Page 45 of Of Stars and Lightning (Sun and Shadows #1)
Thirty Five
Nina
TO THANK FLORA for sparing Cas and Sol, Nina spent the day planting lilies in the castle’s bare gardens.
She woke up at dawn to tend to the soil, releasing the hounds to keep her company.
Gardening soothed her. The dirt beneath her nails, instead of the blood of battle, was a welcome change, and the soft fragrance of the blooms wrapped her in a much-needed hug.
She tended to the dirt for hours, ensuring it was tender and rich enough to plant the seeds. She could’ve made the process faster with her magic, but there was a sort of magic in letting things happen naturally, too.
By noon, Nina planted lilies and roses all along the front courtyard, her skirt wonderfully filthy and hair full of mud. As she stood to admire her work, the sound of footsteps behind her made her reach for the concealed dagger.
“Are you so paranoid you carry a weapon on castle grounds,
Miss Amana?”
Nina sighed in relief. “Many people dislike us, Gaven.”
Gaven smiled down at the mess of holes and gardening tools by her feet. “Needed a distraction?”
“You can say that.”
Although Gaven had graduated into the Semmena Court, he and the Yarrow Court had been good friends during their time as students.
He was meant to join them in the Yarrow Court, his spot earned by exemplary performance and intricate Wind Dancer abilities.
But Semmena claimed him for himself for no other reason than to separate them.
Still, Gaven found ways to interact with Nina and the others, though he was closer to Sawyer as they both served on Rimemere’s tactical team.
And because he was infatuated.
“Not that I don't want you here, Gaven, but your presence usually means something is needed,” Nina said, shaking away the ache in her hands. “Surprised you didn't summon Sawyer.”
Gaven chuckled. “I did. She didn't open her door.”
Nina grimaced at the thought of her friend in her room, alone, and more than likely tending to both the physical and emotional wounds her father inflicted. But she knew her well enough to leave it alone for now, aside from the occasional check-in through the plants Nina left in her room.
The only thing keeping her from trying to drag her out was the fact Sawyer had gone out on her own accord the day before, which meant she wasn’t so far deep in her mind as to need help. “Yes, perhaps let her rest,” Nina said. “What do you need?”
Gaven sighed, turning to look past the castle gates for a moment before looking back at her. “The King has instructed me to go to the Jinn Den. He said to take Sawyer as well.” Nina’s heart skipped a beat.
The Jinn Den was the one place in Rimemere most Wielders avoided, and rightfully so.
The place housed Jinn of every level, from the rabid lower levels to the ones just below the Mind Slayers.
It was put in place before Nina’s time, meant to house the creatures to better understand them and their weakness, to perhaps one day best them permanently with something other than Yarrow blood.
Before Nina and her court had left Rimemere, the four of them were tasked with rotating patrols along with several human guards, forced to choose between that and the dungeons whenever they were under the King’s scrutiny.
Whatever reason Arnold had for wanting Gaven out there with Sawyer...“For what?” Nina demanded, crossing her arms.
Gaven looked around, his expression darkening. “Apparently a Mind Slayer was caught and taken in. He asked me to…question it.”
Samara’s statement eased back into Nina’s mind.
Because it’s quite a blow to think you all searched for, what, three years with no luck, but a single Mind Slayer finds her in a month?
She picked at the dirt beneath her nails. “Now why would we keep one of those at all? Where was it found?”
The man shrugged. “I truly don't know why, or why he wanted me to take Sawyer. It was captured around Emberdon’s temple late last night.”
Nina smoothed her skirt. “Well, you’re getting me instead.”
BEFORE THEY DEPARTED, Nina changed into something more equipped to handle a Mind Slayer.
She donned a dark green tactical suit, one she found in her room from her days as a student.
It was a few tugs too tight, but the reinforcement it offered against a Jinn bite was too enticing for her to give up.
After squeezing into it, she threw on a black cape and her usual sword before tucking several daggers into her waist belt.
When Gaven spotted her from his spot by the castle gates, he let out a low whistle. “Miss Amana, I don't think I’ve seen you in this suit since before graduation.”
Nina rolled her eyes, though still felt a tad embarrassed at how tightly it hugged her. “You are correct, Gaven. It’s my second-year suit.”
He gave her a small smile and motioned her forward to where Kahaida waited. “Smart choice.”
Gaven rode on his own horse, a stunning white stallion, at a steady pace beside her as they galloped through the forest in comfortable silence.
The day was warm, a sign summer began to approach.
Nina enjoyed most seasons, especially in Rimemere where they were clearly distinguished. But of them all, she liked summer most.
The sun always seemed to make things better.
The Jinn Den was a half-hour ride from the castle, sometimes shorter depending on the route taken. This time, they decided to ride along the coast, with the beach and ocean beside them, the Jinn gate looming in the distance.
As they arrived at the Den, Nina couldn't help but look past it to the speck in the distance where the Gods’ Villa and her friends were.
Before Nina had gone to garden that morning, the Death List had been issued from yesterday’s trial—Winderlyn’s trial. Zeri and Ezra, both marked as penalty kills.
It was such news that prompted the immediate need to feel the dirt on her skin.
Nina gently pulled Kahaida to a stop a healthy distance from the gate, knowing the mare was more sensitive to Jinn presence than even she was. Gaven did the same with his stallion. He looked up at the building, constructed of onyx and laced with violet streams.
“This place never gets easier to come to.”
Nina eyed the wards—Jeriyah’s enchantments—shimmering around the walls and knobless door. “It truly doesn't.”
Even the trees and grassland surrounding the place were dull and brittle, as if the very life was replaced with the Jinn’s endless death. Usually, guards would greet them at the main door. The lack of any made Gaven and Nina glance at each other with heightened caution.
Wordlessly, Gaven retrieved his sword from his belt and took the lead, Nina behind him with a sense of unease in the pit of her stomach.
It never made sense to her why the King harbored these creatures within the wall that's meant to keep them out, nor why the wall did not extend along the coast when the Jinn mostly swam to land from their isle.
“Semmena didn't say what exactly to ask it,” Gaven whispered. “Only to see what it said.”
Nina tightened the grip on her daggers. Mind Slayers within Rimemere couldn't mean anything good.
As they reached the door, Gaven knocked a series of sounds on it with the hilt of his sword, a code that would signal the keepers to open.
Nina had a sudden wave of dread that perhaps they were also missing, but after a few moments, the door creaked open—no guards in sight.
It was a single hall they stepped into, the door snapping shut behind them and leaving them engulfed in total darkness. Slowly, a blue glow seeped from beneath the many doors flanking them, stretching into the abyss beyond. Nina looked from door to door and fidgeted with the hilt of her daggers.
Each door was solid, bolted, and warded with enchantments that predated Jeriyah’s position. Nina didn’t trust the ancient magic at all, but it seemed to be doing its job.
The doors were adorned with individual carvings, depicting different classes of Jinn.
To her right was the portrait of a giant, birdlike creature with feathered wings and talons stretching from its lanky fingers.
Where the beak should have been there was a gaping hole filled with long teeth and a pointed tongue.
Its eyes were huge, bulging, and set on either side of its head—A Middle-Level Jinn, more sentient than the Lowers.
“Where in the world are the guards,” Nina whispered, pressing her back to Gaven’s to keep a full range of surveillance. Her breath came in puffs of cool mist, the temperature within the place a permanent winter.
“I’ve never seen the place unguarded,” Gaven responded. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Your little soldiers were called away about an hour ago, Wind Dancer.”
Nina knew the voice of a Mind Slayer. They had a distinct sort of timbre, one that made their victims drawn to them, all part of their manipulation. It came from the end of the lone corridor, highlighted by a soft, baby-blue light.
She and Gaven exchanged glances.
He shrugged. “Your call. We can come back with reinforcements.”
The Mind Slayer cackled. “Oh, no need to fear little old me. Come. Come here, Earth Caller—I can smell the land on you.”
If they left now, Nina doubted she would get the opportunity again to see what made Semmena so interested in the creature. Maybe the King would somehow drag Sawyer here for whatever sick reason.
No, Nina wouldn’t risk that.
She nodded in a silent order forward.
Gaven obliged.
The thing was…fatally mesmerizing. It sat on the floor, back against the wall and knees folded beneath it.
Unlike the Lowers, Mind Slayers were typically more humanoid, making them even more unsettling.
Its entire being was covered with radiant blue skin.
Its hands were casually draped over its knees.
Where its fingers should be, there were only thin, needlelike rods.
It had no hair, no semblance of humanity.
Their eyes met.