Lina Fischer - The Falling of the Stars

Contents

Imprint 3 Imprint All rights of distribution, also through movies, radio and television, photomechanical reproduction, sound carrier, electronic medium and reprinting in excerpts are reserved. © 2022 novum publishing ISBN print edition: 978-3-99131-101-0 ISBN e-book: 978-3-99131-102-7 Editor: Ashleigh Brassfield, DipEdit Cover images: Paultarasenko, Alinamd | Dreamstime.com Cover design, layout & typesetting: novum publishing www.novum-publishing.co.uk

Dedication 4 Dedication To those who inspired it and will not read it

The Falling of the Stars 5 The Falling of the Stars “Who are you?” they asked. “A demon to some, angel to others,” I responded. “But you could also just call me your queen.” Nothing would be the same after tonight. He swore he would come back for me, and I was ready to destroy him. He took everything from me, and I am ready to do the same. I overcame everything he has thrown at me and came back stronger. I walked down the marble stairs, thinking of every loss I had suffered, and I could feel the power surrounding me.

Prologue 6

The Greenhouse 8

Memories From the Past 10

The Truth 13

The Last Dance 15

The First Encounter 17

The Aftershock 20

Clarity 22

Nightmares 25

The New Chapter 27

Your New Enemy 32

Inseparable 37

History 42

The Fight 45

Fine Line 49

Deep Wounds 53

Home 57

Comfort 60

Back to Normal 63

The Art of Convincing 68

Stardust 72

Consequences 77

Way Back 81

Rain 85

Unfiltered 91

Grief 95

The Little Boy 102

Betrayal 104

Two Thrones 108

Guest of Honour 114

Sakra 120

Forgiveness 125

Sacrifice 130

Deal With the Devil 136

Kiss of Death 141

Chip 146

Waterfall 149

God Save the Queen 156

Confession 163

Eye for an Eye 168

Resuscitation 173

Strangers 177

Happy Endings are Overrated 183

Acknowledgement 185

Imprint

All rights of distribution, also through movies, radio and television, photomechanical reproduction, sound carrier, electronic medium and reprinting in excerpts are reserved.

© 2022 novum publishing

ISBN print edition: 978-3-99131-101-0

ISBN e-book: 978-3-99131-102-7

Editor: Ashleigh Brassfield, DipEdit

Cover images: Paultarasenko, Alinamd | Dreamstime.com

Cover design, layout & typesetting: novum publishing

www.novum-publishing.co.uk

Dedication

To those who inspired it

and will not read it

The Falling of the Stars

“Who are you?” they asked.

“A demon to some, angel to others,” I responded. “But you could also just call me your queen.”

Nothing would be the same after tonight. He swore he would come back for me, and I was ready to destroy him. He took everything from me, and I am ready to do the same. I overcame everything he has thrown at me and came back stronger. I walked down the marble stairs, thinking of every loss I had suffered, and I could feel the power surrounding me.

Prologue

I was always the girl who stole the spotlight; no matter who they were, people would always look up to me. I’m not going to lie, it’s an exhausting job to do, especially when everybody has such high expectations.

After I was orphaned, the king and queen adopted me because the queen wasn’t able to have children of her own. They are the best parents I could have asked for, and I’m so grateful for them. There are downsides to it, though; I don’t have many friends, because my parents are scared that someone would hurt me. I don’t know why they are so afraid; why would anybody want to hurt me? At least I have my best friend, Eden; he came to us after both his parents died in the war against Aaron, whoever that is.

We were babies when my parents took him in, it was a big scandal when Eden’s father was killed in the war and I feel connected to him because of everything we’ve had to go through together. We share the spotlight; after all, we’re the future of our people, since everybody expects us to marry each other.

I woke up to three gentle knocks on my door, as always. I opened the door for Eden.

He looked especially beautiful this morning. His soft brown hair looked almost gold as the sunlight consumed the room. “Hey you,” he said.

“You know, you knocking at my door every morning gets annoying,” I said, still half asleep.

“And you know that I like to annoy you.”

I chuckled. Typical Eden. “What’s on the agenda for today, my knight?” I asked him.

“Don’t tell me you forgot? Everybody is preparing for your birthday ball!” he exclaimed hastily.

“I knew I forgot something! Well, let me get dressed and I’ll meet you downstairs in a second,” I told him before closing the door.

I dressed myself in a skirt, a lace top, and a white cardigan. As I walked downstairs, I saw some of the staff busy preparing for the ball. I couldn’t help but feel bad that they had so much to do because of me.

In the large, high-ceilinged dining room, the table was ready, and I noticed that I was the last to arrive for breakfast. I took my place next to Eden and saw that Dad looked more tense than usual.

“Hey Dad, everything alright?” I asked.

“Good morning sweetheart – everything’s fine, I’m just a little bit stressed about the preparations for the ball,” he said, continuing to read the national newspaper.

“Dad, please stop worrying about it, you know that I’ll love whatever you do!”

“Of course, honey, I know that, but after all it is your eighteenth birthday, and that is something that only happens once in a lifetime.”

“I know, but I also know that I’ll never be able to forget the night either way.”

Mom was taken aback for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, I just have the feeling that this night will change everything,” I said excitedly.

“I, for one, think that it’ll be great, and I can’t wait to see what you’ve got planned.” Eden had a spark in his eyes.

I didn’t really feel like celebrating my birthday. It shouldn’t be such a big deal, I don’t even like birthdays. Everybody knows that whenever we celebrate my birthday, something unfortunate happens. Last year, Eden got food poisoning along with everyone else. The year before we had a huge storm come over Ilimara. However, if I keep being optimistic, it might just be the best birthday I will ever have. I spent the rest of the day helping with the preparations and it lifted my spirits. I couldn’t wait to see the end product. The days went by in a flurry of activity, and all of a sudden the day was here.

The Greenhouse

Just before midnight came three gentle knocks on my door. I jumped out of my bed and felt my stomach tingle as I opened the door. Eden took my hand and led me into our humid greenhouse at the end of the palace.

It was my favourite place in the palace and he knew that. The light shimmering through the glass made his eyes look even bluer; his gaze made me feel like a thousand butterflies were bursting into life in my stomach. As the tower clock rang midnight, he took something from behind his back.

“Happy Birthday, my star,” he said as I opened the gift.

It was a bracelet, a chain of stars, and it was stunning.

“Eden, it’s beautiful, thank you so much!” I exclaimed joyfully.

“Thank you for never leaving my side. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he said, and I could’ve sworn I saw his eyes glisten.

“I could never leave you, you’re my best friend and I care about you,” I said with tears in my eyes. I looked up at the sky and saw multiple shooting stars flash past. “Wow, Eden, its magical,” I said quietly.