Celeste
I woke before dawn.
I could not sleep. The sadness I had tried to push down had settled into something darker overnight. I lay in the dark for a while listening to my own heart. Then I got up.
I wrapped a shawl around my shoulders and padded down the corridor. I paused by my balcony arch. It seemed, lately, that nothing good happened to me on that balcony, so I walked past it and went down the stairs and out into the garden.
The moon was high and bright. The flowers breathed out their night scents. I sat on a stone bench at the heart of the garden and tipped my head up to the sky.
“Who are you meeting out here at this hour, young lady?”
I smiled without turning.
“Alec.”
He settled beside me and pulled me into his side.
“I was thirsty. Saw you leaving. Followed. You know ho
