A Court of Three Stars

27: Aidas

House of Song, Velaris, Prythian

Ruhn

"Aidas."

"Hello, Son of Stars."

I narrowed my eyes at him, his familiar face, clearer than the last time I had seen it. If it was because I was no longer dying in a torture chamber or because of some magical reason I didn't care to understand, I didn't know.

Only that he existed here, as a threat to my family.

"How long have you been spying on them?" I snarled, a step forward, "How long have you been plotting?"

Aidas merely smiled. "I told you I have eyes everywhere, Ruhn. You should know better than to think I wouldn't be watching."

I glanced over, only to find Azriel at my side. If he was in shock or confused by what was happening, nothing showed on his face. He was as hard as stone, as unmovable as the mountain beneath us.

And in my mind, I saw a cloaked figure with blue eyes staring up at me from the shadows of the gardens when I was thirteen.

"You knew who I was then." Realization clicked in my mind, "You've known this whole time."

Aidas just laughed, a cold thing, "I was there when you were born, Ruhn. I knew exactly who and what you are, even when no one else did."

"What?" I hissed.

Aidas opened his mouth to speak again, but a rush of power cut him off. Golden light and warmth, cut through with the cool breeze of violet darkness, so familiar.

The Prince of Hel smiled, a look I had never seen before on his face, and a recognizable awe in his voice as he whispered, "Leuruna."

And in the same moment, that power sent him flying across the rooftop.

Azriel's eyes slid over to mine, and for a moment, I thought he might intervene. But he just watched as Leur strode forward, her hands wreathed in a bright starlight that sent even the Prince of Hel recoiling. In a blink, faster than I could even make out, she had him pinned against the ground.

"You are going to tell me who the fuck you are, and what the hell you want with my family right now." Leur hissed in the Prince's face, "Before I decide to start picking off those brothers of yours one by one."

Her hands were lit with starlight so bright that it almost seemed to burn, almost like golden flames wreathing up her arms, responding to the pull I felt on my chest, the lightning that crackled in the clouds above.

"Always so temperamental, aren't you?" Aidas seemed entirely unbothered, a wicked smirk on his face, "I'd almost forgotten how good starfire feels."

"Would you like me to handle him?" Azriel asked her, dark humor glinting in his gaze.

Aidas glanced at him and then back at Leur. "I see where your son gets his ferocity." Then, with a gleam of mischief, he turned back to my mother. "As much as I enjoy the theatrics, it's getting difficult to breathe."

Leur didn't miss a beat, "Then I'd suggest you start talking."

Aidas shifted uncomfortably under the weight of her stare, the dark gaze of Azriel's eyes locked on him, even if he was doing his best at pretending like he was enjoying this. Azriel merely glared, if the warrior was just daring him to make one wrong move, waiting for the moment to strike. Silence was poignant in the air, a growing tension echoing between my mother and the Prince of Hel.

"Which one should I kill first?" Leur snarled, "Shall we see how Apollion does against a true star? I might like the street credit of slaughtering the Prince of the Pit."