More Than an Alliance

Cassian

Everyone is staring at me. I can feel their eyes on the back of my head.. Everyone’s but Astrid.

Astrid has her head pressed to the prayer rail at the feet of an enormous statue of the Moon Goddess. She’s crying, her chest heaving with sobs. I can tell by the rasp in her breathing that she’s been crying this way for some time.

It seems strange to see her cry. This isn’t the same woman who