The Veiled Crowns

“Starlight.”

That’s what he called me. Every time.

Every glance, every smile, every moment our hands brushed… it felt like the universe paused.

As I wiggled with the wooden toys scattered across the marble floor, his hand found the loose strands of my golden hair.

I smiled knowingly.

“It was disturbing your view,” he whispered.

I giggled, tiny and shy.

His soft chuckle followed — warm, familiar — the kind of sound that always made me look up at him.

And then—

Gareth Morozov Grey.

His father.

“Come. Let’s go, Seb,” Gareth’s voice sliced through our quiet little world.

I flinched.

Sebastian stood quickly. I looked up, blinking at Gareth’s towering frame.

“But Uncle Gareth—” I tried.

One glare.

Final.

Cold.

A silent reminder: You don’t get to decide anything.

And then the space beside me was empty.

Just a patch of floor and the lingering warmth of him.

I’ll find my way back to you, Sebastian… someday.

……………………….. Present Day

A scream ripped through my unconscious haze.

Before I could breathe, I was on the floor—my elbow slamming against the cold tiles. A sharp whimper escaped me as I blinked the darkness away.

And then I saw her.

Selene.

Seli.

“What has gotten into you?” she snapped, eyes wide, hair sticking out like she fought three nightmares and a demon.

I almost cried—just a small, broken sound—before pushing myself upright.

“Girl, it’s literally ten now. Wake the fuck up? I thought you died.”

Classic Seli. Dramatic. Aggressively dramatic.

Her chaos scares me sometimes… but I love her.

I rubbed my face, the remnants of that old memory clinging to me like cobwebs.

“Bad dream?” she asked, softer this time.

I nodded, staring down at my trembling fingers.

She watched me for a few seconds, then sighed loudly and threw a pillow at me.

“Okay, sleeping beauty. Get up. Shower. Coffee. Then we talk.”

I groaned. “Why are you like this?”

“Because you’d sleep till next century if I wasn’t.”

She grabbed my wrist and tugged me to my feet. I wobbled, still half in that childhood memory, still hearing that boy’s laugh… still missing him.

As I stood, something sharp throbbed inside my chest—like an old wound had remembered how to hurt.

Seli paused. “Hey. You okay?”

“Yes.”

A lie.

A familiar one.

I walked to the window and pushed the curtains aside.

The morning light spilled in.

And far away, in a city I hadn’t seen in years…

Sebastian had already returned.

And he was looking for me.