Page 31 of Fallen Stars

“His venom was enough to paralyse the ram, who looked at the serpent in wide-eyed surprise as he died through the action of his small, unthreatening friend. And the serpent smiled.”

Elara held her last cards to her chest, smiling triumphantly.

“Ariete is only in power because you let it be so.”

There was a full glass of firewhisky that had remained untouched beside Eli the entire story. He raised it to his lips, drinking deeply.

“You still have two cards,” he said hoarsely.

“Ah yes, the end to the story.” She placed the Asteria card down. “I’d say it’s in your interest to help the one person who sees your power for what it really is and how much you can do with it. The Queen of Asteria will help the serpent kill Ariete.”

“Last I checked, you haven’t even set foot back in Asteria, let alone been coronated. So,Queen with no kingdom, how about when you become Queen of the Heavens? Another title you haven’t yet claimed. What place does the serpent have there?”

“You don’t strike me as the type to relish being in the centre of power. You would find the responsibility tiresome, I’d wager. Not in the spotlight, but in the wings is where you thrive. Would you rather advise a tyrant or a fair and just ruler?”

“It depends if I’d be trading one tyrant for another, much less predictable and not as in control of her magick.”

Elara batted her eyelashes. “That’s where I want you to help me.” She gave a wry smile as she tapped her last card.

“Still not finished?”

She looked once more to the card left before slipping it into her bodice. “I’ll keep this card. Your story is far from over, Eli.”

Eli laughed, though it sounded empty, as he extinguished his cigarette, pushing the butt with vigour into his ashtray.

“Brava,” he drawled, pulling his own cards from the table. “For the illusioning as well as the story.”

Elara raised a brow. “How did you guess?”

Eli made an amused sound. “Your magick smells like night-jasmine. And the air reeks of it right now.”

Elara raised a brow.

“Now, you want to play a game, I’ll play yours. Since we’re using tricks and such.” He rapped the top card of his pile twice with a knuckle before flipping the first two Star cards around.

Elara sucked in a harsh breath. “They’re not from a Bard deck,” she whispered hoarsely.

In front of her were two illustrations that made her heart ache. One was a crescent, silver and glittering in the low light. Swirling clouds ebbed out of the picture, indigo and black, and a dusting of deep blue shimmered across the sky.

The second… Elara had to take a moment to rub her chest, the pain in it heightening. Pure gold was depicted in the picture, the Sun shining fiercely, fiery rays reaching out to the edges of the card’s border.

When she looked back to Eli, his smile was hungry.

“I think you’ll want to hear this story. For it’s a story of your creation.” He glanced around to make sure the other players were well and truly in a stupor before continuing.

“Once upon a time there was nothing but the Dark. She was from which everything came and where everything would return. The darkness had many names over the years, but she could not be boxed into a single word. She was not a goddess, nor a titan even. Something completely wild and shifting and powerful.

She was something more primordial, something that had always just…been.

She was used to being alone, quiet and slumbering, the Dark. And then out of the nothingness, silver light shone and changed the world. The Moon, the power was called. And for a time, the Dark was the Moon’s companion. The Moon was quiet like her, but brilliant and clever and shining, always shining. Sometimes she could be as dark as the night, and in other phases, she was so full and silver that the Dark shied away.

And then, on a day the Dark would rue for as long as she lived, the Sun was born. He blinded her, and he was loud and fiery and brash. Yet when she looked at the Moon, the Moon was looking at him. And to the Dark’s utter horror, he was looking right back.

The Sun’s rays drifted through the darkness and created the first world—Celestia.

In a matter of days, other worlds formed below them, along with the first, worlds that spun and tilted. Then the Sun gifted this world a drop of life. It was called Earth, and from it sprang greenery, fruit, and flowers. Animals and people walked the barren space, and the Earth adored the Sun too and would grow under his rays.

And then something called Water flooded the land in bright blue, and the Moon befriended him to pull the tides. The Earth, she helped build beautiful lands and mountains. Air became a thing to make the animals and humans breathe, though she was flighty and a thing of whimsy, beautiful and always just out of reach.”