Heir to a Fallen Star

Chapter 37

She laughs at Kaelen’s abruptness, a light, tinkling sound as if his towering presence and military hostility are nothing more than a child's tantrum.

"We are star-born," she says softly, her dreamlike gaze drifting back to you. "My mother and her mother were twin sisters. They were all but the same, except for their hair. My mother's hair was of the colour snow... and Iris's, well, she mirrors her mother."

She leans forward, her pale fingers tracing the grain of the oak table. "We were born on the very same day, in this very cottage. A celestial event."

You stare at her, your breath catching in your throat. Born on the same day? If you were born on the same day, you should be the exact same age. But she had just said you were a "wee babe" when she last saw you. Before the logic can fully untangle in your brain, she reaches into the collar of her linen tunic.

Slowly, she pulls out a leather pouch and extracts a stone.

Your heart stops. It is a star. A perfect, matching twin to the one currently tucked inside Kaelen’s inner jacket pocket. It catches the dim light of the cottage, humming with a faint, familiar golden resonance that makes the hairs on your arms stand up.

"I was able to see the memory through this," she tells you, holding the pulsing stone gently between her pale fingers. She looks at the glowing light with absolute reverence. "This is my mother."

Beside you, Kaelen's expression is a masterpiece of complete and utter puzzled-ness. He looks at her as if she has completely lost all sense, his eyebrows practically knitting together into one solid line. He glances from the glowing stone in her hand, to you, and back again, his jaw slightly slack. To a practical warrior who lives by the sword and the dirt, this dreamlike talk of celestial births and living inside stones sounds like the ravings of a fever-dream.

"Right," Kaelen says slowly, his voice laced with heavy scepticism as he leans back, crossing his massive arms over his chest. "So, you're saying you're her cousin, you're the same age, but you remember her as a baby... because a glowing rock showed you the memory? And somehow, your mother is that rock?"

He shakes his head, looking at you with a desperate 'Are you hearing this?' expression. "Red, I'm trying to be polite because we're drinking her nettle tea, but your cousin is talking in riddles, and my head is starting to hurt."

The dreamlike air around your cousin shifts, a sharp, crisp edge suddenly cutting through her tone. She sits up straighter, her stormy grey eyes locking firmly onto yours.

"My mother chose to raise me with the truth," she says, her voice losing its airy quality. "She taught me the ways of our family—how to safely navigate and use our abilities. Whereas Iris's mother... she wanted to live a normal, mundane life. She didn't prepare Iris, and unfortunately, the burden of our family has left her where she is now."

She holds up the glowing twin stone, letting the golden light dance across the wooden table.

"This stone holds a power like no other. We descend from a direct line of a fallen star, a lineage of only daughters. Her blood runs through our veins. When a star passes away, her physical form turns back into her original state: a star. Her soul ascends back to the sky to watch over the world, to shine and guide travellers at night. Don't you remember the tale?"

You stare at her, a chill running down your spine as the folklore of your childhood suddenly morphs into something terrifyingly real.

"One thing they left out of that bedtime story," she continues, her voice dropping to a reverent whisper, "Is when a star truly and impeccably falls in love, her heart is no longer hers. She does not ascend alone. It's rare, though, that a person falls to the point that their heart is imprinted, so deeply that it's no longer just theirs. I believe people call it soulmates. That was not the case for our mothers..."

She lowers the stone, placing it gently on the oak wood between you.

"The stone is the remnant of their physical bodies. It's a conduit. It allows you to talk to them, and see their memories."

The cottage falls entirely silent, save for the crackle of the hearth. You sit there, completely frozen, your mind reeling. Your mother didn't just abandon you. She didn't just vanish. If what your cousin is saying is true, your mother is the very stone Kaelen has tucked inside his jacket. The humming, the golden veins under your skin, the memories of the dark tea—it wasn't a curse. It was her trying to speak to you.

Beside you, Kaelen has gone completely rigid. The scepticism in his eyes has vanished, replaced by a sudden, heavy gravity. He looks down at his chest, where your mother's stone rests against his heart, and then looks up at you, his moss-green eyes wide with a mixture of awe and fierce protectiveness. He doesn't say a word, waiting entirely on you to process the staggering weight of who—and what—you truly are.

"But you must be careful, Iris..." your cousin warns, her grey eyes narrowing with a sudden, deadly seriousness that completely shatters her dreamlike demeanour. "I spent years learning from my mother. The stone is incredibly powerful. Go in too deep, too fast, and you can lose yourself. Lose yourself entirely in your own mind."

She leans closer across the table, the twin stone pulsing a vibrant, warm gold in her palm.

"Your mother has spent the last ten years as a celestial spirit. She craves a connection with you, but she no longer has maternal instincts—that is a human quality. She will try to pull you into the light too fast. Not to harm you, but to connect with you. It is out of love, yes, but love without caution."

Her gaze snaps sharply from you to the warrior sitting by your side.

"That is where you come in, Kaelen," she says, her voice ringing like a command. "You are her anchor to this world. You are her protector. When she goes in to see the memories, you need to be the force that holds her here, that bounds her to this mortal world. She will need to see her mother’s memories if she wants to find her father and uncover the truth. But beware."

She lifts the stone high between her fingers, its light casting sharp, flickering shadows across her porcelain face.

"A star is an object used in very dark magic and is weaponized. We are rare, and we are entirely priceless. If the wrong person finds her, Kaelen... they will end her life just for this."

The silence that follows is suffocating.

Kaelen doesn't blink. His moss-green eyes lock onto the glowing star in her hand, the weight of her words sinking heavily into his broad shoulders. He doesn't look confused anymore. He looks like a soldier who has just been given his life's most critical directive. Slowly, he places his massive hand over his jacket, right where your mother's stone sits against his chest.

"I've already seen what it does to her," Kaelen says, his gravelly voice dropping into a fierce, unwavering vow. He looks over at you, his expression fiercely protective, anchoring you to reality before you've even crossed the threshold. "I nearly lost her on the mountain trail today. I won't let it happen again. If I have to drag her back from the sky myself, I will."

Your cousin tracks his movement, a slow, deeply satisfied smile returning to her lips. "Good," she whispers. "Because the veil is thin in these mountains, Iris. And your mother is already calling for you."

Aster stands up slowly, her white linen tunic rustling in the sudden stillness of the room. With deliberate, rhythmic movements, she moves around the cozy cottage, leaning down to blow out several of the candles lighting up the space. One by one, the shadows stretch and deepen until she leaves all but one flickering flame alive, sitting right on the table in front of us.

"I will help guide you two," Aster murmurs, her voice dropping back into that low, hypnotic rhythm. She turns her stormy grey eyes to Kaelen. "Kaelen, I need you to have a seat on the floor, cross-legged."

Kaelen doesn't hesitate. He slides off the heavy wooden chair, his large, leather-clad frame moving with surprising grace as he drops onto the braided rug by the hearth, crossing his massive legs.

"Iris," Aster instructs, turning to me. "You will mount him like you would... like you would your horse."

The utter absurdity of the phrasing cuts through the crushing dread in my chest. Beside me, Kaelen lets out a low, rough chuckle, the sudden sound cutting the suffocating tension in the room like a knife. He looks up at me from the floor, a wicked, familiar glint dancing in his moss-green eyes despite the stakes. "Well, Captain," he rumbles softly, "You heard her. Adjust your stirrups."

A breathless smile touches my lips as I step down from my chair. I straddle his lap, sinking down into the solid warmth of his thighs. The snug leather of my pants grips his jacket, and the sheer physical presence of him immediately pushes back the cold creeping into my fingers.

"Now, wrap your arms around her," Aster instructs smoothly, watching us from the shadows. "For this to work, you need to be one. You need to feel her, feel her heart. But most importantly, you need to stay calm, Kaelen. Your heartbeat will keep her grounded."

Kaelen’s massive arms wind around my waist, locking me against him so securely that there isn't a single draft of mountain air that could get between us. I can feel the steady, powerful thud of his heart against my ribs—a slow, unwavering rhythm.

"And please, close your eyes and tuck your head into her neck," Aster adds, her tone turning sharply protective. "We don't want you blinded by what's to come. Iris... take the stone."

Kaelen lets out a long breath, closing his eyes and burying his face deep into the crook of my neck. His stubble scratches softly against my skin, his hot breath anchoring me to the earth.

Slowly, Kaelen reaches into his inner jacket pocket. Keeping his eyes tightly shut, his large, gloved hand blindly pulls out my mother's pouch and places it in my trembling palm.

I pull the star free from the leather. The moment the air hits it, the golden light flares, casting wild, blinding shadows across the dark cottage walls. The humming in my ears returns, louder this time, singing a song of ancient skies and forgotten names.

I look down at Kaelen’s closed eyes, feel the iron grip of his arms, and take a deep breath. I press the pulsing star flat against my chest.

"I'm ready," I whisper into the quiet room.