Son of Night and Daughter of Stars

Chapter 37: The Moment

Nyx sat and watched as Estelle paced back and forth in front of him, wringing her hands as she talked. "That's why my mother sealed the gates. The mortal queens from your world were trying to get to Erilea." 

"But if this is a current event, how did that damn book get to the library?" Nyx asked, leaning forward and tapping his fingers against his knee. He rested his chin in his other hand, following her movements back and forth across the room. 

"And that's why she can't open them again," Estelle continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Because the only way for them to open again is her death, or your mother's. And if they open again, the queens will converge on Erilea." She threw up her hands, coming to a stop. "Why the hell didn't she just tell me this??"

Nyx shrugged helplessly. "She thought she was protecting you. Like my mother did when she didn't tell me anything, either. I didn't know World-Walking was possible until I did it myself." 

"And that shadow assassin," Estelle mused, scrubbing her hand over her face. "It has to be the Winter's Death Goddess. She was sent here to kill my mother." Finally, finally, she stopped and turned to Nyx. "The question remains, though; why did she send you here?" 

Nyx just shrugged again. "The better question is, did she also send Amandla here? If so, why?" 

Estelle let out a noise somewhere between a growl and a scream. "And will she try to kill my mother again? Did she have something to do with Danica's... episode?" She flopped down on Nyx's bed as if she owned it, which he supposed she technically did. She threw her hands over her eyes, groaning. "I hate not knowing. I hate it." 

Aelin had confiscated the book Estelle had found after she had taken them all back to the library and tried to remember where she'd found it. Neither she nor Nyx had any memory of picking it up. A strange thing in and of itself, but Aelin had seemed more troubled by it than they had. 

"You do not go anywhere on your own," She'd commanded them. "Someone is setting something up for us, and it's not going to be good." 

No matter how Estelle and Nyx had tried to convince her to tell them everything she knew, she hadn't budged. Nyx had thought Estelle was genuinely about to start throwing fireballs because her hands had started to smoke. But she'd taken a deep breath, spun around, and dragged him down the hall with her. 

Nyx fell backward with an oomph as he hit the mattress, and Estelle turned her head to look at him. "I hate it too, Princess." 

Estelle turned to look at the ceiling, a frown pulling at her mouth. "I just-- she knew she was in real danger. The whole time she's been scouring the kingdom for that assassin, she knew. Does she not realize that her being in danger puts the rest of us in danger as well?" 

"Of course she does," Nyx replied, eyebrows drawing together. How could Estelle not see it? "But she didn't want to worry you." 

Estelle laughed humorlessly. She turned her head to look at Nyx again. "I guess this means there's really no way to get you home." She paused a moment. "Or the Valkyrie." 

Nyx's heart sunk. He hadn't even thought of that. Oh, gods... if the only way to get him home was to kill Aelin or his mother... 

Estelle was right. He would never be able to kill Aelin. He'd never be able to face his mother again, much less Aelin's family. 

"Well..." Nyx said, his voice low. He tried to think of something, anything, to make himself feel better. To wipe some of the guilt off Estelle's face. But he couldn't think of a single thing to say. 

Estelle laced her fingers together on her stomach. "I know... I know it's not what you wanted." Her voice was quiet, but her gaze was unwavering. "But you'll always be welcome here, Nyx. I hope you know that." 

Nyx swallowed, grateful beyond words. He simply nodded, not able to convey his thanks. Estelle seemed to understand. Her lips turned up in a soft smile, and Nyx thought, just for a moment, that his heart lightened at the sight of it. 

It was at that moment that Nyx realized how close they lay on the bed. Their noses were mere inches away, and he could smell her apple-blossom scent wrapping around him. He could see every freckle dotting her sun-kissed skin, every shade of green glittering in her eyes. He could see that beautiful smile as it faltered, her lips parting. 

Nyx dragged his eyes back to hers, and found her staring at him, wide-eyed. For a moment, they simply stared, their breaths mingling. He found that he couldn't tear his gaze from those jade eyes, gleaming as if they held the universe within them. Nyx could have sworn that those lovely eyes suddenly flashed to his mouth, then back. But before he could tell if he'd imagined it, Estelle's cheeks flushed pink, and she sat up. 

"Well," She said, shooting to her feet and clearing her throat. She didn't seem to know what to do with her hands, and settled on smoothing down her hair, her cheeks still stained rosy pink. "I'll- I'll see you later, I suppose." 

Before he could stop her, before he could think of something to say to her, some explanation of what he thought had just happened, she'd run out the door. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH WE HAVE OUR TOLYA, TAMAR, NIKOLAI, AND WYLAN!!!!

Ok if I'm being honest when I first saw the Wylan actor I was like WTF WHO CAST HIM (The first picture I saw made him look like 40) but when I looked him up on Google I felt immediately better. Wanna know why? THIS MAN IS A MUSICAL THEATRE BOI. He will know exactly how to play our precious conniving explosives expert. All in all, the cast looks pretty amazing! I'm really excited to see them all onscreen, but mostly Wylan. MEETING JESPER. EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Kit Young I demand that Wesper selfie we were promised plz and thank youuuuuu.

I do hope they dye Jack Wolfe (Wylan's) hair tho cuz he's got dark brown hair and just for me I'm very picky that my boy Wylan is more of a redhead. Totally not because I'm a redhead...  😅 nope!

Also, the irony: Jack Wolfe is also set to star in a movie called... wait for it... THE MAGIC FLUTE. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Could he be any more perfect I think NOT.