Page 37 of Fallen Stars

Isra’s fork clanged on her plate as Merissa stopped chewing, the two women looking wide-eyed at her. “What?” Isra whispered. “How?”

Elara took a deliberate chew of her beef, swallowing it with red wine before she took a deep breath.

“Eli is going to help us.”

“What?”

“And I’m going to have to see Ariete again.”

“WHAT?”

“Elara,” Merissa warned. “What did Eli tell you? He’s a snake, one who can weave very convincing lies.”

“Snake he may be, but it was Eli who helped bind and heal my back when I was rottingin a cell, remember?” Elara said softly.

“She makes a good point’ Isra muttered.

Merissa winced and grasped Elara’s hand. “I just don’t trust him.”

“Neither do I,” Elara said. “But he’s willing to help, and he has his own reasons; I know it. Which means he will see this through to the end, at least until Enzo’s awake.”

Isra and Merissa didn’t seem convinced. Elara sighed. “I know that he’s a Star. And I know he’s a trickster. I’m not stupid. But he’s the only one who has thrown usanythingto help Enzo. And the plan he’s already begun to formulate is a good one.”

“What is it?” Isra interrupted, clear-eyed.

Elara looked around before leaning in, her voice hushed. “Ariete stole Enzo’s tether and hid it…somewhere it would be impossible for a mortal to find. Eli is almost certain he’s hiding it in a place only I can reach. It’s the only way to wake my love, to retrieve his tether, and attach it to him again, bringing him into the mortal realm.”

“And how exactly are we going to find where Ariete has hidden it?” Merissa asked.

Elara took another large gulp of wine, bracing herself.

“I have to walk through his dreams.”

She’d expected the responses she got. Merissa immediately jolted forward, grasping Elara’s hand and saying, ‘No’ emphatically. Isra observed her shrewdly and silently.

“I’ve already decided that I will do it. I’m to go to Eli’s club for lessons each day until I’m ready.”

“You already know how to dreamwalk,” Isra finally said. “And now that you’re a god, surely you can do it with no effort.”

Elara shook her head. “I don’t remember my life before this, Isra. Any powers I had, I’m going to have to learn again. Eli works with the mind. Anything he has to teach me will be far, far more advanced than what I learnt with you. No offence.”

Isra snorted. “None taken. So you’re going to practice with Eli; I assume until you’ve learnt to get past every barrier, block, and shield in a Star’s mind, and then what? Seek Ariete out?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead. But I need to speak with Enzo tonight.”

“And will you be able to sleep…naturally?” Merissa asked quietly.

Shame rippled through Elara, and she clenched her jaw against it. “However I get to Enzo doesn’t matter, so long as I do.”

Standing, she left the rest of her food on her plate. “I need a walk. There’s a lot to plan and consider. I’ll see you back at the inn,” she murmured, kissing first Merissa on the cheek, then Isra.

Cold air greeted Elara as the tavern door swung behind her, the sound of rain pattering on the cobbles calming her. She took a deep breath, the sooty air coating her lungs as she marched off down the alleyway. She had a lot to consider. To work with Eli was a risk, and yet she had it on good authority he had similar goals to her—an end to Ariete’s reign. And if she could find Enzo’s tether, it was really no debate at all. To wake Enzo, she would go to the ends of the earth and beyond.

She dodged a puddle as a black carriage drawn by the same coloured horses rumbled past, narrowly avoiding her skirts. This city. It truly was an enigma, full of life and sin. Her eyes tracked the spiralled towers that reached high into the clouds, the buildings only nobility could afford, she was sure. It was a surprise that Eli would associate himself with the slums of the city. Then again, being a Star of trickery, he likely felt right at home.

Another carriage flew down the crossroads, narrowly avoiding her. “Watch it!” a man with a curled moustache, wearing a top hat and tails, shouted from inside the carriage. She smiled to herself then. It felt nice to be inconspicuous. If only they knew who she was, they’d be careful how they spoke to her. But she enjoyed the anonymity. Truth be told, Elara was sick of being a queen already, official title or not, particularly of the responsibility now weighing on her shoulders.

Leo, gods love him, had taken on a brunt of it, staying in Helios by Enzo’s sleeping body, remaining guard while also ensuring the succession of the crown from the late King Idris to Enzo wasn’t compromised. It was the only way Elara had been able to leave, with the assurance someone would be at hand constantly with Enzo’s body in such a vulnerable state.

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