Nothing has ever excited Tylen Merodine more than being invited by the Regent himself to celebrate the first solar eclipse in his planet’s recorded history. It’s the party of the millennium, and if he has to restrain his normal exuberant instincts to fit in, that’s what he’ll do to be a part of it. His good intentions vanish, however, the moment he’s presented to the Regent. Because there, in a gilded cage, playing music unlike anything Tylen’s ever heard, is the most beautiful alien he could imagine. For more than twenty years, Dek has lived in captivity, performing at the whim of those who see him as an animal. The Regent is just the latest in a long line of owners, and while he’s kind, he’s still blind to Dek’s sentient nature. Only music gives Dek a voice, until Tylen breaks the rules and sneaks in to see and speak to him alone. The time they have together is stolen and precious, the minutes ticking away until the eclipse is past and they have to go back to the way their lives were before. But when the Regent shows an unexpected interest in Tylen’s future, they begin to wonder if their worlds need to remain so separate ...

Aria of the Eclipse

I touched the rim of my cup to his flask,but I barely tasted the water I sipped.It all seemed surreal,rushed and rapturous,dreams I might’ve had once upon a time now given life.I wanted to tell Tylen that he was the miracle here,the one capable of seeing beyond the cage.I wanted to tell him so many things,each one as important as the last,but I had spent too many years mute.The sentiments strangled each other in their fight to get out.


“What would you be doing if I hadn’t come?”Tylen asked.


“So I’m keeping you up past your bedtime.”


His smile was indulgent.“That was a joke,Dek.”


“Oh.”I fought my embarrassment and failed.“You’ll have to bear with me.I don’t have much experience in this.”


“And you don’t consider me a child for being so ignorant?”


Chapter 7