Sun & Moon

Chapter 44 - Astrid

I set my tools down to start my first task of the day.

In a rolled-up towel, I unfurl two things: shaving cream and a razor. The can spurts out a generous dollop of cream that I lather onto his face, serene as ever, and then I begin.

The blade runs swiftly over his face and I pray thanks for this moment, but to whom I pray remains to be seen. Mostly, I think about the universe, and in the back of my head, I think about an all-father or an all-mother god who watches over us.

Ever since the events of Rio's coma, the heavens have been completely silent. My golden eye remains bright as ever, a reminder of those heart rendering events and the hopes that the Goddesses shattered when we realized we were all just tiny, insignificant pawns. Sometimes before sleep, I call out to her, the Sun Goddess, to ask her why she did this and where she's been. Alas, as usual, I am met with nothing at all.

The least you could do is bring Rio back, goes my resentful thoughts to the Sun.

Despite my anger and disappointment, I am always here, every morning, every day, wishing Rio would wake up. As the sharp razor glides on his skin, somehow the facial hair growth comforts me in knowing that his body is still functioning as normal. In the walls of his grey room, I groom him, I wash him, I clothe him and then I wait for the man I love to come back to me.

Corinthia and I share this burden together, but lately the bitterness is starting to show in her aqua blue eyes. They hurt to look at not only because they remind me of Rio but because I know what she's thinking. Doom seems to follow me.

Before she gets here, I lean in close to Rio, hands above his heart, and hum the song of the ancestors. I do this in the hope that the magic I unknowingly unleashed that day might return and reverse everything. Though nothing really changes.

Corinthia's footsteps ascend Rio's tower from below and I end my humming, primping my mate a little for his mother's arrival. She enters the room, courteously greeting me a good morning then almost immediately dotes on her son and asks question after question: Have you fluffed his pillow? Have you changed his clothes? Have you made sure he's fed? Has he made any progress?

The answer to all these questions is always the same.

Then, Corinthia settles on her rocking chair and knits all day, a mindless exercise she endeavors in as her eyes constantly dart from her work to her son. Today, the clicking of her needles is more restless and stunted as she occasionally sighs and grumbles to herself.

"We can't continue like this," she finally announces. "The pack has gone on for too long without their Alpha and despite giving Kobe more responsibilities, at the end of the day, I am the one overseeing the administration."

I nod in agreement. For the past six months, Bianca has stayed back in Mesaniskia, to comfort me, to keep me company, and maybe also out of guilt. She's wandered around the streets like a ghost and keeps mostly to herself, but she comes alive when she complains about Rio's younger brother, Kobe, who seems to trail her and pester her like a persistent ulcer. Her words, not mine. Somewhere in that big head of his, he is determined to get Bianca to go out with him. She politely refuses, but his persistent Lycan Alpha blood disallows him from getting the clue. I should know how it is better than anyone, having had Rio eventually wear me down to accept him as my destined mate. I can imagine this situation with my best friend being one of Kobe's distractions away from his administrative duties.

However, I have yet to be officially anointed as Luna, to alleviate Corinthia of some of the responsibilities. After the first week of Rio's coma, I was offered the chance to undergo the ceremony but I couldn't bring myself to go through with it alone. It didn't feel right without Rio.