Falling Stars

Julian was glad that everything had calmed down. Yes, it came as a shock to him that Calli was a soldier and that she was being a bodyguard to him the whole time without his knowledge, but that didn’t change anything. He still felt the same way, and he hoped that she did, too. Unfortunately for him, she was damn good at hiding from him.

Towards the end of the night, he went back to his room to retire for the night. He’d resume his search in the morning. He didn’t bother with the lights, and nearly tripped over something that was leaned against his bed. He frowned and fixed the dim lights of his room to find that it was a painting. He untied the ribbon to get a better look at it, and at the detailing. It certainly wasn’t an expert work of art, but the details were impressive. He looked down and saw a note there.

He picked it up, about to read it when there was a knock at his door. He glanced up and saw Lorian in the doorway, and sighed. He’d just barely gotten away from the politics of the whole incident.

“I won’t be long, Julian,” he promised. “Just a short walk.”

Julian nodded, keeping the note in his hand as he started to follow after Lorian.

“It couldn’t wait until morning?” Julian asked.

“Sorry, kid,” Lorian smirked. “We’re trying to prevent a riot. You insulted quite a large number of people.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not.”

“Not really.”

“Well,” Lorian said, “You’ll be glad to hear that with the rebel leader incarcerated and most of the goons either dead or in our hands, we have a lot of names. Enough that the rebels should be under control, for the time being.”

“That’s good,” Julian muttered as he unfolded the note. “Did Tina and the baby get home alright?”

“Yes, thankfully,” he nodded. “Though you gave Tina quite the scare when you opened that door.”

“I gave her a warning,” Julian mumbled as he started to read.

“Still gave her quite a shock.”

Julian froze in his tracks as he read the note, three times over. He lifted his head as Lorian turned to look at him in confusion.

“Everything alright?” he asked.

“Where is Calli?” Julian said slowly.

“Calli?” Lorian frowned. “Well, I imagine she’s gone by now. Or getting ready to leave. Didn’t you know? I thought she said goodbye to you this morning, when she was in your room.”

“She didn’t say a word to me,” Julian muttered. “She’s gone already?”

“Well her transport was scheduled for the hour, so I suppose you have a few minutes if it’s going to show up exactly at that hour and- Julian?”

Julian didn’t even wait for Lorian to finish before he took off running in the opposite direction, stuffing the note into his pocket. He ran as fast as his legs could take him, accidentally shoving aside some servants, but he was sure they would understand. It was an emergency, after all.

He burst into Calli’s room, the doors swinging open and hitting the walls. There was only a maid inside, cleaning up. She screamed in surprise and dropped all the laundry, startled by Julian suddenly bursting in. He was panting heavily, taking a moment to catch his breath so he could speak.

“Where… is… Calli?” he wheezed.

“I-In the kitchen, I think,” she stammered.

“Thank you!” Julian said quickly. “Keep up the good work, you’re doing great!”

He was already running before he finished his sentence, down the stairs four at a time and nearly toppling down headfirst on more than one occasion before he just resorted to sliding down banister. He burst into the kitchen much like he had the bedroom, and this time, he was ecstatic to see Calli was the one who shrieked in surprise.

“Julian, what the hell?! Hey!”

She squeaked when he suddenly pulled her into a crushing hug.

“I’m so glad you haven’t left yet,” he said.

“No, but I’ll miss my transport if you don’t let go,” she said, trying to pry him off.

“Why would I do that?” Julian said.

He stepped back and gripped her shoulders tightly. She stared at him in shock, dropping the sandwich she was holding on the plate beside her.

“I tried to make it easier-”

“Will you just shut up for thirty seconds?” Julian interrupted. “I am so sick of you hiding and running away from me, and you’re not going to shut me up before I can say anything.”

“Julian. Woah.”

“Look, I love you too,” he said.

She looked stunned by his confession. “You… what…?”

“I said shut up for a second, okay?” Julian sighed. “Ever since you told me you loved me, I’ve been trying to talk to you. I’ve realized that I don’t want anyone in this world by my side, other than you. In the few weeks you were absent, I’ve never felt more lost and alone. I don’t even remember how I functioned before I met you. I didn’t function. I rarely left my room. You make me a person. And I can’t let you get away from me again. I love you. It makes no sense for us to put ourselves through this kind of pain. What kind of masochism are you into, Calli?”

She was speechless, slowly shaking her head. Julian sighed, letting go of her shoulders.

“Yeah, you can talk now,” he said.

She shook her head again, grabbing his face and yanking him down into a kiss. This time, no one attacked them, and he pulled her in tightly. They stayed that way until a cook came in and gasped softly, placing a hand over her chest. Calli bit Julian’s lip and he winced, pulling away.

“Sorry,” he said, tugging Calli back by the hand, out of the kitchen.

Calli followed him, clinging to his arm with a sort of goofy smile on her face.

“Are you still going to leave?” Julian asked.

“No,” she said, laughing lightly. “You’ve been reckless enough. I don’t need you riding on the top of the transporter.”



Three weeks had passed since the attack, and since then, there was no sign of the rebels. Julian knew better than to believe they’d been defeated, but at least they’d been weakened and silenced. Lorian had forced Julian to hand write apology notes to every guest at that wedding, including a long letter for Cecily and her family. Once that was out of the way, however, things were starting to go back to normal.

After Julian threatening to go to the ends of the universe to drag Calli back home if she tried to leave again, she agreed to stay. It was easier when she wasn’t pretending to be a lady of the court, but no one treated her with any less respect. More, if anything. As a military major, she was a higher member of society than she was pretending to be before. She and Julian still had to keep their relationship a secret until enough time had passed for another wedding, but they made it work as best they could.

Julian snuck down the hall to her room in the middle of the night, glancing around to make sure there were no witnesses before knocking on the door. There was a beat of silence, then Calli quietly responded.

“Who is it?”

“Who do you think it is?” Julian said, keeping his voice low.

He let himself in, and closed the door behind him, seeing her sitting nestled in bed with a book in her night clothes with a half smile playing on her lips.

“You’re not allowed in here after dark anymore,” she reminded him.

“Who says?” Julian asked, taking the book out of her hands and marking the page before putting the book on her side table.

“Lorian says,” she laughed. “He says that people who are ‘just friends’ don’t meet this late and stay until morning.”

“Come on, everyone knows,” Julian said, rolling his eyes. “If it was a secret, that’s one thing. We’re being hush-hush. Now hush and make room.”

She scooted to the side and let Julian in under the covers with her. He put an arm around her and she leaned back against him, resting her head on his chest with a content sigh. He ran his fingers through her silky blonde locks of hair until she started to doze off, but she woke herself up again when she spoke.

“Everything is going to be okay now, right?” she asked. “We’re together.”

“As long as we’re together, nothing can go wrong,” he promised.

“So you’re not going to listen to Lorian? You’re going to stay until morning?”

“You didn’t go anywhere. Neither will I.”