Page 72 of Fallen Stars
“Well, well, well,” came a sardonic and familiar reply. “The righteous Moon finally needs a favour from a lowly Star.”
Ariete emerged from the darkness, his charm wrong in the peaceful night. Every bone in Elara’s body screamed to run as she saw the face that haunted her waking thoughts and nightmares. But the Moon, the body she was in right now, was not fearful. Instead, she replied with the authority of a queen.
“I wouldn’t ask unless I was desperate,” she said coldly.
Ariete grinned, swaggering towards the throne and bowing before her. “So how can I be of service?”
Elara felt a wave of sadness sweep over her that wasn’t her own, but the Moon’s. And fear too, a thrill of it coursing through her chest.
“I need you to kill me.”
“What?” Ariete laughed.
The Moon’s brow furrowed. “Ariete, you’re the only person that I know would do it willingly, that wouldn’t mind being the villain.”
Ariete’s tongue was in his cheek as he mulled the Moon’s proposition over.
“I know you won’t be able to kill my essence, who I am. But…I need you to bind me—to a mortal body.”
Ariete raised a brow. “You’re asking me to perform magick from my world on you? An abomination in this one.”
“Blood magick, yes.” The Moon paused. “I can’t live like this, so far from my Sun.”
Ariete rolled his eyes.
“I’m unable to touch him, tortured to spend my life watching him from across the skies. I want a lifetime where I can spend it in his arms, where our burdens aren’t so heavy.”
“And what of me?”
The Moon let out a long breath, and Elara could feel the warring within her. “If you do this for me, I will allow you to rule in my stead. I know you have always wanted my crown.”
“The other titans would never allow it.Shewould never allow it.” He hissed the last part, looking warily to the shadows on the wall.
The Moon winced. “That’s why you’re going to have to bind us all.”
Ariete’s eyes narrowed as the Moon watched him, chewing her lip.
“What did you just say?”
“Make us mortal,” the Moon whispered. “Including the Dark. But let the rest of us leave, let us live human lives. And the Dark… Bury her in The Graveyard.”
The Elara trapped within this body tried to scream. This could not be true—what she was witnessing had to be a cruel joke. There was no way that the Moon had seen this through, thatElarahad.
“What you’re asking of me is impossible.”
“It’s not,” the Moon replied. “No one will expect it. And I can’t go on like this. It is the only way.”
Elara watched through the Moon’s eyes, stricken, as Ariete stood, pacing the room as he thought. Then finally, he turned and held a hand out to her.
“It’s a deal,” he said. She clasped his offered hand but gasped as Ariete jerked her forwards. “But Moon,” he murmured into her ear, “once you have relinquished this power, I can promise you I won’t give it back.”
She shook her head, pulling away. “I don’t want it. All I want is to live a life with my Sun and not be tortured by immortality—to never feel his touch.”
Ariete nodded. “Tomorrow, be here. I will rally the Stars, make them think we’re revolting. Most resent your rule as much as I do. We will bind you first, then the others. The Dark last.”
“You can’t breathe a word to anyone. Theymustthink this is all your doing. And you let us escape, you hear me? You give us a head start once we’re bound.”
Ariete nodded once. “It won’t be painless.”