Page 81 of A Clash of Stars

“I’m not supposed to tell you some of this, Clara. It messes with the balance of the curses and the plan that is in action for you. Outside of this curse, there is so much more in the world. Who I am outside of the curse isn’t the same as who I am trapped in here. The King is a puppet for Athiana. Lettie is the King’s daughter, even though I do see and treat her just as she is my full-blooded sister. My brother, I never met. I don’t know what he looks like, and I’m unsure if he even knows I even exist,” he responded.

My brows furrowed, and I knew he sensed the shattering within me.

“I feel like I will never be able to fall asleep now that I know what you just told me,” I spoke.

He took a breath and looked at me, “Lay down. I will tell you a story.”

I laughed, “No, you’re not. I don’t remember the last time someone read me a story. I usually do my own reading.”

“Just for once, can you not fight me? Lay down,” he grumbled.

I rolled my eyes and lay on the bed with my head resting on the soft pillow. My eyes closed, and I let his deep, rugged voice put me at ease, “Fine. Tell me a story.”

“Once upon a time, there was—”

I giggled, and he groaned.

“Sorry. Sorry. I won’t do it again,” I whispered.

I smiled as he continued his story.

“Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Evander. His mother told him that one day, he would have a great destiny to protect a young woman with great expectations for herself. She told me that he would inevitably hurt her a lot, not always by choice. She told him that it was all part of the plan and it would be for the best. She told him that when that girl’s star aligns with my own, thenI know it will be true. She told me that because of my commitment to this girl, I will help to save our people, our land.” He paused and looked into my eyes, “I didn’t understand what she meant then, but now I do.”

I was speechless. I ran over everything he had just told me about this story and spoke without turning to look at him. “You said when your star aligns with hers. I’ve heard it before. What does it mean?”

I felt his body lean down beside mine, and my eyes opened, turning to look at him.

He leaned in, reaching towards me, grabbing the rose gold star necklace hanging around my neck.

He grinned. “You and I are destined for each other. I’ve known this since I was young like I told you before. After my mother told me I was mated, I rebelled and went after many other girls to prove to my parents that it wasn’t true. Then, one day a certain girl’s sixteen birthday party happened. I was in the corner of the room when you walked in. You didn’t see me, but I saw you, Clara. From that day, I knew my mother was right, and I wouldn’t fight fate any longer.”

I hadn’t noticed my breathing was quick and shallow, and I looked away from him to try to contain my emotions because I still didn’t believe that we were mated.

He reached out and cupped my chin, bringing my eyes back to his, “I so badly want to show my affection for you tonight, but I know you are not ready for that. There is a room next door that I’ll go stay in, so you can have some space. Tomorrow we will leave this castle, per my mother’s orders, for our honeymoon to an undisclosed location. The King knows that an heir isn’t produced overnight, and his pride is hurt slightly by what people think of him currently. So that gives us an out to be able to leave tomorrow.”

A smile crept across his face, and he leaned towards me, placing a tender kiss on my forehead before standing.

When he was getting up to leave, I grabbed his hand and whispered, “Don’t leave me alone. Stay with me.”

He nodded, took off his shoes, and sank under the covers with all of his clothes on. I did the same. We lay facing each other, and my eyes began to get heavy. Before I fell asleep, I pushed my essence out to combine with the wind in one swoop, and extinguished the hundreds of candles lit in our room.

In the middle of the night, I felt him tossing and turning in the bed. He was mumbling and starting to have muffled screams. I wanted to wake him, but I didn’t want to startle him, so I just laid there, placed my hand on his cheek, and eventually, he calmed down.

What felt like just a moment later, my eyes began to open. I noticed a gentle white light beaming in through the windows. A strong arm reached around me with a hand placed on my stomach, and soft, warm breaths tickled my neck. Somewhere in the night, I turned, and he held onto me. I tried to be as quiet as I could when I began my crawl out of bed, but his hand gripped my waist, and I was pulled back fiercely. The sweetest laugh came from him. I immediately smiled in reaction to it.

“Don’t get up yet. I am so comfy.” He sighed into my back, and I quickly turned over to face him.

“I’m still in my wedding dress, Ev,” I scoffed.

He took a deep breath, “I missed hearing that.”

I knew exactly what he was talking about.

His nickname.

I had to get changed, and I didn’t have any clothes to change into, though. “I don’t have any clothes to change into…”

He turned onto his back and stretched. That’s when I noticed he took off his shirt, and I could see every muscle carved into his body.

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