Page 5 of A Song of Shadow and Starlight

I rip my linen sheets off, slip my feet into my slippers, don my shawl over my thin strapped silk nightgown and beeline for my balcony. I push the doors open and inhale deeply, savoring the warm air that fills my lungs.

Bastian loves me.

Bastian loves me.

Bastian loves me.

I repeat the mantra over and over until my breathing steadies and my frayed nerves are soothed. This is just my insecurities acting up, which is spurring my unwarranted fears and anxiety to bubble up within me.

As the only heir to the Midorian throne, it's easy to believe no one truly cares about me. That they hold my title, crown, and bloodline in higher regard than me. But Bastian isn't like that. He's never treated me that way.

Collecting myself, my fears melt, and my confidence and excitement is restored. Tomorrow, I will marry my best friend. I will marry the man I love; the man I deserve. Together we will rule the Midorians as king and queen.

I absent-mindedly re-braid my long, brown hair, secretly hoping whatever children Bastian and I have in the future inherit his striking blonde hair and sea-blue eyes. I've never cared for my plain dark hair and muddy brown eyes but it's what I was born with, so I work with what I have.

Flicking my braid over my shoulder, I take in the sight of the unobstructed full moon once more before turning toward my door. But something catches my eye and draws my attention to a balcony to my left. A door opens but no one exits onto the patio. Of course, someone could want the desert breeze to whisk through their chambers, but I know that room is unoccupied. It's reserved for guests from other kingdoms, but we haven't had an ambassador or delegation from the other five kingdoms in years. So, who would be opening the door at this time of night?

My breath is stolen as two shadowed silhouettes sprint from the garden and climb up the side of the Golden Palace. I duck behind my balcony railing, stealing glances of the broad-shouldered assailants between the alabaster spindles. The intruders scale the facade of the palace toward the balcony with the open door. My heart pounds in my chest but as I watch them ascend, suddenly, they disappear. I rub the heels of my palms against my eyes furiously. There's no way I imagined them but if I did see two intruders, they're no longer there. I cast a glance toward the balcony door and even though I don't see anyone, the door closes, spurring me into action.

I need to alert the guards.

I sprint inside my bedroom and head toward the door, but when I swing it open to warn the soldiers posted outside my room, they aren't there. I look up and down the hallway and don't see anyone. No guards, no servants, no intruders.

Something inside me tells me to lay down – clearly, I'm so stressed and exhausted from all the wedding preparations that I'm imagining it all. But another part of me whispers to investigate. Against my better judgment, I open the drawer in my nightstand and take out the dagger Bastian gave to me as a wedding gift and slip into the abandoned hallway. I keep close to the wall, hoping whatever shadows are dancing around the corridor shield me from nefarious characters.

Slowly, I make my way down to the end of the hallway. Around the corner, the room where I saw the balcony door open sits quiet and undisturbed. I peek my head around the end of the hall but don't see anyone. Tiptoeing to the entrance of the room in question, I rest my face against the wooden door and listen for voices or movement on the other side but come up empty. If anyone was inside, they either left or they didn't exist.

Feeling entirely foolish for thinking I'd seen someone scale the palace walls, the most secure place in the city, I straighten to return to my room, when I hear voices whispering further down the corridor. I think of whose rooms are at the opposite end of the long hallway and realize in terror that my parents' and Bastian's chambers are in that direction.

Where are the guards when I need them? How can they all be missing?

Fear strikes me when I realize those two assailants I saw must be here to assassinate my parents. There was no other explanation for why the guards weren't patrolling and why the intruders would be at this end of the hall.

Determined to thwart their sinister plans, I creep down the passageway, but to my horror, the voices are growing louder. There's a small alcove tucked into the wall where a servants' station is situated. They must be hidden there. I press my back against the wall, my arm skirting the edge of the nook, and listen. One man and one woman, if my ears aren't deceiving me. Their hushed tones sound angry. I squeeze my eyes shut hoping that will help my eavesdropping and that's when I hear the man hiss, "We assassinate him tonight, or we pull you out. It's too dangerous to wait any longer, and Finn doesn't have any moredissimulofor you."

Dissimulo. I wrack my brain, scrambling through all the apothecary lessons I grumbled were of no use to me, and the answer finally comes to me.Dissimulomeans disguise. It's a serum used to change one's physical appearance. And if the woman is taking that serum, that would mean she's been posing as someone who works in the palace, but is actually a spy.

I glance down the hall toward my parents' bedroom door but there's no way I can make it there without crossing paths with the assassins. I could scream, but there would be no guarantee my parents would hear me before the intruders were upon me. The only other option I can think of is to use the dagger clutched in my hand and stab the would-be murderers. A foolish thought, considering I have no training in combat or weaponry. Even if I did manage to stab one of them, I wouldn't be fast enough to harm the second. And it's so dark, I have a greater chance of hurting myself than offing one of them.

I should have listened to Bastian and taken some self-defense lessons. I truly hate it when he's right.

"Even if we could get to him tonight," the female's voice sounds extremely familiar, "he's not in his room."

"Where is he?" the man asks, irritation apparent in his tone.

"I don't know."

"You were supposed to be watching him."

"How was I supposed to know he would abandon his chambers the night before the wedding?" the woman growls back. "I made sure the guards were out of the way. I can't do everything, Atlas."

If this woman is a spy in the palace, she must have been the one who opened the balcony door. And then it hits me where I've heard the woman's voice before. It's Selene! I want to stomp around the corner and expose her treachery, but I stay put.

"Months of planning is about to go up in flames because you lost sight of him," the man scolds.

"Where's that brother of yours?" she gripes. "Isn't he supposed to be here helping?"

Of course! There's another member of this crew. I sawtwointruders scale the walls. But if he's not in the alcove with the others, where could he be? I need to get out of the hall before I am spotted. I slowly back away, making sure to keep my steps soft and light. Once I am a decent distance from the servant's bay, I turn to retreat down the corridor to find help before it's too late, but I slam into the broad chest of the man I can only assume is the missing member I was hoping to avoid. I pounce backward, but he grabs my arm, pulling me closer.

---