Silver stained the white bedding when I stirred awake. Not blood. Tears. My face was slick with that starlight essence that filled me to my brim where guts, organs and blood should be. It oozed out the cracks when my outward shell was broken and poured from my eyes when I wept.

"You were crying in your sleep." Adela murmured, peeking at me over the curve of her arm. Her copper skin was smeared with my silver fingerprints from where my hands had been dirtied with my own tears. They circled her arms, streaked her naked spine, painted the corner of her kiss-swollen lips.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I asked, trying to clean my skin of all evidence of my weakness.

"I thought that you were at first. Your eyes were open. You were looking at me, but you weren't really here. It was like you were sleep walking like when you were little." She said, her gaze distant as she recalled those many nights when I'd wandered the castle halls like a ghost, seeking something I couldn't find.

"Did I hurt you?" I asked, my eyes already searching her body and the bedding for bright red, mortal blood.

She shook her head as she turned over onto her back, spilling her long hair out around her and baring her naked chest and belly to me. More of my fingerprints painted her breasts and trailed down beneath the blanket that draped over her lap. "It's been a long time since that has happened. Were you having a dream?" She asked, pulling up at the blanket, seeking the warmth and comfort my body could not give.

"I don't remember." I lied. I remembered though I wish I didn't. When I closed my eyes I could still picture my sister's head spinning through the air and the tears that fell from her eyes. Tears indistinguishable from her blood.

"Do you still have need of me?" She asked as she sat up, turning her back to me.

"No. You may go." I felt her weight leave the bed. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she slipped her nightdress back on. The gossamer thing fell over her body softly. While her skin shone through like a shadow, the silver spotting her glittered like diamonds in the sunlight coming through the windows. It was only then, as she was running her fingers through her hair that I noticed the faint handprints circling her neck. "I did hurt you." I breathed out, wincing at the knowledge of it. Seeing the evidence of my own cruelty sickened me to my core. I scrambled from the bed, nearly tripping over the blanket in my haste. She stood there quietly as I examined her neck. I cleaned away the silver and grit my teeth at the darkening bruise beginning to form in its place. "Oh, Adela, I'm so sorry. I would never..." I began but even to me those words rang like a hollow promise. I could not trust myself to be good, not even when I slept.

A decent man would end our affair, would at the very least, forbid himself from ever sleeping in her presence, but I was indeed horrifically selfish and greedy in nature and if there was one thing I would not give up for the sake of being that miraculous, good king I had been promised to be, it was her. "I want you to bring a knife to bed with you from now on. If this happens again, stab me. I don't care if you kill me, just make me stop." I wanted to weep, but I had spent all my tears. We both still bathed in them. My hands shook with self-hatred as I held her pretty face between them. I had no words, no way of communicating to her how dear and precious she was to me nor how much I hated myself for being so unwilling to let her go.

"What does it matter? If you were to kill me, my father would give you one of my bastard sisters in my place. I am replaceable. You are not." She said, looking at me with the solemn eyes of someone who had already accepted a cruel fate. "You are tormented, Lucius. I know this. If I in some small way can ease it and make it easier for you to become the man we need then I will know my life was not entirely meaningless. No matter how short it might prove to be."

I had never wished for death more than when she, the most precious thing I possessed, looked at me like that. Like I was her executioner. If only she knew how deeply that look and those words cut.

The door of the bedroom opened, and Dalian leaned against the frame with his arms crossed over his muscular chest. "King Kallus is looking for you, Oh Great Promised Prince." No one used my titles with such sarcasm as he did. It was one of the many reasons we were friends. His hazel eyes stuck on Adela's face before shooting a glare at me. "Seems I am interrupting something. Should I come back later? Preferably once you've got something covering your pale ass?"

"That isn't necessary." Adela pulled away and rushed from the room, slipping past Dalian in a flurry of billowing white gown and black hair.

"What did you do?" Dalian huffed, giving me a look that would make most men wet themselves. I would have as well if I had need of such bodily functions. There were many things that set me apart from mankind, though my form was similar enough. The lack of a need to shit and piss was one of the top ones.

I sank back down onto the bed and stared at my hands, watching the slivery veins beneath my skin pulse with a life I wished would stop completely in that moment. "I tried to strangle her in my sleep." I did not feel the need to lie to him. I had never lied to Dalian as he was the only one that was ever truthful to me. His eyes widened but he said nothing. I'd been expecting some screaming, a well-deserved punch, anything really except silence. "Aren't you going to kill me now?" I held my head in my own treacherous hands.

"If I killed you, who would save the world then?" Dalian asked. "I'm not even sure how I would go about killing you. Your wounds heal as quickly as I can give them to you. Even if I were to castrate you, like I'd like to, your glittery cock would probably just sprout back." He laughed, but I knew he was entirely serious. Title-less bastard or not, Adela was blood to him. "You came to this earth to kill a woman, Lucius, just be careful that you only kill the right one. There are worse things I could do to you than kill you if you hurt my sister again." He slapped a hand against my shoulder in a pitying but reassuring gesture before returning to his duties, leaving me to drown in my guilt, weighed down by the stones made of each of his words.

I came to this world to murder a woman.

King Kallus was an imposing figure. Tall and broad, he still possessed the strength of a much younger warrior even well into his sixties. Sitting there in his golden throne, a bejeweled crown atop his head, and draped in fine robes, he looked exactly as a strong, noble king should.

However, as soon as I entered his throne room, Kallus stood from his throne and sank down to one knee along with the throng of guards and servants alike that filled the room. All except for Dalian, who followed behind me as I made my way to the throne. "You may rise." I sighed. "I heard you were looking to speak to me."

The elderly king righted himself, grunting with the effort. "I've done it, Lucius." He smiled cunningly. He stepped to the side, allowing me to sit in the throne while he retrieved a goblet of wine for me from a servant girl.

"Done what, exactly?"

He clinked his golden goblet against my silver one. "I've found her." He gulped at his wine while I struggled to keep the heavy cup clasped within my shivering hand. "I've had a spy stationed with the priestesses at the Serpent's temple just in case she ever decided to speak directly to us mortals again. Well, last night, she did just that. She told them where to find other Starfelled, Lucius. She told us exactly where you could find her."

"Where?" The word shook from my chest. The sound was unfamiliar to me. Too soft. Too frightened. At last I came out of my haze of self-hatred enough to notice the large map that was had been put up on display beside the throne.

Kallus' gummy grin broadened as he gestured to the map. "She's clear across the island, on the other side of The Wyrm's Teeth, near a fishing village called Elisyn. I have my mages preparing a door and am gathering an army to accompany you there. You can leave in a few hours. Best we go now before the sun sets. Her healing will be stronger at night if she is the same as you."

I stood up on legs that didn't feel strong enough to hold my weight and slowly walked over to the map that showed the entirety of our island. The island was an almost circular shape with the mountain range called The Wyrm's Teeth cutting it in half length wise. I had fallen near the eastern shore while she had gone to the west. We were on complete opposite sides of our world, each at the edge of a turbulent sea so violent, unpredictable and full of monsters that no sailors had ever gone far enough from our shores to be sure there was not other lands beyond our own. Thousands of miles separated us and yet I would see her this very day. I could walk through a mage's door and be before her in an instant.

"Lucius? What's the matter? I was expecting you to be a bit more excited. Aren't you glad that your day is finally here?" Kallus sounded like he was under miles of water to my ears, his strong voice nothing but annoying murmuring.

"It just...It just seems so easy. You did the searching for me. The Serpent told your spy where to find her. There is no great journey, no hunt. I'll just walk through a magic door and there she'll be."

"I did what I could do. All you need to worry about is seeing to it that she is destroyed before she can cause any harm." Kallus said. My empty hand tightened to a fist at my side as a sudden rush of anger took hold of my chest with a painful grip.

"Right. All I have to do is kill her." I touched my fingers against the red 'x' that had been marked over the spot she was suspected to be. "Are you sure that killing her is necessary? What if there is another way? She hasn't hurt anyone yet that we are aware of. Maybe there is some way we can prevent her from attacking humanity."

"The fact that you show such hesitance is a testament to how good of heart you truly are. However, it is better to cut off the head of a snake before it bites you than to let it and hope it was not venomous. I cannot force you to do anything. I am merely serving as your regent until you are ready to rule in my place. However you choose to handle her is your choice, though I pray it will be a wise one."

"You are letting me choose?" I almost laughed.

"The Serpent's promises have been fulfilled so far. I trust that they all will be one day. You will save us, Lucius. I have no doubt of that, and when you return victorious, we will celebrate with a wedding."

As joyous as such an event might be to me, I doubted Adela would see it the same as all the rest of the world. Not after last night. "May I have some time to prepare?"

"As you wish, My Lord." Kallus bowed to me. "

I retreated from the throne room once more with Dalian following leisurely behind me. "Spar with me." I commanded and the man smiled in return, his hand already moving to the blade at his side.

We had no sooner stepped out onto the barren training grounds than our swords clashed against each other's with the ringing clang of steel against steel. I roared with each frenzied blow, attacking with urgency without giving Dalian a moment of respite between blows. He parried each swing with well-practiced skill. He'd spent more time as my practice dummy than any of the wooden ones that lined the grounds. As I threw myself forward again, he stepped out of my path and swung his leg around, kicking me square in the ass. I lost my balance and went face first into the dirt.

"You're fighting stupid. What's the matter? Stage fright?" Dalian teased as he rolled the shoulder of his sword arm, loosening up the muscles.

"I can't...I'm not ready...I"

Dalian propped his foot on my spine, forcing me back down into the dirt. "Lucius, if you're too soft cocked to kill the bitch, I'll do it for you. Then I can be the king that was promised, and you can fuck back off wherever you came from, and Adela can finally be free of you."

"Get off of me!" I hissed. The light that burned beneath my skin flashed bright white and Dalian leaped back. Smoke wafted off the burned bottom of his boot. My skin might be cold to the touch, but a star is only a distant sun. It burns with the same ferocity. For just a moment I saw the fear he kept well-hidden clearly on his face. I could have torched his bones black in an instant and he knew it.

"Finally, he remembers he's not as useless as his prick." Dalian laughed. He sheathed his sword and offered me his hand. I took hold of it and he pulled me back up onto my feet.

I held onto that hand, squeezed it hard enough to make his bones ache. "I am not a coward. I will do what must be done, but she's just a girl... someone's daughter...and now I have to come in like a monster and rip her head from her shoulders." I wanted to cry as I made known my true thoughts. My eyes stung with the pain, but none came.

My oldest friend squeezed my had back just the same, smiling like a jackal all the while. "You are too kind natured. That's your whole problem." Dalian's voice softened with a rare gentleness. "We found her and only you can destroy her. I would take this burden from you if I could, so if you can't swing your sword down on her neck, then I'll help you do it. That's why my father keeps me around, after all. To make you as mean as I am." The direction of the wind suddenly changed and Dalian glanced up from me, looking past my shoulder. "I'll go fetch your armor for you." He said, excusing himself.

I turned towards where he'd been looking. Adela stood in a doorway that led to a garden. She wore one of my favored colors. A dark, nearly black shade of blue. A belt of silver and amethyst cinched her waist beneath her bust and most notably the neckline rose to a necklace of silver beads just beneath her jaw, hiding all evidence of my sin. She was beautiful standing in the sunlight. Though my eyes stung and blurred in the light, I could see that clearly. I could see it even if I were blind.

"I heard the news. Congratulations." She said as I slowly made my way to her. There was no joy or excitement in her voice. Her eyes again were turned away from me. "Well, I suppose congratulations is the last thing you wish to hear. Still, I wanted to wish you luck all the same."

"Did you come to see me off?" I asked. Each footfall was harder to take than the last.

"My father told me I should." She crossed her arms over her chest when finally, I stood before her. "We are to be married as soon as you return."

"I'm glad you did." My mouth went dry as I struggled to find every word I wanted to say. How many times in how many ways could I beg her for forgiveness? I touched her gently on the cheek, turning her face towards me and tilting it up with fingers that trembled. "Adela, look at me, please." I pleaded and with hesitance, she lifted her eyes to mine. I wished I didn't see such terror in them.

"When you kill her, do it swiftly." She said, brown eyes cutting into me. "There's no need to make her suffer." She jerked away from me and ran into the garden. I stood where I was, my feet frozen in place, my hand still lingering in the air. My fingers curled into a fist before falling to my side. I could already hear the marching of my army as they moved into place and the voices of the mages practicing their spells. Soon it all would be done. I prayed that her silver blood, our shared blood, would be the last that would ever stain my hands.