Page 141 of The Fae Warrior's Queen

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“The sky is falling?” I bark out in tandem with at least twenty others who overheard the announcement.

Shock causes everyone to forget the order to remain seated, and chairs scrape loudly against the floor as many of the people get up to see what the hell this guy is talking about.

Unfortunately, that means a small stampede is coming our way, and unless Kai and I want to have a bunch of bodies pass through ours—no, thanks—we have to get out of the way.

Sliding to the side, we make room for the bunch gathering around the doorway, and we end up with our backs against a wall.

As people shush each other to hear the news, Damon interrogates his astronomer with a shock in his voice. “What do you mean? I’m going to need you to elaborate.”

Winded, Oriantus says, “There was so much cloud cover over the past week, I couldn’t see the sky.”

“Right. The blizzard. We got a lot of snowfall recently. And?”

“Today, once the storm cleared, I looked through my telescope for my monthly documentation of the stars, but I was seven days late. It’s not uncommon for me to miss a scheduled check because of inclement weather, but that means it’s been five weeks since my last sky mapping.”

“Get to the point.”

“Meteors are headed our way,” Oriantus finally announces.

Cries of fear ripple through the party, but no one wants to make too much noise because they don’t want to miss what’s being said.

There are several loud hushes as Damon asks, “How many?”

“At least a dozen.” Oriantus’ volume changes, ebbing and flowing as if he’s pacing back and forth. “I’m so sorry. If I’d seen this coming sooner, we would’ve had more time to plan.”

“Plan for what?”

“Evacuation.”

“Surely it can’t be that serious,” Damon scoffs with doubt. “We’ve had meteor showers before.”

“Not of this size. The rocks are cataclysmically large.”

Panic is multiplying among the mass of listeners. They wear pinched expressions and shift edgily among each other.

Pushing their way through the sea of suppressed hysterics, the rest of the royals join Damon and Whitley in the foyer.

All except for Danyetta, Torius, and Greenlee, who stay at the head of the table. The little girl’s eyes are filled with tears as she watches her big moment get ruined. Her parents talk sweetly to her, but she’s too young to understand that an event like this will take precedent over a birthday party.

Once Kirian is in the foyer, he immediately begins discussing what he recently witnessed with the astronomer. “We just heard a boom from outside. When my father and I looked at the sky, something strange was happening to the nearest moon, but we didn’t see any meteors.”

Oriantus curses in the Old Fae language. “I was afraid of this. What you witnessed is the moon getting struck. The meteors are coming up behind it, so they’ve been hidden. This makes the situation so much worse because now, in addition to the space rocks, we’ll have chunks of the moon falling as well.” Another thunder-like rumble rattles the chandeliers. “That’s the sound of the moon being destroyed.”

There’s more unrest among the people as they whisper their discontent about the repercussions this will have on the realm.

An optimist might say there are still two moons left, but realistically, it doesn’t take much to throw off an ecosystem. The light is imperative for the crops that have adapted to thriving at night.

Kirian hurriedly asks, “When and where will these masses hit?”

“Since they’ve already reached the closest moon, I estimate the first wave will make impact within hours,” Oriantus answers, “and from their trajectory, I can tell they’re headed for the Night Realm—to Delaveria, to be exact. The others behind them look like they’ll land in the Dream Realm tomorrow. In between those, some will fall into the Endless Sea.”

“Is this an attack?” Zander inquires gruffly, his voice so lovely to me. “The dark fae’s doing?”

“That, I can’t say for sure,” the astronomer responds. “I don’t know the cause. I just know it’s happening.”

“Astrid!” Damon yells for his witch.

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