Chapter 7: Blood and Starlight

By dinner, I'd managed to spill enchanted ink all over my borrowed uniform, accidentally turn my quill into a live bird during Transmutation, and draw way too much attention in Defensive Magic when I instinctively deflected a practice spell with what definitely looked like starlight. I blamed the lack of sleep.

"You're sure you don't want to talk about it?" Maya asked as we picked at our food in the great hall. She'd been shooting me concerned looks ever since her perfectly-timed potion "accident" in the library.

"Talk about what?" I kept my eyes on my plate, pushing around what looked like color-changing pasta.

"Oh, I don't know," she said, lowering her voice. "Maybe about why you snuck out last night? Or why you needed a distraction in the library? Or why your defensive spells look like you're throwing actual stars at people?"

I choked on my pumpkin juice. "You noticed that?"

"Lyra, half the class noticed. You're about as subtle as a supernova."

Before I could respond, a shadow fell across our table. Professor Vale stood there, smiling that not-quite-right smile of hers.

"Miss Nightshade, a word in my office after dinner?"

It wasn't a request. I nodded, feeling the pendant grow cold against my skin.

"And do bring that lovely necklace of yours," she added softly, then walked away.

Maya waited until Vale was out of earshot. "Okay, that was creepy. Want me to cause another distraction?"

I managed a weak smile. "Thanks, but I don't think that'll help this time."

After dinner, I followed Vale through the twisting corridors, trying to memorize the route. Her office was in one of the smaller towers, a circular room with walls covered in star charts and ancient texts. A large crystal sphere dominated the center of the room, swirling with what looked like captured starlight.

"Sit," she said, gesturing to a chair that definitely hadn't been there a second ago.

I sat, fighting the urge to run. The pendant felt like ice now, almost burning cold.

"That's an interesting piece of jewelry," Vale said, moving to stand by the crystal sphere. "Family heirloom?"

"Something like that."

"Hmm." She waved her hand, and the starlight in the sphere began to move, forming patterns. "You know, your mother wore one just like it."

My heart stopped. "You knew my mother too?"

"Oh yes. Aurora and I were quite close, before she..." Vale paused, studying me. "Before she made her choice."

"What choice?"

Instead of answering, Vale touched the crystal sphere. The starlight within surged, and suddenly the room was filled with a projection of the night sky. But something was wrong. The stars were moving too fast, racing toward a central point.

"In three months," Vale said, "the Celestial Crown constellation will fully align for the first time in a century. When it does, the physical crown will manifest." She turned to me, her eyes reflecting starlight in a way that wasn't quite natural. "We need to make sure it chooses the right bearer."

"And who would that be?" I tried to keep my voice steady.

"Someone who understands the responsibility. Someone who can be... guided." She smiled. "Your mother refused guidance. She thought she could protect you from your destiny. But here you are, right where you belong."

The temperature in the room dropped. Frost began forming on the windows.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, standing up. "I should go—"

"Sit down, Star-touched."

The power in her voice froze me in place. Actually froze me—I couldn't move.

"That's better." Vale moved closer, reaching for my pendant. "Now, let's see what secrets your mother left you—"

The moment her fingers touched the pendant, several things happened at once.

The crystal sphere exploded. The pendant flared with blinding light. And every star in Vale's projected sky turned blood red.

I felt the magic holding me shatter and stumbled backward. Vale was staring at her hand—there was a burn mark where she'd touched the pendant.

"Interesting," she said, but she didn't sound angry. She sounded pleased. "Very interesting. You may go, Miss Nightshade. But remember—the Crown will choose soon. Better to be on the right side when it does."

I fled her office, running until my lungs burned. Somehow, I ended up in the star-mapping tower again. The sky was fully dark now, and the real stars pulsed overhead like warning beacons.

"Rough night?"

I spun around. Caspian stood by the telescope, looking annoyingly calm.

"You knew," I accused. "You knew Vale would summon me."

"Of course I knew. Just like I know you're carrying your mother's journal right now, and that your roommate is currently brewing a tracking potion to find out where you keep disappearing to."

I pulled the journal from my bag. "How do you know all this?"

"The same way you can read stellar script," he said, moving to the telescope. "Some of us are born with gifts that the Council doesn't understand. They fear what they can't control."

He adjusted the telescope, then gestured for me to look. Through the lens, I saw the Celestial Crown constellation. The stars were definitely closer together than yesterday.

"Your mother found a way to stop this," Caspian said quietly. "That's why they... why she had to disappear. The journal contains her research, but it's encrypted. Only a Star-touched can decode it."

"But I can barely read half of it," I admitted. "Some pages are just... blank."

"They're not blank. They're written in starblood."

I looked up from the telescope. "In what?"

"Starblood. The physical manifestation of stellar energy." He pulled up his sleeve, showing those constellation-like scars. "Some of us can manipulate it. Your mother could create it. And you..."

He took my hand, turning it palm up. A small cut I'd gotten in Defensive Magic was glowing faintly silver.

"You produce it naturally," he finished.

I pulled my hand away. "This is insane. I just wanted to study magic, not get involved in some celestial conspiracy."

"Too late." Caspian handed me a small vial filled with what looked like liquid starlight. "Put three drops of your blood in this at midnight. It'll reveal the hidden pages."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because right now, I'm the only one not trying to control you." He started to leave, then paused. "Oh, and Lyra? You might want to tell your roommate the truth before her tracking potion works. Some secrets are better shared willingly."

After he left, I sat by the telescope for a long time, watching the stars wheel overhead. Finally, I pulled out the journal and the vial.

My hand shook as I pricked my finger with a small knife I'd borrowed from Magical Defense class. Three drops of silver blood fell into the starlight.

The vial glowed, and suddenly new words appeared in the journal, spreading across the formerly blank pages like frost:

*"My dearest Lyra, The Crown is not what they think it is. It's not a tool or a weapon—it's a key. A key to something that should stay locked. I had to leave to protect you, but if you're reading this, then I failed. The stars have already chosen you.

But remember this: the Crown doesn't grant power. It reveals what was always there.

Trust your blood. Trust the stars. And whatever you do, don't let them complete the alignment.

All my love, Mom

P.S. - Keep Maya close. The Chen family has protected ours for generations. Sarah wasn't placed at St. Agnes's by accident."*

I closed the journal with trembling hands. Outside, a shooting star blazed across the sky, and for the first time, I didn't try to suppress my power.

I let it flow through me, let the starlight fill my veins, and made a decision.

It was time to tell Maya everything.