The Moon’s Alluring Journey

Departure

The time had finally come, the day I set off. As I dragged my feet through the corridors, I stopped in front of the largest window. Was I really able to do this? What if I failed? I look at my feet, suddenly disheartened.

“Dania? Are you alright?” My elder brother asked approaching me.

“Truthfully? No…” I sigh

“Scared? Nervous? Worried?” He lists standing in front of me now.

“All of the above?” I give a weak laugh.

“It’s okay to feel that way, but you can do this, you will see, as you meet those who will guide you, they will believe in you like me and father do, Mother will watch over you, so don’t worry, breathe, and go become the Empress you were born to be” Dylan ruffled my hair and gave me a tight hug.

“Ash is waiting on you too, go meet him in the gardens near the stables.” Dylan smirks and leaves. I shake my head and make way to the stables.

The sun sat low in the sky, bleeding amber across the garden walls. The scent of honeysuckle mingled with fresh hay as I walked the familiar path past the rose arch and toward the stables.

Ash leaned against the gate, arms folded, hair wind-tossed and eyes catching the last light like polished bronze. Of course he was early.

“You’re late your highness,” he said without looking at me, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

“I had a moment,” I muttered.

He turned, brow raised. “A moment of insanity, or a moment of excitement?”

I gave him a look. “Both. Apparently, Empresses are allowed to feel human once in a while.”

Ash pushed off the gate and closed the distance between us. “Then, if i may, my lady, maybe you’ll make a better ruler than the ones who forgot how to feel anything at all.”

I gave him a tired smile. “Let’s hope I don’t forget. I don’t want to become one of them.”

He looked at me for a long second, his usual edge softened. “You won’t. You’ve got too much heart for that.”

I shifted my gaze to the horses beyond the fence. My mare, Sira, was already saddled, her pale coat gleaming like starlight in the setting sun. “You did this?” I asked.

Ash nodded. “Figured you’d be too busy panicking to remember my lady.”

“Thoughtful of you.”

“That’s me. Thoughtful and irritating i’m sure.”

We stood in silence for a moment, just the sound of the birds in the hedges and the quiet snort of the horses filling the air. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Ash never rushed silence, and I never had to pretend around him.

“I don’t want to go,” I admitted. “Not because I’m not ready. I just… I’m afraid of what I’ll have to become.”

Ash’s jaw tightened. “You’re not becoming someone else, Dania. You’re becoming you. The one you’ve always been meant to be. They’ll try to shape you, twist you—but don’t let them. Promise me that.”

I looked up at him. “I promise.”

Ash gave Sira a final once-over, tightening the straps with quiet precision. He was always calm before departures. Steady. Like the ground beneath your feet when everything else starts to shift.

As I approached, he turned to face me, his expression composed but not unreadable. “Your Highness,” he said with a slight incline of his head. “Before we leave… there’s something I wish you to carry.”

He reached into his coat and pulled out a small, leather-wrapped pendant. The cord was worn, the charm simple—a crescent moon cradling a pale blue stone.

I tilted my head. “What is it?”

“It belonged to my mother,” he said gently. “She wore it during her travels—said it reminded her of home. Of who she was, even when she had to be something more.”

He held it out with both hands, as if offering a sacred thing. “I’d be honored if you kept it close. Not as a talisman, but as something… grounding.”

I looked at him. “Ash, are you sure? It’s important to you.”

“I am sure, my lady,” he said. “It will serve you better than it serves me now. And I will be near, should you need reminding of anything else.”

That made something catch in my chest—soft and warm and a little sad.

I took the pendant, fingers brushing his as I did. “Then I’ll wear it with care.”

Ash gave a small bow. “I know you will.”

He stepped aside and offered his hand to help me mount. “Shall we?”

I looked back, just once, at the high towers silhouetted by the fading sun.

“Yes,” I said. “Let’s go.”

And we did.