Page 24 of The Stars are Dying

“Zath,” I called.

He paused to throw me a look back.

“Thank you—for everything.”

His dark blond brows knitted. I hadn’t meant for it to sound like a goodbye. Then his expression eased with a warm smile, and he nodded. My heart broke with the click of the door.

I wasn’t used to expending so much emotion, and I was growing so tired. I spent the next hour flipping through the pages of a book so worn some papers came loose.

The next one to crack free from the binding took my breath. I stood slowly, discarding the rest as I stared and stared at the wondrous image. I vacantly wandered to the fireplace to catch more light that would reveal the finer details.

A map. I was entranced, marveling at how the pinpoint I stood on at this very second was smaller than a spec of sand on this parchment. I couldn’t believe a realm so vast could be displayed on a single sheet. I’d never seen one before, and the visual of Solanis was nothing like what I could have imagined.

It was breathtaking.

The Central earned its name literally. Vesitire proudly occupied the middle of the landmass, the other five kingdoms surrounding it. Those were divided from each other by the king’s guard border control, and these kingdoms would compete against each other. Then, on Vesitire’s right…

My fingers traced with wonder where the veil cut off access to the magnificent realm of Althenia. There was an island, streams breaking off to make it appear as if the land made a six-point star. My imagination exploded with imagery, but I knew I could never visualize what beauty truly lay there. In the realm of the celestials.

A soft knock drew my attention, and Sira slipped into the room with a warm smile. “He’s called for you, milady. I was sent to make sure you are appropriate for his guests.”

Immediately, my palms clammed up. “What guests?” Hektor never invited me out of this room when the establishment was full for the night.

Sira helped me into a new white gown. I despised the pale material he favored me in, turning nauseous at the sight. Over it, a long-sleeve cropped coat with a high button neck. No markings on show. Which only twisted my gut tighter with the dread that I would be seen by people.

She styled my hair with some elaborate braids, adding crystals that complemented the glittering strands through my silver locks. In the mirror the candlelight reflected off every jewel I wore from head to toe.

A spectacle.

Walking the halls so openly at this hour, I didn’t know how to carry myself. Usually, I’d be seeking the next shadow to become one with, straining my hearing to detect every nearby voice. But most of all, I’d be keeping track of exactly where Hektor was. I stood tall, clasping my hands behind my back, but that felt too stiff. I folded them in front of me but quickly dropped my arms to let them sway loose.

Sira nodded her head for me to go in through the open doors we’d stopped a few meters away from.

Hektor’s study.

My throat burned dry at being here. There was not a single memory I harbored that had ended well in there. Sira tried to appear encouraging, yet I could always see the cracks in a person’s mask. Her concern, mixed with my own, drummed hard in my chest. I took a deep breath and headed through.

The low chatter of voices raised every hair on my body. I counted first. Six men, some standing and others sitting on the ornate brown leather couches. Smoke filtered through the air, but not enough to choke me. I found the source as the first one to notice me. A middle-aged man with shaggy but well-kept brown hair finished the drag of his pipe before his shadow-lined jaw eased into a predatory smile. I stiffened with the overwhelming urge to retreat when, one by one, every new set of eyes turned more of me to stone. I feared I wouldn’t be able to move.

Then I found him.

Hektor seemed to be the last one to cast a lazy gaze my way from his single tall chair facing the others. “My darling, come here.”

At the command I took a second to breathe, watching the flex of skin around his eyes, his subtle irritation that I wasn’t by his side before he’d finished speaking. The click of the door jolted me from my stupor. A quiet rumbling of chuckles grated over my skin, and I wondered if it was my fear they found amusing. Heat crept over my cheeks though I had nothing to feel embarrassed about. I walked the few paces to Hektor, sliding my trembling palm into his awaiting one.

“You look absolutely stunning,” Hektor admired, trailing a slow gaze over me that I wanted to shrink away from. “Doesn’t she?” He gave the invitation for the other six men to observe me, feast on me, and all I could think of washungeras they took me in. I stood as prey in a circle of vultures, and my mind was racing with the thought of what I could be here for. Never had Hektor summoned me to be among any of his guests.

“May I?” a low voice asked. One of the men stood slowly from the opposite couch, and my feet grew roots to prevent me from doing something that would enrage Hektor. This man was studying me. A short blond lock tipped over his eyebrow as he tilted his head.

“You can look, but touch and you’ll lose that hand.”

I was glad of Hektor’s protection, but as he cast an adoring gaze at me with a nod to step forward, my eyes pricked with tears. Humiliated, I stood as a spectacle to these men. An object to observe, a prize to weigh, a sum to consider.

The blond man came closer, and as his hand rose to my chin I almost flinched—until another shuffle of movement had him shifting playful brown eyes to the side.

One of Hektor’s assassins eased out from shadow, the glint of his blade catching on the firelight. I wanted to be any lost place in the world but right here.

Don’t let him see your fear.

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