Falling Stars

"We'll have to be on extra high alert after all this. The entire galaxy is on edge. If the king himself can be attacked on the soil of an ally planet, then clearly nowhere is safe."

Calli watched Advisor Lorian pace restlessly around his office. She was reluctant to leave Julian, but he had fallen fast asleep and she figured that was a good a time as any to talk to Lorian.

"It's the Tesheni," she said flatly. "It has to be. No one else would be so bold, and they're armed to the teeth with all kinds of impressive weaponry."

Lorian nodded. "We're still unclear about how many attackers there were, but the few that were recovered were Tesheni. Two were dead, one was wounded and brought in alive for questioning, but had a suicide pill full of cyanide and bit into it before the guards could stop him."

He sat down with a heavy sigh. "At least we got Julian out of there alive. How's he holding up?"

"I think he's still in shock," Calli said. She studied him for a moment. "You don't seem to be handling it all that well yourself. Have you even slept?"

"Barely. Not only do I have to contend with the loss of our king, I'm going to miss him. Gerald and I were friends for a very long time."

"I'm sorry," Calli said sincerely. "I should have done my job better."

"I don't expect you to single handedly protect everyone," Lorian said. "There were plenty of guards there. I brought you here to look out for Julian."

It didn't make her feel any better. On top of feeling miserable that Gerald was gone, she was racked with guilt. Maybe if she had been just a little bit faster, they wouldn't be having this conversation. She had broken down when they returned to the castle and she'd been alone in her room, where she discovered a small stack of poetry books on her dresser. She had told Gerald about how much her parents had loved poetry, and how she had been devastated to lose their few precious books when her home was raided. Clearly, he had tracked down copies and had them sent to her room as a surprise.

Calli didn't cry often, but she had clutched the books in her hands and sobbed as her knees hit the floor. She hadn't moved again until she'd heard that Julian had finally woken up. Now she needed to pull herself together. She hadn't become the youngest Captain in nearly two centuries by having fits of wild emotion. She left Lorian and returned to her own room to change her clothes and get cleaned up, then she went back to check on Julian.

He was still asleep when she arrived, tossing fitfully. She sat beside him and held his good hand, worried he was going to hurt himself if he kept flailing around.

"I'm really sorry, Julian," she said quietly. She remembered that she had promised to sing for him once, and had never actually done it. She figured while he was injured and sleeping was as good a time as any. There was a song her mother had always sing to her when she was sick or having a bad dream, and even though Calli hadn't sung or heard the words in years, they came back to her easily enough. She sang softly, not wanting to disturb him, but his eyes still fluttered open eventually, looking up at her groggily.

"Is that you?" he mumbled. Calli put a finger against his lips to shush him. People from Evox felt that it was bad luck to stop a song in the middle. She kept singing till the song was over and by then Julian was sitting up against his pillows, watching her.

"You sound amazing," he said. Calli smiled slightly.

"I have nothing on my mom," she said.

"Well then she must have been inhuman, because your voice is beautiful."

"Thank you."

Julian squirmed around for a few moments, trying to get comfortable. "Thanks for not asking how I'm doing," he said.

"I can more or less guess," Calli shrugged. "At least you're not hostile, like I was. I kicked a doctor."

Julian chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I can picture a tiny you doing that."

"I had nightmares for a long time," Calli said. "When the Tesheni came, my mom hid me in this secret space under the floor. But I could see through the gaps a little bit. The Tesheni broke down the door, and my dad tried to fend them off. They stabbed him, over and over. It was right above where I was laying, and my mom had warned me to be absolutely quiet no matter what happened. But blood trickled down, through the cracks in floor. It was all over my face and I felt like I was going to drown in it. One of them heard me choke, and pulled up one of the boards. I had a knife in my hand, because we'd been making dinner when they came. The others had already dragged my mom outside, and the rest of our family lived right next to us. I knew they were all out there. I stabbed the Tesheni in the face with the knife, and I ran. I barely remember anything else after that."

"That's horrible," Julian said. "How do you move on from that?"

"At first, you don't think that you will," she admitted. "But you just face each day as it comes, not thinking beyond the moment you're in and making it to the next one. And eventually you can think about tomorrow, and the day after. And it just gets easier to get up in the morning."

"I hope I can be as tough as you."

Calli smiled. "You'll be okay, Jules. Maybe not right now, but you will be. You're more like your dad than you realize, and you'll get through this."

"What do I do when I feel like I won't?" he asked softly. Calli linked her fingers through his, squeezing his hand.

"Then come find me, and I'll remind you," she promised. That earned her a small smile and her stomach flipped. She nestled down beside him, tucking herself against his side. Her heart was thudding against her ribs and she tried to ignore the feelings that were there beneath her guilt and her sadness. Eventually she'd have to face her own heart, but not tonight.



There was a small, intimate memorial service for King Gerald before the public funeral procession. The only people in attendance were Julian and the advisors; and Calli, because Julian had insisted that she be allowed in. She stood beside him the whole time, holding his hand. She managed to keep from breaking down again, but a few stray tears still slipped free as she stared at Gerald's casket. She brushed her fingertips across the lid as they filed out.

"I'm sorry I wasn't faster," she murmured, so quietly no one else would hear. Gerald deserved better than this, and Calli found her resentment of the Tesheni surging up like a fire in her gut. They had taken away her family. They had taken Julian's family away from him. She would crush their rebellion on her own if she had to.

She stayed close to Julian, feeling like a ghost in the billowing black dress she wore. They walked solemnly behind the casket as it was carried through the streets of the capital by androids. People lined the street, and the funeral was broadcast all across the galaxy. Calli could see herself, pale and somber, beside Julian on the large screens. He looked stone faced and heartbroken, but he still seemed noble to her.

When they reached the edge of the dome, a small craft was waiting to lift them higher, so they could send Gerald out to the stars. Julian laid a hand on his father's casket, drawing a ragged breath.

"My father was a better man than most people could ever hope to be," he said. "And now we send him to join my brothers, and all the kings of our line that came before him. May he rest in peace."

The advisors all murmured the same sentiment, their heads bowed respectfully. Calli could tell Lorian was the most upset; his shoulders were hunched more than the others and he looked like a beaten man.

"May the stars receive you, and let your light shine on us until we meet again." The words were out of her mouth before Calli even realized she was speaking at all. They came out in a whisper but she knew people had still heard them because Julian shot her a brief but thankful glance. It was a saying the people on the outer planets used at funerals, but right then she didn't care if anyone realized and thought it odd that she had said it.

Julian stepped back, and released the lever that launched the casket into space. It drifted away, and soon Calli lost sight of it. She felt a rush of pride for Julian, the way he maintained his composure. As much as he balked at the idea of doing anything princely, he seemed every inch the prince to her that day.

Once they made it back to the castle and had a moment alone, she embraced him, hugging him so hard he let out a startled oomph. They were left alone for the rest of the day, which Calli suspected was Lorian's doing. She knew that Julian was about to have a lot on his plate.

The next morning, even Lorian couldn't get Julian any more time to grieve on his own. He was summoned to the council room and Calli went with him. The other eight advisors besides Lorian looked annoyed with her presence, but none of them protested.

"Your Highness, I know this is going to seem insensitive. But with King Gerald gone, we need to appoint a new king right away." A short, bald man who Calli was pretty sure was named Advisor Hortensio Grory, clasped his hands nervously in front of him on the desk. Everyone seemed to be waiting for Julian's response, but he was just staring at Grory blankly.

"Appoint a new king," he repeated. Grory sighed, clearly trying not to get impatient.

"Yes, a new king."

"Julian," Lorian said gently, shooting Grory a look. "Joshua and Kaleb are both gone. The only one in line for the thrown now, is you. I'm sorry to thrust this on you, now of all times, but Julian...you are all that is left of your line." Lorian gave him a sympathetic look. "We need to crown you as king of the Centauris Galaxy, as soon as possible."