Chapter 165: beneath the night of the moon

Chapter 165: Beneath the Night of the Moon

POV: Astrid Vale

By the time dinner finally ended, I felt genuinely, ridiculously full, the result of two princes spending the better part of an hour conspiring to feed me every possible item on the table.

"I’ll carry you," Reed offered as we made our way toward the stairs.

"Absolutely not."

"You look like you’re about to fall asleep standing up."

"I’m fine," I said, laughing. "I can walk."

"Give it five minutes," Xander said. "She’s going to change her mind."

"I won’t."

I insisted we walk for a while rather than heading straight back to the car, and neither of them argued, falling into step beside me as we left the restaurant and wandered out into Valeria’s streets.

The city felt entirely different at night, warm lights strung overhead, music drifting faintly from somewhere ahead of us, couples dressed in elegant clothing strolling past with the kind of easy happiness that made the whole evening feel almost magical. Our conversation softened the further we walked, settling into something quieter and more personal than our usual teasing.

"The stars look different here," I said, tilting my head back to study the sky properly, clearer than anything I’d seen from Moonshade’s grounds. "Brighter, maybe."

"Less light pollution," Reed said, though something in his tone suggested he understood the significance behind my observation without needing further explanation.

I thought of Liora immediately, her endless questions about the night sky, how badly she’d wanted to stand exactly where I was standing now. The grief that usually accompanied those memories felt softer tonight, less sharp-edged, replaced by something closer to quiet gratitude that I got to experience this at all, that I hadn’t let fear or loss stop me from appreciating something as simple as looking upward.

Reed noticed me watching the sky and stayed close beside me, his presence steady and warm against the cool evening air.

We eventually entered a section of the city packed with people, and I stopped short, genuinely amazed by the sheer density of the crowd. Lanterns hung everywhere, stalls selling flowers and food and jewelry crowded together, couples everywhere I looked.

"What’s everyone celebrating?" I asked.

"Tonight’s the Night of the Moon," Xander explained. "Traditionally associated with mates finding each other. Plenty of new bonds happen tonight." He grinned wickedly. "Probably plenty of babies in about nine months too."

I nearly choked on absolutely nothing, coughing violently while Reed shot Xander a thoroughly unimpressed look.

"Was that necessary?" Reed asked.

"Completely necessary."

We pushed deeper into the market, and I noticed something that eased a worry I hadn’t fully acknowledged carrying. Scattered throughout the crowd, alongside ordinary couples, were groups of three, clearly mated together the same way the three of us were, nobody around them treating it as unusual or strange at all. Something in my chest settled at the sight, a quiet normalization of exactly the kind of relationship I’d spent so long uncertain how to define.

Everyone around us seemed intent on spoiling their partners, vendors doing brisk business in flowers and small trinkets, couples exchanging gifts with obvious delight.

"Don’t get any ideas," Xander said, noticing me watching. "Are you expecting us to compete with all this?"

"You’re already doing enough," I said, laughing.

Reed stopped suddenly at a stall selling delicate hair accessories, his attention caught by a small golden flower clip resting among the display. Without any fanfare, he purchased it, stepping behind me a moment later and carefully fastening it into my hair.

I caught his reflection in the glass of a nearby stall, his expression soft and focused as he adjusted the clip carefully.

"It suits you," he said simply, meeting my eyes in the reflection.

I touched the flower gently, something warm spreading through my chest at the thoughtfulness of such a small, deliberate gesture.

Xander noticed immediately, his expression shifting into exaggerated jealousy the moment he saw the attention Reed had gained. "Oh, I see how it is," he said, scanning the nearby stalls with sudden determination.

I laughed, recognizing exactly what he was about to do. A few stalls down, he found a necklace featuring a delicate crescent moon pendant, the Luna Moon symbol carved carefully into silver, and bought it without hesitation, fastening it around my neck himself with surprising care for someone usually so impulsive.

"There," he said, stepping back to admire his work with obvious satisfaction. "Now we’re even."

Reed laughed outright at his transparent attempt at competition. "You’re not even trying to hide it."

"I’m not competing."

"You’re absolutely competing."

"I simply thought she’d look beautiful in a necklace," Xander said, entirely unconvincing.

Nobody believed him, least of all me, though the gesture touched me just as much as Reed’s had, both of them clearly determined to mark this evening with something tangible I could carry with me afterward.

We wandered further through the market, and I spotted a vendor selling some kind of glazed pastry that smelled incredible, dragging both of them over to try it. The pastry turned out to be considerably messier than anticipated, sticky glaze coating my fingers within seconds.

"Graceful," Xander teased, watching me attempt to eat it without making more of a mess.

Before I could properly respond, Reed reached over and gently wiped the glaze from my fingers with a napkin, the gesture simple and domestic in a way that settled something warm and comfortable in my chest.

Eventually Reed led us away from the busiest section of the market, up a small green hill that rose above Valeria’s streets, the noise fading gradually behind us as we climbed. The air grew cooler and clearer the higher we went, the city lights spreading out beautifully below us once we reached the top.

"Wait here," Reed said.

Xander’s expression shifted into something excited, barely contained, and I glanced between them both with growing curiosity. "What’s happening?"

"The fireworks are about to start," Reed said.

I looked up just as the first burst exploded across the sky, color spreading outward in brilliant patterns against the darkness. Another followed, then another, and I watched, captivated, until I realized the explosions weren’t simply random bursts of light anymore.

They were forming letters.

WE LOVE YOU, ASTRID.

I froze completely, my breath catching painfully in my chest. Tears gathered immediately, blurring the words still burning brightly against the night sky above us.

I turned to Reed, then to Xander, and neither of them wore their usual teasing expressions anymore. Both of them watched me with something quiet and vulnerable, the realization settling slowly through me that this entire evening had been planned with deliberate, careful precision. The dress. The restaurant. The market. This hill. The fireworks blazing overhead right now.

All of it, for me.

Not because I’d been kidnapped. Not out of guilt, or obligation, or some need to compensate for what I’d survived. Simply because they wanted me to know exactly how loved I was, without any complicated reason attached to it beyond that simple truth.

"You planned this?" I managed, my voice breaking around the words.

Reed took one of my hands, his fingers lacing through mine gently. Xander took the other, his usual teasing expression replaced entirely by something sincere and open.

I looked back up at the words still glowing against the darkness, my chest aching with an overwhelming, grateful warmth that had nothing to do with grief or fear or survival at all.

After everything I’d lost beneath the earth, everything Elaris had taken from me, I stood here now beneath an open sky, between two people who’d built an entire evening around making sure I understood exactly how deeply, uncomplicatedly loved I was.