Page 11 of Heavenly Bodies

She slammed the memory back into its box, irritated that it had escaped. Her cool demeanour gave nothing away as she slid her gaze over his hands. ‘Wielding fire. A little inelegant. But I’d expect nothing less from a Helion brute.’

The flames reflected in Lorenzo’s eyes as he leaned in. It took every ounce of her years of etiquette coaching for her not to lean back. But her mother had taught her well—queens did not make space. The people around them did. So she sat, her chin raised, her back straight.

‘I have one more gift,’ he said quietly. ‘You know of the seers of Helios, don’t you?’

A drumming picked up in Elara’s chest.

‘At your naming ceremony, your future was foretold by a seer,’her mother had wept, mere days before.‘We did what we had to. We tried to keep you safe. We tried to rewrite fate, but—’

The darkness stole the memories away and she took a deep inhale.

‘In Asteria, we call you flaky quacks,’ she drawled back. ‘Speaking in riddles, able to see mere glimpses of the future. An impressive “gift” indeed.’

He laughed, cold and low. ‘Then how is this for impressive? My gift is a special kind of seering. Nothing hides frommy light. I can see when someone is lying. I can see through glamours and tricks. I can see just what someone’s soul is made up of, whether they are good or bad at their core. And what I see when I try to look at you, is a shroud of shadows that reek of night-jasmine. I don’t yet know what it is you’re hiding behind them, princess. But I promise, I’ll find out.’

Elara blinked, and she pushed her chair back. But still, he leaned forwards until it felt like his body was blocking out the whole room.

‘My father may want you here for his plans. He may truly believe you can help us. Maybe you will. But if I discover that you pose a threat to my kingdom, I will kill you without a thought.’ He spoke the words so calmly that she almost wondered if she had imagined them. He reclined, taking a slow sip of wine. But the steely stare remained. She pushed down the fear as her lips curled into a sneer, fingers itching to hold her dagger, pressed in its home against her thigh.

‘Then I should warn you,’ she murmured, her hair brushing his cheek as she bent close, ‘that I don’t take kindly to threats. And if you make another, it might just be your last.’ She snatched the cup from his hands and took a sip of the wine. ‘I’d sleep with all your lanterns lit if I were you. Who knows what might come alive in the night.’

She set the cup between them, before leaning back in her chair, conjuring once more the image of regality. With poise, she speared a slice of meat from another platter laid before her, ignoring the dangerous smile that had crept upon the prince’s lips.

Though her heart pounded at his warning, she’d be damned if she would give Lorenzo the satisfaction of seeing any reaction. She turned her attention to the food. It was delicious, everything richly spiced. Steamed rice, mint-stewed lamb and hunks of crusted rosemary bread were all savoureduntil the plate was wiped clean. She ate in silence, her mind turning the prince’s words over and over, as she ignored his oppressive presence beside her.

She lounged back when she was done with a satisfied sigh, relieved to see that Lorenzo had turned away and was in deep conversation with his general. Her attention fell to the room as a drowsiness took over her, observing the Helion court as tea was served. She asked for honey—anything to sweeten the bitterness that swirled through her—and spooned two teaspoons into the fresh mint before taking a sip. As she looked around, she saw a few people who she guessed were from the kingdom of Aphrodea, based off the similar features they seemed to share with Merissa. Everything she had learned about them, about the different kingdoms, had been through books. It made her ache, to see the world she had been deprived of, the people. All because Asteria had been forced to shut themselves off from the world. All because of the D’Oros and their War on Darkness.

A loud laugh broke her reverie. She saw the chestnut-haired girl from before back by Lorenzo’s side, draped over him like a curtain. The girl jostled Elara, and Elara rolled her eyes. She watched as he whispered something in the girl’s ear, and her gaze snagged on his hand, which was making its way down the girl’s back. She thought of the flames that had danced between his fingers and drew her eyes back to his face. Her breath caught as she saw his eyes on hers, and he smiled lazily. Unable to stand the stare she knew was trying to find a way past her shadows, she stood.

Merissa was nowhere to be found, and so she stepped in front of the general, who had played escort once before.

‘Leonardo, I’d like to go to my rooms, please.’

He nodded, rose to his feet and stood at her back, waiting.

‘Enzo,’ she said mockingly, and the prince’s eyes narrowed. ‘It’s been…well,pleasureis a strong word.’

The chestnut-haired girl gawped at Elara’s insolence. Elara shot her a withering glance before turning away, Leonardo at her side. As she began to walk, a hand grabbed her wrist, the skin hot. She whirled in indignation.

‘We start training tomorrow,’ Enzo said, his voice low. Elara’s eyes flew to his hand as it gripped her tightly. ‘Meet me by the grand staircase. Leave your attitude at the door.’

She smiled sweetly, snatching her hand away from him. ‘I will if you do.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

Elara sank into her feathered pillows and dreamed deeply that night. She knew when she was walking because the quality of the dream changed. Images became sharper and clearer, until they became a reality that moulded itself around her. In this dreamscape, she felt fire. So much of it, hot and close.

She was standing in a bedroom. The darkened room was carved from white marble, inlaid with glittering goldstone. A bed was sunk into the stones, covered in silk sheets, and lying upon it was a woman’s figure. Naked curves glimmered in the waning candlelight, and long black hair spilled to the woman’s waist. The silken sheets rode down to the soft curve of her hips and Elara felt desire pulsing through the dreamscape as an almost visceral thing. She looked around for the dreamer but could only see the outline of a figure in the shadows.

‘I’ve been waiting for you,’ the woman before her said silkily, and as she slowly turned on the bed, Elara found that she was staring into her own silver eyes.

She woke in cold sweat, gasping. Quickly, she jumped outof bed, flung open the wide doors and paced to the balcony, flooded with the deep crimson of the Helion night, the feel of cool tiles beneath her feet steadily grounding her. In all her years walking, she had never seen herself.

She continued pacing, worrying her tangled hair, then stalked back into the room and snatched the soft blanket folded neatly on the armchair beside her bed. Trailing it back on to the balcony, she peered over the side once again. It was too high a drop—low enough to be enticing, high enough that she’d break her ankles with the leap on to the manicured shrubbery beneath her. She walked back and forth, trying to get rid of the itching desire to run from the palace. She knew that Idris had stationed guards outside her door, that there were sentries at every exit. And where would she go should she find a way past them anyway? She cursed, before looking to the divan and slumping on to it in defeat.

Her eyes were drawn to a neat pile of books on the low-slung table. Her fingers trembled as she picked up an edition ofThe Mythas of Celestia, intricately illustrated with swirls of gold leaf. For the first time since she had been taken from her kingdom, she smiled a real smile.

That trove of tales had kept her company on so many lonely days and nights in her room. Before she’d dared ever sneak past the palace walls, this book had been the only way to travel beyond them. To Elara, a reader was an alchemist. They turned the mundane into something extraordinary, transforming words on a page into entire worlds. To steal away from reality, to feel real emotions for things that didn’t exist? Elara knew she possessed the Three, but reading was a special kind of magick.

---