Wake of Darkness [1]

Chapter Two

♕ Moon City ♕ 

"When the dark night came, the sun and stars hid so that no glimmer or trace of them was lost to the darkness. They assigned the moon as the sole protector of the worlds, her light a reminder that at the end of the longest of nights, the sun would come out again and a new day would begin."

Standing on top of the fountain at the middle of the square, the grey lady spoke, the familiar grey tone of her hair framed by the single strand of black hair that marked her face. Both her hands pointing into the sky as she mentioned the moon and the stars, the eyes of people following her hands as she moved them from one constellation to the next.

Aubrette hid in the darkest part of the square, watching the way light glimmered across the city, music pouring out of the establishments across the square. She'd come here with Sybilla and Mason once every full moon, at least on the ones they were able to sneak out of the castle.

The three of them would stand and listen, mocking the parts of her stories that felt like a lie. They had never cared too much about the whole thing, but Aubrette had heard all of the stories enough times to learn them by heart, but even know she loved to listen, although they felt like a fairytale most of the time.

"Her Majesty lost the battle of Regno and her power left along with half of our kingdom. Queen Esmae wept for what she'd lost. Victim of a war in which she had no say, no choice but to obey. Some say that the moon saw her tears and pitied her, as our Queen's magic had been once night itself. She took her tears and morphed them from black to silver, and just when the time was right poured them back into the world."

Aubrette giggled, turning to look at the moon out of habit. The crescent moon seemed to laugh along with her. Tightening the grip against her hood, Aubrette parted from the shadows, and approached the crowd. People walked rapidly to hear the grey lady talk, passing her without giving a second glance at her direction.

"The Queen bathed in silver rain for three days, and as the days passed her grief started to lift. When the clouds faded, her power was no longer pure darkness, it had become both darkness and light. One day the blessing of her power will be what brings the world together."

"Tell us about the princess!" A small girl screamed at the grey lady as she finished the story. Aubrette looked towards the girl sitting on top of her father's shoulders. Her eyes focused on the grey lady as she waited for a response.

"Born in the wake of darkness, a daughter of shadow cursed in the night" The grey lady spoke with a grin on her face, staring directly at the girl. "The princess birth drained her mother of power, and the usurper sneaked through the cracks of Exilium, starting the end of the dark night."

Aubrette turned her back on the square, not being able to hear the rest of the story. She walked deeper into the city until the chattering and music faded into nothing more than a whisper. Even as she let herself get lost in the streets of Blackstone, Aubrette could hear the voice of the grey lady inside her mind, telling the story of her father's death. The story of how a kingdom had split into two.

She would never get to see the other half of it, the place her father grew up in, the city where Sybilla's family had worshiped the sun as Blackstone did the moon.

Blackstone was known for its nights, all of them longer than its days. Even in the brightest of mornings you could still see the moon picking from behind a cloud, and on the full moon you could see it clearer than the sun itself. People from all over came just to stand below the city lights. Its streets were brightened by thousands of small floating lights that had been placed from house to house, covering the city in flickering lights that made you feel trapped amidst the night sky.