A Sprinkle of Stardust

Chapter 18 - Stargazing

Lyrani was close enough for Nash to smell the rose perfume emanating from her skin, but she wasn't looking at him. She was staring into the darkness with such awe that he may as well not have been there.

He followed her gaze to the mountains starkly outlined on the horizon. The sparkling specks in the sky cast their light onto the smooth surface of the distant lake, and it was like there was nothing in the world but the stars.

Nash couldn't help but smile. It was a lot better to look at than him.

He had never been out on this balcony with a woman who had more interest in the night sky than in his crown or his status, let alone one who found herself in his bedroom after a drunken exploration of his palace.

"That's the selkie, isn't it?" Lyrani pointed up at a cluster of stars that some ancient and creative eyes had decided resembled a woman clutching her seal coat to her body.

Nash smiled. He remembered that one well. It was one of the first constellations his mother had taught him about.

"She has a name."

"Oh?" Lyrani raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"It's Sela."

Lyrani smiled. "I like that."

There was a moment of silence as Nash surveyed the sky beside her. "Can you see the griffin?"

Lyrani scanned the sky, locking onto the constellation in question almost immediately. "There." She pointed. "His name is Yannus."

"Really? I always thought it was Yiffen. That's what my mother told me."

"Check your history books, King Nash."

He was keenly aware of Lyrani's fingers brushing against the side of his hand as she slid along the balustrade, closer to him.

"Yannus was the good twin, the one who warned the enchanter king that his enemies were on their way to attack his capital city and burn his palace to the ground with everyone in it. Yiffen was the evil one. He flew the wickedest warlock into battle."

Lyrani spoke with such conviction that Nash knew she wouldn't accept any disagreement on that.

"Ah," said Nash. "I see."

There was something new to learn every day, even if it was just the relearning of a fact forgotten or a different version of a story one knew.

Nash pointed at another constellation. It lay scattered on the horizon, the furthest of all the beauties of the night sky at this time of year.

"Can you see the dryad?"

Lyrani narrowed her eyes. "I can make out a tree."

"Look closer."

Nash studied her as she leaned forward and squinted into the sky.

He had been surrounded by maids all his life, but he had never seen one like Lyrani Esch.

There was something distinctly aristocratic in the tilt of her chin and the grace of her poise. Nobody stood with their shoulders so squared and their spines so straight unless it had been drilled into them by etiquette instructors and nagging mothers or aunts.

Either Lyrani had been serving Lady Trelle for long enough to emulate the way of a lady convincingly, or there was more to her than met the eye.

A smile lit up Lyrani's face. "Oh, there! I see it."

"Perhaps we should try this again when you're sober."

That earned Nash an eye-roll from Lyrani. "I'm not that drunk! It's a difficult constellation to discern."