Chapter 2: Eclipse

Eclipse dropped onto her bed, desperately fed up with all of this nonsense.

Another useless Ash Court meeting. Hours of pointlessly sitting in a Courtroom as older men and women argue back and forth on the pedestal and accomplish nothing. What a waste of time. If Eclipse was forced to attend every single one of those insufferable meetings, then shouldn’t she at least have a say in the debates? She was a Councilman’s daughter after all.

Disagreeing with the Council was no reason to cast her out of the meeting. She was a part of the Ash Court herself! Any Ash Courter could have a say in their affairs, so why not her? Besides, who’s idiodic decision was it to tear down those poor villagers’ homes? Where could they possibly go? Just because it was the ideal spot for a prison didn’t make it any more justifiable. Eclipse felt no remorse for speaking up—in fact, she was rather proud of herself.

Then again, it didn’t help that she attempted to Persuade one of the councilmen to forget his own opinions and agree with her instead, but she’d rather not talk about it. If the Lion constellation blessed her with this Gift, she was surely going to use it.

Especially against the rest of those wretched brutes.

The earlier scene replayed in her head. Councilwoman Atheleys was spewing nonsense about her support for the prison and how it would help the Ash Court deal with the growing number of criminals, not even considering the many villagers it was planning to displace. The other councilmen had eagerly agreed with her, including Eclipse’s own father, Councilman Soleil.

Tired of their ignorance, she had proudly objected, her voice ringing in the wide room. But her objection had been swatted away like flies, a pathetic nuisance to the rest of the councilmen. Their decision was final, and no one wanted to listen to a young girl with ideas that clashed with their own.

So she had used her greatest weapon in retaliation. Her Gift, Persuasion, even though the use of a Gift was forbidden in an Elemental Courtroom. But at least she had tried to fight. That was certainly more than the councilmen were doing. Who even gave them such authority? She knew it was subject to the popular vote, but really, were these imbeciles truly the best options for their leadership?

She hated Atheleys. She hated Zervide. And Councilman Oberon? He was the worst of the bunch. She could still remember his jarring words to her as she left, his eyes narrowed yet shining with triumph at her departure.

Your idealism will get you nowhere in this Court, Miss Soleil. You are nothing but an insignificant little girl. What makes you think you are any better than the rest of us here?

Eclipse shook her head and got up from her bed. She crossed her room, heavily decorated and adorned with dark ornaments, and entered her bath chamber. Filling her hands with cold water, she splashed it onto her face, letting out a sigh at the cool touch. She knew it wasn’t the first time her Court acted on the endless wants of their power and greed. The Court and its government was full of corruption, but what could she do?

Damn them all.

Still frustrated, Eclipse left her room and went down the hall to her family’s enormous library, passing by the expensive paintings backed by swirling, light wallpaper. The double doors were to her right, and she placed a hand on each knob and pushed them open.

She was greeted by the comforting smell of old paper as hundreds of books sat spread across the walls, their pages filled with countless different subjects. Most of them were written in Sarmeh, the most widespread language of Ophelia, though they did carry a fair share of books in other scripts from various regions. Tables with candles were scattered all across the room, squat, heavy chairs at each one. A tall glass ceiling hung above the library, a spiraling staircase leading up to a balcony where they kept a telescope to gaze at the stars. Besides watching the night sky, books were the only thing that could possibly distract Eclipse from the stupidity of political Court life.

Making her way to a desk in the back, she picked up a book, Ancient Myths and Legends, and opened it to a marked page. It was the type of book her mother would call “foolish” or “a waste of time,” but Eclipse chose it purposely to spite her. She’d begun reading the book at some point and never had the chance to finish it. She sank into the comfortable chair.

Once she began to read, all other thoughts melted away, and she became entangled in the stories the book offered. She read about haunting creatures that were rumored to roam caves, about mischievous spirits that meddled with unsuspecting children. She knew it was all just fabricated tales, spirals of imagination, but that didn’t make it any less fascinating.

Eclipse turned the page and reached a new section, her eyes widening slightly as she scanned the page. A tale about the Celestials, the subjects of her favorite stories. The legends depicted them as a mysterious race living in an entirely different world, some say in the sky itself. They rode on mighty creatures of destruction, and were known to be majestic, strong, and live for thousands of years, much longer than a mere mortal. Vague, light drawings were paired with the words, depicting a slender, humanlike creature with smooth features and peculiar eyes.

But they were just another fairytale.

As she read through, she soaked in the story of a Celestial female who had descended to the mortal lands, but was killed out of fear by those who found her. That was an odd choice. They easily could have just talked to her, tried to understand her. Learned more about her land, her culture.

If the story is even real…

Eclipse let out a laugh in the empty library. If the story was real, then people were truly stupid.

Eclipse didn’t realize how much time passed as she read, and definitely did not notice the servant who approached her.

“Pardon me, Miss,” the servant, Miranda, said hesitantly to Eclipse, who didn’t respond.

“Miss Soleil?” she asked again. Eclipse’s mind broke away from the world in her hands, and she quickly looked up.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized frantically, “I tend to not let things distract me when I read.”

“It’s quite all right. I’ve been sent to inform you that your mother has returned from her luncheon and would like to speak with you in the dining room.”

Of course she would. No doubt about the stunt I pulled at the Court meeting.

“Thank you, Miranda. I’ll be there in just a minute.”

The servant left her as Eclipse promptly marked her page, closing the book and leaving it on the table where she had found it. She hastily followed the maid out of the library.

As she walked past a mirror in the hall, she hurriedly smoothed out her wavy, black hair and straightened out her dress so that not an inch of her was unsatisfactory for her mother. Hailing from a prominent family, Eclipse was expected to be perfect and presentable at all times, and perhaps she could at least try to adhere to that.

Stepping down the heavy oak staircase, she walked into the wide, open foyer of her home, parlors and other rooms branching off in smooth wooden floors covered by thick rugs.

Turning to the left, Eclipse strolled into the dining room, her mother seated elegantly at the table. She wore an expensive gown of forest green satin, her dark hair tied in a sleek style, grey streaks running through the black strands. Sinistra Soleil watched her daughter with sharp eyes as Eclipse sat down.

“Did you have a nice afternoon, Mother?” Eclipse posed, trying to sound as proper and polite as possible, even if it was clearly forced.

“It would have been better if a certain daughter of mine had not publicly argued with her own government officials, casting an unwanted array of attention on me the entire afternoon,” her mother responded coldly.

Eclipse suppressed a wince. Straight to the point.

“Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was for your father and I?”

Eclipse looked down into her lap, trying to make herself appear as ashamed as possible. Yet she didn’t regret any part of what she did.

“I’m sorry, Mother. I promise I won’t do it again.”

That’s clearly a lie.

“Oh, I know you won’t. Because if you ever embarrass this family like that again, there will be much larger consequences than just a simple warning.” She heard her mother shift in her seat. “You’re lucky my Persuasion was able to keep the Court ladies from gossiping about it any further.”

She still could not meet her mother’s eyes. Even if she were to look, all she would see is disappointment. How could she ever be enough to please the Sinistra Soleil? The woman who worked her way up the social hierarchy by controlling everyone in her path. Her Persuasion skills were that of legends, and only fools could say they weren’t terrified of her.

Or those with a death wish.

“On another note,” her mother started again, a lot more calmly this time, “I noticed you also tried to Persuade Councilman Zervide.”

How could she not notice? That was the whole reason I was kicked out of the room!

“I’m sorry for that as well, Mother.”

“Don’t be,” her mother surprisingly responded.

Eclipse met her gaze with a confused expression. “You aren’t angry about that?”

“How can I be? I’ve done similar things myself. Persuasion is a valuable tool that should be utilized as such. I am not angry that you used your Gift, only that you disregarded our family’s name and reputation.” There was that cold tone again.

Of course she cares about her reputation above everything else.

“However, I will forget about it this time. Just this once,” Sinistra continued. “What is more important at the moment is that we have the Ash Court summer solstice celebration approaching soon. You must be aware that our family was selected to host this year.”

“Well then, I’ll be extra careful not to ruin our family name again,” Eclipse muttered, unable to hold back a smirk.

Her mother glared at her with a raised chin.

“Our family is responsible for making sure everything is in order, and that includes you. So I mustn't hear of any…incidents…that could jeopardize our social standing. We have worked tremendously hard to get where we are, and you will not ruin it. You are the family’s successor, so you must act like it.”

Lying, threatening, Persuading their way to the top of a corrupt world. Such hard work.

“Of course not, Mother. I will not disappoint you.”

“We’ll see,” her mother declared sternly. She then rose from her seat and started for the door, her dress almost trailing behind her.

“And one more thing,” Sinistra suddenly added, her eyes still set ahead, “I need you to retrieve my remedy from the apothecary…soon.”

“Yes, of course,” Eclipse answered, slightly annoyed, although she didn’t dare show it. “It’s too late to travel to Aldebaran now. I’ll head there first thing tomorrow.”

Sinistra nodded her head silently in approval, and swiftly left the room.

Well, that didn’t go nearly as bad as I had expected.

Usually, her mother would have lectured her till her ears bled, brought up every mistake Eclipse had ever made in her life, and then rant about the insufferable disappointment she was. All the while Eclipse would only sit there, her mind drifting off anywhere away from the words being slammed at her. They simply didn’t affect her anymore, a shield around her built from years of insults and snarky remarks.

It was the only way she knew how to survive. Because for all she knew, she was stuck in the Ash Court. Stuck in her parents’ political games.

Stuck in a world she never asked to be part of.