Lux [h.s]

sixty-six

Cora's aunt had always told her not to fear what hasn't given her a reason to be feared, but Cora was far beyond that, now.

Cold wind rustled through the branches of the trees above her head. In the distance, she could see the flickering light of the fire, glamoured to be shielded from human eyes. Iris sat next to it, her face between her knees, long white-blonde hair draped over her like a blanket. Her wrists were bound as Thalia and Harry decided how to handle her betrayal.

Cora couldn't breathe.

She couldn't get Iris's words out of her head.

She opened a portal to the world of the dead, and something beyond the river noticed.

The more Cora thought about it, the more absurd it sounded. She hadn't done anything of that kind... had she? It'd just been her magic, shattering yet again, showing her just how much she couldn't trust it—trust that pull between her and Harry. Luces.

"You know, where I come from, it's deeply impolite to isolate yourself during meals," a sudden voice said, making Cora jolt. Aster rounded the trunk of the tree she was sitting against and sat next to her, silent over the pine needles softening the ground. His white coat was so bright under the cold moon, Cora wondered how they hadn't already been spotted because of it.

"Is it even a meal?" They'd travelled as far away from the house their feet could carry them for most of the night, and only now that dawn was approaching had they dared to stop and light a fire not to risk freezing to death. Harry had gathered some twigs and lit them, and Eames had put up wards around their makeshift camp to ensure no one would spot them. Thalia and Harry were arguing, now, on the other side of the flames. Iris had sat down, and her cold gaze hadn't left Cora once. Cora hadn't dared to step too close. She'd moved to sit at the edge of the wards, her heart hammering in her chest, trying to make sense of it all.

Iris had betrayed them.

She'd brought the king to the house.

She'd nearly had them all killed, and she did it because of Cora. Because of something she believed she'd done—Cora couldn't understand a single word she'd said. She couldn't understand a lot of things, lately. Everyone around her spoke in riddles.

"Every meal is a meal, K."

Cora sighed. "Harry does it often, and no one complains."

Aster chuckled. "But he was raised like a wild thing, of course."

Cora raised her head and sent him a glare. "And you weren't?"

Aster paused for a moment. "I'll have you know I take deep offence to that." A flick of his head made his earrings dangle, white gold. He looked towards the fire, lilac eyes considering the people sitting around it. "I have to admit I'm impressed. It's the second time you make friends that try to kill us all."

Cora balked. "It's not—"

Aster chuckled. "I was jesting, K. Or C, if you prefer."

She ignored the bait. "The things Iris said," she started, her heart thumping in her chest as she tried to find the right words, "what did they mean?"

Aster leaned back on his hands and let out a long sigh, his breath a white cloud in the air. "She doesn't know what she's talking about."