The light of the sun shone through the glass windows of the King's chambers. Asteria's eyes opened, and she scrunched her eyes as the bright rays and she twisted, looking at the rich canopy of a bed that wasn't hers. She blinked, and the night before flashed in front of her. She remembered dancing, the flowers and wishing more than anything that she could kiss Aderas. Until he came to her later that night, and she was in his arms in the library, and later in his bedroom, where she was now.
In sleep, he wasn't as commanding a presence as the one that he was when he was awake. He'd kissed her frantically with a passion she had never felt before. Deep kisses, as he pushed her against the library desk, a frantic embrace in a night that had been the most beautiful night Asteria had ever experienced. A night that she new should've never happened. She rose from the bed, sliding on her slip as quietly as she could and slipping on a dark jacket of Aderas that was hanging lopsided on the chaise.
She walked out the room and slipped out in the servants quarters into the decadent gardens that lined the Castle. She warily skirted the guards that slowly walked the estate, and slipped out into the forest. The same forest she had once met Aderas in what seemed so long ago.
It didn't take her long to walk out of the forest and into the village thoroughfare that housed the marketplace of royal vendors that served both the palace and the many merchants that came here to barter their goods. She made her way into the alleyway lodged in between the tavern and a silks shop.
She'd nearly made it out to the other side when a bunch of men in haphazard leathers popped out. "Well, well, well." One of them murmured. "Aren't you a pretty little thing."
"You'd want to be careful walking around like that." One of the others said.
"It might give people the wrong idea." Another man said this time behind her.
"I don't want any trouble." Asteria said.
"Neither do we." One of the other men said. "But we also don't care to let someone so pretty walk away from us either." the first man who spoke said.
"Just remember one thing." Asteria said looking at the men. "I did tell you I didn't want any trouble."
The men exchanged amused glances before they stepped towards her and was immediately pulled off their feet. Asteria whirled around and kicked out one of the men behind her, and pulled the arm off the other man kicking out at the third and pulling the second man towards the fourth. She looked up at the cloaked woman who was wiping her sword against the cloak of the other men.
"I'm surprised you left the safety of the castle." The girl said.
Asteria looked around uneasily. "We have to get off the street."
"Come on. I have a room upstairs." The girl whose wore the mark of the Kingdom Of Shadows said as they walked up the stairs into a small oval room with a gaping hole that served as a window that looked straight to the Castle.
"Did you get your brother back?"
"I ended up with a complication." Asteria said.
"I assumed, when you didn't immediately come back."
"Miyu, I tire of these games." Asteria said. "I have no reason why you feel that Aderas needs to die, but I will not be your weapon to do so."
"It would be so much easy if you did." Miyu said rolling her eyes. "What about Kailani, any word of when she will be back?"
"I snuck into the mage tower when the King was in his many council meetings, she sent word, by raven that the Queen of the Sea, Calypso, gave her a warning." Asteria said with a smirk.
"A warning? From the Sea Queen." Miyu said with a sigh, perching on the table. "Because she is a scion of truth."
"She warned of an upcoming war, she claims she foresaw it." Asteria said pointedly.
Miyu stiffened. "You think she's trying to get Kailani to side with the sea?" She asked.
"The last time there was a war the sea had many more casualties." Asteria pointed out.
"And no Mages on their side." Miyu said with a sigh. "Thank you. I know that you are worried about your brother, but I do thank you for bringing me this intel."
"Is it worth a promise?" Asteria asked.
Miyu straightened. "You know that I owe your mother much. What promise would you ask of me."
"Aderas. I would ask you to leave him alone." Asteria said. "Kailani kept him safe for over a decade. She is one of you. If she trusted him enough to become King, you should trust her judgement."
"You care about him that much?" Miyu said with a raised eyebrow.
"The Kingdom of Shadows has always helped me, and so I help whenever I can with whatever you all have ever needed. All I ask is that you leave the man that is doing everything he can to keep me and my brother safe. We are not going to be a part of your war." Asteria said.
"Just remember," Miyu said. "You will always be the girl that I sen into that castle." she said moving closer. "You and I both know that will never be forgiven in a mans eyes."
"Speaking of a man's eye." Asteria said gesturing to what she was wearing. "Think I could borrow some clothes." she asked pointedly.
Miyu smirked. "I think I might have something better than a slip. I wouldn't be able to take that jacket off your hands, now would I?" She said moving over to the chest that sat at the bottom of her bed.
"Not a chance."