And When the Empire Began to Fall

She'll end up just like her mom, she'll end up lonely and sad

Author's Note: Senior year has been going. I currently have a C in AP Macro and Honors Physics. Is it my final school year or my final year? Stay tuned.

A week and a half passed before anything interesting happened.

Well, plenty of interesting things happened, technically speaking. James integrated himself into the friend group and quickly became the favorite of an adoring Glori. Star didn't tell her theory to anyone, but she figured that Glori latched onto James so hard because he was about the age of Glori's sister. Star knew Glori had been having nightmares about the whereabouts of her family, and while they didn't fade after Star introduced James, Star noticed that she started eating more and her skin had lost its ghastly undertone, returning to its normal rich brown. 

Secondly, Star was allowed to explore most of the castle with her friends. They spent most of their days in the gigantic library, where rarely anybody went. She wasn't called on again, and she rarely saw Arlen except if he came to her to apologize for being so absent, promising to become more available soon. Star understood. He was a prince after all. He had responsibilities.

Thirdly, Star and her friends ended up learning that the Callilan army had gotten its ass thoroughly kicked by Astos when they came to the aid of Osha with money and supplies given to them in abundance by the north—who were very afraid of a Callila takeover. 

The first time they had heard whispers about it had been in a corridor on the way back to their rooms, Mary leading them like a herd of particularly rambunctious sheep. When they finally understood what people were saying, Jaz had jumped and hollered so loud that he attracted several stares, and while Mary had gone red with humiliation, Jaz clearly couldn't have given less of a fuck if he tried and continued to laugh his ass off all the way back to their rooms.

But in terms of things that had directly involved Star and her friends, nothing new came about. Star continued to struggle with her strength. She broke glasses, ripped doors off of hinges, tore faucets off sinks—it never seemed to stop. She stopped flinching when things shattered under her palms, her feelings shifting from scared to annoyed. It didn't happen as much as it could have, though, as she kept Arlen's words in mind, trying to stay conscious of her ability whenever she could—it was when she got distracted that she got in trouble.

"Ow, shit!"

"Oh, not again, Star!"

Mary was at Star's side in an instant, a napkin she had learned to keep at her side already mopping up the blood dripping down Star's wrist. Glori got to work collecting the glass shards, sweeping them into her hand before handing them off to James, who ran out of the room to find a trash can to throw them in.

"Well, how many glasses is that this week?" Jaz asked, not even bothering to look up to observe the scene. He had found a book in the library on one of their previous expenditures and it currently held all of his attention. 

"Four," Carter answered. He was playing cards with Jude with a deck that James had given them. The cards were all wonky and they had to learn to play by Callilan rules, but they had had plenty of time.

"Oh, and right before you're supposed to have lunch with the queen," Mary tsked. "I wonder if we can get a healer to heal you again... we need to do it before any scars set—"

"Before I'm supposed to what?" Star demanded.

Mary didn't stop cleaning her hand, dabbing the napkin into a cup of water before applying it to the cuts that had opened on Star's hands. She hissed.

"You have lunch with the queen this afternoon," Mary answered as if this was a thing that they all knew. Star looked at her friends, confused.

"You guys don't seem shocked," she said.