Page 29 of When the Moon Met the Sun

Laurence, next to me, nodded in confirmation.

Below the names of my maternal grandparents, there was one name remaining, though it too had been crossed out.

Elore.

I sucked in a sharp breath, as if reading it had physically pained me. My fingertips hovered in the air above her name before I gently stroked the page, as if I could feel her through it.

“The Ashford line ended with her,” I said, suddenly feeling bitter, though I think it was simply to cover my own guilt.

“No, my queen. She lives on inyou. You uphold the Ashford line now, along with your brother,” he said to me.

I loosened a breath, trying to let go of the tightness in my chest at the thought of Dimitri. I hadn’t realized just how much I missed my twin until that moment.

I wonder what he would have to say aboutall of this.

“You’re right, Laurence. Thank you for showing me this,” I responded, hoping I sounded genuine.

He flashed me an encouraging smile, then aligned his spine as he stood back up to his full height, nearly a head taller than me.

“Unfortunately, I have to take my leave now, Your Majesty. You were right when you said I wasn’t supposed to be here today. It’s my day of leave, and I have some things to tend to,” Laurence said, then bowed deeply.

“Laurence, you can just call me Aviva. I truly don’t mind. And thank you for helping me today. I greatly appreciate it. Let me know if you ever need anything, alright?” I said as I watched him straighten back up.

“I think I’ll stick with Your Majesty. And it’s been my pleasure, I assure you.” He smiled as he dipped his head once towards me, then left through the curtain.

I sat there for a long while after his departure, simply staring after him and wondering what the Stars I had just uncovered.

***

I remained in my small, private portion of the library with the same book Laurence had retrieved for the next few hours, until the high windows up above revealed it was already late in the afternoon.

I had already flipped through the giant book twice, looking at each and every family crest, trying to match one to the insignia carved onto the backside of the dagger. After the first time going through each page of the hefty tome, I thought maybe I had overlooked it. After the second, I simply gave up, concluding that it wasn’t in this book. Obviously, the mystery crest didn’t belong to any of the noble families of the South.

Once I’d accepted my defeat regarding that book, I stared at the dagger for a long while, flipping it over and over again in my hands.It was one of the last ties I had to my mother, and yet part of it was etched with a stranger’s family insignia.

What does it mean?

Lost in thought, I barely had time to conceal my dagger again as the curtain parted and a tall figure stepped inside.

For a moment, I thought Laurence had returned, but looking up, I caught a glimpse of a white streak of hair, shining like a beacon against the rest of his messy, deep brown hair.

“I thought I might find you here,” he said, stepping into the small space.

White Streak!I thought to myself as I recognized his face from the wedding afterparty.Please don’t call him that to his face, Viva. Stars, what was his name again?

“It was Ezra, right?” I asked, getting to my feet from where I had sat comfortably in the low chair.

He smiled, then nodded. “The one and the same.”

I took just a handful of seconds to study the male. He stood just as tall as Robyn, maybe an inch taller even, his pointed ears unadorned aside from a single golden hoop at the top of his left ear. Today he wore a golden yellow sweater vest over a cream shirt, along with dark brown pants and boots to match. He carried a small satchel on his hip that looked worn with lots of use. Overall, besides his obvious birthmark, he looked almost… ordinary.

For some reason, this made me wary.

“So, can I help you with something?” I asked him, not exactly sure why he was here.

“Oh, right. Well, Teagan had said you had been here all week, and somebody needs to check in on you while Robyn is away,” he said. I tried to ignore the way my breath caught when I heard Ezra speak his name. Then, I watched as his eyes slowly drifted down to the book I had left open.

The top of the page which clearly displayed the Ashford family name.

---