A Court of Three Stars

8: The Wrong Side

Eternal Palace, Pangera

Lidia

I had seen a lot of things, in my short glimpse of time on this planet.

I'd seen war, the consequences of it, blood and pain and depravity that was unmatched in the passage of time. I had seen power, great powers, fight against one another. I had seen complete and utter destruction, pain and suffering. I had seen more death and sorrow than I'd ever care to exist.

And in the short snap of one black day, I realized I had never seen anything at all.

What had happened to the mystics had been nothing compared to everything else. That was a blip on a map, something done in passing, an errand to run.

The fucking sun did not rise today. The goddamn moon disappeared from the night sky.

All across the planet, everything was going haywire. Rivers flowing backwards, gates turning black, mountains collapsing in landslides, disruptions in atmospheric pressure, and energy spikes coming from too many directions to count. Power grids had mysteriously caught fire, ships had vanished into the sea.

And now here I was, staring at what I could only assume was the person responsible. And the power around her, the fucking power that was leeching off of her-

Not the display of strength from whatever guards those were, not the shadows or the opening of the portal. No, this female, this woman made Rigelus calling himself a god look like an absolute fucking joke.

I wouldn't entirely be surprised to find out that she was a god.

And somehow, some way- that wasn't the most shocking thing about her.

It wasn't the plumes of black and lavender shadows, wasn't the golden light rippling off her skin, wasn't the crown of that same light circled over black hair. It wasn't the armor of black and gold she wore, wasn't the sword that hung at her waist, glowing with a light and force that was entirely otherworldly. It wasn't that she felt like creation and destruction itself balled into one person.

It was the fact that she looked exactly like Ruhn.

And staring up at Rigelus, rage unlike any other echoing through them, were two violet eyes.

She was the picture of regality, something that made Rigelus look like some useless pretender. Fae of some kind, if the slight point of her ears were anything to go by. Though, I didn't think that the fae even had the capability to contain this type of power.

And yet, here she was.

The Queen of Light.

Her voice sounded like a starlit melody, beautiful and melodic- even laced with rage, "Rigelus."

The Asteri standing in front of his quartz throne shifted his grip on Ruhn, that dagger pressed so hard against his throat that blood leaked out. I could see some attempt to keep his voice even, but it was... strangled in a way, "Leuruna."

I couldn't read anything but rage on her face, even as constrained as it was. Rigelus gathered himself enough to flash her one of his trademark, intimidating smiles, "You are supposed to be dead, little one. Where is King Cylos?"

And instead of shrinking away from that grin like I had seen so many do before, she just matched it with something far more wicked than anything Rigelus could ever put off, "How unoriginal you truly are. I'm always supposed to be dead, and yet I never am."

The Asteri's eyes raked over the barrage of soldiers she had brought, "Apparently so."

He looked at her again, "I'll assume that poor old Cylos finally keeled over. The Queen Acantha has finally decided to rebel against her ancestors. I suppose it was only a matter of time."