Kara's arm was bent around mine as we walked down the corridor. I was positive this palace was expanding each time I had to walk around it. No wonder the whole teleporting thing was an ability all powers possessed. They had to, otherwise, they'd never get anywhere from trying to navigate this building that was turning out to be more of a city within itself. After getting back, Kara thought a walk would be a good idea and as we went up the third flight of stairs, I was questioning her decision.

"Where are we going?" I stopped, freeing my arm to cross it over my chest. "You know I hate stairs."

"You hate a lot of things, it's hard to keep up." She smirks.

"I think your bad mood killed your sense of humour."

"We're nearly there, come on." Kara keeps walking and groaning, I stomp after her.

"Where even is here, anyway?"

"Did you know I have royal advisors, that aren't just those assholes we always have to deal with? The only thing missing is a decent Seer, thanks to Zeus and his willingness to simply use the Fates in their place." She stopped to wait for me. "If Portia hadn't joined the dark side, I'm sure she'd be very comfortable here."

"I had no idea. Between sneaking in, upsetting the old rulers of this place and fighting the odd war or two no one ever gave me the real grand tour." I stopped again, looking out to where the towns the Others lived in. This side had some nice views. "Must have slipped their mind."

I didn't know much at all about any of this world, let alone this place.

"Well, let's start now then. This is what I guess you'd call the workers quarters. Everyone else has their rooms on the other side because let's face it, they'd never live with what they view as the staff. The higher their rooms, the greater their position or their families standing within our society." She looks up the staircase. "Some are much lesser powers that the rest have a use for."

"And who is at the top?" Because I figured that was where we were heading. "Seems more like punishment than a reward to me."

"Her name is Astrea, and she inherited her mother's passion for history and her father's love of the stars. Have you heard of the Muses?" Kara asks though I'm pretty sure she thinks she knows what my answer will be.

Too bad for her, I did know of them. "Yes actually. I am all over the Muses."

"Oh really?" She doesn't sound like she believes me.

"There are five of them," I tell her rather smugly.

"Nine." Kara corrects.

"What? No." I try to remember their intro in Hercules, though based on that Disney tale I may have been lied to before. Hades did not have blue flaming hair and Hercules wasn't a demi-god hero with cute, boyish charm. Meg was also a fucking psychotic Fury. "I'm pretty sure there are five? "

"Nine." She repeats before she loses her smile. "Please tell me you're not thinking of that children's movie?"

"No." It's an obvious lie

"You so are." Kara laughs, shaking her head. "One day you may want to actually do just a tiny little look into an actual history book, Deimos could probably find you one with pictures too, and then you will not rely on Hollywood and Disney to tell about the people of this world."

"One day, maybe. I want good pictures." We finally reached the top and up here, vines have wrapped themselves around the pillars and railings. It smells sweet, floral, and as we get close I realise it's jasmine that's growing. "So, which muse is Astro's Mum? Do they at least sing?"

"Yes, and they dance." I can't tell if she's tricking me or not. "Clio, her mother, was the Muse of History. She was named after her father, Astraeus and if not for a feud between Clio and Aphrodite she would be quite powerful."

"I'll see what Disney has on that later. Would you say it was more a Cinderella situation or Princess and the Frog?"

"I'd go with Bambi."

"Bambi? That's not, oh." I stopped when I worked out what she meant. "I thought Medusa was bad enough."

"Don't think about it too much. It's another one of those, the way things are here things." Kara kept going and reluctantly I followed. "She's lovely. I've only met her once before, but I have heard stories when with the Valkyrie. Her talents with astrology are legendary. She knows how to read the stars and see who you are, and your path perhaps greater than even a Seer"

"Penny would love her then, so why are we here? Did you need your weekly horoscope Queenie? I could probably summarise this week for you without even needing to check the stars. I see complicated affairs of the heart with a side chance of a nervous breakdown. Your best friend has your back, so don't make her walk up an infinite amount of stairs otherwise she might not next time. The End."

"Oh, that is good." Though I heard her mumble, bitch, under her breath which only made me laugh. "So glad you gave me the heads up on that one."

"Anytime."

Kara knocks on the door and we don't need to wait for very long at all as it soon opens. The little girl who greets it is literally a little girl, maybe five or six, and the poor thing looks like she's about to die of shock at seeing us standing there. Kara smiles but she may as well have slapped her, as bright brown eyes nearly pop out of her head, and her face pales.

"Phoebe?" An older voice calls, which has her eyes glazing over with tears as her bottom lip trembles. All of her is trembling. "Where did you go?"

I lean down slightly and smile too, hoping I'm not as terrifying as Kara right now.

"Hi Phoebe, is it? I'm Elise. This is my friend Kara. Is Astr-" Shit. What is her name?

"Astrea" Kara whispers, taking a step back.

"Astrea here?" I get the faintest little nod from her. "Can you go get her for us, please?"

The door is slammed shut and she's gone.

"This is going well?" I look at Kara.

"Ares scared her. There was a whole thing after I was crowned. It was supposed to be fun, and a chance for us all to officially meet. Hermes typically acts as a liaison between us, do I don't really have much to do with them."

"Right, but why did Ares scare her?"

"It's complicated. From what I was told, Cain had a few of them govern the council he formed with the Others and they were left to themselves. If anything needed attention, Hermes would advise him. It was disbanded towards the end, and I had considered restarting it but those originally involved were not interested in going through it all again. Most of them anyway. Some, well, they weren't prepared to fall back in line and to the shadows again. Ares and a few of the guards gladly flexed their power and long story short, it didn't end well." Kara sighed. "I stopped them as soon as I realised what was going on, but she must still remember me from that."

"Give it some time, and I'm sure she'll forget all about it." Or at least I hoped so.

We both froze as the door reopened and the woman, who I'm guessing was Astrea, took the place of Phoebe. I heard her gasp as she quickly bowed, dipping her head low and avoiding looking at either of us. From behind her skirt, Phoebe bravely peered out yet I could feel her fear as if it was my own.

What did Ares do exactly?

"Your highness, my apologies. I was not expecting you." Guess that wasn't in her stars for today.

"No, I apologise for dropping by with no notice. I wouldn't have done so if it wasn't urgent," Kara said softly. "Please, call me Kara, and this is my friend, Elise."

Astrea either got over her own fear or forgot all about it as she heard my name. Golden eyes stared into mine intensely as she took a step forward from the doorway.

"Elise Bunting?" She whispered. "The girl from the other realm?"

"Hi, nice to meet you." I held my hand out, and she hesitated for a second before latching onto it. Her hold was strong, and her other hand came up to my forearm as she tugged me closer.

"I am honoured to have you visit my home. Please, please come in." I'm practically pulled inside and snatch Kara's hand as I pass her, not daring to look at her face right now scared of what I might see.

"Thank you." I manage to free myself and stop beside Kara as Astrea is rushing around the room, gathering piles of papers to dump on other mounds as she clears space on the lounge and coffee table.

"Sit, please. Let me get you some refreshments." She disappears in a rush, more papers fluttering out behind her as she disturbs the piles in her path.

"There's no need." Kara attempts to stop her but she's already gone.

"Refreshments then?" I dare to sit down, and spy Phoebe standing behind a stash of books, her eyes less fearful now.

She reminds me a little of Olivia; a perfect little button nose in the middle of her face, long doll-like lashes and a mischievous little smile that appears as I give her a little wave. A bell ringing from where Astrea had disappeared makes her jump, and she ducks back behind the book mound as the woman reappears.

"What can I do for you, your majesty?" Astrea again bows at Kara, her hands knotted and twisting in front of her stomach as she looks at the space between us on the sofa rather than either one of us.

I notice the open window in the far corner and the telescope set-up looks a lot better than the cheap things we never even used at the Academy. Posters of a similar solar system to ours cover the walls, as well as star charts and constellations all, marked out around it.

"Astrea, I need your help. We need the precise time of the next new moon, as well as anything you may know about crossroads." Kara sounds desperate, and Astrea's chest rises as she sucks in a deep breath, nodding crazily as this request seems to excite her.

"Of course, of course." She turns to rush off in the other direction, nearly slamming into Phoebe who lets out a squeak of surprise as she leaves her hiding place at the wrong time. "Move, girl. Go wait in the kitchen and do not dare touch what arrives. I apologise, your highness, please, do come this way."

Phoebe runs off, and Kara obliges, following after Astrea.

"My brother's bastard. I took pity on the child when her Nymph mother rejected her. Please do not take any offence to her staring, she does not mean any harm." Astrea mumbled to Kara apologetically, sounding more fearful than angry as we went down a passage. Kara politely assured her Phoebe was not offensive to us at all, but the look on Astrea's face made me wonder if she didn't believe her.

"I'm going to go and wait with Phoebe." I decide. "I'm er, thirsty."

I go before either of them can stop me and find the girl by a long wooden table. This place feels warm, and inviting, like a good place to call home, much like Faline and Mattews house had been in the village. Phoebe had a horse figurine in each hand, happily walking them around in the space in front of her which stops as she sees me.

"Can I wait with you?" I ask, and she nods, frozen as I sit beside her. "What game are you playing?"

She hesitates, and the colours on the wall behind her get my attention. The paintings were clearly done by her, and she tilts her head up to look at them too.

"That's me and Aunty Asty, at the ocean." She points to one, and I can see the stick-like people near the blue blobs.

"I can tell, is that a horse?" I point to the pink shape and her face lights up.

"Yeah! We ride them there sometimes." I hold a pink horse like the ones she was already playing with which makes her gasp, her fear gone now. "Wow!"

We start to play with the horses, moving them up and down along the table until a platter of food appears. That is nifty, and looking around, I figure it's some kind of Powered up room service option. Phoebe is instantly staring at the cakes and strawberries before she runs off. She's back as I get up, and grabbing her horses, starts to play again, yet her eyes aren't leaving the food. She has way better self-restraint than I ever did. I would have taken what I wanted and blamed Jordan for it.

"It's not your standard New Moon. There will be a Solar Eclipse with four planets now in Libra, including the moon and the sun and as we know, the Sun is aligned with Venus, Libra's ruler. Libra and Venus possess strong but delicate energy," Astrea is rambling, and seeing us sitting together she stops. "I am so sorry Elise. Phoebe, how dare you sit-"

"It's fine, really. She's the sweetest, we've been playing with the horses." I quickly defend, not wanting Phoebe to get into trouble over nothing.

"Look Aunty Asty, Elise made me a pink one!" She holds it up like a prize, her smile wide and infectious.

"Oh." Astrea clearly wasn't sure what to think as Kara sat beside me.

"Come, stop for a moment." Kara smiled at her and slowly the other woman slid into a chair beside Phoebe, scratching the black mass of curls she'd piled up on top of her head.

Thanks to Phoebe's lack of fear and Kara's happy and very complimentary small talk regarding Astrea's understanding of the planets, everyone ended up relaxed by the time our afternoon tea had finished.

"Scorpio has no patience for the superficial and we will all be finding ourselves seeking out real, in all of our lives. Perhaps there is a new passion to be discovered as friends turn into lovers?" Astrea giggled, sipping the wine.

Kara glares at me. "Did you set her up for that?"

"Me? I'm Pinky Pie over here in horse land!" I defend, holding up the pink horse.

"It is not set up, your highness. The universe serves its messages in wild and mysterious ways. Enjoy the ride." Astrea sounds a lot like Penny when she wants me to listen to my horoscopes. "The veil between the worlds will be at its weakest, your crossroads will be easy to access so long as you have the key to do so."

"We're working on it," Kara confirmed.

"I know." She turns to me. "There is a lot of air around you, refusing to take on any true form, resisting classification as all the wild ones do. I would propose a Gemini influence only your concern for the girl had you checking on her which shows much empathy and a sense of fairness since my words were not kind. Are you an Aquarius?"

"Yes?" I look at Kara wondering if I'm about to ruin whatever this was. "I don't really believe all the star sign stuff."

"Of course you don't," She smiled, thankfully not offended. "It has been interesting to see what will happen next. I was not surprised to hear that the bonding ceremony with Apollo never occurred, we could blame Uranus transitioning through Venus on his chart or perhaps your Aquarian nature took over."

"What's our breakup got to do with me being an Aquarius?" Internally I slapped myself as I took her bait.

"You did not like him attempting to control you. Any challenge to your independence would not end well. Air and Fire are a good match, but not always. Sometimes even the smallest gust of wind can set off a forest fire." She answered simply.

"Cain is a fire sign," I frown, remembering something about the crap Penny had gone on about when she got that little compatibility book.

"And also a Sagittarius." Astrea sips her wine.

"What does that mean?"

"Much more compatible, in fact, the way your charts align, you are very compatible. Air feeds fire and together, you can create a blaze unlike no other. Your Taurus child will keep you both grounded. For a while at least." She smiled rather knowingly before quickly carrying on. "Your signs understand and accept each other as you each are. Quite the match. I couldn't have planned it better myself."

I stop moving the horse, giving her my full attention as Kara sits a little straighter.

"The stars told you all of that?" I ask cautiously. "Like, all of it?"

"I feel we have stayed long enough." Kara decides, and I wanted to agree. Only what did she know. Like Hecate had told Kara, knowledge is power and as far as Blueberry was concerned, I didn't want her to have any.

"It's all there if you know where to look." I'm handed one of her many pieces of paper and look at the mess of squiggles set around two circles that kind of remind me a little of the wheel of fortune. "It's your birth chart."

"How do you know when I was born?" And what's that got to do with knowing about Blueberry?

"I have my ways. Since you first arrived I've been watching you. I watch all of you."

"Not creepy."

She touches the paper and it alters slightly, the symbols swirling on the page before she points to the picture of a circle with a cross coming out of it and another very similar to a key shape. I have no idea what any of it means.

"Fertility chart. Your ruling planet, Uranus transits to Chiron here. It's extremely common for unexpected pregnancies to occur."

"Any more of these coming up over the next few years just you know, as an FYI?" Astrea laughs, though I'm not joking and as Kara attempts to hide her snort of amusement, I glare at her. "What about Kara's chart? Any Chirons near her Uranus."

"Oh, Elise," Kara groans, slapping her hand over her eyes.

"You just got told about some deep passion coming your way, can't be too careful." I shrug.

"And that really is enough for today. We have what we came for." Kara stands, rolling her eyes at me. "Thank you for your time and wisdom, Astrea."

"Of course your Highness." She stands quickly, nudging Phoebe to do the same as they both bow.

I'm not so sure I am ready to leave, and look at the chart in front of me again. Astrea touches the paper again, the symbols vanishing so it's left completely blank.

"I see you Elise Bunting, clearer than perhaps you even know yourself. There are whispers, rumours and signs all around to guide you on your journey, be sure to pay attention. The moon knows all our secrets, yet during an eclipse, she can not see that which the sun hides." One hand grabs my arm, the other on my stomach as she gets into my personal space. "Unexpected, but not unwanted. What a treasure. Your secret is safe here, I swear on my life."

She lets me go and stands beside Phoebe who just watches us, wide eyed and curious. I swallow nervously as Kara calls my name from the other room, and force myself to smile at the little girl.

"It was lovely meeting you both." I realise I'm still holding the toy, and hand her over the pink horse. "Look after her for me until next time, okay?"

I follow after Kara, and hear Astrea gasp excitedly as I leave.

"My darling, you received a true gift from the Powers. You are a blessed little girl." She laughs.

"It's a horse, Aunty Azzy?" Phoebe doesn't seem to understand what her Aunty is saying and I have to agree with her.

"Did you get what we needed?" I ask Kara as we leave the apartment.

"Yeah. It's going to reach the peak at five past one, so make sure you get a nap in beforehand." She warns me as we start down the stairs. "I'm not dealing with your tired or hungry, complaining self."

"Do you believe in this birth chart astrology stuff?" Astrea seemed to know a lot. Very Seer like which could turn out to be a bad thing. "And why the hell is Uranus so involved in everything? I don't think she was even saying it to be funny either, but like, what can a planet even do?"

"I don't know. And do I believe in it? Yes, and no. There is so much at work around the circumstances of our creation, but we are our own people, full of that delightful thing called free will. It is in some ways no different to The Fates thinking they have control of our life. They hold it in their hands, and as you know, you can still choose your own path." She sighs. "Chirons near my Uranus. The hell Elise?"

"It's hilarious." I laugh. "Just say it one time. Uranus."

Kara tries not to but ends up laughing with me as we go down the five levels much easier than when we went up them. By the time we've made it back into the main hall, any of the earlier tension has gone. She duplicates her throne, and we move it slightly so we're sitting beside each other.

"I do love this chair." I sigh, accepting the apology doughnuts that she places between us on a small table. "And so does your Uranus."

"Please stop." She sighs. "I don't even know how they made something so big and otherwise hideous so comfortable. I'm scared to change anything in case it ruins it."

When Cain appears, Deimos a second later I roll my eyes as they come closer.

"The only thing that can ruin it, are these two." I narrow my eyes at Cain, who takes a cautious look between us, before smirking at the plate of doughnuts.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Kara greets them, tucking her legs up underneath her like I have, as she looks at Cain. "And for yesterday."

"So am I." He tells her, before looking at me. "And for this morning."

"Me too," Deimos adds.

"What did I miss?" Kara frowns.

"Dumb and Dumber here being dumb," I mumble, my mouth full of doughnut and crunchy bits of delicious biscuit. "Apology accepted. I am too."

"What are you sorry for?" Deimos glances towards Cain who looks as clueless as he does.

"Numerous Uranus jokes, mostly."

"Chewing with your mouth open?" Kara questions at the same time.

"What have you two been up to?" Cain leans over me, fencing me in as he puts hands on the armrests. He slides into the gap at the side, lifting me slightly as he slips underneath me, and I'm now repositioned to sit across him.

"Hey!" I protest.

"There's plenty of room, and I wanted to sit down. Share." It sounds like an order.

"You could get your own chair, like Deimos has."

I look at Kara and wiggle my eyebrows at her, which only makes her roll her eyes. Deimos now sits awkwardly in between all of us, doing a great job at ignoring everything going on. Double dates were going to be easy, it was already our life. Well, almost any way and it would never be if Deimos didn't say something and Kara continued to act as if he didn't exist right now.

"Anyway, nevermind what have we been up to? What have you been up to?" I take another bite, muttering under my breath. "Chair stealer."

"We played poker." Deimos answers.

"No, really, what have you two been doing?" I ask as Kara joins me eating a doughnut.

"Poker." Cain doesn't flinch as I look at him, staring him down.

"Who won?"

"Deimos."

"I guess his ability to keep his expression completely neutral and give nothing away came in handy. Why didn't you liquor him up?"

"He tried," Deimos smirked.

"Your turn." Cain reached forward and took a bite, not looking like he enjoyed it as much as I did.

"Oh, nothing much. After some quality bonding time, we just worked out the key Portia gave me is for a crossroads that Hecate used to visit every new moon, which we also have the exact time and day for when the next one is going to occur in, what was it Kara, seven and point four days away." I lick my fingers clean, smirking as I see the surprise on Deimos face. "I hope his poker face really is better than that, or are you just terrible at poker?"

"I wasn't trying too hard to win, I didn't want to get him naked." He whispered, leaning in close to my ear.

Instantly I remember the fun nights spent playing strip poker near closing time at Last Drop, which would often involve a lot of vodkas and the removal of clothes. It was something he'd rarely join us in doing, but there had been that one or two times when I'd managed to talk him into playing as well. The first time he'd taken his shirt off, I was in the right mood, as well as full of the right amount of tequila to consider attempting to take the vampire to bed. When I'd hinted that fact to Penny, she'd slapped me and then Jordan had turned up anyway.

If only I knew then what I did now.

"Good thing I haven't replaced you with a body pillow. Yet." I kissed his lips, tasting the icing that lingered there and wanting more, I turned into him as he deepened the kiss.

"We're still here." Kara groaned.

I looked at her over my shoulder and poked my tongue out, which made her shake her head.

"Wait, did you say you know what the key is for?" Cain sat up slightly, and any chance at continuing what we had just started vanished. "What is a crossroads?"

"You don't know?" I fake gasp. "Well, there are a few places where the sky, earth and sea meet, and these passages between realms are kept closed off for all, excluding those who have a key."

"How do you know this?" Deimos asked. "And what realms?"

"I was eavesdropping on Astrea and Kara. I didn't even know it was a thing until like four hours ago. So guess what we're doing in seven and a bit days?"

"You're going to have to go with the long version on this one, Elle." Cain looked just a little stressed. "How did this all come about?"

"If you hadn't been playing poker and trying to get Deimos day drunk, you might know too."

Cain pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as he takes a deep breath. Saving us all time, Kara fills them in on where she'd gone to calm down, and our field versus magical kingdom chat which led to me revealing the key and getting it all confirmed by the resident guru on the matter.

"So what are we going to find through the doorway?" Deimos didn't look like the long version helped him understand any more than he had five minutes ago.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Astrea couldn't tell me either." Kara sighed. "I was never allowed in, I had to keep the fire going until she returned and she never spoke about it."

"At least she came back out?" I unhelpfully add.

"It's a big risk." Deimos frowned. "Is it even necessary?"

"Considering how everything has lined up so far, I'm thinking yes." Cain doesn't sound happy about that, and I wasn't too sure I was either. "You were told to follow your instincts, so what do you think?"

"We go in." I didn't even need to think about it.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and the Furies are hiding in there?" Kara suggests.

"That sounds too good to be true, and we know Fate is not on our side at all these days." Cain's arm squeezes me closer against him.

"Not quite. Portia still is. Hecate too. I think. Maybe we can make up our own little girl group like Fates part two and take the rest of them on?" I'm joking, but I don't really hate the idea of it now I said it out loud. "It'll be like N'Sync versus Backstreet Boys but with powered up women. Get the Muses involved, and we can turn it into our very own X-Factor."

"Slow it down their Mumma," Kara shakes her head. "You can't just casually decide to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe because you picked a good team."

"It kinda happened that way before? Maybe Portia can steal their golden thread of life next and well, we can see what happens." I wonder what would happen. "Not forgetting the last time I made a rash decision and did something others didn't think possible, I made you a Queen?"

"This is a lot more complicated than that."

I look at Cain who seems to be lost in his own little world. Realising we're all looking at him, he slowly comes back from wherever he went.

"If it was that simple, the Third would never be cursed. At some point someone would have found a way to bribe, fool or negotiate with all or one of them, easily enough." He thought out loud. "It's never been done before, or at least not successfully. Even the risks I took with them were of their own suggestions, not mine."

"You're not considering this crazy are you?" Kara sounded a little panicked about that.

"No. Just thinking about it, that's all. It's an interesting concept."

"So I guess we just wait for the New Moon, hope nothing changes until then and see what happens?" Kara finalised.

"Pretty much." I agree.

"If we are finished here, I will see you all later. I have somewhere to be." Deimos gave a brief smile to the three of us and went to leave.

I looked at Kara who just stared at him, her mouth opening slightly as if she was about to stop him only she didn't. Grabbing a doughnut I threw it at her as Deimos turned around and instantly she was up.

"Wait, Deimos. Can I talk to you, alone, for a sec?" She glares at me, and I wave, giving them some privacy as we end up in Cain's little seaside den.

Instantly I'm stretched out on the bed; my legs were aching from the stairs and I hadn't felt this exhausted for a couple of weeks. Cain gave me space, yet laid down beside me.

"I am a tiny bit sorry for not believing you this morning, but I stand by what I said," I tell him.

"Why a tiny bit?" He frowned. "I wasn't expecting anything."

"Because, and I say this very lightly, you were right. She is threatened by us, but not on purpose or gonna go crazy and attempt to kill you all style. I didn't see it coming, or maybe I did and didn't think it could be true. Since I met her, she's been a missing piece in my life that I got back. Being from this world, and knowing stuff, helped a lot. She was never scared of what I can now do, never doubted or questioned me. It was her and Eric that helped me deal with shit, stopped me from just drinking away my problems. Kara's had my back for what feels like forever, and I can't lose her."

"I am sorry, and not a tiny bit." Cain linked his fingers with mine. "I also gladly say this, you are right. I wasn't fair to her, and everything you said was true. She needs support, not more judgment, and I was prepared to expect the worst. I want to move on from my past, but it's not so easy to leave behind. Trust does not come easy for me."

"I know and I don't expect you to just be fine with everything and act like it's all perfect. It's not. I need you to help me see what I don't. I'm always being told I'm young and naive. That I don't know this world at all, and I don't. I do see what it can be, what we all could be one day, and I know Kara is where she is meant to be. We all just need to keep trying to be better."

"You don't sound young or naïve, Elle. Just hopeful, and I need you to help me see that too." He smiles as I yawn. "Have a nap. We can stay here for as long as you want."

"Kara made me go up all the stairs today. And then down them all. I think she did it on purpose." I yawn again, curling around him as if he was a body pillow. "I hate stairs."

"How was Astrea?" He asked softly, holding me close.

"She said a lot of stuff about Uranus," When he doesn't respond, I keep going. "Good news, you and I are very compatible and our Taurus baby will help keep us grounded.."

"Interesting."

"That doesn't freak you out? I wasn't sure if I wanted to scream at her or beg to know what she knows about it all."

"No, it's what she does. I'd be more concerned if she didn't know something." He kissed my forehead. "She is harmless."

"Harmless, but apparently all-knowing, tell me how that actually works out well?"

"It just does. She isn't one to worry about, just so long as you give her space to do her thing and don't ever touch her telescope." Another kiss, and I felt my body completely relax. "Did she show you your chart?"

"I saw it but we didn't get into it, well apart from my unexpected pregnancy, Aquarius nature and a riddle about the eclipse. Have you seen yours?"

"As tempting as it is, I've never looked, and I asked her not to speak of it when she presented the one she prepared at my Coronation. I'm surprised she didn't tell you more to get back at me for that. I know I pissed her off by not accepting her guidance, but after years with Portia, I was happy not knowing."

"And now?"

Cain went quiet; his fingers still running up and down my back as he spoke again. "It doesn't matter because I already know what's in my future and how I feel about you. Nothing else matters. Not even the painter and his visions, Portia, Fate or Fury can change that."

"You're right." I wanted to believe it could be that simple, and yawned again.

"You've said I'm right twice now, you must be tired."

"Enjoy it while it lasts."