When Stars Fall(The Last Star trilogy #3)
Chapter 2

Annabelle Virgo

My maids helped me change for bed. I wasn’t tired despite the day of hard studying with my tutor. I looked over my bed and at all the unopened presents set on the table, they were from the dowry I got from the Hydras. I hadn’t bothered to look at the opulent gifts I had received. Dad and Granny insisted that there was no need for the bride to receive dowry but they couldn’t deny tradition.

Apparently, Dad and Granny had been saving up for my marriage settlement for years. Besides money, there were a dozen other things: clothes, jewellry, decorations for the household and other contraptions that were for the groom and his family.

“Not that you’ll need any of it,” Granny had huffed greedily. “You have everything here and you won’t even look at that bank account.”

“You can have it, I don’t want it.” I’d replied.

“No, that’s not tradition.” she excused.

There were more gifts than I could count. I hadn’t even opened the wedding presents. They were scattered all over my room. Granny had told me multiple times to unwrap them already, it seemed rude. Dad and Hope had given the same advice, the night of the wedding when they had left me this room. Nothing else. That had hurt and enraged me.

I was sitting on the bed with my dress taking up half the place, Alec had given me a gold bracelet studded with jewels.

I asked my maids to do the work for me. They were dubious but obeyed. I watched as they carefully unpacked the gifts and set them in my closet. I hadn’t learned their names, I didn’t have the time and I didn’t really care. They weren’t supposed to talk to me unless they were spoken to.

Everytime someone called me Your Highness I flinched. I was still getting used to that.

Dad tried to write to me, or at least that’s what he said over the phone. I didn’t talk that much. He was in Virgus with Hope Ursa Major. She was my therapist and now even thinking about her made me want to scream. They said they’d visit but I told them there was no need. I had enough pressure from Granny here.

I hadn’t spoken to Sophie or Jaxon yet. Lydia’s failed attempt in making conversation resulted in me feeling guilty for making her think I was being rude. But I think she understood that this was hard for me.

I couldn’t help but wonder about Crimsyn State, and what everyone must be doing or how they were holding up. I wished that I could talk to them but there was no way. I could Astral Travel and somehow meet Hellen since that was her hobby but I couldn’t since I had maids and guards watching me.

Rasal...

His head shot up.

What do I do? I almost cried.

I’m afraid I don’t know, he answered.

At breakfast Jaxon and his two sons ranted about how many more Constellations they had left. Because of Jaxon’s hunger for power he had reduced the population since stealing other people’s Constellations was life threatening.

How the Hydras conquered the Stars was similar to the way we opened and closed the barrier in Crimsyn State. using our own Constellations to manipulate the asterism, Summer Triangle.

Jaxon used Hydra to manipulate other Constellations and gain control over them, but after he became aware of the fact that the Celestial Energy was too much to for one Constellation to handle, he knew that would happen that’s why he used Ophiuchus as a backup.

I still didn’t know why he wanted Ophiuchus. I mean, Virgo was the second largest Constellation but he had asked me to to give Alec Ophiuchus while I got Hydra. I had decided not to push the question too much.

I remembered what Alfred had told me about the promise that Dad had made when Jaxon was about to behead me as an infant because I was half Ophiuchus. He had made a vow to Jaxon that he would give me to Alec when the time came as an exchange for letting me live. I should be grateful for that.

The Star Spirit hadn’t visited me in a long time. I hadn’t Stargazed. Though I would see one of Ophiuchus’ Star light up at night, I knew that was just Alec trying to control his new Constellation. That was burdensome because he wasn’t born with Ophiuchus so it would take an extremely long time to grasp it. I hadn’t tried out Hydra yet, I didn’t want to.

Rasal slithered behind me, acting as a bodyguard he had a deadly look in those yellow eyes. I asked if he wanted to go upstairs to rest or have some private time but he refused.

Alec took me on a walk in the Lawn with two guards staying ten feet behind us, and Rasal camouflaged in the grass. He did most of the talking while I looked around, distracting myself from those big green eyes. His hair was always slicked back and his scent made it hard for me to concentrate on my own words.

“You haven’t said one word since we got here,” Alec noticed, snapping me back to reality. “Can’t we at least try to be friends?”

I sighed, grinning. “Alright but don’t expect us to hit it off instantly.”

“That’s a start,” he said. He was going to ask me something but I was quicker.

“So, what do you do for fun?” I asked.

“Tough question.” He thought hard. “I read, Stargaze and help Father with work.”

“What do you like to read about?”

“Astrological fact, Constellations and history.” he counted. I smiled.

“So far we only have two things in common.” I told.

“How so?”

“I Stargaze and read about Astrology.”

“Just to be clear, I read history because I have to know it.” he said. “But Astrology is fun so I do it whenever I want.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“What’s your favorite Constellation?” I asked, breaking the awkward silence.

He already had the answer, “Perseus.”

I smiled, “The hero in Greek mythology.”

“I look up to him,” Alec told. “I admire his bravery and his luck.”

“Luck?” I repeated.

“Well, he ended up with Andromeda, he saved her in the story,” Alec reminded.

“Oh,” I realized.

“The Constellations remind me of his quest to rescue her from being sacrificed to the Sea Monster for her mother, Cassiopeia’s sins.” He said and listened intently, though I knew the story well. “I can relate to Andromeda.”

I knitted my eyebrows. “Because she was about to be punished for something her mother’s faults. In the same way, some people dislike me because of what my father is doing.”

“I can understand,” I started, feeling sorry for him. “But, you’re still helping him.”

Alec sighed, “I trust that he’s doing the right thing.”

The punishment of the father should not be given to the son.

I opened my mouth to protest but I didn’t want to ruin the moment. Not because it would get me a scolding from Granny but because I was enjoying it. “You’re point is that we shouldn’t judge people by who their parents are.” I guessed.

Alec nodded.

“I feel like that was pointed directly at me,” I teased.

“Not exactly, but yes, you do make me feel inferior sometimes.”

I was taken aback. “I make the heir of Stellaregno feel inferior,” I breathed. “What an accomplishment!”

Alec chuckled. “Even I was surprised by that.”

“I don’t think you’re even allowed to feel anything but superior.”

“I don’t make the rules,” he confessed. “I follow them.”

“Anyways,” I started. “How’s the war going?”

“Alright,” he hesitated.

“Alright for whom?” I pleaded.

“At the moment, the casualties are equal.” Alec told. “There’s not a lot of damage. It’s just that...they attack, we attack. They’re bombing Hydrus.”

They were leaving out the twelve provinces since those are the homes of the twelve descendants. “Have you tried out Hydra yet?” Alec asked, brushing his fingers over the brand new Sign on my right wrist.

I blushed, “No, I haven’t really Stargazed in a while.”

“Why not?” he worried.

“I don’t really feel like playing around with Stars anymore.” I confessed.

“Annabelle, I’m really sorry for the recent events.” he started, I was about to protest but he held up a hand. “I didn’t want to go through with this, before. I’ve known this was going to happen my entire life. But now...

“Now what, Alec?” I prompted.

He sighed, turning it into a groan. “I’d like to at least get to know you. I’m not as bad as you think.”

“I don’t think like that about you.” I promised. ’I just don’t support your cause.”

“I understand but I’d like to be your friend.”

I shouldn’t have laughed. Alec’s mouth fell open which made me laugh even more. “What?” he demanded, now smiling.

“I’ve never seen anyone so desperate to get to know me,” I giggled. “Don’t you already have a huge social circle?”

“I do but that’s due to alliances,” he explained.

I raised my eyebrows at him. “We had an arranged marriage.” I reminded. “What do you think that was about?”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said quickly. My face flushed again, this time Alec too.

“Alright, Your Highness.” I bowed my head in mock respect and offered him my hand, expecting him to shake it. “Friends?”

He hesitated, looking at my extended hand. “We don’t really shake hands,”

I dropped it to my side. “Then what do we do?” I asked.

He grinned, took my hand and my Sign started tingling. I pulled away quickly, examining the Hydra symbol, it was glowing. “How did...” I trailed off.

“You don’t know how to do that?”

“No, what was that?” I wondered.

“That was activating the Sign that I gave to you,” he told. “You can do mine too.”

“I didn’t know that,” I said. “What is it for? Can everyone do that?”

“Everyone who has the Sign of their partner’s Constellation can do it. Not many people know of it.” he said. “It’s not really for anything. It could be a nice way to communicate.”

“Oh, really?” I felt my face getting warmer. “How so?”

“I can activate your Hydra symbol and vice versa. We can let each other know if there’s an emergency or if there’s something wrong and we need to see the other person.”

“I like it, okay.” I agreed.

Milady, if you want to be alone I can leave.

My eyes widened. I completely forgot about Rasal. He was right behind me, blended with the grass. He had heard everything.

Sorry, Rasal. You can leave if this is getting too uncomfortable. I spoke in my head.

I’ll leave if you want me to, I could feel him smiling.

No, that’s alright.

As you wish, he said.

Alec looked like he wanted to say something. I looked at him expectantly. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” he answered quickly.

“Have you really been to all the provinces?” I asked.

“Yes,” he answered.

“Which one is your favorite?”

“Virgus,”

“Okay, which one is really your favorite?” I repeated.

He chuckled. “No, Virgus and Aries are my favorites.” he told. “I like the weaponry and army from Aries. I admire Virgus for its greenery and sceneric view.”

“I don’t really remember,” I lowered my head.

“After this war is over we can visit Virgus,” he said, I could tell that he instantly regretted his words.

He tried to cover it up but I cut him off, pretending like nothing had happened. “Promise?” I chided.

Alec beamed. “Promise.”

Above us Hydra glowed. “I didn’t mean swear on your Constellation!”

“Why not?” Alec teased.

“That’s risky,” I pointed out.

He sighed. “If possible, after the war I promise that I will take you to Virgus. Better?” he said. Hydra beamed once more.

“Yes,” I nodded.

“We should go inside now.” I looked at the door leading to the Lawn from the dining hall. I hadn’t realized that I was frozen to the bone in this weather. It was about to rain, the clouds turned from pink and orange to grey, the Stars looked like diamonds in the sky.

“I have work to do,” he said. “Good bye, have a lovely day.”

“You too,” I said. “Bye.”

He retreated inside and the guards waited for me to follow.

Come on, Rasal.

He emerged from the grass, his stones glowing white.

I didn’t know how to feel about it, though I was glad that Alec was at least trying to make the best of this.