Astoria De Vil woke up with a startle in her bed, her hand immediately going to her hair. That stupid Celeste Laurier had sliced off a chunk of her hair, making it now shorter, the length cutting off at Astora's collarbone. "Don't worry, you look just fine," Elias said suddenly, sitting at the desk next to her bed.

Astoria blinked. "Wait...Why are you in my room?"

"You collapsed after we shadow-travelled back to the manor. Astoria, don't ever do something as risky as that ever again—the Abernathy Castle and De Vil Manor are far apart, that distance for shadow-travel could have killed you."

She leaned back, crossing her arms. She was sore and exhausted, but would never admit it. "We managed to assassinate all remaining council members," she changed the subject. "Now, we must kill the Heirs." It made Astoria's throat tighten since the Heirs, other than Prince Thatcher, were innocent in their own right, they didn't choose to carry their parents' errors. But a contract is a contract, Astoria reminded herself.

"But to kill the heirs," Elias continued, "we need to find the Darklings." The Darklings were very powerful beings, far more powerful than Astoria herself, so they would be able to assassinate the Heirs. It wasn't just about summoning the Darklings to murder but to serve justice for Viscount's past misdeeds and Valdor's future. Darklings were needed in Valdor to protect the folks of the Slums.

However...Astoria didn't exactly know how to summon the Darklings from Archemoros. She still vividly remembered the day that Madam Sunna died, they had just had supper and she had said something about avenging Valdor by summoning the Darklings. "These powers I-I've been teaching you—" Sunna gave a violent cough. "I was given by the Darklings by birth, but I'm not strong enough to be what Valdor needs, you'll be that heroine, Starshine. You need to end this misery, you need to be willing to kill for this. I'll tell you more in t-the morning, I'm tired."

The next morning, Astoria discovered Madam Sunna dead in her bed.

"I'm slightly concerned," she said, fiddling with her nightgown. Her cheeks went red when she realized Elias probably changed her clothing, but was only slightly relieved to remember she was wearing underwear and a bra. "Thatcher and Celeste saw our faces."

Elias's upper lip twitched. "Er, yeah, that's right."

Astoria frowned. Celeste Laurier looked so familiar, too familiar for comfort, but it confused her. Elias went off to his bedroom to rest while Astoria leaned over to her desk, seeing the poster of Madam Sunna that she still had.

What are you trying to tell me? Astoria looked over to a salt-scented candle that Elias had lit for her, then she suddenly remembered an old trick Madam Sunna would play with her. On her tenth birthday, Sunna wrote her a birthday card, but the ink was invisible, Astoria would have to hover it overheat for the ink to appear. Why didn't I think of this earlier?!

She grabbed the poster and held it above the candle. The ink slowly appeared as Astoria read it.

Dear Starshine,

You remembered that trick I showed you at your tenth birthday party, didn't you? I apologize in advance for being painfully vague, but if you're reading this, I'm dead. And if I'm dead this early, I haven't taught you everything you need.

Starshine, you are destined to free the Darklings from the Realm of the Dead. Ever since you accepted me into your home, I've been teaching and training you my Darkling powers. I was never strong enough to carry the full brunt of the dark magic, but you'll be different, you'll be the one to find the Book of Darkness. After the Darklings were exiled to the Underworld, they wrote a book about their ways—like how to summon them—in an effort for someone to serve them justice.

My dearest Starshine, I was given the Book of Darkness, but I wasn't the one to summon the Darklings, so I hid it to ensure it never fell into the wrong hands.

"The high mountains of Valdor,

By the blessing of dark grace,

The prince of such valour will die at the hands of betrayal,

Alas, his lies within the place of viciousness."

This is the prophecy that got me banished to the Slums, the one that King Julius and Queen Caprina wanted to believe that my tellings were wrong, but they never are, Astoria. Use this to change Valdor's future. Find the Book of Darkness and summon the Darklings.

—S. C. S.

"'The high mountains of Valdor,'" Astoria read aloud, realizing that the Book of Darkness lay in the Silver Mountain. Oh, aren't you sly, Sunna Silvers? Astoria blew out the candle and placed the poster back on the desk.

༻༺✧༻༺

It was supper time and it was right after Madam Sunna had taught Astoria how to shadow-travel from her bedroom to the kitchen. As Sunna ate, she commented, "You know, one day, you'll be able to shadow-travel longer distances. Maybe even from Valdor to Viscount."

Astoria chewed her bit of musky bread. "I don't know, I feel tired." However, even if she was exhausted, she also noticed that Madam Sunna had grown more tired and thin. They'd been learning dark magic for years, but each time, Madam Sunna grew more tired and weak.

"Why are we doing this?" Astoria asked finally, setting aside her plate. "One day, you come into my home after knocking me out, saying I'm a part of some prophecy when I'm just an ordinary girl in the Slums. The next day, I see that you're in some kind of voodoo haze and you start to teach me the voodoo dark magic."

"It's not voodoo, whatever that is, it's the ways of the Darklings. You'll treat their ways of magic with respect," Madam Sunna threatened, pointing her wooden spoon at her. "I told you, Starshine. They gifted me with these gifts—tellings of the future, shadow-travelling, etc—but I was too weak to use them."

"For what?!" Astoria demanded tiredly.

"To summon the Darklings themselves," she replied simply.

Astoria widened her eyes. "W-What?"

Madam Sunna chewed her bread nonchalantly. "Oh, Starshine, don't be foolish. These powers I-I've been teaching you—" Sunna gave a violent cough, making Astoria flinch. "I was given by the Darklings by birth, but I'm not strong enough to be what Valdor needs, you'll be that heroine, Starshine. You need to end this misery, you need to be willing to kill for this. I'll tell you more in t-the morning, I'm tired."

Madam Sunna stood, wobbly on her feet. Maybe Astoria should have done something that hot Augien night, but she just watched as Sunna went up the stairs to her bedroom. Alas, she truly took the old woman for granted.

I'm nothing special, she thought wordlessly. I can't be what Madam Sunna wants me to be.

༻༺✧༻༺

Astoria woke up with a startle, gasping. She grumbled, realizing it was late afternoon. How could I have been sleeping for nearly half a day? She stood up and changed, while slipping on new clothing, she thought of travelling to the Silver Mountains where the Book of Darkness lay. What about the De Vil Manor? It would be easy for someone to break in if it was unguarded. Also, since it was technically Thatcher's prophecy that Madam Sunna spoke of, he had a head-start.

I'll have to consult Elias, she hoped he was already awake. She did a quick check of herself in the mirror—a loose white dress with flowy sleeves, but a black corset laced up. She grasped her shorter hair, frowning. No more braiding, she sighed hopelessly. Astoria went down to breakfast.