Page 1 of A Sky of Emerald Stars

Sadie

Golden leaves danced past the window of the little cottage. Olmdere seemed to hang in a state of perpetual autumn. In Highwick, it would still be summer, and—though I wouldn’t admit it to anyone—I missed the bloom of flowers, the scent of silver stones baking in the sunshine, the iced drinks and bounty of summer fruits, all while lazing in the shade of the forest and swimming in the streams. It was a brutal place sometimes, but not all of it had been evil. Not all of my childhood as a high-ranked member of the Silver Wolf pack had been bad. But everything I’d known—evil or not—had been ripped away from me now, and I was sure I’d never go back.

It felt like I was falling through midair and the ground never rose to meet me. I didn’t belong to my former pack anymore. And as horrible as that was, even worse was the thought that I didn’t feel like I belonged here, either.

“So you’ve decided on sulking forever then?” Maez asked through a mouthful of lentil stew.

“I’m not sulking,” I muttered in a voice that would be definitively classified as “sulky.”

Briar pulled a skillet of corn bread from the fire and placed it on the stone windowsill to cool. “You’re avoiding my twin, Sadie,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at me. “And your Queen.”

“Your twin and my Queen are one and the same,” I said bitterly. “Stop being so dramatic.”

I assessed Briar’s red hair braided back off her face, her bright blue eyes, and long lean frame. She didn’t look much like her twin, Calla, now the Queen of the Golden Court. NowmyQueen, too, as everyone seemed to feel the need to remind me.

It still felt odd. I thought I’d be a member of the Silver Wolf pack for the rest of my life. I was one of the royal guards—the elite. I was meant to live and die protecting the Silver Wolf throne... and I had accepted that.

Now, I wasn’t a member of any pack at all, but rather acourt,one comprised of both human and Wolf. It was a good change, and yet it still left me reeling. Was it possible to miss something even if it was wrong?

Everything felt tight as a bowstring. Every day we waited for King Nero to attack and the war he promised to begin in earnest, but there was nothing but silence from the Damrienn border.

When a Wolf is silent, that means it’s hunting.

So we all idled by in a tension-filled routine. Planning. Waiting. Rebuilding.

Briar cleared her throat, and I spotted the silent conversation whizzing between her and Maez. Her eyes widened as she jutted her chin in my direction and mouthed something I couldn’t quite make out.

“If I’m ruining your mating bliss, just say so,” I grumbled, pushing to a stand.

Maez shot to her feet across from me. “Sit,” she commanded as if I was still a puppy. She picked up her spoon again and resumed eating. “I know you came here for more than my mate’s famous corn bread. Talk.”

I sighed, lifting a hand to rub across my face and then thinking better of it in case I got spice in my eyes. Then these two would think I was crying and that’s the last thing I fucking needed. I wasn’t a Wolf who got her heart broken by anyone—let alone a human. I was a warrior and now one of Queen Marriel’s officialguards... well, Iwouldbe if I spent any time at the castle actually performing my duties instead of drinking every Olmderian tavern dry, definitely not thinking about a human.

My hair and clothes still reeked of ale from the night spent at the tavern... several nights, weeks even, if I was being honest. I’d spent the rest of my time since Sawyn’s death at Maez and Briar’s cottage, not because I particularly liked cottages or the puppy eyes they constantly made at each other, but because the palace reminded me of the battle and a certain tall musician who occupied even more of my dark thoughts than the pack I’d lost.

“You can’t avoid the castle forever,” Maez said, already knowing my line of thought.

“I know it’s become a sore spot between me and Calla,” I muttered. “It’s just been... a lot.”

“Does she know that?” Briar asked pointedly, tossing a dish towel over her shoulder and untying her apron. She was the picture of rural bliss, looking even more regal in this little cottage than she did in a castle. More, she looked happy.

“Maybe it’s a one-sided sore spot,” I muttered, pulling out the knife from my thigh belt and flicking it back and forth.

Maez’s hand shot out and covered my own, pinning my wrist to the table and ceasing my knife fidgeting. “Look,” she said. “We all think Navin is a piece of shit.”

“Mm-hmm,” Briar agreed as she sauntered over with a pitcher of lemonade.

“But,” Maez continued. “He’s a piece of shit that you’re going to have to get overwithoutstabbing someone... or my mate’s carefully selected new table.”

I yanked my wrist away and sheathed my knife, knowing I was moping and hating myself for it. “Nothing ever even happened between us,” I said tightly. “A few chaste kisses and nothing more. I’m acting like such a bloody fool and I hate it, but I can’t settle into this life here. Everything about it chafes. I just... I don’t know.”

“A human would’ve never satisfied you,” Maez continued. “You would’ve dropped him like day-old bread after one roll in the sheets. You like the tough ones, Sads—a human who wears daisies embroidered on his lapel is never going to work out.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” I blew my bangs out of my eyes from the corner of my mouth. I really needed to trim them but couldn’t summon the fucks to give to do so. “There weren’t exactly a lot of places for us to sneak off to on a moving wagon, and the one night I thought we’d have together we got captured by Silver Wolves... and then his face got smashed in.” The memory of that horror flooded through me, and I was once again reminded that Navin was not as strong as the Wolves. I shoved up from the table into a stand, feeling a little more in control. “You’re right.” I said it with more confidence this time. “He and I were a bad idea from the start. There’s no way we could’ve lasted.” My shoulders shook with bitter laughter. “He was never strong enough for me.”

“Yes,” Briar said as Maez slapped the table and shouted, “Damn straight.” I thanked the sweet moon for my friends and their unerring—if not overzealous—support.

Their words were finally sticking. Navin was a sad little human who chose to protect his Rook brother over me in battle. Of course he’d chosen his own kind, just like I would choose mine now.

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