My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 243: Stargazing

Violet

My eyes fluttered shut, and for a moment, the world around us disappeared. There was only the warmth of his mouth against mine, the faint taste of something sweet on his lips, and the way his hand came up to cradle the side of my face.

Rowan tilted his head slightly, deepening the kiss just enough to make my breath catch. His thumb brushed across my cheekbone, and I felt my hands rise of their own accord to touch his hair.

I leaned into him without meaning to and Rowan pulled back.

He stared at me softly, his hand still cradling my face.

Then I remembered where we were.

My eyes went wide, and I jerked back, my gaze darting around frantically. We were in public!

And unsurprisingly some wolves were already staring at us.

"Rowan—" I started, my voice strangled.

He seemed to notice my panic. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and before I could say anything else, he took my hand.

"Come with me."

He pulled me away from the river bank, guiding me down a side path I hadn’t noticed before. I found myself following without protest, easily catching up with his speed.

We moved through quieter streets, the buildings grew sparser, and the path began to slope upward. I could see the castle in the near distance, its dark stone silhouette rising against the star-filled sky.

But we weren’t heading to the castle.

Rowan led me toward a hill just beside the larger one the castle was built against. To my surprise, there was a wide expanse of the ocean right behind the wall of hills, with wolves and ships larger than the ones I had seen in Orpal lining the docks.

"I will show you our beach another day. There’s something even better here," he said with a note of glee in his voice as he steered me towards the large domed structure that sat alone on this hill, it’s curved roof glinting faintly in the moonlight.

Its roof looked like it was made of... glass?

"What is this place?" I asked him.

His smile only widened. "You’ll see."

We reached the entrance, a heavy wooden door set into pale stone. Rowan pushed it open without knocking, and I followed him inside.

The interior was bright despite the absence of any lantern or lamp.

And it was because of the ceiling. It was made entirely of glass, letting in the soft glow of the night sky to illuminate the building.

There were strange objects all over the wide hall.

"Lord Rowan!"

A young woman hurrying toward us, her silver hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes were wide with surprise.

"My lord, I wasn’t expecting—" She stopped, her gaze darting to me, then back to Rowan. She dipped into a quick bow. "Greetings to you both."

"Good evening, Denise," Rowan said calmly. "Don’t mind the unprecedented visit. Leave us for the next few hours."

Denise immediately nodded her head. "Of course, my lord. Take all the time you need."

She gathered a few items from a nearby table and slipped out the door, casting one last curious glance at me before she disappeared.

The door closed behind her with a soft click.

We were alone.

I turned in a slow circle, taking in the space around me. The floor was smooth stone, and it had a glossy black sheen that absorbed the light in a strange way. Arranged throughout the room were long tubes of various sizes. Some were thin and large, others were a combination of shorter tubes connected to longer ones. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

They were all mounted on stands, and pointed upward toward the glass dome.

"What is this place?" I asked again, turning to face Rowan.

He moved to stand beside me, his gaze lifting to the sky.

"A place I used to come to as a child when I needed to think," he said quietly. "I realized at some point when I was older that there is an entire world out there beyond where we live. Beyond what we can see with our naked eyes."

I looked at him, not entirely understanding what he meant by that last sentence.

He turned to meet my gaze, a faint smile on his lips.

"Do you know the temples accurately base their calculations in our calendar, not just from the goddess’ guidance, but also from the movement of the stars?"

I nodded slowly. I was aware of it, vaguely. I had never stepped foot in a temple before. They were always located in the capitals, but I had heard that they also tracked celestial bodies and patterns to determine holy days, planting seasons, other dates for ceremonies and events.

"Would you like to see a star?" Rowan asked.

I blinked at him. "See a star?"

He smiled and moved toward the curved wall of the dome. His hand found something a lever and he pulled it.

A low rumbling sound filled the room, and I watched, wide-eyed, as half of the glass domed ceiling began to move. It slid slowly, gliding over the other half until a large portion of the ceiling was open to the night sky.

Cold air drifted into the hall and I stared upward, momentarily speechless at how the ceiling could actually move. But I also realised at the same time what exactly he meant for me to see.

"What are these?" I finally managed, turning to look at the strange cylindrical objects around us. "Will we be using them to look at the stars?"

Rowan chuckled softly, returning to my side. He stopped in front of one of the larger devices and began adjusting something on its side, tilting it carefully.

"They’re telescopes," he said. "They allow you to see things that are very far away as though they were close. The temples have simpler versions, but these ones are more precise."

"I have never been to a temple before, so I don’t know what those ones look like either."

Rowan paused and looked at me, shock in his face.

"You’ve never been to one?"

I slowly shook my head. Was it that bad?

His face fell slightly. "Not even the one in Fresna?"

I looked away. "I can’t say the thought ever even occurred to me."

"We’re visiting it tomorrow."

I returned my attention to him, surprised. "What?"