Chapter 5: Starlight and Secrets

I really should've opened Mrs. Blackwood's envelope before coming here.

"I'm not destined to wear any crown," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "And I don't know what you're talking about."

Caspian laughed, and the sound echoed weirdly in the tower room, like it was bouncing off the stars themselves. "Right. Just like you don't know why that pendant protected you from the Veil? Or why you can see the Headmaster's celestial aura?"

My back was still pressed against the door, hand gripping the handle. Not that it would help—I could feel the magic he'd used to seal it.

"Look," I said, "I just want to get through school without—"

"Without anyone discovering what you are?" He stepped closer, and I noticed a thin silver chain around his neck, similar to mine but with a different pendant—a key instead of a crown. "That's not an option anymore. The stars are aligning, Lyra Nightshade, and you're right at the center of it."

"How do you know my name?"

"The same way I know you're the first Star-touched to be born in over a century. The same way I know that pendant belonged to your mother." He gestured to the telescope. "Take a look."

I hesitated. He sighed dramatically.

"If I wanted to hurt you, I would've exposed you at the Veil ceremony. Just look."

Against my better judgment, I moved to the telescope. The moment I touched it, the metal grew warm under my fingers, responding to my power.

"Focus on the Celestial Crown constellation," Caspian instructed.

I didn't need his direction—the stars were already pulling me there. Through the telescope, I saw the familiar crown-shaped pattern of stars, but something was different. The stars were... moving.

"They're coming together," I whispered.

"For the first time in a hundred years." Caspian's voice was closer now. "When the Crown fully forms, its earthly counterpart will choose its bearer. That's why they want you here. That's why they're watching."

I pulled back from the telescope. "They?"

"The Celestial Council. The ones who really run this Academy." He ran a hand through his white hair, and I noticed scars on his wrist—geometric patterns that looked like constellation maps. "They've been waiting for someone like you. A true Star-touched, not just a celestial magic user."

"What's the difference?"

"Celestial magic users can harness starlight that's already been processed through focal points—crystals, enchanted objects, even the school itself." He pointed to the huge crystal at the top of the tower. "But you? You can connect directly with the stars. Bend their power to your will. Create your own focal points."

My hands were shaking. I shoved them into the pockets of my borrowed uniform. "If you know all this, why haven't you turned me in? What do you want?"

Caspian's eyes flickered, galaxies swirling in their depths. "Because I need your help. And you need mine."

He pulled something from his pocket—a page that looked like it had been torn from an ancient book. The script matched the unreadable writing in my mother's journal.

"This is stellar script," he said. "The original language of the stars. Your mother was researching it before she disappeared."

My heart stopped. "My mother's dead."

"Is she? Did you ever see a body?"

"I... no, but—"

"She was getting too close to the truth. About the Crown, about what the Council really wants." He held out the page. "This is just a copy. The Council has the original, along with most of your mother's research. But even this copy... well, look what happens when you touch it."

Cautiously, I took the page. The moment my fingers made contact, the strange symbols began to glow. And suddenly, I could read them:

"The Crown seeks not the worthy but the necessary. In times of celestial convergence, only the blood of the original Star-touched can prevent the barriers from—"

The rest was burned away.

"How..." My voice cracked. "How can I read this?"

"Because it's in your blood. Just like it was in your mother's." Caspian took the page back. "The Council is planning something. Something big. And they need a Star-touched to do it."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I made a promise to your mother." His expression darkened. "And because if the Council succeeds, they'll tear down the barriers between realms. Do you know what that means?"

I shook my head.

"It means the things that live between the stars will be able to cross over. Things that make demons look friendly."

A sudden gust of wind blew through the tower, though all the windows were closed. The pendant grew ice cold.

"Someone's coming," Caspian said sharply. "Meet me in the library tomorrow during lunch. Third floor, restricted section. I'll show you how to get past the wards."

"But I don't—"

"Just watch out for Professor Vale. She's not what she seems." He pressed something into my hand—a small key that matched his pendant. "Don't let anyone see that. And Lyra?"

"What?"

"Your eyes are glowing again."

I cursed, closing my eyes and counting backwards from ten like I used to do at St. Agnes's. When I opened them, Caspian was gone.

The door suddenly unlocked itself, and I barely had time to duck behind a star chart before it opened. Professor Vale walked in, holding a light orb.

She moved to the telescope, adjusting it slightly. Then she pulled out what looked like a star chart, but instead of constellations, it showed names. My name was at the center, connected to others I didn't recognize.

"The pieces are in place," she whispered to someone I couldn't see. "The girl suspects nothing."

I stayed frozen until she left, then ran all the way back to my room. Maya was still asleep, murmuring something about moonlight potions.

In my bed, I pulled out my mother's journal and the key Caspian had given me. The key fit perfectly into a lock on the journal's cover—a lock I'd never been able to open before.

Inside, on the first page, was a single sentence in stellar script that I could now read:

"My dearest Lyra, if you're reading this, then the stars have chosen you. And I am so, so sorry."

Dawn was breaking by the time I finally fell asleep, the pendant pulsing in time with my racing heart, and somewhere above, the Celestial Crown constellation continued its inexorable alignment.