NOHX COULDN'T get the sight of Andorra's stricken face out of his head all day. It didn't matter that he stood in front of Sivelle's cottage, or that Sivelle was certainly waiting for him inside. He could only see Andorra's wide, terrified eyes. The way she ran from him. Her excuse about her period.

    He scowled. There was something he must have done, something he must have said.

    "Are you going to stand out there all century? Or are you coming inside?" Sivelle's voice was a touch nagging, impatient, and a little bit urgent. The door to her cottage swung open, but Sivelle didn't stand in the entryway. The open door was an invite.

    Nohx pushed all thoughts of Andorra out of his mind as he entered Sivelle's cottage. It looked as it always did, with a disarray of collected items placed about. Sivelle herself was sitting on her couch, a deck of cards in her hands. She thumbed through them without looking; her gaze rested on Nohx. "The stars told me you would come, but I was beginning to doubt their wisdom. Come, sit my dreamer boy."

    Nohx felt stiff. He dropped into the chair across from Sivelle, the stones heavy in his pocket. He pulled one of them out, placing it on the table in between them. "I found these in the Royal Court. I was hoping you'd know what they were."

    Sivelle tossed the desk of cards in the air, and they hung suspended above her as she reached for the rock. Nohx was used to the theatrics and the show, but it did make him curious about the powers Sivelle possessed. How a creature as old as she was could still be thriving after all this time.

    "Ah. Sigils. I haven't seen these in a very long time." Sivelle turned the stone over in her hand, rubbing her thumb along the carvings. "Very ancient power, not from Anlithamy. You have more?"

    Nohx unloaded the stones from his pocket. "I didn't bring all of them, but they're all different. And the power within them feels different."

    Sivelle took a long time looking over all of them. She rearranged them on the table in different ways, almost as if they told a story of some sort and she was placing them in a correct timeline. While she worked, Nohx took a look around the cottage, eyes resting on the different trinkets.

    "Someone is creating a barrier. You said they were scattered in the Royal Court?"

    "Along the border, yes."

    "Someone is either keeping you in, or keeping something out."

    Nohx didn't usually feel fear. Unease plagued him rarely, but right then, a bolt of something uncomfortable stung his chest. He wouldn't have given a damn if Andorra wasn't involved, and that too made him a little too hyperaware.

    "What do the sigils say?"

    "Sigil magic is old, ancient magic. These come from my own kind, actually." A soft smile reached Sivelle's lips as she reminisced. "These are handcrafted from Star Fae. They're filled to the brim with stardust. Now, the magic itself is a protective magic, but the wielder can do many wicked things with them despite that."

    Nohx noticed she didn't answer his question, but that was fine, because her words spoke to him. "Star Fae?"

    "Faeries that can read the stars. They can send messages that way, too. When you or I read the stars my Dreamer boy, we are reading the stories from them."

    A pit opened wide in Nohx's chest as he sat still. His mind whirled with possibilities stretched out in front of him. His mouth felt as though he swallowed cotton balls. "Am I a Star Fae?"

    Sivelle's smile softened a touch more. It was the kindest he had ever seen Sivelle. She stood then, the cards suspended in the air moving into a well organized stack on the table on their own. Nohx watched as the cards dropped one by one into the pile.

    The last one stared up at him, turned face up: The Star.

    "You are and you aren't. You are more."

    "But I'm a Winter fae. A snow fae. It's not possible to be both."

    Sivelle shook her head. "Fae in Anlithamy are well known for the caste system, and sticking by your own kind. It is embedded in your culture. That is why you feel as though fae power cannot manifest as anything other than your kind. But fae power, fae race, all of it can intermingle and co-exist. Past Anlithamy, that is. Although I feel the tide changing with this. A shift in culture."

    Nohx shook his head. He stood up, facing Sivelle, feeling his chest freeze. The ice under his skin was pulsing, and it was a painful sort of chill that made Nohx shake out his limbs. He wasn't antsy, but this was different.

    "You're saying I'm both?"

    "Nohx." Sivelle extended her right arm, waving it in a come here motion. Her bedroom door slowly creaked open, and after a beat, something large and rectangular moved through the open door and sliced through the air. A painting, Nohx surmised. By the time it rested in Sivelle's hands, he realized it was more than a painting.

    A portrait.

    Of Sivelle and a young boy. A boy Nohx had never seen before, certainly not in this lifetime. Sivelle looked younger; a more youthful version of a dangerous creature in front of him. She was smiling lovingly at the child. And the boy was looking at the painter, his white eyes crinkled in happiness. His dark hair was cut a little too short, as if the boy himself had taken a pair of scissors and finished the job.

    "Sivelle," Nohx began, but couldn't find the words.

    "I had this portrait done centuries ago. Before everything. Before I was the prophet, before our land was split. I was just a woman in love with a man who was killed. And the only one I had with me was my son."

    Nohx couldn't take his eyes off of the portrait. He knew. He knew, he knew, he knew. But he couldn't find the words, couldn't ask them, couldn't open his mouth.

    "My son grew up and grew old. He grew powerful. He made it his life mission to study his star powers. And then, he fell in love. And love makes you vulnerable."

    Nohx shook his head. Denial coasted the back of his throat. But, the boy stared back at him, and no matter how much he ran from the truth, he couldn't run from this.

    "My son was killed protecting his love. And at first, I couldn't understand why my son put himself in harm's way. Was his love that strong? That pure? I consulted the stars, and they whispered to me the truth in your connection. She had been your soulmate. And after that, I became obsessed with knowing more. With understanding your choice to sacrifice yourself. And thus, the Festival of Stars was born."

    Nohx's voice broke. "You're my mother?"

    "And your soul calls to me every time you are reborn. And mine calls to you, my sweet Dreamer boy. And every time, you have this reaction. This stubborn, no way can it be true reaction. But you will come around to it."

    Nohx looked again at the boy. At him. It looked like him, but not, and it had his mind free falling. He had come here to find truth, but this wasn't what he had meant. But, he had always known subconsciously, hadn't he? He had a connection with Sivelle that went beyond strangers meeting. He had connections with them all: The Rumplewren and Vulara. He had a way of finding allies that shouldn't have existed.

    And it was because they knew him. Knew his first ever self. Knew him as a person, perhaps even a friend.

    Nohx stumbled back a step. Covered his heart with his hand to stop it from beating out of his chest. "So, I'm your son, and I'm a Star Fae. A whole new type of fae? I knew reading stars was odd, but I never expected-"

    "Not new. Star Fae have existed for centuries. They are my creation. They live far away from here in their own secluded bubble. You could visit them one day. After all, they're your people, too."

    Nohx closed his eyes. Shut himself off from the reality of what Sivelle was saying. He needed to process this, process all of this. "The Sigils. What do they say?"

    "Something is coming for the Queen. I believe they were placed to protect her, not keep her trapped. Her power is keyed into these stones on purpose. Someone is planning something. The stars may know more. I think you should try to read them yourself."

    When Nohx opened his eyes again, the portrait was gone, and Sivelle's bedroom door was closed once again. He felt shaken, in the worst sort of way. He needed to be back in the Royal Castle. He needed Andorra in his arms, her soft, brown eyes looking up at him. He needed her smile, the way her hands would skim over his cheeks. He needed her to tell him it was alright.

    He needed it so badly, it surprised him. Made his chest ache.

    He had died for her. In their very first life, before he even knew what a soulmate was, he had died for her. He felt that truth in his bones. But how could that version of him become a hateful king? How could that version of him murder his own soulmate?

    "I... I need to go. I need to think." He collected his stones hastily, his hands shaking. "Thank you for telling me about the sigils."

    "Come back soon, my son. We have a lot to discuss now that you know. A mother gets lonely all by herself out here. And as soon as the Queen is celebrated as your soulmate, I would love to get to know the two of you again. She and I became close when I lost you that first time. And I believe her soul would recognize me again."

    Nohx nearly ran from the cabin. Nearly puked his guts up outside on her lawn. A new image haunted his mind: Andorra heartbroken after her Nohx was killed. Andorra sitting and talking with Sivelle as a widow, grieving a love she didn't quite understand yet.

    Whatever he had done the night before, he would make it up to her. And then he would tell her immediately everything he knew, starting with the fact that he had loved her in every lifetime, and that Nohx planned on continuing to love her every lifetime after this one.

* * *

Some of you guessed right!

Nohx is Sivelle's son hehe :)

It's been a LONG LONG LONG time coming. like since book 1 haha

i've also included maybe an easter egg about another series im thinking of starting after this book finishes up. like, another fantasy book set in the same world, but between different characters. anywayyyyyy i'm just thinking about it ;)

i hope you guys enjoyed <3

xoxo