Page 93 of Under Restless Skies

“Then you’ll miss it too,” Celine says.

“Don’t try my pettiness!” Nelly waves a finger.

“Fine, fine.” Celine laughs, then lowers her voice. “They’ll have star nectar.”

The words are supposed to mean something, but I have no idea what. Nelly’s jaw drops, so I’m assuming whatever Celine mentioned is quite impressive, and now I’m debating feigning excitement and waiting until the party to find out what she means, or confessing my ignorance and sounding like a fool.

Celine tilts her head as if to see me better. “Mayara, you never heard of it?”

My foolishness is obvious, I suppose. “No. What is it?”

“I never had it.” Nelly shows me her palm as if justifying herself.

Celine looks up, her countenance dreamy. “It’s a drink. Tastes all right. But it makes you relaxed, happy.”

“Like wine, then?” I ask.

“Sort of. But also different. You feel things more… Colors become prettier, touches feel nicer. If you’d like to take a tumble with someone and forget all about it the next day, it’s the right drink.”

I grimace. “That sounds horrible.”

“I don’t think so,” Nelly says. “Sometimes you need an excuse to do things you wouldn’t normally do.”

Her words make no sense. “But if it’s something you don’t want…”

Nelly half shrugs. “Maybe part of you wants it, and then you make all the other parts shut up and stop annoying you.”

I’m still not convinced. “Won’t they yell at you the next day?”

“Sure.” Nelly grins. “Then you shrug and say oops, too late.”

“I see,” I say. “But you don’t have any experience with star nectar.”

Nelly bites her lip. “It’s expensive.”

Celine nods. “Yes. The sentinels get it, but only after the attacks, so they forget, celebrate, and all that. Someone smuggles it for us.”

“Do we risk getting in trouble?” I ask, suddenly worried.

“No.” Celine clicks her tongue as if the idea was absurd. “I think the academy encourages it, but it’s second years or by invitation, so the younger recruits don’t participate.”

“Understood.” I nod. “But I just want to see the stars and the ocean and relax. I’m not going to drink anything weird. Can I still come?”

“Of course, silly. Nobody’s going to be shoving star nectar down your throat. Now come and let’s celebrate.”

Celine walks to the door, as if she wasn’t the one taking forever getting dressed and looking at herself in the mirror. Nelly and I follow her, even if I’m second-guessing my decision to come and the kind of party it’s going to be.

Also, I haven’t seen Alayel since our brief kiss, and I can’t help but wonder if he’ll be there—and what might happen.

The path to the Outer Beach goes through a tunnel carved at the bottom of one of the hills surrounding our city, and I hold a portable lumos lantern as we cross it, the roar of the beach waves greeting us.

Despite my misgivings about illicit drinks, I’m glad to be out of the academy and about to see the ocean again. I’m also glad that all my washing and scrubbing worked; Auranius hasn’t noticed me. The last thing I want is another face-to-face with that gigantic dragon, even if I appreciate all he does for our kingdom.

The sand stripe of the Outer Beach is much wider than usual, with the lower tide of the evening. Beyond the merciless waves, the ocean stretches to the dark horizon, reflecting the trail of stars above. The waves themselves carry a faint brilliance; this part of the water has fewer lumos algae than the bay, but enough that stars seem to blink within the depths.

I haven’t been here at night in such a long time. The last visits were with Marcus, and we barely enjoyed the spectacular view, as we were more interested in finding a private place away from prying eyes, all the while keeping our ears perked for any bell, for any sign that we’d need to seek shelter at a moment’s notice.

What a great reminder that I haven’t had sex in a while.