Page 94 of Crown of Slumber

I tilted my head to see it better, and my eyes widened. Sure enough, a faint smattering of stars rested directly above themountain peak, and it did indeed represent an upside down triangle. “Wow. What does that mean?”

“Our stories say that Luna fell in love with Solus. The moon and the sun. When Miranya, the Star Goddess, discovered this, she punished Luna and Solus for tampering with the natural order of things. She cursed them, binding their fates to this hourglass. When the sands trickled to the bottom, Luna awoke, and the hourglass turned over. When her time was up, she fell into an enchanted sleep, and Solus took over. They were cursed to forever be apart. The sun and the moon.”

My heart twisted at the words of the story.An enchanted sleep.A week ago, I would have believed it to be a fable. But such an enchantmentdid,in fact, exist. So, who was to say this story wasn’t real? “That is… tragic.”

“It is,” Fenn agreed. “But legend says that Thora, the goddess of new beginnings, took pity on the couple and blessed them with a few days each year where they could be together. You will notice that on some days, you can see the moon even when the sun is shining.”

“Yes,” I said in surprise. “Yes, that is true. We often see that in the winter.”

Fenn smiled. “On those days, Luna and Solus can only glimpse one another in passing. But on the days of an eclipse, they join together for a singular night of passion, reawakening their love for one another.”

I stared at Fenn, at the way his emerald eyes darkened as he watched me, the way his full lips parted and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. My skin heated, my stomach fluttering from the intensity of his gaze. Despite the vast and open sky before us, I felt too warm, too close, too stifled here with him. Our hands were still entwined, and he was standing so very close to me.

I wet my lips, and his eyes tracked the movement, making my stomach dip with desire. Gods, I knew exactly how that mouth of his felt on my skin, how his tongue tasted…

I blinked and turned away, thinking of the tale he told. It was romantic, yes, but it was also full of sorrow and grief. The couple could never be together. They were too different. They came fromdifferent worlds. And even those few days where they could be together would never be enough.

“We should… keep moving,” Fenn said, clearing his throat as his steps continued. I followed, matching his stride, secretly grateful he was still holding my hand, as silly as it seemed.

I thought of the story of the elven king trying to save his kingdom from a horrible curse. In the end, just like the story of Luna and Solus, it was only a fable. A tale to tell one’s children at bedtime. But, just like the story of the stars, there was meaning behind it. Pieces of truth that bled into reality.

The elven king gave his life to save his kingdom and break the curse. I would do the same for mine, should it come to that.

Luna and Solus were punished for their love, destined to be apart forever. Did Fenn and I face a similar fate?

But that was ridiculous. I didn’t love the Midnight Prince, and he certainly didn’t love me.

Even so, my mind kept returning to that tale as we continued onward.

We walked in silence for several minutes, making our way to a forest of spruce trees ahead. Just before we entered the wood, Fenn squeezed my fingers. “I should warn you. We are entering unseelie territory. It’s the only way through. And… relations with the unseelie have been volatile.”

I nodded solemnly. “You said they’ve been attacking your people.”

“Yes.” Fenn’s eyes flared with a mixture of sorrow and anger. “We are on the brink of a civil war between the seelie and the unseelie. To enter these woods is to incite an attack from them. So, draw your dagger. And be ready for anything.”

I glanced at the stallion, who snorted, one ear twitching slightly. “What about him?”

Fenn frowned, glancing at the horse and then the forest. “I don’t want to saddle him just yet. To carry both of us through the entire wood would be too taxing for him. And it’s possible we can make it through undetected, if we are silent enough. But if something feels off, we jump on and ride. Understood?”

“Understood.”

“Good. Stay close to me.”

I took a deep breath, clinging to his hand in mine while drawing my dagger with the other. He wrapped the reins around his wrist and drew his short sword, which glinted in the moonlight. We shared one last look of determination before we stepped into the dark forest.

The tiny groveof trees surrounding the border of the Star Court was unassuming at first glance. But that was exactly what the unseelie tribes wanted.

During the few hours of daylight my court saw every year, the trees were quite pleasant, appearing as nothing more than a simple copse of spruce trees.

But at night, the unseelie emerged from their shadows to prey on unsuspecting victims.

My mother had tried to reason with them. But they only wanted fae blood. And the blood of the Night Fae was particularly delicious to their kind.

This was why they lingered by the border. They knew only Night Fae could pass through the mist. And when the traveling party reached the border, that was when the feral creatures would strike.

But this was the last place we had to travel through before we were safe. Only this forest stood between us and the Court of Twilight.

I felt Aurelia, tense and alert beside me, her eyes betraying no sign of fear. The glint in her gaze was reminiscent of when she fought off those goblins with me.

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