It is a strange atmosphere that carries them up to the base of the mountain.
Almost it reminds him of a festival – so much activity, so many faces lit with curiosity. But then he remembers Calliope’s warning, and how she and Raymond had run ahead. As they near the meeting-place, the smell of magic, sharp and metallic, builds like a coming storm. It sweeps him back to memories of Ravos, when he’d possessed such power in his veins, when he walked alongside the gods.
Nervousness traces his veins electric, but he is unafraid when they reach the circle of trees and stones. His gaze passes over his friends, his court, and the last it pauses on is a unicorn who had never feared the gods. At last he follows his golden sister between the wooden doors.
Wonder takes him then, as takes in the clearing lit by lantern light, revealing tapestries with stories strange and familiar. The air is still, fragrant with rich earth and green boughs. Asterion’s gaze is pulled again and again to the statue at the head of the table, its glow brighter, stranger, than any lantern.
He keeps near to Florentine and Cyrene, but a true smile catches him when he spots Eik, and he is quick to nod at both Seraphina and Somnus.
And then the Night Court enters.
When he looks at them, his dark-eyed gaze slipping from face to familiar face, he expects to feel the familiar echo of hurt and anger. Instead there is only sadness, only pity – here are his once-heroes, and when he blinks he imagines the distant flare of fire, the hollow sound of goodbye. At last he realizes what he ought to have known from the beginning: they are all only men, just as he is.
It all seems so foolish, in the face of a mystery as great as the gods. And it is almost with relief that he turns to the statue, now, and feels a familiar tremble of anticipation.
Asterion wonders if Tempus will be anything at all like the gods he has known before.
if you'll be my star*
