Page 110 of Heavenly Bodies
‘Drink,’ the priest was saying in a monotone, ‘and be blessed.’ Enzo’s eyes, which looked so warm and honeyed, did not leave her as he took a deep drink.
‘Do you hold the Light close to you?’
‘Yes,’ Enzo breathed, still not looking away from her. Elara felt her cheeks heat and was suddenly glad for the disguise.
‘Do you promise to honour beauty and art, the things that Leyon holds dear, every day?’
Shefeltthe fire held within his eyes upon her skin. ‘Yes.’
‘Do you renounce the Dark?’
Enzo grinned, still looking across the crowd to her. She bit her lip, smiling. There was a silence as they held each other’s gaze.
‘Your Highness, I asked, do you renounce the Dark?’
There were murmurs through the crowd as Enzo took his time. His lip quirked.
‘Yes,’ he finally responded, not taking his eyes off Elara.
‘Then be blessed, the Light washes away your sins.’
The priest held his fingers to Enzo’s temple before Enzo bowed his head, heading back to his seat.
Isra leaned over to Elara. ‘Hedefinitelydoes not renounce “the Dark”.’ Merissa chuckled next to her.
Finally, Leyon stood, his palms raised in supplication. Though nothing spun from them—no fire or light. Elara frowned, leaning in to Merissa.
‘Does Leyon ever show his light?’
Merissa tensed, before leaning in. ‘Not that we’ve ever seen.’
Elara went to ask why, but the organ began again as the temple doors opened. The attendees began to stand and file out of the place of worship back into the blaring crowd who screamed, ‘Hail Leyon!’
They waited for the temple-goers to dissipate until finally, Enzo appeared with the king and guard in tow.
‘The carriages await,’ Enzo said, and Idris nodded.
‘To Aphrodea we go.’
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
When they reached the palace once more, and she was hurried out of the carriage, Elara leaned towards Enzo. ‘How are we getting to Aphrodea?’
Idris had promised he was taking care of the details, but it dawned on her that the journey would likely take days by carriage, days they did not have.
Enzo winked. ‘You’ll see.’
Idris led the procession, flanked by Leo and a guard that Elara vaguely recognized from her capture—an older man who had appeared with Leo after her altercation with Barric. They turned down a corridor and arrived at a nondescript door. When it opened, Elara’s mouth slackened.
Light danced through the entire space, rainbows cast and refracting off mirrors that lined the walls. Tables were set up in rows, each littered with maps of constellations and stars. And in the centre of the room was a wheel. Upon it were the sigils of all the stars, along with small symbols and writings etched in gold.
‘What is this place?’ Elara murmured.
‘I call it mylucirium.And it is where I Stargaze,’ Idris said.‘For years I have been learning what I can of the Stars to get to this moment—to make them fall.’
As Elara walked past the wheel, she brushed Ariete’s symbol with a finger. Lines upon lines of text appeared within a burst of red light. Idris glared at her as he passed his own hand over the sigil, and the light and text vanished.
‘Don’t touch anything,’ he snapped, as they reached a mirror at the end of the room, shimmering more brightly than others, almost emanating its own light.