.·✧☆Stellarium☆✧·.

Chapter 2

Nova, The Reception | 2,734 words

I had already had a few dances by now, so it wasn't a surprise when another person walked up to me, and held out his hand. I recognized him, he was the youngest boy from house Carina. He had stood out to me previously with his unique auburn hair. We used to see each other a lot as kids, but I can’t remember much else about him though. “Could I ask you for a dance?” he said. “Maybe, if you tell me your name first,” I reply teasingly, he must’ve somehow forgotten the first rule of high class etiquette. “Ah, yes, I am Alexander from house Carina,” he spoke to me, a bit flustered. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alexander. I’m more than happy to let you have this dance.”

He led me to the floor, but all in all he seemed pretty scatter-brained. He kept stepping on my shoes and apologizing. Carina worked closely with the palace, residing over the royal navy which is why I already had a faint idea of him. His appearance was the most interesting thing about him, not trying to be rude but he had changed a lot since we were children. His card color was a cerulean that complimented his hair and dark freckles, and he definitely dressed the part. I could feel two pairs of eyes that bore into my back the entire time we danced though. I paid it no mind, as the sun set in the distance.

As I walked back to the table I saw both of them standing and talking to one another. “So, you invited Sybyll?” he asked with slight indignance. I was already tired of this before it even started. “Yes, I invited you both. Get along just this once, for me? please? I need this night to go well.” The two looked at each other. “Alright” Said Sybyll “But I’m still keeping an eye on him.” “Good enough” I say, a crisis averted. Sybyll walks away towards the buffet table. Arthur sighs and looks at me “Am I a bad friend for asking to come to an event of yours?” He asks me with big sad eyes. “Did she chew you out a little?” I ask. He looks away and scratches the back of his head, “..Yeah.” I already knew the answer to this, “No, you're not a bad friend. I invited you, didn't I? Why not enjoy the party while you’re here.”

“I think she just doesn't like me, for no reason at all” he leans on the table next to me, sipping his drink. Truthfully, I also had no idea why they didn't like each other. “I think if you two really talked out your differences you would see that you’re better friends than enemies,” I said looking down into the bottom of my cup. “You at least get along sometimes? Look, she just wanted today to be perfect for me, don’t take it too personally.” His eyes have shifted from his drink to the ceiling. “I wasn’t supposed to invite you, so this is on me, I just wanted to have my friends with me tonight, you know?” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah,” he slightly sighs.

I think about tonight and realize I haven't had many invitations to dance tonight, though many of the people here are too old to be asking me that. They’re more interested in business deals and gossip. “Hey, since tonight's been a bit slow, you wouldn't mind killing some time to dance with me?” This question kind of caught me off guard, I’m not sure if it would even be socially acceptable in this situation. “Just as friends, I know it might be a little tacky for you to do it since I’m not nobility, but almost nobody is paying attention to the dancefloor anyways.” I think it over a bit, “Alright, but just one, I don’t need the papers to talk about a ‘scandal’ at the reception.”

I’m led onto the floor and definitely sure that Sybyll is gonna kill me for this later, but I can't care less. We’re one of like 3? 4? Other groups of people so it's not like we’re the only two out there. Plus I actually have a lot of fun, it feels like gliding rather than just another dance. We cracked jokes as we went, and left laughing. We walked out to the courtyard together to a pitch black sky full of stars and the two moons. The air was chilly, but because of the many layers of my outfit, it was tolerable.

“This night just feels so.. surreal” I say. He nods to this, taking a small sip of his drink. “Today is a day I thought would never happen, and now that I’m here I realize that I should have probably expected a little less.” he looks at me, confused. “I always expected to have people all over me, telling me how great of a queen I’ll be, and I would be genuinely ready! I would take up the throne in an instant! But now all I am is scared.” I confessed to him. “I understand the feeling of not being ready, or scared for a big responsibility.” He looks out onto the courtyard instead of me, but I’m aware he's watching me in his peripheral vision. “I can’t help but feel dread at the idea of going through what Serena goes through, she doesn't deserve the treatment the court gives her. I really don’t want the same to happen to me.” I sigh and look to the floor away from him.

Out of the corner of my eye I see someone approaching us, it's Alexander again. He gives a short bow to me, “Princess,” and looks to Arthur, “And.. Who are you?” Arthur avoids Alexander’s gaze, “I’m a friend.” Alexander keeps pressing, “Your name and title?” Arthur becomes visibly annoyed at this, which is out of character for him, “Arthur, friend of Nova.” Alexander lets out a small “hmm” sound at this. “How are you enjoying the reception?” I ask, pushing through my mental tiredness. “Oh, the reception has been great. I’ve been having a wonderful time tonight. Did you get the guild under house Aries to make the pastries for tonight?” Finally, some more normal conversation. “Yes, they’re good aren’t they?” I don't actually know if we did or not. Arthur just sat there, swirling his drink, and didn’t try to butt in on the conversation. “I was just going to tell you that I’ve had a wonderful time tonight and you definitely have support from Carina.” Some people further away into the courtyard call out to him, “I have to leave, have a good night Nova.” He says as he waves and leaves.

Arthur said he was going to go refill his drink, and left me by myself. Sybyll almost immediately descended onto me afterwards though. “Tonights gone really well so far, I’m almost surprised,” She says to me. “Almost?” I ask. “Well, we’ve been planning this for a while, haven't we? Arthur may have thrown a wrench in the plan but it doesn’t seem like anyone really noticed.” Maybe except for Alexander and whoever he talks about it to, if he does that at all. “People have started to leave, it's getting late.” Sybyll checks her watch, “Really? It's only 11 right now.” I’m more than happy that some people are leaving earlier than expected. It means that I get to go to sleep at a better time tonight. “To be fair though, we’re a few minutes from 12.” she stated, still looking at the watch. A chill hits me from the wind. “It’s getting too cold for me out here, can we go inside?” I ask. She gives me a small nod in response.

We walk inside just when the power cuts out, and the room becomes dark. Guests are stunned as their eyes struggle to adjust to the darkness. Only the moonlights shining through the windows brighten up the space. And then we heard it, a gunshot rang out from somewhere inside the hall. A chill ran down my spine, one out of pure terror. Guests had started ducking and running, gasps and screams echoed throughout. I should have known something would mess this up for me. I start moving towards the sound, when Sybyll grabs my forearm.

“No, I know what you’re thinking, and it's an awful idea.” She's got her hand gripped tight around me, her knuckles white. I look down at her. “I am a servant of the people, and I am not going to run away from the first bump in the road I face.” Syb’s distaste for the statement is obvious. “You are the last of your family; if you die now, the line of succession ends.” I jerk my arm away and break free from her grasp. “I have to do this, you need to understand that.” And then I run, full blown sprint into the hall after where the gunshot came from. As I run, I can smell the gunpowder coming from the throne room where the ceremony occurred earlier.

The door swings open, and standing there I see a cloaked person I can't quite make out holding the ceremonial sword, the engravings now glowing green. “What are you doing?” I say, tinged with fear and anger. “Nova–” he whips his head around, startled. I look up at him, I can't see his face but I know I recognize his voice. “This isn’t what it looks like,” he says, taking a few steps back. “What is it then?” The palms of my hands instinctively pool energy. The embroidery of the gloves starts to glow white hot once more, the darkness of the room making it even more apparent. I watch him reflexively get ready to do something as well, the glow of his eyes cutting through the gloomy environment. “I just need the sword, nobody has to get hurt,” he speaks softly. “No! Are you crazy!? I’m not going to let you take the sword.” He pulls out the gun from earlier, the metal glints in the light, “You need to leave.”

“That isn’t happening,” I say, making my way up to the raised area with the thrones. He loads a bullet into the gun, I put up a magic shield as I continue towards him when he fires. But it doesn't just shatter or crumple like most metals. Life seems to be in slow motion as I watch it start to pierce the barrier. My body breaks out in a cold sweat, realizing exactly what he just shot at me. A silver bullet. Pure silver can fully nullify the effects of magic, even an alloy can be powerful. The trade of silver for weapons is completely illegal and doubly expensive. How the hell did he even get this? The barrier created by the spell shatters like glass, and the bullet narrowly misses my head. It feels like my legs get stuck in place and suck in a breath as it flies past me.

“You weren’t even supposed to be here. Go, guide people out, and be a hero. Isn't that what you wanted? To be supported by the court?” I feel my pulse in my ears, heart beating out of my chest. I feel stunned and the realization that I could have just died feels like weights on my limbs. I exhale and steady myself. I need to get my hands on that sword and his off it. Quickly, I concentrate the energy in my body in my legs, jumping up the staircase onto the raised surface, and sliding. I use the momentum from the action to knock him over. He lets go of the sword as he falls and catches himself on his arms. We both lunge for the sword and I get a good look at his face finally.

I have a good grip on the sword and turn around to ward him off, only to see that of all the people in the world’s faces it was Arthur’s. his green eyes catch me completely off guard as the hood partially slips away, the moonlights hitting his face. It's contorted in a slight snarl as I kick him off. “Arthur what the fuck are you trying to do here?!” I yell, honestly confused. “This is more important than the both of us, I can’t explain now but I can later,” he says. I lunged at him, sword in hand “You tried to kill me!” He rolls out of the way, the air crackling with the magic energy emanating from my body. “If I was trying to kill you, you would have been dead by now,” I snarled at this, it was only because he was cheating using silver bullets. I ripped the sword from where it punctured the wood. “You know you can't beat me in combat,” I turned and put the sword to his neck.

“No, but you’re not difficult to trick.” I hear his voice behind me and feel as the sword is ripped out from my hands. The fake Arthur fades to green mist, he used an illusion spell, I should have known. I feel messy, disorganized, “I thought we were friends!” I yell at him. “We still can be!” he says back. I make another lunge for the sword, but I'm distracted and my movements are sloppy. He easily moves out of the way, “Not after this.” I can't believe this is happening. The crackling of energy grows stronger, forming real tangible sparks in the air now. I make a sword out of the magic and to fight with but he parries me. “Why can’t you explain anything?” I'm so frustrated it's unbelievable.

“You’ll just have to figure it out later Nova, I’m running out of time.” A magic smoke fills the room, blinding me and covering his escape. I send out a small shockwave to clear it, but it's too late. I know he’s gone by now. My card color is midway to white now, I used too much magic being emotional and it's too late. I slump over on the steps. All I think about now is that I need to get that sword back.

Sybyll’s voice echoes through the hall, she's calling my name and no doubt searching for me. “Nova?” I hear her get closer as she opens the door to find me on the steps. I don't look up at her from where I sit. "Nova, are you okay?” She says as she takes in the room, the bullet and split wood from earlier have probably clued her in on what just happened. She sits next to me, “Can you tell me what happened?” I don’t want to tell her. I don’t want to say she was right and I should have just gone with her. I don't want to admit that I failed. So all that comes out of my mouth is a half committal sad grunt, as I feel tears well up in my eyes out of frustration. “It's okay, whatever it is, I just need to know what happened here.”

I feel pathetic. “It's just, a guy was in here taking the sword, and I tried to stop him, and it was Arthur, and he had silver bullets and–” I sputtered out fast. “Wait, slow down, Arthur?” She asks me. “Yeah.” “I should have known that he was up to something asking for an invite like that,” she furrows her brow. “I’m sorry, you were right,” I blink out the tears in my eyes. “You did the right thing, let's just get you cleaned up, Nova,” she guides me to stand up. “Is everyone safe? Who was hurt?” I ask her, desperate to know that I at least did something right. “All of the guests got out unharmed, the gunshot from earlier wounded a guard. He’s been taken to a hospital.” I sigh, knowing that I couldn't have stopped that from happening.

She guides me back to my room and starts running a bath, “You look so pale, you used a lot of magic fighting him.” “Mhm,” I reply. I sat down on my bed, still in shock. She sets down some night clothes for me on the counter in the bathroom and walks out. “You did all you could, the only thing to do now is to rest.” I open my mouth to protest when she interrupts me, “We can deal with it in the morning. What's important is that you are still alive, I’m sure Serena will do something about losing the sword.” I sigh, Sybyll is correct again and has 2-0 on me. She goes to turn the water off. “The bath is done, go get yourself cleaned up and I’ll see you tomorrow.” She pats me on the shoulder as she leaves and I’m stuck thinking about everything that just happened.