Page 43 of When the Moon Met the Sun

“So why don’t we have the star stones today, Ezra?” I heard Margo ask, and at that, I whipped my head back around to pay attention to the conversation unfolding before me.

“What are star stones?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“You don’t know the legend?” Margo asked, confused, then looked at Ezra. “Tell her the story! Tell her the story!” She cheered.

“Alright, alright, I will.” Ezra laughed, clearly pleased by Margo’s enthusiasm. “Get ready. It’s quite the story.

“Over four hundred years ago, just before the war began, there was a Southern king named Baron. One day, King Baron Thorntier was alerted of an unusual phenomenon—they claimed the Stars had sent him a gift, for it was shortly after his coronation. His people had discovered a huge rock that had fallen from the sky in a great ball of fire, and landed near the chasm we have our mines at today. Upon further investigation, he found that therock contained what he named star stones. He was able to harvest and forge five of them to perfection. He realized they were more powerful than any sun or moon stone he’d ever come across.Andthey could be endowed with either sun or moon energy, making them an incredible weapon.

“As a sign of their continued peace, Baron met with the king of the North at that time—I forget his name—and offered them to him, as a gift. After that, the history accounts vary. We know the war began shortly after, but we don’t know where the star stones are today; if the Northern king accepted the gift and turned against King Baron. That’s one theory, but it happened so long ago, we have no firsthand accounts.” Ezra shrugged. “Just one of the many things lost to history over time.”

Ezra made a small bowing gesture after he concluded, and Margo clapped, giggling.

“Wait,” I said, “is that real? Did all of that actually happen?”

“Well, of course. I mean, small details are lost over time and sometimes the story is exaggerated, but the core facts are the same. It’s been recorded for generations,” Ezra responded, upbeat as always.

“I heard, back in Diorum, they were talking around the campfire about one of the ancient Southern kings, that he had been the most powerful the South had ever known. Is that King Baron?”

“The one and only,” Ezra responded, nodding.

“Huh,” I said simply, my mind reeling, wondering how I had never heard of King Baron or the star stones in my entire life in the North.

I guess Laurence nor Robyn lied—we really were kept in the dark back in the North.

Chapter Fifteen

Our group had been at the cabin for a week now, though I’d mostly kept to myself. I sat in on Ezra’s studies with Margo, interested in learning about the history of the South, including its different rulers. In this time, I realized Margo reminded me of her brother—she knew exactly how to get you to smile when you weren’t feeling your best.

And I’d definitely not been feeling my best lately.

The energy in my veins grew stronger with each day that passed, demanding to be let out. My sleep was restless, and being awake had grown painful. It wasn’t just thrumming through my bloodstream anymore—I could feel it in every inch of my muscles, my nerves, my bones. It was as if it had its own life force, taken root in my body. It felt so separate from me, I didn’t know what to do about it.

So I tried to ignore it. Along with the people around me who might ask questions.

I hadn’t let Robyn too close, because I feared he would be able to see the pain in my eyes. I only sat with Margo and Ezra for short periods of time, for as long as I could control my facial expressions well enough to not give anything away.

I don’t exactly know why I wasn’t asking for help. It was like second nature—to try to handle issues on my own. I used to have Dimitri and Aurora to depend on, but the Valwain… I didn’t know them like I knew my own brother and best friend. Not from a lack of trying on their part—they’d invited me to their nightly group dinners every day for the past week, but I kept turning them down, to Robyn’s disappointment. I knew we wanted to be open and honest with our communication, but I hardly even knew where to begin. How did I tell him his bride that he thought was powerless, could actually wield all five northern zirilium? And that there might be more to her than evensheknew, that hadn’t been fully uncovered yet?

That morning when I woke up, something had changed. I knew when I crumpled to the floor the moment I stepped out of bed that I needed to tell Robyn. In reality, I shouldn’t have waited that long in the first place. Once I had collected myself, I peeked into his room to try to talk to him, but he wasn’t there. Now, I had to try to find him.

I let out a sigh as I stepped outside. One of the first things I figured out how to access from the cabin was the roof. Sometimes I lay out here for hours at night, watching the moon make its way across the sky and the stars dance. It was peaceful—nobody seemed to come up here. It was an open space, with what looked like an abandoned training ring. The Valwain seemed to prefer being around nature, as they always trained down in one of the meadows of the forest. But I liked it up here, where I could see everything around for what felt like miles. I could even see Echen Bay from up here.

I left my hair lose today, and I was already regretting it. I could feel its weight on the nape of my neck, and combined with the warm weather, I could tell I was going to overheat fast in the South’s warm climate. Fortunately, I was wearing a cream, frameless corset top today, so that leveled out some of the heat. The top was form fitting but not in a way that was suffocating. Itwas one of the pieces I had found while rummaging around in my quarters back at The Haven, and I claimed it as my own. I also found some brown, cotton pants, which I slipped on this morning for the sake of comfort. Today was all about trying to remain comfortable, despite my aching body.

Since I planned on coming clean, I opted out of wearing the eye patch today.

I figured going for a fly would not only help me locate Robyn, but also help loosen my stiff muscles. He’d been trying to pull me aside all week to talk, but I kept shutting him out, practically running in the opposite direction. I imagined he knew something was wrong, but I hadn’t confirmed anything.

If I thought about it too much, I started to feel guilty. I knew I didn’t choose this course for my life, but neither did he. And I hadn’t exactly made it any easier on him.

Maybe I really should be looking to lean on him in these situations. Isn’t that what we agreed upon?

Sighing, I shook my head to clear away the looming thoughts in my head. If I was lucky, flying would help ease my mind along with my muscles.

I flexed my wings, stretching them and bringing them back in a few times in a row. I closed my eyes, focusing on the muscles I felt rippling in my back and shoulders as my wings moved.

I couldn’t imagine not being a child of the sky. I couldn’t fathom what it must be like to forever be grounded, to never taste the freedom the sky had to offer.

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