Page 101 of The Star's Sword

I walked over to hug him gratefully and he patted the top of my head awkwardly, then stepped back.

“I’m sorry I hated you for thinking you were bringing the death of my brother,” Cayne said.

“I’m sorry for being the Morningstar,” I said. “It must have been hard, training me.”

“No,” Cayne said, shaking his head. “Never, Cleo. I’ve known about this my whole life. The demons, we have been waiting for the end of this long night for so long. I love Sam. But I also have always loved his fight for justice and his belief that the strong should sacrifice for and protect the weak. Even if it’s a little naive in this world, I like how pure of a mindset that is.”

“Me too,” I said.

“So we agree,” he said. “We take this opportunity, gain the vampires to our side and try to change destiny to go the way we want it.”

“To save Samael,” I said, nodding.

“To save Sammy,” he agreed.

“Tell Vasara I’m in,” I said. “Now let’s go train, because if I’m going to fight her with my mate at stake, I’m going to want all the strength I can get.”

“Now that’s the Morningstar I know,” Cayne said, following me out of the castle and into the courtyard. “Pull out your sword and we’ll work on some moves.”

34

Iwas so tired after training with Cayne that I slept for a few hours, only waking when Zadis came to knock at my door, Samael standing behind him.

“Cleo?” Zadis hissed. “Come out. I have the unicorn tied outside. Luren’s also here to tell us what he knows about it.”

I stretched, blinking, staring out at the night sky through the window, where the moon was risen and full. I yawned. “Coming.”

I hurried to pull on a tee shirt, jeans and boots, and pulled my hair into a rough ponytail as I opened the door to let my friends in.

“We’ve got the unicorn tied down to a stake outside the back of the grounds, where no one else can see us,” Zadis said. “We don’t want it attacking anyone else.”

“Isn’t this dangerous?” Samael asked. “Don’t unicorns have horns with the strength of a night sword?”

He’d apparently been on another errand while Zadis had gone on his.

“It is,” Zadis said. “But if Cleo is truly expected to be the Morningstar, and risk giving up the love of her life, well, one of the loves of her life, then doesn’t she have a right to do everything she can to protect her interests also?”

“Explain,” Samael said, as Zadis led us outside and turned left, heading to the shadowy grounds at the back of the castle.

“If Cleo is the Morningstar, then she should definitely be able to pass a unicorn trial,” Zadis said. “Unicorns judge the heart. The whole reason the Morningstar can rise is because it is power given to a person who doesn’t use that power for themselves, but for others.” He looked at me. “Most probably would have abused their power by now.”

I stared at him. “I’m not some perfect angel. Just born with mixed blood and a lot of people hating me.”

“I know,” Zadis said. “But your heart is pure. Anyone can see it. You’ve always been one to stand up to bullies, ever since I’ve seen you. You’d give your left arm to do what’s right. I’ve seen you risk everything to be the Morningstar. So I think you deserve to risk at least something for yourself.”

As we went farther outside, and the lights from the castle faded, we walked into a hedge maze and came out the other side into a field lit by moonlight.

Luren was standing at the center of the field, wearing his typical white Drorren apparel. He was standing by a stake, to which the unicorn from the keep was tied. It pawed the ground and blew steam from its nostrils, and just as it moved to charge, Luren dodged out of the way, moving just out of reach of the tethered unicorn.

“Careful,” he said. “This one is feisty.”

“Can you tell us anything about it?” Samael asked. “Why its coat is black and its horn is purple?”

“I can tell you it was subject to blood experiments,” Luren said. “Probably to achieve that interesting coat. Maybe it has a bit of demon blood, I’m not sure. But all in all, having seen other unicorns, this one has the feel of any of the others I’ve seen.”

I gaped at the fact that Luren had seen multiple unicorns.

“No matter how altered, unicorns have rules,” Luren said. “If you survive their charge, you have their loyalty forever. Could even ride one.”

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