Render Me Starless

♛ | Chapter 29 - "two homes coming together"

"Seraphina," I say, surprised. "Are you my mentor?"
She stands and nods. "One of them. How are you?"
I smile as I join her at the table in the vast library. "I'm good. Orion and I got back from the cabin only yesterday."
"And how are you, Maxwell?" Seraphina asks the guard who stood behind me. Orion had appointed him as my personal guard since our little encounter with the King. I didn't mind. Max's company was always welcomed.

I turn to see him give her a slight bow of his head. "I am well, thank you."
She claps her hands once, "good good. Time to learn, Maria."
I can't help but grin at the sound of my previous name and Seraphina notices it instantly. She had always been in tune with my emotions. "What?" she asks.
"You called me Maria," I say. I couldn't contain my glee even if I wanted to. The Night Throne was my home now, but for the majority of my life, Seraphina had been my home. My grin widens slightly. If felt like my two homes were truly coming together. Everything felt right.

"Time to learn, Astraea," she amends. I didn't mind her calling me Maria. In fact, it was a warm reminder of who I used to be, but I knew the warrior of a woman would do everything by the book and that included the choice of my name.

"You will have lessons every weekday and with the request from the prince, you get weekends off," she says and she sits. I follow her lead and sit across from her.
"Request," Max snorts out but the woman just waves him off.
"Is my mate being a bully again?" I ask the two. Max only grins at me and Seraphina just moves on. "I will be teaching you the history of The Night Throne and provide you the knowledge about the customs and traditions we have. Sir Jilth, your other mentor will focus on the proper etiquette of the princess and Lady Starlight."

I take in the information and refrain from pouting. I hadn't finished high school too long ago and I was really hoping the lessons were gone. "So The Night Throne 101 and Royal Etiquette 101. Sounds fun."
"Monday, Wednesday and Friday you will have me. Tuesday and Thursday you will have Sir Jilth. Each of our lessons are two hours and you are to be at this library by 5pm sharp. I'm sure Jilth will teach you all about punctuality."

I don't bother hiding my groan. It was just the three of us anyway. "Two whole hours?" I moan and Max chuckles. He had finally taken a seat next to me.
"And I'm sure Jilth will tell you all about how a princess never whines,"Seraphina says.
I roll my eyes. "I have a feeling I'm really not going to like this Sir Jilth. What kind of name is Jilth anyway?"
She shakes her head at me. "Lords help the Throne."

I chuckle at her comment. "I am the help that the Lords have sent, remember? I've got the whole Preserver thing going on."

"Alright, quit talking and listen."

After a solid hour and a half of doing just that, I stand despite Seraphina's tsk of disapproval. "My ass is numb," I say, stretching. I walk around the table a few times to get back the feelings in my legs and then slump back into my chair. "My brain feels like it's exploding," I groan. "I need to see my child."

"Your child?" Both warriors repeat.

I grin and sit up straighter. "Yes, you have a granddaughter," I tell Seraphina. Despite the fact that she wasn't my biological mother, I still saw her as my mother.

"Stella," I call out into the library. Orion had explained to me the magic behind my puppy. She will only come if you call for her and if she isn't with you, she returns to being normal shadows. The process doesn't hurt the shadow creature and it was quite convenient on everyone's ends. Stella was also only linked to Orion's magic and the magic that my mark gave me.

The familiar shadows quickly appear on my lap and it doesn't take her long to become her puppy self. She was becoming quicker and quicker. "What in the-" Max whispers, leaning closer to take a better look. The puppy yips in greeting, her tongue lolling out. "How is that even possible?" Seraphina asks, she too leaning across the table to take a peak.
I shrug. "She was a gift from Orion so you're going to have to ask him."

"What was her name again?" Max asks, staring at the puppy with the biggest of smiles.
"Stella." For the remaining half hour, I'm able to convince Seraphina to let us all play with the puppy.

"Well, I shall see you on Wednesday," I say as we all stand up. Stella stood on the ground at my feet. Seraphina nods, "I will see you on Wednesday but not for our lesson. You are aware of the announcement that is to be made?"
I huff out a breath in reminder of it. "Yes, Orion has told me. The sooner the better." Wednesday was the day we were finally going to make the announcement to the Kingdom that I was to be their princess, mate to Orion.
"Till Wednesday then," Seraphina smiles and I return it with one of my own.
"Till Wednesday."

"Where to next, my lady?" Max asks as we step out of the library. I take my phone out of the pocket of my jeans as I respond. "We are going to go pay my best friend a little visit."
"Where are you?" I ask as soon as Gray answers my call.
"In the recreational room, why?"
"Max and I are on our way." I hang up before he can respond.

"Lead the way to the rec room, Maxwell," I say somewhat dramatically and he chuckles before doing what I asked. I knew where most things were in the enormous castles but unfortunately, the rec room wasn't one of them. I missed my best friend.

When we enter, I'm not surprised to see both Gray and Rose. The two were inseparable. They were playing a game of pool. Gray turns to me and pouts. "Rose is beating me."
I laugh, "It's not her fault you suck."
My best friend's pout turns into a grin. "She'll be doing the sucking soon enough."
I scoff as Rose responds. "I give what I get, babe." She winks at her mate. Her necklace sparkles in the light as she sets her stick down and makes her way towards me, before we take a seat on the set of couches.

"I've been meaning to ask," I start, "are you still going through with the initiation to become the next lady for Lyra?"
She shakes her head as Gray joins us. "I've decided to give the role over to eldest brother, who is the next in line after me. Gray is my mate now and I would rather stay here with him than at home. Besides, I never really wanted to be a Lady anyway." She scoffs. "Having to wear dresses all the time. No, thank you."

I chuckle slightly at this. "Then when do you two plan on doing the Ritual of the Pure?"

"After all this shit with the Day Throne settles down," Gray answers and I refrain from frowning. I hated that they had to wait because I knew they didn't want to. They were falling fast if they weren't in love already.

It was refreshing though. I was so used to the player Gray that used to be my next door neighbour. The one that hit on anything with suitable legs to wrap around his head. I was so used to seeing the Gray that didn't really care about much but now, he had someone to care about. He had someone to love and his happiness would always be my own.
I was so happy that he had found Rose, his soulmate. They were quite literally perfect for each other.