Page 102 of Starchaser
Will.
Quickly, I kneel, collecting my daggers and chasing after Will’s voice. I emerge from the smoke a moment later to find Will near the dais, and I watch as a Gore evaporates with one fatal strike from Will’s Elysian blade.
The smoke has begun to clear, and I see them—Titus and Leo—lying only a few feet away, unconscious.
Unconscious, not dead.
Please, don’t be dead.
When Will sees where my gaze has landed, he grabs me, desperate, as if he fears I might slip from his fingers. “Quickly, my darling, we have to—”
I wrest myself free of his grasp and throw myself at Titus. “Help me!” I cry, looking over my shoulder at Will, who doesn’t move. I grab the front of Titus’s jacket, attempting to drag him, but his body jerks with a spasm and he coughs, sitting upright, our faces only inches apart.
“Aster?” he chokes out, searching my gaze. “You stayed.”
“Yes,” I say, tightening my grip on his jacket, attempting to pull him to his feet, but he doesn’t budge. “I’m not leaving here without you!”
He smiles, his eyes glassy, his hand cupping my cheek. Despite the chaos that rages all around us, despite the way Will lurches toward me, my name on his lips, I allow myself to lean into Titus’s touch, allow myself to savor the caress of his fingertips as they graze my jaw.
When the dagger pierces my stomach, his hand shifts to the back of my neck, pulling me close to whisper in my ear, “I hoped you might say that.”
Titus removes the dagger andstands in one smooth, fluid motion, allowing my body to fall at his feet. Blood pours from between my fingers as I attempt to stanch the flow, my jaw gaping to fit a scream that never fully forms.
My vision blurs as I watch Titus wipe the dagger clean on his pantleg, cool and indifferent despite the screams, the cannon fire, the Gore laughter, as if none of it has anything to do with him.
Leo places a hand on his shoulder, peering down at me, saying something I can’t hear. She smiles, speaking softly, calmly, her expression blithely innocent. “You should have listened to your gut, pirate,” Leo says, glancing at the gaping wound in my stomach, a mock pout on her lips. “I tried to tell you Titus was compelled,” she adds with a shrug. “But you just couldn’t believe that your little prince could truly be… monstrous. Or that the sweet,human-loving princess—the girl you were so quick to trust, to defend—could be possessed by the queen of Underlings.”
Titus smirks.
He crouches in front of me, twirling the dagger, and over his shoulder I see Will on his knees, grasping at his throat, his face turning blue. Nearby, Lord Bludgrave and Lady Isabelle fight side by side against a handful of Gores, while Killian and Henry attempt to shield Annie from the attack. Mother, my siblings—I can’t find them anywhere. Can’t—
“They’re not coming,” Titus says, his head cocked as he watches me struggle to breathe, eyes narrowed as if he were a beast studying his prey. “There is no fleet, Aster. There never was.”
“It’s time,” Leo—no,Morana—croons, running her fingers through Titus’s hair. “Go on,” she adds, jerking her chin in the direction of the king and queen, who kneel before Leo, eyes fixed on the floor. “The king is of no further use to me.”
Titus watches me for a moment longer, brow furrowed, before standing. Calantha looks up as Titus makes his way down the steps of the dais, a cruel slant to her bloodred lips. “Finally,” she says as she looks past him to Leo. “May I, my queen?”
Leo dips her head, and Calantha stands, stretching, as if some great burden has been lifted from her shoulders.
“You have been loyal to me since your youth,” Morana says to Calantha. “Your service will not go unrewarded.”
Calantha’s lip curls with disgust as she cuts a glance at her husband. “No longer having to pretend he’s the one ruling this kingdom will be reward enough.”
Leo’s mouth twists, a sadistic smirk. “While that may be true,” Morana says, “you have fulfilled your pledge to me by deliveringthe prince into my hand.” She gestures at the throne. “The royal halfling will do my bidding, and you will rule the Eerie in my name.” She turns to face the king again, his face blank. “I think it might be sweet if we give Calix the chance to say his goodbyes, don’t you agree?”
Calantha laughs as she perches on the arm of the throne. “As you wish, my queen.”
Instantly, as if coming awake, Calix raises his head, looking around the room in a panic. His eyes dart from Titus to Calantha to Leo to me, his mouth gaping in horror.
He appears so…young. Boyish. As if he were merely a child.
“What have you—” He searches the throne room, tears streaking his face. “Mina?” he cries. “What have you done with her? What have you done with—with Mina—”
Titus’s shoulders tense at the mention of his mother’s name, but then Leo is there at his side, her hand on his forearm, whispering in his ear.
Calix looks at Calantha, then me, and it’s as if he pieces something together, his eyes wide.
“She—she compelled me—” he stammers, looking back at Calantha. He looks up at Titus then, choking on a sob. “My son! Oh, Mina, forgive—”
