposed being alone was preferable to being caught by one of Amarantha's loyalists.
Some people were afraid of the dark. Some, like Asteria, feared weaknessㅡand that weakness causing the suffering of her loved ones. Perhaps the smartest among any vast population were the ones that feared the unknown.
Asteria clung to the walls, her heart beat roaring in her ears. She was grateful for Rhys' monochromatic wardrobe, the dark coloring of his tunic allowing her to blend into the darkness a comforting amount more, even though the starlit strands of her hair easily gave her awayㅡeven if she wasn't a human caged by Fae. The logical part of her, the one that feared, knew what she was doing was stupid, but how could she ignore the way her soul cried in anguish? When she just knew it was his anguish?
Something echoed in a nearby corridor, causing terror to root her feet into place and press her body further into the jagged walls. Nothing else came from the sudden sound, but she debated just returning to Rhys' room and waiting for him to return to her. After all, what could a weak little human girl do for a High Lord of Prythian?
She forced her doubts from her mind with a stubborn breath. No, she needed to be strong. And so, alone in the utter silence of the mountain, Asteria carried on.
Eventually reaching a section of the mountain lined by doors, she paused to to take a moment survey her surroundings. If she had to guess, these were the living quarters for the lower ranking members of the courtㅡor at least, lower ranking than Rhys. They had passed this area when Rhys led her to his room, which meant that the tugging at her soul was taking her in the direction of the throne room. Perhaps even further. Each room was likely inhabited by a faerie, which meant she had to be extra careful so as to not alert their enhanced senses.
Carefully, apprehensively, Asteria stepped down the corridor, keeping her footsteps as light as humanly possible, and her breaths even and low. She made it to the next intersection without any problem, which made her disposition relax once more.
A mistake.
Because when she turned the following corner, Lucien's brother grinned at her dangerously, leaning against the wall carelessly with his arms crossed against his chest. It was almost cruel how beautiful he was, because in a world where she didn't know exactly the type of male he was, she may have been attracted to him.
Asteria immediately stepped back, her head turning back down the corridor she had come from.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he uttered softly, in a way that had terror racing through her veins. He pushed himself off the wall, stepping closer to her and ignoring any boundaries strangers would normally have. Asteria leaned away from him, only for jagged rock to dig into the skin between her shoulder blades. She'd effectively cornered herself.
