Truth Beneath the Moonlight

I walked slowly through the quiet room.

 

The moonlight was spilling through the open doors of the balcony. It painted the floor in a cold and pale silver light. I reached the balcony and saw her.

 

Elara was standing by the railing.

 

She looked small. She was wearing a thin white gown that fluttered in the breeze. Her golden hair was loose and it fell down her back like a curtain of silk.

 

She didn't look like a princess of the empire right now. She looked like a goddess that belonged to the night. I stopped a few feet away from her.

 

"So you woke up huh."

 

She didn't turn around. She kept her eyes on the horizon where the lights of the city were flickering.

 

"Yeah."

 

Her voice was soft. It lacked the playful edge she usually used when she was acting. It was just a tired sound.

 

"How’s your body? Do you feel any discomfort?"

 

"I am fine. I just wanted to get some fresh air so I came out."

 

I moved forward and stood beside her. I didn't look at her face. I looked at the sky instead.

 

The stars were crowded together. They were so bright they almost looked like they were pulsing. It was the kind of sky that made a person feel like they were nothing but a speck of dust.

 

We stayed like that for a long time. Neither of us spoke. The only sound was the wind and the faint rustle of her gown against the stone.

 

"You look like you have many questions."

 

She finally looked at me. Her golden eyes were reflecting the moon.

 

"Yeah, but would you answer them?"

 

"I will try."

 

I gripped the cold stone of the railing. I thought about the mountain. I thought about the moment my heart had stopped beating. I remembered the way the world had gone dark and the way her voice had sounded when she was screaming my name.

 

"You saved me on the mountains, didn't you?"

 

She stayed silent. She turned her head back to the sky. She didn't say a word but the way her shoulders slumped gave me the answer. I took it as a yes.

 

"Your affinity is not holy magic, is it?"

 

"It’s not. Very few people know about it."

 

"Blessing of the Stars. What is it?"

 

She bit her lip. She looked like she was debating whether to lie or to tell the truth. I didn't move. I kept staring into her eyes. I wanted her to know that I wouldn't let this go.

 

"You are better off not knowing about it."

 

"I think I have the right to know what was used to pull me back from the grave."

 

She sighed. It was a small and heavy sound.

 

"Fine. Blessing of the Stars is a spell that can bring back people from a near death state as long as they are still alive."

 

The words sent a chill down my spine. I had never heard of such a thing. Healing magic could close wounds and fix bones but it couldn't pull a soul back once it started to slip away.

 

"Why is the spell not mentioned anywhere?"

 

"Because there is no one in the world other than me who can use it."

 

I started thinking to myself. I thought about the ancient books I had read. I thought about the legends of the stars. This wasn't normal magic. This was something deeper. Something older. I looked at her pale face. She looked exhausted.

 

"What’s the cost of the spell? Surely such a powerful spell doesn’t come without a price."

 

She hesitated. She gripped the railing so hard her knuckles turned white.

 

"It’s not much that’s all you need to know."

 

"And your affinity magic. What is it?"

 

"It’s stellar magic."

 

I kept staring at her. I didn't believe her.

 

"Elara stellar magic does not bring people back from the dead. I know what stellar magic is. It’s for navigation and reading the stars in the sky. It doesn't do this."

 

"It’s complicated to explain but it really is stellar magic. It’s called Stellaris Arcanum. It is the true form of stellar magic."

 

She looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. It was a mix of sadness and something that looked like guilt.

 

"Thats all I can tell you. Sorry for hiding this till now, Julius."

 

I wanted to ask her more.

 

I wanted to ask her about the Nameless Order. I wanted to ask why the woman who had just sacrificed her health to save me was the same one who would one day burn my home and kill my family. The words were right there on the tip of my tongue.

 

But I held them back. If I asked those things she would know. She would know that I was a regressor. She would know that I was watching her every move. I decided not to risk it.

 

She then spoke up. She shifted the focus to me.

 

"Now it is your turn. What happened to your magic. Why can’t you use it."

 

I looked down at my hands. I tried to cast gravity magic. Mana flowed through my magic circuits. But nothing happened. No spell was cast.

 

"It’s complicated. Ever since the assassin attack on the Grand Duchy I can’t cast it. The court mage of the Grand Duchy said it’s as if my magic is being devoured by space itself."

 

It was no use hiding it now. She had already seen me struggle during the fight with the necromancer. She had seen me stand there uselessly while the undead closed in.

 

She stayed silent. She looked like she was processing my words.

 

"I have never heard of such a case before."

 

Suddenly the doors to the room were slammed open. The quiet atmosphere was shattered. The lights in the corridor and the room turned on at once. The magical lamps hummed with power.

 

A maid and several knights ran inside the room. They looked frantic.

 

"Your highness you are finally awake."

 

The maid spoke with a voice that was shaking with relief. She rushed toward Elara.

 

"Call the physicians immediately."

 

I stepped away from the balcony. I had forgotten about the darkness and the sleep spell that had covered the floor. I looked at the knights.

 

"Secure the perimeter. Arrest any suspicious individuals and find out who cast the sleep spell."

 

I told the knights as I headed out.

 

I didn't want to reveal any more unnecessary information to her. And I had heard everything I wanted for now.

I rushed through the halls to find Sebastian and Lucas.

 

They were just waking up from the spell. They were safe.

 

We spent the rest of the night searching the mansion but we couldn't find the one who had cast the high level sleep spell and had messed with the lights. Whoever it was had vanished without leaving a single trace.

 

***

 

It was midnight.

 

The physicians had finally left after checking my condition for the third time.

 

They had found nothing wrong but I knew my body better. I could feel the thinness in my chest. Only I could feel the weight on my soul after all.

 

I was sitting in front of the mirror in my room. The lights were dimmed.

 

Everyone had left. The knights were guarding the door and the maids were in the next room.

 

But the cat was still here. The white cat that had come with Julius was sitting on the bed. It wasn't sleeping. It was staring directly at me. Its eyes were a piercing blue.

 

I stared at its reflection in the mirror.

 

The cat meowed. It tilted its head and licked its paw. It was trying to act like a normal cat. It was a good act but it wasn't good enough.

 

"Why don’t you show your true self?"

 

The cat stopped moving. It froze mid lick.

 

"Oh I was found out."

 

The cat spoke. It was the voice of an old man. It was raspy and deep.

 

The cat jumped from the bed. As it was in the air its body began to stretch.

 

The black fur dissolved into a dark robe. The small frame expanded into the tall and thin body of an old man.

 

He landed on his feet and walked towards me. He had a long white beard and eyes that looked like they had seen the birth of the world.

 

"So how did you find out?"

 

"I am a master of illusions. Shapeshifting won’t work on me. Also, I have many pet cats back home so I know exactly how real cats behave."

 

The old man began to laugh.

 

He waved his hand in a circular motion. A sound proofing barrier rippled through the air. It settled over the room like a heavy blanket. Now, no one outside could hear us.

 

"As expected of her daughter."

 

He looked at me with a sharp gaze. He wasn't laughing anymore.

 

"Isn’t that right, Witch of the Dying Star?"

 

I felt a surge of irritation. I hated that name.

 

"Tsk."

 

The old man leaned on his staff. He looked at me with a curious expression.

 

"So, what’s your relationship with that man to do so much as to sacrifice a part of your soul for him."