The morning heat of Rosas warmed the barn, and Asha awoke to sunlight streaming through the cracks in the roof. She slowly sat up and stretched over the flattened hay, then cast a sleepy gaze at the barn door.

Memories of the night before came flooding back.

Asha scrambled to her feet and hastily plucked a few strands of hay stuck between her braids. When she pushed open the doors, laughter and the sight of the farm animals crowded around two goats greeted her. She squinted against the light and inched closer, certain her eyes were playing tricks on her. But when she stopped only a few feet away and blinked, her mouth fell open and the two animals were clear.

Before her stood two Valentinos; one shimmering in gold under sunlight, and the other the familiar, brown goat posing like a pompous steed in the grass

"I knew gold was my color!" he brayed and galloped to his twin, inspecting the sparkle of his fur closely. "And the extra beets for breakfast are doing wonders for my coat."

"What's going on here?" As soon as Asha asked, the golden Valentino shifted into Star. He waved amid a flurry of applause from his feathered friends and moos of approval from the cows.

"Whoa!" Her eyes brightened. "How did you do that?"

"It's a delightful trick," Valentino chimed in. "We've been experimenting all morning, but the hens and I can't seem to agree. I think he makes a much better goat than a chicken."

"You're both wrong!" a cow said between a mouthful of grass. "He makes a perfect cow."

"Chicken!"

"Goat!"

"Cow!"

The animals grumbled and argued with each other. Asha merely rolled her eyes, then turned her attention back to a yawning Star.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked. He yawned again and rubbed his eyes.

"I guess it was kind of a long night," Asha said, then fell silent. The two locked eyes, taking in the other. Star's glow wasn't quite so brilliant in the sunlight, yet his sleepy eyes still sparkled with stardust. She was shocked to realize the flare she felt the night before had only reignited in the day.

"We uh…" she paused, struggling to find the words, "We better get going. It's not far to the palace."

He nodded, then yawned again. Asha noticed his eyelids remained shut longer between blinks than they had before and hurried to the barn to gather her satchel.

As soon as she slung the bag over her shoulder, the whinny of a horse caused her to jump. The hens squawked loudly while the cows and donkey dashed into the barn in a tizzy. She ran to the door and saw Star swaying gently amid a hopping Valentino.

"Asha!"

Simon! Asha would've recognized his voice anywhere. She ran toward Valentino and shushed him.

"No talking! Not yet anyway. No one can know about this or who Star really is before Queen Amaya!"

It seemed like a solid decision. After all, if anyone should know first about a star that hurtled down to Rosas, shouldn't it be the Queen? Asha still got goosebumps thinking about the fact that she'd started all of this.

Simon's call echoed through the trees again followed by another whinny.

"Well, what do you plan on telling him in the meantime?" Valentino asked with a nod toward the bushes. Asha cautiously looked back at Star, just in time to see the boy slump forward. With a gasp, she flung her arms out to break his fall, only instead heaving his body up, she caught a small, round star. It let out a soft snore and turned over once in her arms, snuggling against the sleeve of her gown.

"Nice save," Valentino muttered, looking just as shocked.

Asha glanced once at her satchel, then back to Star, and gently slid him into her pack.

"What?" she groaned when Valentino raised an eyebrow. "As long as he doesn't wake up, no one will know any better."

Valentino opened his mouth to retort but snapped shut it just when Simon burst into the clearing, fully clad in his knight's uniform. Relief washed over his face, and he urged the horse into a gallop toward them.

"Asha! Are you alright?" he asked. "We've been searching everywhere!"

"I'm fine." She clutched her satchel and pointed at the barn. "I uh…went for a walk last night and got lost. I slept in the barn."

He extended his hand and Asha quickly gathered Valentino in her arms. Simon pulled the two onto the large steed, and Asha winced as the horse snorted under their weight. However, when Simon flicked the reins, the animal trotted forward, quickly leaving the clearing well behind them. Asha glanced over her shoulder and offered a small smile to the animals emerging from their hideouts and waving goodbye in the distance.

The three rode in silence for a while. Asha's stomach lurched as her friend's kitchen conversation replayed in her head.

"…it's not like Asha's ever going to leave the palace. Sabino's too old to travel far. And she's a little…weird."

Valentino nudged her arm, bringing her back to reality. She rubbed his head and hoped the look on her face would be enough to keep him quiet.

"Did you see the sky last night?" Simon asked, with excitement practically bursting from his chest. "I wonder what new spell Queen Amaya was testing. Whatever it was it was amazing!"

"Queen Amaya? You think-?" Asha bit her tongue and glanced at the sky. Of course, all of Rosa's would've seen Star, and why shouldn't Simon think it was Queen Amaya's doing. For now anyway.

"She's certainly talented. I wish I could do magic."

"I'd never be able to do it. Not in a million years of training. You saw my charts; I wasn't much of a star charter, I would be an even worse wizard.

He glanced back at Asha and smiled.
"But I know I'll make a great knight, because of you. I didn't get a chance last night to say thank you at the celebration. I admit, at first…I didn't really believe that it would work. That the stars could align so perfectly for me. But if you hadn't kept testing your dad's theories, and researching I might've never….well I guess not never but maybe not….what I'm trying to say is I'm glad you found my star. I didn't think I could be this happy."

Asha blushed and shrugged off the praise. "I only wish I could've made everyone happy."

"Sabino will get his chance, I'm sure of it! Now that you can match the stars to everyone in Rosas-"

"And your parents?"
Simon fell silent, then with a sigh, he turned his head back toward Rosas.

"They're taking some time away. They said they…I think they'll come around. Eventually. They wanted me to go with them, but my duty is here. My life is here, my friends, my kingdom…I saw off on the docks this morning with the Queen."

"The docks," Asha echoed and shuffled Valentino on her aching legs. "The only way out of Rosas. I haven't been there since I was a little girl. Not since…."

Her Papa told her the three of them, her, Saba, and him, waved to her mother as she set sail a few years after she was born. They never visited again. He said he wanted to remember her as she was with him, not sailing away.

Simon's ears flared red and she didn't need to see his face to know the rest of it matched. He flicked the reins, and his horse broke into a gallop so fast Asha had to clutch Valentino close to keep him from slipping. Soon enough, the stucco roofs came into view. Warm smells of fresh, morning bread greeted them. Finally, Rosas whizzed by all around them, along with songs from guitars and friendly arms waving as they rode by. They only slowed once they entered the gigantic palace walls, and Asha took a long look at her familiar home. Fresh-cut grass forever expanding into an immense lawn, the Dream Tower jutting higher into the sky than any other building, rose petals in a beautifully decorated pond filled with ducks.

Simon steered his horse toward the blue entryway to the palace, and just as they came to a stop, the Queen came rushing down the stone stairs two at a time.

"Asha!" She threw her arms around the girl once she dismounted and squeezed her so tight Valentino struggled to breathe. Once she let go, the goat flung himself out of Asha's arms and ran to the pond to swallow some water. Asha slipped a hand into her satchel, sure that Star must've been startled awake. But the soft rise and fall of his warm, shifted body against her palm let her know he still slumbered. An all-night animal rave takes a lot out of a person.

The Queen, freshly composed, gave her a stern look.

"Where have you been?!" she asked. "Not a note! Not a word to me, or your grandfather or friends?"

"I was…well I thinking and it got late….then the sky exploded! Of course, I didn't think that anything would actually happen if I-"

"Enough!" The Queen held up her hand and silenced the girl. "Come with me to the tower. Now."