Alfread held the quill of destiny in his hand. With it he would write his story, determined to brighten Asa’s aura every day. The story he wrote would be a life with her, brightened every day by the radiant smile and light which gave him hope that she would guide him to better days in this world replete with darkness. Today, on Norali’s holyday, they would be each other’s candles. Finally, Asa would see him shine. Tonight, tonight. The moment will be right. Under a sea of stars, love will be ours.
Alfread held the catalyst of tonight’s climactic moment in his hand. He lifted the luminous tonic aloft. The liquid shifted from pumpkin orange to forest green to star-bright silver. Little flecks of glowing substance flitted around and changed color a fraction of a turn ahead of the fluid that enveloped them. It was…
“Beautiful,” Asa remarked, taking the vial in her hand for closer inspection.
Alfread’s heart quickened at the sound of her voice. High-pitched and energetic, Asa’s voice struck a chord within him that none ever had. She found the exact frequency that shattered his emotional inhibitions, sliding into his behavioral restraints like the one-and-only key that could. Just one word from her and he was at the mercy of overpowering love and desire. He gazed at her with as much awe and adoration as she had for the potion.
The aura of silver light that surrounded her could only ever be approximated by that one word that defined Asa of Ferrickton: Radiant. Beautiful would suffice to describe the rest of her, but Alfread knew that radiant was again the best fit here. Her golden hair glimmered brighter than the sun and he imagined that gliding his fingers from root to end would be like caressing waves of light. He somehow restrained the impulse to run his hands through her hair and test the thought.
Asa smiled up at him. Alfread memorized every detail of that wondrous image, stored in his perfect recall for all the ages that would follow this moment. Her eyes were vibrant emeralds emanating the vivacious life within her. Her skin was sand along the shores of Isihla or dunes in the Ugwadule where her ancestors had worshiped the radiance of Norali. Her lovely face was heart-shaped like Leveria and, to Alfread, was a mirror to her loving heart. How he longed to hold her cheeks in his hands and tell her the story of his own loving heart! Asa grinned that unparalleled clever smile of hers that only underestimated a brilliant mind brighter than all the stars. Her teeth shone at him like pearls within a mouth far prettier than any oyster. Alfread imagined his tongue brushing against her lush lips, sweeter than any apple could ever be.
What is stopping you?
A rush of anxiety swept through him and his hand trembled slightly while he tried to contain it. Alfread rallied with his mantra of the day: Tonight, tonight. The moment will be right. Under a sea of stars, love will be ours.
“Beautiful,” he agreed, his voice shaking ever so slightly, his eyes never leaving hers.
Asa’s aura gained a few lumens. Her eyes focused on his, for once not fleeing contact.
Her eyes! Her eyes! Like emerald skies. I can look forever. My soul’s true endeavor.
Asa touched his arm, giving his bicep a squeeze. Naturally, as a result, Alfread felt that touch in his stomach. Excitement and nervousness spiraled, turning his stomach like a wheel. The Coward wanted to wheel away far from the nervousness. The brave author tried to pick up destiny’s quill and seize the excitement. Write your story. Write your story!
He couldn’t even find the first line.
Asa’s hand glided down his arm until her fingertips brushed against his. Alfread startled and did the opposite of his intention, pulling the hand away on divinedamned reflex.
Light shifted in the tent and Alfread couldn’t tell if Asa had lost luster or if a cloud had passed between the sun and land. Asa’s voice did not betray any loss within her. “Beautiful as this tonic is, it is not the draught I ordered, Alfread.”
His name rolled off her tongue with a drawn-out rumble, almost like a snake’s hiss: ale-FREEEEED. Asa tried to look like a disappointed professor, but Alfread could see her smile glowing beneath like a ruby sun trying to hide behind a cloud. The gentle hand that had touched him now folded under her opposite elbow. Her arms crossed in front of her to convey her displeasure at his disobedience.
He prostrated himself before her. Alfread portrayed himself like a sinner before the Seeress of Meladon. “Let me explain, Master,” he said with drama thirteenfold what the situation merited.
Asa chuckled and bit her lip to restrain her laughter. His insides felt alight, like Norali was shining the light of hope within, but that hope could fly away leaving him in a deeper darkness for its absence.
“Eyes on me,” Asa commanded.
She dangled the vial of starbright in his face. This concoction was not what Asa had asked him to make. Of course, Alfread had mixed a cauldron of vinwine too, but he was not going to spoil the playfulness of this moment by disclosing that. Starbright served no military function. It would not enhance a fighter’s strength or reduce pain’s hold over the body as vinwine would.
Asa’s voice was as stern as thunder, too reminiscent of his own mother’s when he woke her irritable side from hibernation. “You have eight words to explain yourself!”
Asa covered her mouth to conceal her muffled giggles. Alfread wanted to feel the tremors of joy that made her body shake. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and step from the realm of friend into the kingdom of lover.
Tonight, tonight. The moment will be right. Under a sea of stars, love will be ours.
“Do you think I have all day? Speak!”
Alfread’s reflexes acted the part by starting with a jolt. A strangled chortle burst through her charade. He knew that Asa had been the recipient of this academic management before by the way she spoke of Emmalyn Panacea and was happy to offer her this catharsis.
Alfread held a remorseful, subservient expression, channeling his inner puppy. His eyes climbed from her feet to her smile. The journey was brief but blessed. As commanded, he parsed his poetry into eight words. He knew Asa would solve the beginning of the puzzle. Whether she would respond to it … that was what filled the Coward with terror. “West sunset, two met. Stars bright, in moonlight.”
Asa rolled her eyes. This time it was genuine. Alfread reached for his tonic, but Asa had anticipated his reach and pulled back her arm in a swift retreat. She held a triumphant grin on her angelic face.
I want to kiss you.
Do it, the brave author thought.
This is not the moment, the Coward cried.
Alfread reached for the stars. Again, she drew back. Giggling, Asa fled to the opposite end of her command center. Heart full of excitement, Alfread chased after her.
She burst away from the potioneering lab and slid under the table that was stationed in the center of the tent beneath a red canvas sky. Alfread leaned over the table with arms long and strong, but he couldn’t reach her on the opposite side of the pine barrier.
Asa stuck out her tongue. Swelling with excited thoughts of tonight, Alfread climbed over the top of the table; ledgers full of numbers left behind by the deceased Sir Daven Brighton of the Hedgemen slid out of order in Alfread’s pursuit of radiance. He didn’t care; he hadn’t had such honest fun since before the wolves. His thoughts were never far from the Celegan Empire and their chimaeras. In this moment of youthful shenanigans, he was free of worry.
Asa was not the cognitive-affectomancer in command of the most crucial disputed territory in Leveria. She was giggling like a young girl playing tag in a land far from war as she deftly circled around the table.
Alfread slipped off the table and landed on his feet with the balance of a cat with vinwine coursing through its already dexterous body. His knees were slightly sore from sliding across the pine table’s rough surface, yet he didn’t feel the little splinters piercing through his breeches and into his leg. He felt the fluttering in his chest, the beating of his heart, and the yearning to catch Asa and wrap his arms around her.
He circled around the table after her. Asa chortled, her sprint ne’er slowing. Alfread knew better than to expect her to tire. Her physical training was more intensive than his own and he imagined for the thousandth time how the contours and curves of her athletic body would look beneath the white and red robes that concealed her from neck to ankle. Neither did his longer legs provide him with advantage. Asa was able to more quickly round each corner of the table, canceling out the length of Alfread’s stride. Only trickery would avail him here.
Alfread slowed and waited until she reached the corner and rounded to the long side of the rectangular table before he reversed. Asa kept charging forth as she reached the shorter side of the table. Giggling, she glanced behind her just as Alfread turned onto the other end. Ecstatic, he opened his arms to catch her. Asa saw him at the last moment, her eyes went wide, and she released the cutest little gasp that Alfread had ever heard before they collided.
The starbright vial shot into the air. Alfread left one arm wrapped around Asa’s back, stabilizing her, and caught the flask in his free hand. Then he held it aloft, stretching his arm toward the Ruby-red canvas sky.
Asa gripped his brigandine in one hand and tried to jump for the vial. Alfread’s heart somehow handled the feeling of her body brushing against his without bursting. He took his freedom, placing a hand on her back, feeling her muscles working as she worked with a lower gravitational center and tried to reach beyond hope’s grasp. Their exchange of laughter and smiles made Alfread reach a new pinnacle of joy. He taunted her by lowering the vial within reach before pulling it back toward the stars.
The Radiant groaned and leaned into him. Her aura expanded like a supernova and Alfread lowered the vial hand to close the embrace. He had acted with heart and not head.
Asa twisted, her hand lashing out like a whip. She pried his fingers open with surprising tenacity, claiming the stars as her own. Victorious, Asa taunted Alfread, striding around the tent with a sashaying victory dance that claimed every spare thought he had, indelibly leaving him starstruck by her.
“Are you offering me an Alfreadian candle to brighten my day?” she asked.
Alfread winked. Her words were technical truths, but she was as far off as the stars. “Are you offering me an Asilan candle to brighten my day?”
Asa winked. She sat on her bed and inspected the vial. “What is this?” She eyed him curiously. “I have never seen anything like it.”
“West sunset, two met. Stars bright, in moonlight.”
Asa snorted. That cute laugh tormented his soul. Alfread took a step toward her—the brave author yearning to sit beside her and return his hand to her back. The Coward gripped him as though clinging to life, holding him back from testing his destiny.
Tonight, tonight. The moment will be right. Under a sea of stars, love will be ours.
Asa held her gaze on the vial. “I cannot remember the last time I laughed like that.”
“Me neither. Every day I get to see you is Brighten.” Alfread swallowed and the Coward kept the rest of what he wanted to say trapped in his own head. You’re the candle that brightens my life.
Alfread studied her, hoping her eyes would rise and find his, hoping that she would take the first step in their perilous dance. She made no such move. Her smile waned like a setting sun as her gaze stayed on the starbright. Asa''s aura dimmed until the light shifted from silver to grey, casting clouds over Alfread''s mood.
Alfread’s perfect memory smashed into his consciousness. A thousand times he dreamt of a radiant light calling to him from beyond a towering wall of burning flame. Every divinedamned time he failed to reach the light before it extinguished.
The brave author inside him urged him to move forward and step through the flames, to declare his love. The Coward screamed within, warning him that his love was unreciprocated. It whispered far worse. The Coward was keen to threaten his confidence with promises that Asa preferred Zander or Whelan Bearbreaker over him.
Gordan called through the tent flap. “I have this morning’s scouting report, Master Asa.”
“One moment, Gordan,” Asa answered.
Alfread looked down, knowing that he had missed a shot. He turned to leave the command pavilion in cowardly silence.
“Alfread!” Asa called, her pitch even higher. She held the vial. “What am I to do with this?”
Alfred kept his head down. He tried to speak with strength and confidence, but the words came out weak and uncertain. “West sunset, two met. Stars bright, in moonlight.”
Alfread fled, forever the Coward.
*************
West sunset, two met. Stars bright, in moonlight.
The sun was setting over the Impwood as Alfread kept watch on the western gate. No clouds presided over the world and a healthy waning gibbous moon was cresting in pursuit of the sun. As always, moon and sun were headed in different directions, sharing the purpose of lighting the world but not sharing themselves with each other. The moon chased after the light, only to find the dark, and the sun went through the dark until it would reemerge into the light.
He knew a Bearbreaker army wouldn’t arrive for several days, but he expected to see Sir Whelan riding ahead of it, sunset over his shoulder, armored in lordly meladonite. The handsome heir of Urzport would instantaneously stake his claim over the encampment and Asa.
Alfread gripped the palisade’s battlements, feeling like tonight was do or die. His body did not distinguish the fears of Norali Waning from the battle on Zamael Waxing. Alfread knew that the two situations were different. Thousands of soldiers were not marching on this wall, threatening to murder him where he stood and forcing him to rain arrows upon them. Instead, one woman and her rejection threatened to assassinate his hopes and dreams, depriving his life of light.
Alfread tried to understand, evaluate, and challenge the thoughts that fueled these feelings. As his mother had taught him, he investigated the likelihood of rejection. He gathered observations, stored in perfect memory for conscious reexamination, that supported or refuted his expected rejection. Piles of data accumulated for both the rejection and the non-rejection hypotheses. Asa did brighten when he was with her. Alas, couldn’t a best friend provide a person joy without there being a romantic love to fuel that? Asa struggled to make prolonged eye contact with him. Alas, could that be a sign of shyness? Alfread snorted disdainfully at the notion that the charming and charismatic woman could possess even a hint of shyness. His analysis continued to refute each point that supported the hypothesis that she did want him and counter each alternative reasoning for the observations that she didn’t want him. He left the process even more convinced that his rejection was inevitable.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Alfread tried to shift his mind again, focusing on the intensity of the feared outcome rather than the likelihood. Instead of determining whether the monster would arrive and attack, he tried to imagine how he would protect himself from the monster and continue to live. Alas, Alfread found himself unable to try and find a way to accept how he could live without Asa’s love. He couldn’t dive into that rejection and armor himself against it.
If he could not defeat his anxiety, he would look away from it. Taking a deep breath, Alfread redirected his painful inner monologue to a place that would distract from his fears and the pain of those thoughts. He wore his ‘lordly leather’, as Zander had taken to calling it. The leather brigandine covered his torso and his arms, with its Bearbreaker sigil, a man wrestling a bear on a field of blue, emblazoned over the heart. A thin layer of chainmail extended all the way to the wrist. It was an archer’s armor, designed for flexibility and swift movement.
His short sword hung in its scabbard at his side. The blade was double-edged iron that narrowed into a point at its tip. The sword was built for both thrusting and slashing. His quiver and bow were strapped to his back. The quiver widened at the top so that the arrows wouldn’t get stuck between his fingers when he tried to retrieve them. He felt through the quiver, counting twelve arrows. The arrows were carefully selected to maximize his efficiency with shafts made from maple, an ideal balance of strength and weight. Alfread had cut them himself to be the exact length of his draw. He used duck feathers for the fletchings. The feathers had been trimmed smaller than the typical arrow fletching, for the smaller feather gained acceleration longer, which allowed more range in his shot while sacrificing the piercing power at a close distance. Each arrow had three duck feathers glued to the back end of the shafts in the parabolic style, an arching shape. Alfread had always preferred that parabolic to the typical shield shape, which trimmed the feathers in a straight line, both for appearance and function.
This attention to detail that most would find boring—their minds pleading for it to stop as their eyes scrolled in search of an end—allowed him to find a pathway in his mind that the Coward didn’t control.
The arrowheads themselves were a marvel. Serapheena Ruby had named her invention platepiercers. The platepiercers had a small, dagger-like tip that focused the arrow’s force. With a high enough draw, they could break through plate armor. Alfread had seen the truth of that, imagining the memories of killing on Zamael Waxing would remain with him forever, even had he lacked perfect recall of every moment of his life.
Alfread inhaled and exhaled, just like he was preparing to operate in his mother’s clinic. He affirmed that he did the best thing he could have in the situation and had done it well. He was not the war, and he would do what he could to end it. He thought further on his daydreams of how that could be achieved. Alfread doubted that the vast majority of lordlings would shift an arsecheek on their high horses to end this war and the two kings crowned that list. If he had to put his faith in any highborn in the Ruby Kingdom, it was the precocious princess.
The hearsay that reached Bear’s Crossing had endeared him to the genius warrior princess with outspoken and radical views on society. Perhaps peace would be possible if Alfread could find a way to put Alexia Bluerose in the same room as Serapheena Ruby. He simulated scenarios in his mind of how that might come to pass.
Grandiose distractions could only take him so far before he came full circle. The heart always beckoned him home. This chapter in his life, “Brighter than the Stars,” was not the first chapter titled thus. He reached for the predecessor to find the courage to quell the Coward and live out his dream.
Alfread had been born on Telling. Memories of Yadeen’s holyday welled within him, giving him strength, as those wintry days spent in front of a warm hearth and telling stories with his parents, Zander, and Melody played in his mind. He could taste crispy strips of bacon and hot cakes covered in syrup washed down with hot apple cider. He could see beautiful faces adorned with tears after Melody’s emotional telling of Elior and Pelianna’s story. Alfread’s mind revived the sound of laughter and the asinine hilarity of his father’s comedies that were so detailed you could envision yourself in his fictional worlds witnessing his characters making an endless wave of mistakes.
Those stories were a part of Alfread and once he heard a tale, he never forgot a single line or detail. His perfect recall only applied to stories and not medica manuals, unfortunately, but he had discovered how to memorize his own autobiographical story by perceiving it as a legend in the making. In Alfread’s mind, his legend began with a story told annually on Telling: Brighter than the Stars. The story of his parents falling in love.
Evan of Astoria had been a young knight serving the Bearbreakers in Mirrevar while Mirielda was the daughter of an archlord volunteering as a medican. Their story started parallel to Alfread and Asa’s with friendship and laughter before it alighted to the stars. Evan invited Mirielda for an evening stroll along the Bear and they danced in a field of purple flowers beneath the moonlight alongside a nocturne of insects and owls. Stars shining above, two unspoken lovers knew in that moment that their dance partner, their true life’s mate, was brighter than the stars. Like all great Leverian tales, the story had two endings. Mirielda would say that was the moment she followed her heart and eclipsed all of her dreams. Alfread’s father told the tale a few steps further, much to Alfread’s embarrassment.
Alfread sought to replicate both endings. Alas, Evan did not raise a son who lacked his romantic showmanship. Alfread had a trick up Asa’s sleeve that would elevate his legend, making the telling of his story more than another uninspired retelling of a beloved classic.
Yet, despite the grand story his quill prepared to pen, he couldn’t write it without the ink that completed it. Degrees had passed since another sentry took his place atop the western ramparts. Candles could be seen lit throughout the encampment as friends supported each other. Alfread’s candle was unseen, and the world’s candle grew dim, hope waning with it. The cowardly voice inside Alfread waxed like the blue half-moon brimming against a dark north-eastern horizon.
She does not love you. You are not what she wants. Remember how she gazes into his eyes and avoids yours. How could you ever compare to him? Next to him, you are nothing. You are less than a shadow. Run! Fly forth into one of your storybooks! Hide away from the pains of reality! She does not love you! She never will.
The sun set and only the stars and moon lit the flowers of Mirrevar. Alfread leapt off the ramparts and stormed toward his tent. He would grab his gear, bid Zander his until next time, and flee this place. He didn’t know where he would go next, only that he couldn’t stay here anymore.
“Alfread!”
He stopped hard, remaining still for several turns, an interval that felt like it lasted several degrees, as he performed breathing exercises to calm his angry soul.
“Alfread?”
There is hope yet.
He pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. At last, he turned and saw her emitting her radiant light. Her eyes met his and lingered there. Her eyes, her eyes. Like two emerald skies. I can look forever. My soul’s true endeavor.
Asa grinned at him, flashing the vial of starbright before returning it to her pocket. She folded her arms over her chest and glanced skyward. “West sunset. Two met. I am late I suppose.”
Alfread grinned, lines from stories filling his head, he shared one she would recognize. “A cognitive-affectomancer is never late, Asa Radiant.”
“Nor is she early,” Asa answered, her aura brightening.
Alfread’s grin matched hers. He was in another world than the one he walked mere moments ago. Everything was perfect and exactly as it should be. The setting, the characters, the plot, they all were arranged to tell the greatest tale. How could he have ever doubted?
“You are precisely on time,” Alfread assured her. He inclined his head and made an abbreviated tilting nod, thinking that likely suave but not overly so.
“The stars and moon shine bright but I have not solved your riddle about what this is for,” Asa said, raising her eyebrow and holding up the vial in the starlight.
Alfread shrugged before spontaneously rushing the west gate. He slammed into its center, lowered his hips and pushed with his arms, driving the massive iron-reinforced oaken doors open until his arms were fully extended. Alfread couldn’t suppress the grunt that accompanied the exertion. He decided mid-motion that it was better that he did not. Let her see that he too was man enough. He was not just a scholarly friend. He could be the man that protected her and satisfied the urges of her body.
Alfread’s self-consciousness flared at the excess of his display of machismo. He dared a glance back to assess Asa’s reaction. Norali’s Lights! She was radiant and resplendent and golden and good! Alfread’s heart hammered. He seemed short of the air required to take in such a beautiful sight. Asa tilted her head at him, eyebrows raised, beaming her broad smile.
She stifled a chuckle. Alfread lowered his eyes, fixing his stare upon the ground at her feet. Soon, she filled his vision, closing the distance between them with her hand gently landing upon his arm. The brightness of her aura contrasted the night, making him squint.
“My papa always told me not to walk with strangers at night.”
“Not even after they have given you a gift?” Alfread reached in her robe and retrieved the vial of starbright. He offered it back to her with a flourish. Within, the Coward criticized him for not offering a candle. The Coward warned him about violating the tradition of Brighten. Alas, the brave author had won that battle and determined the candle he would offer her would be far more memorable.
Asa leaned in so close that he could smell cinnamon on her breath and an aroma of flowers in her hair. “Especially if they offer me gifts, Alfread.”
Deftly, she reclaimed the vial.
Alfread violated his desire to stay close and breathe in her scent, catching one last whiff of rose as he took a few steps back. He sighed, as if deflating his lungs, and shook his head. “I guess you will never get that explanation then. That is unfortunate. The mystery will tantalize you for the remainder of your life. You will grow old, sit in your fancy rocking chair on the veranda, and you will think, ‘Oh Yadeen, whatever was Alfread trying to tell me?’”
Asa grinned, no doubt appreciating Alfread’s attempt at her lofty pitch. She put one hand on her hip as the other gestured to the stars. She howled to the sky, “How could I survive such torment and regret!”
Alfread shrugged. “Some mysteries remain unsolved. It is tragic, I know.”
“Fortunately for me, I did not say that I wouldn’t walk with you. You are no stranger. You,” she jabbed him in his abdomen with a finger, “are my dear friend, Alfread.”
Alfread alighted at her words. The feelings in his heart grew, threatening to burst through every shell that could contain them. Yet, they were tainted by the fears of the Coward. You are just a friend. Her favorite brother, not her most desired lover.
“And what was your papa’s policy concerning starlit walks with your dear friend?”
Asa seized his hand, her fingers closing around his. She elevated her voice and attempted to make it sound masculine; it came out effeminate with a twanging sound that reminded Alfread of Kenneth’s uncouth speech. “Asa belle, we on’y ‘ave this one life ‘ere. Make the most of et.”
The stars aligned. Norali shined. Blessed by Yadeen, Alfread embraced the scene. This was it. A perfect fit. The final skit. Time to be lit. Brighter than the stars. Love will be ours.
Alfread took her hand in his and squeezed tenderly as though she were the most precious entity to ever exist. She guided him out into the dark.
They held hands, strolling south along the Bear River. Alfread sought the perfect place to shine brighter than the stars. Asa steered the conversation from her failed attempt to defeat Alfread in archery to a discussion of their favorite stories. She promised to take him to the grand performances in Rubinia to see stories come to life. Alfread embraced the dream and envisioned his future with Asa. They would change the world and see its wonders, all while knowing their greatest wonders were beside them.
The night was tranquil, with the occasional hoot of an owl or the gentle rush of the Bear River. The moon, the stars, and Asa lit up the darkness. Billions of flowers blossomed on the Mirrevar side of the Bear, surrounding patches of fruit-bearing trees with otherworldly leaves that reminded Alfread of the botanical variant of a peacock. Alfread and Asa identified them by name, listing their uses in potioneering and medica. The wind blew strange scents from flowers distant and near. All along, she continued to hold his hand, and the fire continued to burn nervously within him as the brave author’s excitement clashed with the Coward’s nervousness.
At last, Asa’s hand slipped from his and she looked out over the Bear River. Fireflies, frostflies, and thunderbugs buzzed in symphony above the mile-wide currents. The lights they emitted—red, blue, and yellow—added to the colors of the night. Owls joined them in song and a great howler flew across the moon and soared toward Goddess Hill. Covademara herself oversaw them, her canopy majestic, a symbol of Leverian love and dreams. Stars shone in the clear sky and the heat was balanced with an easy breeze. A half-moon crowned the sky with the same blue hue of Leverith’s healing light. This was the setting. Now was the time for Alfread’s legend to unfold.
None of his shots in the battle felt as important as this one. Nerves and excitement slamming into each other like two great waves crashing, he held out his hand. Asa raised her brow and retrieved the vial. Alfread nodded and the Radiant placed the glass in Alfread’s open hand. Alfread popped the stopper and held destiny in his hands.
Tonight, tonight. The moment will be right. Under a sea of stars, love will be ours.
Alfread took a deep breath and drained the concoction in one long gulp. Asa leaned back and put a hand on her chin, studying him with caution. Her mouth opened a fraction of an inch as he prepared to take her breath away. At last, her eyes stayed on him.
Alfread had no candle to offer Asa to celebrate Brighten, but he would offer himself. The taste of starbright was remarkably good, sweeter than honey. The burning inside of him softened a little.
Only one voice whispered in his head. It was his mother’s soft, loving song. Write your destiny, child of love. You will eclipse all of your dreams.
Courage surged, overpowering the wave of nervousness. Alfread seized Asa’s hands and led her into a dance. Her excited eyes-wide smile etched happiness into Alfread’s heart. She shone brighter than all the stars and Alfread was enamored by her radiance such that everything else disappeared from the beautiful setting like a billion candles failing to be perceivable in the light of the brightest star.
They followed the music of the night in a traditional ball dance, moving in passionate but precise circles. Alfread led them through the smooth steps with the confidence and skill of a king dancing with a queen in their castle. He twirled her and she gracefully moved with the experience of a professional ballroom dancer, no doubt trained from her years in Rubinian court. She spun into his arms, and he caught her. For a moment, Alfread embraced her with all his heart and leaned his face into hers, noses touching and eyes locked together. Then they moved into more advanced, more evocative dance, their bodies making enough friction to set a great inferno of passion and desire ablaze inside Alfread.
Asa gathered enough air to speak through her breathlessness. “So … an elixir of dancing?”
They shared a laugh. Without letting her catch a breath, Alfread launched her into the air. Her beautiful gasp sent him soaring higher and higher, and smiling brighter and brighter. Asa’s acrobatics leapt over his wildest expectations as she twirled a half circle in the air. Alfread caught her and spun her to face him. When he pulled her back in close, her smile was a dream come true.
The moment felt like the perfect first page to a love story that would last forever and become one of the greatest. Asa’s mouth and eyes went wide. Her aura was not the only light brighter than the stars. An aura of white-silver light enveloped Alfread. Asa’s feet stalled. “You shine!” she exclaimed.
Alfread held both of her hands and squeezed. “Said the star to the star,” Alfread quipped, with a lusty wink.
Alfread twirled her before she could respond. She swirled at dizzying speeds, a cyclone of light. Alfread stabilized her. Asa giggled as she fell, off-balance, into his arms. He dipped her backward and she looked up into his eyes with her mouth open and inviting. He pulled her up and held her hands as she held his heart.
“At west gate by sunset, two hopeful lovers met. Like two stars shining bright, they danced in blue moonlight.”
Asa’s eyes locked onto his. For a moment, they seemed to shift color in the light, flashing silver in the burst of illumination as her aura expanded. Alfread wanted to throw away the key and leave them locked there forever. Alas, he did not have the key. Asa rested her head against his chest and held her arms around him while they continued to move in slow, graceful circles.
“You are...” she trailed off as if catching an arrow being shot. “You are a really good dancer,” she said softly.
Alfread held her to him, never wanting to let go of her or this moment. Even without perfect autobiographical memory, he knew he would remember the scent of roses in her hair, the softness of her touch, the sway of her body as it brushed his, the sounds of the bugs and birds, the radiance of their light shining the brightest he had ever seen, and the wonderful taste of starbright.
He lowered his head, so that he could see the top of her pretty face. “My mother was the daughter of an archlord before they disowned her for loving a commoner. She taught me how to perform the dances of kings and queens. You are an exceptional dancer, Asa Radiant.”
She squeezed him tighter. “I have been going to the royal balls for a decade. I have danced with archlords and lordlings. I have danced with Rubies. I have shared dances with both Adameon and Camellia Ruby. But never with anyone like you, Alfread. You move like the Leverian kings of legend.”
“You know,” Alfread said in his best deadpan, “just this morning, after I beat you at the targets, I was thinking I should have a crown atop my head and a throne to sit upon.”
Asa laughed the sweetest laugh and buried her head back into his chest. Alfread joined her with a few chortles of his own. After they caught their breath, she lifted her eyes to meet his. She tried to look down again, but he caught her by the chin and gently tilted her head back up until her eyes found his. “You have the prettiest face, Asa Radiant.”
To his surprise she frowned deeply. Her aura flickered.
“Alas,” he said, “it is your wit and wisdom, your charm and laughter, your prowess as a cognitive-affectomancer and a leader, your ability to bring light in the darkness and hope to the hopeless that makes you shine brighter than the stars.”
Her aura flared, dwarfing the light that he emitted with starbright. Her eyes blinded him as light burst from them. Together, they had celebrated Brighten.
Tonight, tonight. The moment will be right. Under a sea of stars. Love will be ours.
Alfread leaned toward her, his lips the arrow and hers the target. This is my moment. I will be the author of my story. Alfread closed his eyes and seized his perfect storybook ending. His lips pressed awkwardly into her forehead. Alfread opened his eyes, his heart falling from the heavens and descending into an abyssal hell. Asa’s radiance had dispersed, leaving behind a faint gray light in the night. Her emerald eyes dimmed with fright as she lowered them to the ground.
Zamael seemed to be laughing his ridicule in Alfread’s ear, fueling the Coward’s voice that was never far. You are not good enough for her. She does not love you. You are not HIM.
Asa took a step back. Her hand separated from his. Alfread’s arm swung dead at his side. Every muscle in Alfread’s body slouched and though he felt a deeper wound than ever before, he was too shocked, too devastated, to weep.
Asa hid her face in her golden hair. Her voice came out weak and full of shame. “You are my best friend, Alfread.”
Alfread’s starbright faded.
Rubbing tears from her eyes, Asa ran back toward the encampment, leaving Alfread alone in the dark without a light.