The Stars are Dying : (Nytefall: Book 1)

The town we had stopped in came alive by midday. I tried to follow a craving triggered by a sweet cinnamon scent, only to be distracted by earthy florals that attracted me to a different stall. In my exhilaration I could hardly decide where I wanted to go in the market labyrinth.

“I knew you couldn’t come to the Keep often, but I didn’t realize just how locked up Hektor kept you,” Cassia commented. Our arms were looped together, but often my excitement strained our connection, and we giggled as we walked through the stalls.

“He wanted to keep me safe. I was well provided for.”

Cassia arched a brow. “You don’t need to defend that piece of shit anymore.”

My mouth opened, only to close with the realization that was what I’d been doing, and that I’d come close to repeating myself in different words. Was I really defending Hektor? I couldn’t be sure when all I wanted was to wipe the pity from Cassia’s eyes. It doused me with the shame I’d spent so long in denial when I could’ve been breaking free from him.

“His asshole personality suited his looks,” she said, pulling me along the road. “You can do better, and you deserve so much more.”

I had to wonder what Cassia saw in me to say such things. More so, I wanted to agree but couldn’t find what it was within myself that smothered my confidence with cowardice.

My sights finally found the cinnamon scent as it grew stronger. It was rare to come by the spice traded from the northern kingdom of Astinus. I delighted at the pastry stall until I remembered I had no coin. I could just look, but as I took my first step forward Cassia’s grip steered me the opposite way.

“After,” she said, her voice kicking up with excitement. I followed her line of sight to what had caught her attention: a small shop selling fabrics. “We need to get you something proper to wear.”

“I have no money,” I admitted.

She didn’t answer me, only pausing to throw Calix an instruction over her shoulder to wait for us outside. He grumbled his reluctance, and I cringed at their quick back-and-forth, feeling in the middle until the overprotective guard agreed.

The bell chimed above our heads, and the interior of the shop expanded further than I expected. So many colors exploded before me, different fabrics and styles, and I was so swept away by the wonder of it all I didn’t feel Cassia slipping away from me. My fingers brushed over lace and silk, some formed into various garments and others long strips just waiting for a creative mind to craft them into something beautiful.

Toward the back of the shop I was drawn not to anything of vibrancy; the stark blacks and leather materials inspired a thrill. Some were matte, some textured with scales, some with hints of color, and my fingers skimmed over a leather corset with deep purple embroidery I thought to be alluringly dangerous.

“Great choice,” Cassia sang behind me.

I stepped away from the combat wears. “I was just looking.”

“You would suit it. I’ve never seen you in fighting attire.”

“I have no need for it.”

“You think I didn’t pick up on how often you would ask about mine back at the Keep?” she teased, twisting around me and picking up the corset I’d been admiring. “I love a pretty dress, but it’s comfortable and empowering to wear leathers every now and then.”

“We’re heading to the Central. I should be in something more presentable.” I hadn’t failed to notice the expensive elegance of Cassia’s gown. The gold and blue radiated against her skin, and her hair was styled in elaborate braids that made her appear nothing less than royalty.

Cassia huffed her agreement and dragged me back over to the dresses, where an eager seamstress stood waiting with a measuring tape.

At least an hour passed, and I didn’t know the last time I’d laughed so much, but Cassia drew it out effortlessly as I tried on multiple gowns.

“We’re going to the Central, not to a funeral.”

I admired the black gown embellished with silver I’d picked. “I like it.”

“How about something brighter?” The seamstress came over with bundles in her arms.

“Not white,” I said a bit too quickly.

“The black is perfect,” said Cassia, snapping me back to my present surroundings. Her hand ran over my bare arm, turning curious as she examined my silver tattoos. “If we can’t find out who your parents are, perhaps there will be more answers to what these could mean.”

“They mean nothing,” I mumbled with a note of bitterness I took from Hektor.

The seamstress maneuvered around me with various dark silks to fashion removable sleeves for the cold.

“Did you ever ask him?”

“Yes,” I said in a huff of frustration. “Hektor said he couldn’t find anything about where I’d come from after he found me. He told me he’d exhausted many resources trying.”

“And you believed him?”

“How could I not?” I realized immediately my response was not for Cassia but myself. I swallowed, knowing my excuse was pitiful. “I should have fought harder for myself,” I reflected quietly.

“You’re the most resilient person I know, Astraea. Don’t discredit yourself, or his manipulation still holds you.”

I gave her a smile when I couldn’t agree. My skin itched as if Hektor’s hold remained there as something physical, and I forced down the bout of fear that no matter how far I ran it would never let me go.

Cassia said, “I think he knew more about you than he let on.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” He’s dead. They were the words I couldn’t speak.

Not wanting to talk of it, I picked out a new black-and-silver cloak and gloves.

“We’re not giving up looking for answers for you,” Cassia said carefully, heading to the payment desk. “How can you expect to grow a future if you don’t know the steps you’ve already taken?”

Memory stole me from the shop with chilling clarity. How fast I had run, how the cold air had wrapped around me, and the terror in my chest that had never fully left. “If there’s one thing I do remember, it’s that the only way to outrun a monster is to never look back.”

Her eyes spoke of agreement, and as I watched her hand over coin for everything new I owned, I didn’t know how I could ever repay such a sum. I had nothing, not even while living in the manor draped in fine wears.

“You and Calix,” I said, needing the distraction from myself. The color that flushed Cassia’s cheeks made me bite my lip to suppress a squeal. “Had you kissed before?”

Her blush rose with her wide eyes as she hooked my arm. “Yes.”

I gasped. “You didn’t tell me!”

“Shh.”

We burst into quiet giggles in the corner of the store, knowing the guard was right outside.

“It was only a week before you last arrived at the Keep, and then he was with us the whole time. I didn’t have the chance.”

“Have you slept with him?”

“No. But I can’t deny I want to. I think I love him, Astraea. I think I have for some time, but with the future so uncertain…”

There was that word. Love. So obscure to me I wanted to know how she was certain of its touch. I took her hands. “You should enjoy every second.” Though I didn’t have a great friendship with Calix and was quite sure he’d rather I were gone no matter what became of me, I was thrilled for my friend.

Cassia nodded, grateful.

As we headed out I could hardly suppress my grin. Meanwhile, Cassia adopted a rare shyness, barely able to look at Calix.

Only when the stars started to come out did we realize we’d spent the whole day perusing stalls.

“You won’t make a great impression on the king if we arrive late,” Calix enlightened us.

I was riding a high of freedom, on no countdown to return to the manor, with no lingering fear that I’d be discovered, and trying not to think of Hektor at all as I despised the guilt still settling within. We hadn’t intended for this stop to last so long, but we couldn’t help stretching out our carefree hours.

“We’ll pick up pace to compensate. It will be fine,” Cassia said to him, leaning into his side, and I unhooked my arm from hers to give her some space.

As they admired a stall of small weaponry, I found my sights drifting away and decided to give them a moment alone while I wandered over to another merchant. I looked over the small boxes, each one beautifully crafted with burned designs, and was immediately drawn to one that looked familiar. I had to refrain from lifting my sleeve; the waxing moon phases on the black box were exact to those marked in silver on my forearm. Then, above them, the same phases waning.

Unlatching the hook, I found inside a small barrel with scattered metal studs. My fingers skimmed over a lever on its side, and I turned it. My eyes lit up as notes floated from the tiny invention, unable to understand the mechanics, but it was then I understood magick could be created. People could give stars a sound, and each one raised goose flesh on my skin, the pitch like pinpricks. The speed of the melody depended on my turns, and I became wondrously entranced by the song.

“Do you enjoy music, Starlight?”

The box jerked in my hands, but I clutched it tight to keep it from slipping. “Why must you do that?” I hissed without looking.

The man behind the counter finally turned, eyeing me and my surroundings suspiciously.

“Do what?”

“Show up so unexpectedly.”

Featherlight fingers grazed my chin, flickers of shadow crossed my vision, and my head turned at his phantom guide. “How might you like me to announce myself?”

Those golden eyes had started to become a beacon of attraction.

“You have an intrusive habit of touching me.”

“You have an inquisitive will to allow it.” He dropped his hand slowly. “Maybe you even desire it.”

Nyte had so far never failed to fluster me, but I was learning to suppress my reactions. His mouth twitched as though he knew.

“The shadows,” I said. “Do you command them?”

“Some things are far more thrilling to be felt rather than told.”

My lips parted. I could have sworn a touch eased around my nape, and I had to place my own hand there to be sure.

“I must say, darkness suits you so.” He trailed his gaze over my attire, and I stifled a shiver.

“Why are you here?”

“Can I help you, ma’am?” The man behind the counter came closer, eyeing the space beside me warily. He didn’t react with the terror I expected, and I wondered if vampires walked more casually around the humans than I thought.

Remembering the box I held, I said, “This song is beautiful.”

When he saw what had grabbed my interest his furrowed brow eased to a bright eagerness. “Ah, she’s one of my best compositions. I call her ‘Ballad of the Soul Gods,’ inspired by the Faelestial War.”

“Soul gods?”

“You do not know the tales, child?”

I had the urge to correct him, but my lack of knowledge of our history shrank me to the young and inexperienced persona despite my twenty-three years.

“A tragically poetic story,” Nyte mused.

The man didn’t react at all.

I asked, “The celestials are real?”

“Of course.”

The more people who confirmed this to me, the more my mind soared free to picture them.

“Ask him what happened to the soul gods.”

I flashed Nyte a look as his tone dropped darkly. “Why don’t you ask?”

He only gave an amused half-smile.

I scowled. “What happened at the end of the war?”

“The gods battled, and they say they nearly destroyed each other and the world in their wake. Unfortunately for us, the vampires won, and the celestials hid themselves to avoid annihilation beyond the veil.”

“The king…he is a god?”

The man’s shrug revealed his next words would be guesswork. “Perhaps not him, but the one the people feared for a long time until he turned silent. The king lacks influence without the one they called Nightsdeath, and if you ask me, it is why the vampires are getting out of control without their fear of him.”

I wasn’t sure why I slid Nyte a look; all it did was drop the temperature further when I noticed his expression of wrath and sin. This man’s tale aligned with Cassia’s, and something about Nyte’s reaction told me it was important.

“Darkness is growing,” the man continued. He glanced skyward, to the stars, and I was compelled to follow. My pulse skipped. “And people seem to forget the hope that comes to see it again.”

“You believe the stars are dying…” I trailed off, speaking more to myself as I tracked the growing expanse between that which sparkled. It was something I had thought before, so to have someone else see it was the first flicker of confirmation I was right.

“I do. And it is a terrifying thing, what must come for our salvation if the star-maiden has indeed returned.”

I’d never had my interest seized so wholly. No—it didn’t feel as simple as that. What unsettled me made my hands tremble and nudged at something in my mind that only grew frustrated to be rattled and not opened. Potentially a memory. I needed to hear more.

“When falls Night, the world will drown in Starlight,” Nyte said so quietly I had to look to be sure he’d spoken.

“What do you know of it?” I asked him.

When our eyes met, something pulled within me. The firmness of his face was broken only by the note of sorrow that turned his irises a shining amber.

“My dear, who are you speaking to?” The man snapped my attention back.

Brow furrowed, I was about to state the obvious when Cassia became the second person to startle me, near knocking the beautiful box from my grip again. As much as I wanted to hold onto it, Cassia had already spent far more coin than I could ever repay. Before she could offer to purchase the box, I set it down, letting my longing gaze linger on the twin moon phases.

“We’ll have to get rest in the carriage to keep to schedule,” Cassia said. Her arm looped through mine, and I whirled to Nyte. He was gone, of course. But as I smiled at the stallkeeper, I couldn’t rest my confusion at his last words.

“We should be able to stop tomorrow night for a proper bed,” Calix said as we made our way back to the road.

I squeezed Cassia’s arm. “A proper bed, huh?”

She caught onto my meaning immediately, eyes widening at me while she suppressed her smile and led us a few quickened paces ahead of the guard. “Astraea,” she drawled. “I didn’t expect teasing from you about bedroom affairs.”

“And why not?”

“You never spoke of yours.” She looked to me as if she’d made an error, but I shrugged, finding the confidence to speak openly now I would never go back. I didn’t need to convince myself of the opposite of what I was about to confess.

“Things with Hektor were fine at first. We weren’t intimate until around a year after we met. Then soon it became routine, but I wasn’t the only one he took pleasure from.”

Cassia gave a disgruntled sound. “I wish he were still alive so I could take a stab at him myself.”

I couldn’t respond to that. My fist flexed with the muscle memory of pushing my dagger through his chest. “Was it monstrous…?” I feared to ask. “How easily I took his life?”

“It’s not easy when it haunts you still,” Cassia said. “But he should have known a leash has two ends and it was only a matter of time before you strangled him with it.”

I huffed a laugh, but there was no humor to it. It was only an attempt to let her words sink my rising uncertainty about myself.

“But no, it was incredibly brave what you did, Astraea. If it makes me monstrous to think that, I’m glad there’s two of us.”