Star's Crossing

56: Knights and Queens

Mare had not expected Lilith to come, though the two had decided to rebuild their bridge. She had everything to come for, after the ruin of her courtship. She was a brood mare in need of a lucrative mate, and her father would no doubt remind her if she dared forget.

But Lilith did not come in search of a man. When she met Mare at the drive of the gala, she offered an arm and in response to Mare's surprise, said, "I know what you're thinking, but I will not be alone tonight."

Mare was selfishly pleased. Her parents were still stepping from the carriage and the gala had already begun, but Lilith had waited and looked beautiful in white, and Mare loved her so much her heart ached. She stopped on the gravel drive and pulled Lilith violently into her arms.

The white-haired porcelain doll Mare had known was gone. A blaze of violet-eyed fury stood before her. She clutched Mare back with equal fervor.

"Who would I be," Mare said into Lilith's hair, "without you?"

Lilith held her close. "A fortune hunter who'd retired her pen," she said, unerringly.

Mare knew it was a joke, but she did not laugh, because it was true in equal measure. "I have been waiting so long for my life to begin, that I didn't notice it was passing me by."

Lilith withdrew, and Mare was surprised by the pink in her cheeks and the tears in her eyes. "Living a lie," she said, "only makes it pass so much faster."

Mare wiped a tear from her friend's face. "Let us waste not a minute more."

Lilith closed her eyes and expelled a long, soft breath. In the distant lamplight with a cloak of stars at her back, she looked like a lady of marble. The weight of the world seemed to go from her shoulders with that breath, and Lilith Gilbert came to life. She opened her eyes, a furrow between her pale brows, and looked ready to don armor and ride into battle.

"You are right," she said, holding Mare's hand. "Not a minute."

Arm in arm, they turned and walked into the ball as they had, not so long ago, when the universe was a different shape, and they'd stood on opposite sides of the board rather than the same. They were knights and queens tonight, and they were unafraid of war.

As long as they were together, they could not be harmed. As long as they were together, it was the world that ought to watch its back.

They were girls, and they had teeth.