Page 152 of Court of Aether and Shadows

"Oh, Star Girl," Nyx murmured, her galaxy eyes swimming with emotion. "How exhausting that must have been, constantly policing every aspect of your appearance just to be taken seriously."

I hadn't realized I was crying until Nyx reached up to brush away a tear with her thumb. "The worst part?" I laughed wetly. "It worked. The more I suppressed any hint of femininity, the more missions I got. The more respect I earned. Until eventually..."

"Until you became exactly what they wanted. A weapon without softness," Nyx finished softly. "A warrior who happened to be female rather than a woman who could fight."

"Yeah." I looked around at the luxury of my academy room, at the delicate bottles promising beauty and indulgence. "Sometimes I wonder if I even know how to be feminine anymore. If I remember how to care for myself beyond basic survival."

Nyx stood suddenly, her void energy swirling with determination.

"Well then," she declared, pulling me up from the bed, "consider this your first lesson in reclaiming your right to be both warrior and woman." She guided me to the vanity, positioning me in front of the mirror. "Fifty-three steps might be a bit much to start with, but we'll find what works for you."

"Fifty-three?" I choked. "You're joking."

Her galaxy eyes met mine in the mirror, dancing with amusement.

"Each one a small act of rebellion against a world that tried to strip you of your softness." She picked up a crystal bottle filled with something that looked like liquid moonlight. "Ready to start your revolution?"

Looking at my reflection — at the woman who had survived so much, who was finally free to explore all aspects of herself — I felt something tight in my chest begin to loosen.

"Yeah," I said, managing a small smile. "Show me everything."

"Hold still," Nyx commanded, carefully applying a mask that seemed to contain actual starlight. The substance shimmered between her fingers as she spread it across my cheeks with practiced precision. "If you think this is excessive, you should see my bath routine. Void wolves are particularly fastidious about cleanliness."

"Really?" I tried not to move my face as she worked. "Even with all the chaos you cause?"

She snorted, her galaxy eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Especially because of that. You think I want void residue clinging to my pores? That stuff can literally create micro-black holes. One wrong move and poof! There goes your entire skincare collection into another dimension."

The mental image made me laugh, which earned me a light tap on the nose with a product-covered finger.

"I said hold still! And yes, I'm serious. Most people think void wolves are all about destruction and mayhem, which, fair enough, we are, but we're also obsessive about purification. It'slike..." she paused, searching for the right words, "the chaos is our art, but our bodies are our temples."

"That actually makes a lot of sense," I mused. "But how did you end up running with wolves from other courts? I mean, the political tension alone..."

Something flickered in Nyx's galaxy eyes — an old pain quickly masked by her usual mischief.

"That's actually kind of a funny story." She reached for another product, this one seeming to contain crushed crystals suspended in what looked like liquid aurora. "I wasn't always the confident, devastatingly gorgeous void wolf you see before you."

She fell quiet for a moment, focusing intently on applying the mask around my eyes.

When she spoke again, her voice carried an unusual vulnerability.

"The Void Court...they're not big on different. And I was very different. Still am, really, but now I own it. Back then, though?"

"They bullied you?" I asked softly, seeing a flash of my own past in her expression.

"Relentlessly," she confirmed, her galaxy eyes distant with memory. "Being a female void wolf was rare enough, but I also refused to fit their mold of what a proper void noble should be. I was too loud, too colorful, too much of everything they thought should be contained and controlled."

Her hands stilled on my face for a moment.

"Cypress and Solaris were always around because of their families' political obligations. The Elemental and Aether Courts love their diplomatic visits." A small smile curved her lips. "They thought I was a boy at first. I kept my hair short back then, and tried so hard to blend in. But they were the only ones who ever stood up for me."

"Really? Even with the court rivalries?"

"Especially because of them," Nyx laughed, resuming her careful application of the mask. "See, everyone expected the Elemental and Aether heirs to ignore void court drama. To maintain that perfect diplomatic distance. Instead, these two idiots would literally cause natural disasters and solar flares whenever they caught someone harassing me."

She grinned at the memory.

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