Contents
16: Very Old Wine
Overview
Aurora returns to the castle, breaks definitively with Farren, and confronts the cost of her choice. Late that night, she and the Starmaker speak openly about identity, duty, and truth; he reveals he announced her as Starmaker Rising. Their mutual attraction surfaces during an intimate, restrained moment, ending in ruined wine and unexpected laughter that resets their fragile rapport.
Summary
Aurora slips back into the empty castle after fleeing the wedding, exhausted but resolved. In her room she finds Farren, who snuck in to see her new life. Expecting she ran for him, Farren presses for reconciliation. Aurora, realizing her love had been born of fear and no longer fits, firmly ends their relationship despite his denial. She sends him away via the balcony, warning him of the Frost.
Alone, Aurora journals about the day and writes her family, apologizing for the upheaval and the lost glare line, while considering ways to ease their burden. Restless and hungry, she goes to the kitchen at night and unexpectedly meets the Starmaker among the untouched wedding sweets.
Aurora explains her panic at the false narrative of their marriage and her refusal to play a part. The Starmaker admits he barely knows himself beyond the title. Aurora lists observed truths about him, then blurts that he makes her feel extraordinary; he responds that she is. He offers a treasured ice wine from his almost‑wedding and reveals he once ended that engagement to spare his would‑be wife from fading as he remained immortal.
When Aurora apologizes for not warning him, the Starmaker apologizes for announcing publicly that she is the Starmaker Rising, saying he needed a reason for her move and to protect the castle’s standing. Tension spikes, then breaks into shared, cathartic laughter over “the jilted Starmaker.”
Desire surfaces when Aurora asks him to unbutton her dress; his careful touch leaves them both shaken, and they retreat to a toast. The ancient dessert wine has spoiled, and Aurora sprays it across the kitchen, mortified. He gently wipes her chin and departs, his laughter echoing through the castle, leaving their bond newly vulnerable yet warmer.
Who Appears
- AuroraReturns from the aborted wedding, ends her relationship with Farren, writes her family, and shares a candid, intimate, and conflicted night with the Starmaker.
- The StarmakerLeft at the altar, meets Aurora in the kitchen, admits announcing her Rising and a past broken engagement; helps unbutton her dress and laughs after spoiled wine.
- FarrenBreaks into the castle to see Aurora; hopes to reunite but is gently, firmly rejected and sent away via the balcony.
- ConstanceRabbit companion who briefly appears in the kitchen before Aurora meets the Starmaker.