“You came,” Captain Helodion said as he turned to Rouya.

“Don't get your hopes up, I'm not here because of you. I'm interested in seeing if this star shower is as good as you say.”

She decided to wear a simple crimson blouse with golden embroidery and long trousers. A small knife was tucked away under her belt just to be on the safe side. Evelyn still didn't trust him and Rouya didn't want the court to believe she was seeing anyone. He'd be a mere distraction to get her mind off the hardship of the past two days.

The official funeral rites would be held for her family the next day followed by her coronation. A lot of people were still superstitious and wanted to believe an unrelated natural occurrence, such as a star shower, having something to do with their lives and the empire.

The warm summer days gave way to a fresh night. The palace was situated on a small height overlooking the city in the valley. Tall mountains stretched up and blocked most of the night sky but that didn't stop her from marveling at the bright specks on the dark blanket above them.

Rouya moved through the garden with Helodion at her side and Evelyn watching from a distance. The scent of deadly trimmed green filled the air.

“So where is this great shower supposed to take place? Unless you made the whole thing up just to get me outside alone.”

Helodion slowed his pace. “I would never lie to you, Your Highness, but I can't pretend I don't enjoy getting to meet new people. The only new people I usually get to meet in my line of work are the ones that wind up on the pointy end of my sword.”

“So you did take me out to try and kill me.”

“Uhm, that's not what I meant.”

“Relax.” Rouya smiled and lifted her face up to the heavens.” I'm not as helpless as you or Markus might believe. I've killed before and I'd do it again if necessary.”

“So would I but it's nothing I enjoy doing.” Helodion frowned and for the first time since meeting him, Rouya thought she recognized a familiar weakness. “It's all about the excuses we tell ourselves to sleep better at night, I guess. I've just held peace and the royal family in such high regard but that's different now.”

Rouya stopped in front of the maze and faced the young captain, barely older than she was. Her hands fell to her back and fumbled at her belt to feel the steel of the blade she kept tucked away.

“You're not as divine as I once believed. Just normal people trying to command others. Anyone could try and do it,” he said, moving closer. “But I'm glad it's you. You seem more open to reason and cautious about those around you. Did you really think I was going to attack you here?”

“There is no safety anymore.”

“Well that's good, you're learning.” Helodion laughed. “I'm not going to hurt you, Your Highness. I'd pledge my sword, life… anything you need to keep you safe and make the universe a better place.”

“Well I'm glad at least somebody thinks so. You don't need to go quite that far, it's enough if you stay loyal to me.” Rouya smiled and turned away to continue her walk through the garden when she noticed movement in the sky.

A group of people from the royal astrologers society roamed the edge of the grounds and pointed upwards. Thousands of stars shone brightly from above but when she expected to see some of them passing by her world, one of the stars went dark and was soon followed by another and another.

Rouya’s jaw fell open, not quite sure what to make of the situation. Within the span of a few minutes, more than a dozen stars went dark before the situation stabilized.

“I was expecting a light show. What was that?”

“I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out,” Rouya said as she moved towards the group of astrologers. “I trust you all have an explanation for what just happened.”

“It could be nothing, a mere shift in the universal tables with some of the subs now being blocked.”

“They were in plain sight and vanished instantly,” said another, more elderly gentleman. “What's troubling is that they all belonged to the royal belt. We'll have to conduct further research in the coming days but it's safe to say the universe took notice of what happened here.”

Rouya raised her brows in disbelief. “How could there be any connection between the two? You shouldn't be encouraging speculation.”

“The Padishah Emperor reigns over both the physical and shadow realm. His power could be felt across the universe and now it's been extinguished. We should focus our efforts on reuniting the relics as soon as possible. There might not be time for a prolonged conflict as with the Magi War.”