The Stars are Dying : (Nytefall: Book 1)

I rode fast and far, leaving everything I knew with no time to mourn in my focus. As I drew closer to the Central, only the daunting fate I was about to walk into consumed my every thought.

Nyte stayed with me even when I couldn’t see him. I spent a lot of my time resting fast, eating only what I needed, and galloping quickly in the direction he’d sent me, having no other choice without a map. He lingered mostly in my mind, but that was often favored when I couldn’t allow the distraction of his physical presence to slow me down.

I had so many questions about him. How he often felt like a ghost in my wake but was also so promising. I wished Cassia could have seen him, if only a glance, to settle my mind.

It didn’t matter right now. Nothing did. I slowed the horse on the crest of a hill and my breath shuddered out of me.

The Central Kingdom of Vesitire was so much more than my mind had speculated. In the brilliant night it glittered mesmerizingly against the full moon’s rays, reflecting so much glass it could be mistaken for an ocean at first glance.

At least, the top two tiers could.

The city was built like nothing I had seen before. Three circular levels high, and even from here I could see the biggest building I’d ever witnessed: the castle dominating the top level. From this side, water fell from several points on the bottom level, spilling into the wide river circling around the city and breaking off into several rivers that weaved through the surrounding villages. A triumphant arched bridge would be my way across.

“There’s a whole world before you, Starlight.”

Nyte took a physical form this time, standing beside the horse as if he were reacting to the frightening beat of my heart, knowing I needed grounding in that second so I wouldn’t choose to flee.

“Look beyond it,” he said.

My eyes flicked up, past the huge city and beyond to the duller surrounding towns. A white line made up the horizon. The more I stared I felt a pull, my eyes drawn toward it like a magnet, magnifying it as I did when I gave my immersive sight to the stars. It moved so subtly I could see, almost feel, its life force.

“The veil…” My voice trailed off with wonder. I’d always imagined it to be black and sinister. But it made sense that something that repelled nightmares would be made of light.

“You should abandon this plan and head there.”

“I would be abandoning an entire kingdom.”

“You would be safe.”

My attention passed to him with a frown, but he did not meet my eye. “How can you be sure?”

Nyte’s jaw worked. “Do you trust me?”

“I’m barely convinced of your existence at all.”

He didn’t match my humor. Instead his golden gaze caught me, and I couldn’t read into why his eyes became so guarded.

“I’m already late,” I said quietly, more to myself to spur on my urgency. The other Selected would have arrived early this morning, and I only prayed the king would be lenient to whatever excuse I was yet to conjure for my tardiness.

“I’m right here with you.”

I nodded, staring vacantly straight ahead toward the misty white veil, unable to deny I felt a longing for what could be discovered if I chose selfishness. Then I cast my sights up, hoping the stars would offer serenity as they always did. I studied them out of habit, my frown flexing.

Stargazing had always been a soothing comfort to me. Sometimes Cassia and I would spend hours mapping our own constellations, and I wondered if she saw them as in-depth as I did. At first glance, the sky was a blanket of tiny crystals, but there were layers I could measure the distance between, and the sizes, they blinked.

My chest warmed. A slow pulse that beat three times as I stared up.

It seemed a childish notion now, to believe we would eventually become stars and all I had to do was look up to find Cassia. My eyes burned, but tears didn’t gather.

“What do you see?” Nyte asked.

“What do you know of the nights growing longer…darker?”

“It’s what happens when two stars collide,” he said. “Something that should be beautiful becomes an utterly destructive, devastating force.”

When our eyes connected I couldn’t untangle the knot in my stomach. The sorrow we shared, yet I didn’t know why. I had the building urge to ask more—what it meant—though my heart was braced for a tragic tale.

I didn’t get the chance when his expression blanked to stern indifference—a contrast I had to blink against as though it would return it to the momentary vulnerability he’d displayed.

“The Central awaits,” he drawled.

My brow furrowed as I contemplated for a second. I let go of the reins, dismounting not entirely with grace as I was still growing accustomed to the beast. I unhooked the bow from my back as I trailed back through the woodland I’d emerged from.

“Cold feet?”

I didn’t deign to respond to Nyte’s sarcasm. Retrieving an arrow, I felt completely foolish, not having the first clue about how to hunt. I could hit stationary targets, but I’d never tested the skill this way.

“You just ate,” he went on.

“I’m not hungry,” I hissed. “Now, would you be quiet?”

Something leaped past the trees in the distance, and I crouched, nocking the arrow, but my aim wouldn’t stop shaking, and it took considerable strength to hold my poise even for a few long seconds. As the rabbit bounded out of view I relaxed with a huff.

“A person might be a better bet,” Nyte said, and my head snapped to him at the casual suggestion. “Larger target, slow or stationary if you pick your moment right…”

“I’m not killing someone for this!”

“If you stay here, you’re bound to attract a nightcrawler,” he went on anyway. “Aim for the wings. They tend to show off with them, and they make ample targets.”

My breath hitched. I backed out of the trees slowly with fresh awareness of the creature I didn’t want to encounter. I ran a hand through my hair, and when I looked at my palm I did a double-take, not used to finding the stark new contrast of black silk tresses. It had taken every coin Lilith gave me to purchase enough Starlight Matter to achieve the desired effect. The silver elixir also concealed my scent and changed my eyes to a deeper blue until I stopped taking it.

The tightening in my gut wouldn’t ease. I’d stolen the attributes to impersonate Cassia. Just as a precaution.

“Darkness does suit you in clothing, but I’ll admit, I long to hide your elixirs for a glimpse of your silver hair again.”

“The disguise was your idea,” I grumbled. “Though I don’t think Hektor’s men are going to catch word about me here. Even if they did, I’m practically saving them the hassle of having to kill me.”

“You’re not going to die.”

I eyed him carefully, wanting to feel the same confidence with which he spoke those words, and took a deep breath, needing to calm the racing of my heart and embody the lethal combatant they would expect. “You’re certain the king never visited the Keeps to meet the Selected?”

“No, he has not,” Nyte confirmed. “Feel free to ask again if three times isn’t enough.”

As I turned from the woods to cast him a glower, a crack startled me, and I whirled. I fixed the arrow back into place—a deterrent, I hoped, even if I didn’t have the confidence to strike accurately with it. My eyes scanned the depthless dark furiously. I heard footsteps but could hardly tell the direction in which they were headed as I took my own backward steps to emerge on the hill again. My heartbeat distorted my tracks, thumping in my ears, but my sight caught the figure. I held my breath, about to pull back the string and take aim—until the first rays of moonlight revealed a face that almost pushed the weapon from my hands.

“Zathrian?”

The rush of overwhelming relief escaped as a whimper from my lips. I let go of the bow and ran to him without hesitation, not caring how he was here, why, or for the possibility he could be a trick.

He wasn’t immediately receptive to me, as if confusion stunned him. “Astraea?”

It took a moment to realize I didn’t look entirely like myself. My eyes swelled with tears, and I nodded. Zath needed nothing more. He made the last few strides until his strong arms were wrapped around me tight. Then I came apart.

“Oh, Zath, so much happened. I can’t— Cassia, she…” I couldn’t form the sentences to explain everything at once.

“You’re all right,” he soothed, smoothing down my nape with his palm while I cried.

This gift of familiarity and safety I clung to tight, right when I needed it the most.

“How did you find me?” I sniffed, wiping my nose with my sleeve when we parted.

Zathrian looked over me with a solemn face, and I didn’t try to be brave knowing he would see right through it. “Everything went to shit after you left. I couldn’t risk staying there when I was seen helping you by some of Hektor’s men. But I stayed behind for a while, stopping as many as I could from coming after you, until a week went by with nothing new. I came as soon as I could, but I didn’t expect…” Zathrian trailed off.

My brow pinched to fight the sting of grief in my eyes. “It’s just me,” I said.

“Then what are you doing here?” He scanned me from head to toe, my plan all but communicated by my altered attributes, and the firm lines of his skin smoothed out to dread.

I didn’t think telling Zathrian my plan would go well, but he listened to everything I tried to explain, each step from the moment I left the manor. I rushed it all out despite his look of concern and horror, glancing toward the city when I spoke of my plan that seemed so much more ludicrous spoken aloud.

“Astraea, you are no fighter,” Zathrian said lightly. As though I were naïve enough to believe I was.

Somehow, it stung to hear aloud what I felt within, but I didn’t let it show.

“There’s more to these trials than fighting,” I said. “I’m the only chance we have. If I don’t try, Alisus has no hope in this Libertatem.”

His expression was conflicted, like he wanted to take me far away in the opposite direction, but we both knew I was right. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes,” I said honestly. I had nothing to lose, and being here in Cassia’s memory, knowing how much it had meant to her, made my choice easy.

“Well, of course I’m coming with you.”

I smiled, so relieved not to be facing this daunting hurdle alone that I nodded gratefully. I perked up, swiping up a bow and extending it out to him. “I have a plan, and I need you to do something for me.”

“STOP!”

My fear beat to the pounding of the horse’s hooves. We didn’t slow at the barked command. Instead Zathrian leaned into my back tighter, and I didn’t think it was possible for the horse to charge faster, but my eyes watered with its speed.

“Are you sure this was a good idea?” he said, mouth close to my ear.

“Not at all.”

His chuckles were swallowed by the commotion we erupted as we headed straight toward the guards posted at the gates.

My idea to make my story as believable as I could was simple, if brazen. My hope in our rushed state was that it would gain me some sympathy, or at least cause enough of a distraction to demand some formality where I was sure to flounder. My eyes scrunched and I wanted to hide in cowardice when, for a split second, I thought we’d have to trample the guards. They dove out of the way just in time, making my skin slick with the racing of my pulse.

The castle expanded before me, so wide and triumphantly tall I tried not to balk at it. Zath tugged the reins hard as we reached the end of the courtyard and some of the longest steps I’d ever seen appeared. Many huge colonnades supported the portico, and the tall ornate doors made me feel so small.

They weren’t the most distinguishing feature. The castle was crafted of black stone and glass—not to make it sinister and frightening; it was breathtaking when the moonlight reflected off it, as if the structure were made of the midnight sky.

“Dismount at once!”

My attention snapped down to the line of guards all angling lethal spears at us, and my throat burned as the exertion caught up to me in punishment. Zathrian didn’t hesitate, slipping away from behind me. My chest heaved, and while dizziness swept in, I forced my leg around the horse, knowing they wouldn’t have a shred of patience.

Zathrian helped me down, and both of us held our hands up to show we were unarmed as five guards swiftly closed in. I took a few deep breaths to remember everything I’d rehearsed, forcing words through my constricted throat.

“I am one of the Selected,” I panted.

Zathrian added, “The rest of our party was ambushed days ago. It is only the two of us.”

They continued to assess me, and I could do nothing but stand bare to their judgment. One nodded to another then gave no words, only jerked his chin at me, before he twisted. It was an invitation to follow.

Zathrian’s hand on my back was the only thing that forced me to defy the roots I’d planted to keep me still. I was so damn grateful he was here.

As we passed through the dominating doors, the grand reception hall was like something from a darkly beautiful fairy tale. I tried to keep from admiring the pristine, silver-embellished black marble. The wide space could suspend an echo for seconds, but everything was so eerily quiet. A peaceful desertion.

The grandeur of my surroundings offered enough of a distraction to slow my pulse. I was really here, in the fortress of the Central I’d only heard whispers of.

And I should be here with Cassia.

My gaze dropped with sinking despair to track my boots over the light mosaic floor that broke up the black decor. The loud groan of doors directed my head up, but what I didn’t expect was for a loud commotion to hit my senses like a physical blow. It was sheer focus and determination that kept my steps from halting like my mind demanded. I wanted to turn and run far away from the gathering I hadn’t expected to interrupt.

Only one guard walked ahead of us while the others stopped, and we followed his lead until we stood at the center of a table that spanned around us on each side in a U shape. The hushed silence of those seated was weighted with judgment, intrigue, and astonishment. The feast drifted so many scents at us, but I could focus on nothing but my erratic nerves trickling sweat down my spine.

“She claims to be the last of your Selected, Your Majesty.” The guard bowed before turning sharply, and as soon as he stepped away as the final barrier between us, the King of the Six Realms set his intense eyes on me. Breathing became a conscious effort, and I swallowed hard, but my throat stung with dryness.

I dropped into my own bow as the king rose slowly, his broad form dominating, and I wanted to disappear with all the attention. Every set of eyes felt latched onto my skin, and the worst of all of them let the thick silence linger.

“Is that so?” His voice rumbled with intrigue.

I shivered, haunted by it, but forced myself to straighten. “My name is Cassia Vernhalla,” I said, glad when my voice came steady, though my nose prickled with a note of shame at the impersonation. “Our company was ambushed. We barely made it out.” I couldn’t help but to survey the gathering. From their looks of disgust and horror, I knew they couldn’t distinguish the blood we wore as an animal’s and not a person’s. Zathrian hadn’t taken long to hunt the rabbit, and we’d coated ourselves enough to add merit to our story.

There were many in attendance, but from the elegance and even spacing of them, I knew I stood in the center of my competitors.

The other four Selected.

My gaze came back around to the king, but I did a double take at the male on his right. Something about him stole my breath. His sharp jaw, high cheekbones, the roundness of his eyes… He was beautiful. Though dangerous too, I realized as I beheld his pointed ears. His hazel irises were the color of caramel as they bore into me. Then I took in the gold band over short brown waves that met in a point at the center of his forehead.

I’d heard mention of the king having a son, though never any details. He’d seemed almost like a fable to me until now.

“Cassia,” the king drawled slowly.

I snapped out of the trance I was slipping into. My cheeks flushed to realize we’d been staring at each other.

“The Selected for the Kingdom of Alisus. We feared you would not make it. But we can forgive you as the Libertatem has not yet officially begun while we enjoy this welcome evening.”

I forced myself to react like I owned the name, wondering if my biggest challenge to survive would not be this deadly game but my slowly shredding heart. “Your Majesty.” I dipped my head again.

My pulse counted the beats of silence, and when his slow smile curled, I almost relaxed.

“Do you have your invitation?”

Shit. I hadn’t thought of that. With a glance at Zathrian, he spoke for me.

“We barely fled with our lives, Your Majesty.”

“Then how am I to know that you are who you say you are?”

My mind scrambled. This was about to all be over before it could begin… I drew a shallow gasp, and though it made my heart wrench with the possibility the king might claim possession of it, I willed my hand to reach into my neckline and reveal the seal of Alisus on the silver pendant.

The last thing I had of Cassia’s.

The king’s shadow-lined chin tilted faintly. He outstretched a hand, and with a motion of his two fingers for me to approach he chilled my blood. Zathrian gave me a small smile of encouragement before I obeyed. I stopped right before his table, and he reached out further until I stepped forward, my thighs touching the wood. The entire table watched his judgment as if this were the first of his trials.

His hazel gaze studied the pendant, and my breath caught as his fingers lifted it from my chest right up to my high neckline. I didn’t know why my attention felt so drawn to the prince and I wished I hadn’t diverted my focus. He watched me carefully, and while his reception appeared kind, I couldn’t shake the crawling wariness that became amplified by his proximity. He glanced between me and his father, leaning forward in his chair as if to intercept.

It was then I found the king piercing me with a studying intensity, scanning my face, my attire, and scrutinizing me as though I’d come to him as a puzzle missing a piece.

“Allow me to introduce myself.” A smooth voice of silk smothered my panic under the king’s close watch. “My name is Drystan.”

As I straightened with the rise of the prince, the pendant slipped from the king’s hand. Mercifully it stole his keen interest away from me.

“Yes, this is my son.”

The obvious didn’t need to be spoken, but I gave a bow of my head regardless.

“You may see more of him during your time here. However long.”

My nerves were teetering on a razor’s edge. I thought Drystan’s assessment was like his father’s, but without the missing piece. He smiled, appearing warm, welcoming. I wanted to feel it, but I listened to the note of caution that arose from within.

“Join us,” the king announced, more to the servants, who began to move, pulling out the vacant seats to our left.

“We don’t wish to put you off your fine meal in our…current state,” I said. Blood crusted on my fingers, and it was an effort not to wretch at the memory of Zathrian gutting the rabbit. All for this display, in the hope it would gain us some respect from the others when everything about me otherwise was sure to pin me as a target.

“Nonsense,” the king said, more cheerful than expected as he took his seat again. “I’m sure there are none here who could be put off by the sight of blood.”

I had no choice but to nod in acceptance and follow a kind woman with straight black hair, braided to the side, and beautiful large eyes, who offered the only warmth in the room. She took my bow, pack, and cloak, and I slid into the seat that was offered to me, but I wanted nothing more than for the back of the chair to open into a depthless void and drop me into the abyss for how singled-out I looked with such elegance surrounding me.

At the thought, I glanced across the space to the seat opposite and turned to stone as I found the woman’s keen gaze already upon me. She was breathtakingly stunning, and as I knew, there was only one other female Selected. Her name was Rosalind. Her light pink hair was wonderful with its natural curls, two sections pinned high and adorned with gold accessories that reminded me of Lilith’s delicate horns. The lengths flowed to her ribs, complementing her glowing brown skin. Though my admiration dissipated to cold dread as the assessment in her light brown eyes chilled me.

“Please, let us resume the feast,” the king said as a command for chatter to fill the awkward silence.

I looked away from Rosalind as the group became loud once more, toward a man further to her right whom I dreaded ever having to go against in combat with his brute size. An angry scar paled his tanned skin, starting at his temple, trailing under an eye patch, and ending right before his mouth. He could be Draven from the Selected profiles I’d studied—one whose best skill was the impressive weight he could lift.

Another Selected—Enver, I thought—I wished to never have to outsmart. There was a cunning gleam in his green irises, and his cropped blond locks made his angled, pale, and slim features all the more conniving. He studied me from head to toe as if I were an item on the menu.

Then, finally, the man reclining lazily in his seat had to be Arwan, the most bored-looking man in the room and the only one still picking at the grapes in front of him. My heart lurched at the sight of his rugged red hair, but his resemblance to Hektor was quickly wiped when he lifted his brown eyes to me around sharper features.

There was nowhere to land my attention that didn’t prick my skin with nerves. I didn’t need to meet the prince’s gaze; I was already rattling with an odd awareness of it.

It wasn’t by choice but default that my stare slipped back to Rosalind. She picked up her cup, sipping carefully, but I felt the mark she made of me. While the men looked at me as bait to crush, capture, and best, I couldn’t shake my unease that Rosalind was studying me carefully, with an attention that picked apart my exterior piece by piece. I schooled my face, distracted my gaze, and wondered with a shock of incredulity that struck me far too late…

What the fuck did I think I was doing?

“Eat, Cassia,” Zathrian said, playing along with the name in our company. He reached over me to spear some meat onto his plate, but I had no appetite. “Despite what he might say, the game starts now.”