Page 97 of A Sky of Emerald Stars

“I love it.” I threaded my fingers with his, and his shoulders eased in relief as he pulled me into his side. “Definitely beats breaking my hands.”

He knowingly laughed, rustling my loose hair as he dusted another kiss to my temple. “Do you want me to go or stay?”

“Stay.” The word instantly left my lips as quickly as I could think it. I wanted him here, holding this space for me, my heart finally willing to admit how much I needed him.

I selected the single glowing candle and lifted my chin to the sky, letting the sight of the full moon wash through me as I murmured my prayers.

“Moon Goddess, hear me this night,” I said.

My voice wobbled and I couldn’t get the words out, my prayer morphing into one of raw emotions instead of words. Navin shuffled closer until I could feel the heat of his chest at my back. I wanted to ask the Goddess to forgive me for all who’d died by my hands, to usher all the fallen souls into the afterlife. I wanted to ask her to guide my next steps and to watch over me for another moon. More hot tears streamed down my face and dripped off my chin. I wanted to ask her to find a way to reckon with my brother and to bring Maez back to me.

But instead, I just cried and trusted that she knew everything unfurling from my heart. These tears felt different than all the ones I’d shed before, neither panicked nor breaking but rather healing like the gentleness of falling asleep, like the whole world sighing. The tears cleansed me of all the fear and rage. The pain was still there but lessened, pulling from me like the smoke from the flame. The moonlight mended me back together along with the hand clenching my own.

I set the candle back down and turned into Navin, his arms ready to envelop me. “Thank you,” I whispered into his tear-stained tunic.

When I released him, I grabbed a candle and passed it to him. “Let’s pray for your family, too.”

His throat bobbed as he took the candle from me, and I saw all the emotions in his expression that he would never be able to put words to, not even a song. Lighting the candle felt like a vow between the two of us, standing at the altar of moonlight.

I watched the flickering candles through watery eyes as we reckoned with all we’d lost together. I knew it would take many moons, maybe a lifetime, to fully heal, but the moon was still in the sky and Navin was still by my side and right then I knew I had to make that count for more than the fear of what comes next.

Calla

The halls of Olmdere were bleak now with so many gone. A somber shadow blanketed my court. Briar, Maez... I felt Sadie’s absence so acutely, wishing she could be here with us to reconcile everything that had just happened to us. I even grieved Hector. I wanted to dream of skewering him through like I had Ingrid, but instead I dreamed of cornering him and demanding to know just one thing: Why? After all we’d been through, how could he turn his weapons on us, not just me but Grae, his oldest friend.

I shoved it aside. He was Sadie’s kill now. I’d let her deal with him. If only hate could be a singular emotion. If only the others didn’t crowd it out and temper its blaze. If only my mind could stop reliving every moment with Hector in Taigos wondering when—when—had he turned on us? How had Nero gotten his claws into him and Ingrid from so far away?

Ora’s palm gently settled atop my hand, and I realized I’d been picking at my fingernails until they bled. I’d shift and they’d be gone, and I’d pick them all over again and gnaw at the inside of my cheek until I tasted copper.

The evening air carried a slight chill that raised the hairs on my arms. We sat around the firepit on the upper terrace of thepalace, overlooking the lively western quarter of the city. Sadie and Maez should be down there now, jigging to a fiddle player and besting the patrons at a game of darts. My gaze flickered to the woods beyond, where no swirl of smoke arose from the lone cabin, no windows afire with the light of a warm hearth. The secret dream Briar had never whispered even to me, the one she finally got to live, now sat cold and joyless on the shadowed horizon.

I took in our group huddled around the firepit. Grae, Ora, Mina, and myself. So few. Too few.

Sadie and Navin were still in Lower Valta on their way to southern Damrienn. Their harebrained plan to turn monsters into weapons of war was underway, but even with a legion of beasts under their control, I felt that hopelessness creeping in. Was this my only choice? Would I have to order monsters to slaughter every Wolf who didn’t bend the knee to me? All of Aotreas would be at war with us by the time the sun rose. Nero was spreading his campaign of hatred far and wide; soon Taigos would be infected and humans everywhere would suffer. I could see no path forward except for one of bloodshed.

Ora’s hand squeezed my arm. “Hope isn’t lost yet,” they said as if reading my thoughts.

“Taigos is too busy with ranking and infighting to be a threat,” Grae said, though that did little to comfort me. “Whatever is left of Valta will try to take Taigos while they are without a ruler. Which means the Ice Wolves will be too preoccupied with protecting their southern borders to orchestrate an attack on us.”

“But they would attack us,willattack us, once they get organized.” I shook my head. “We are worse off than when we started. We don’t have a single ally on the entire continent now.”

“Wolfally,” Ora corrected. “We won’t find our allies with the Wolves right now. Once they see your strength, maybe, butright now we’ll find our allies with the humans. I think they’ll be more inclined than ever to support your cause, too.”

Mina knocked on the arm of her chair and I lifted my head. “You are the only ruler left defending the humans now,” she signed. “People will rally to you. Galen den’ Mora will come to your aid once more.”

I remembered the battle in the grand hall just below out feet. “All those badges,” I whispered, thinking of the sea of musicians who attacked Sawyn’s Rooks and the little embroidered badges hidden amongst the crowd.

“I’ve sent the songs down the wells,” Ora said with a slow nod. “They will come.”

I slid my gaze to them. “Do they all have magic like yours?”

“Some have more potential for magic than others.” Ora pursed their painted red lips, debating for a second before nodding. “I suppose there should be no more secrets between members of the Golden Court. I don’t know if they all will be able to control beasts, if that’s what you’re asking, but many might prove useful in times of war—healing the wounded, calming the frightened. Gods, even just helping an unsettled court sleep.”

“We should send the Songkeepers to Valta,” Mina signed. “Have them train with Navin. He can teach them the songs and weed out the ones with the most potential.”

“They were once called officers in the Songkeepers army,” Ora mused, contemplatively scratching the scruff on their chin. “I never thought I’d live to see the rise of such an army again. But you’re right. It’s time.”

Grae reached over and threaded his fingers through my own. “One person controlling a monster would be an advantage, but hundreds?” He offered me a half-smile, one cheek dimpling. “If it can be done—”

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