Page 56 of Of Stars and Lightning (Sun and Shadows #1)

Forty One

TO KEEP A SECRET

SAWYER

SAWYER RAN DOWN the castle corridors. Her blouse caught on every corner and her boots scraped the marble floors, but she didn’t care.

Every inch of her body flared with urgency and adrenaline as she hurried down the spiral staircase, down to the foyer occupied by students and servants.

Neither paid her much attention except for Francis who furrowed her brows as they passed each other.

Later.

Sawyer would fill her in later.

She catapulted into the gardens, shining blue and silver beneath the moonlight’s rays.

Nina.

Nina.

A quick inquiry to a courtier told her Nina was out of the castle with Gaven since midday but couldn’t say the reason or when they would return.

Sawyer continued her aimless wandering as she couldn’t focus on much of anything other than the Jinn’s foul smell, its rotting, orange skin engraved to the back of her eyelids every time she blinked.

He’s working with the Jinn.

Out of all the insanity her father had done, and was surely capable of, she never would have guessed he was working with the enemy. Not only their enemy, but their world’s.

Sawyer couldn’t breathe. Too many things needed to be spilled into the air, or else they would rot within her, but she needed to find Nina.

“Sawyer?”

She swirled around, the motion making her sway. “Alix,” she breathed shakily. “H—have you seen Nina?”

Alix rushed down the hall, signaling for the kingsmen behind him to close the doors. His attention roved all over her. “What’s wrong?”

“I—I just need to find her.”

“Did you find Samara?”

“I need Nina, Alix.”

Someone within your castle is lying.

Her breath came in shallow puffs as the room spun. Maybe she shouldn’t tell Nina—perhaps no one was safe, and she was doomed to carry the worst fucking news herself until everything came crumbling down.

“You’re shaking, love.” Alix threw his cloak around her. “Are you sure you are alright?”

Someone within your castle is lying.

As Sawyer was about to burst into flames with uncertainty, she felt her.

Nina and Gaven walked through the Castle gates, both sharing similar solemn expressions. Gaven quickly turned right toward the stables, giving Sawyer and Alix a curt nod before disappearing into a cluster of red cloaks.

Nina’s ivory skin was pallid, and her usually bright green eyes were muted as she finally stepped up beside them. She looked back and forth between them. “What’s wrong?”

“I need your help with something.” Sawyer grasped her arm. “Quickly.”

She took a couple of steps before Nina eased from her grasp. “Sawyer, I’ve learned to not go alone with you when you’re this erratic.”

“Are you sure I can’t help somehow, Sawyer?” Alix’s tone was laced with concern, his honeycomb eyes narrowing.

“I—uh.” Having two trusted individuals’ input might be better, but at the same time the more people dragged into it, the more danger they would be in. Unfortunately, if Sawyer didn’t tell someone, she would quite literally boil from the inside out.

“Actually, can you find Penny, Al?” Nina gave him a sweet smile.

“She was running some errands for me.”

Sawyer arched a brow at her, but Nina merely shrugged. Later.

“On it.” He gave them a final assessing glance. “Let me know if you all need anything.”

Sawyer and Nina were left on the courtyard for seconds before Sawyer resumed dragging her across the lily fields. Mercifully, Nina didn’t protest as they maneuvered through the crowds, finally reaching the corner of the yards.

Sawyer looked around for a private place, but the realization no such thing existed on castle grounds smacked her along with a cool breeze. Finally, she swerved to the one place she knew would be empty, a place not even her father dared send spies.

The Pantheon was ominous in the day, but the darkness cast a whole other level of gloom over it. The gates were ajar, and the ground was hidden with fog, forcing Sawyer to slow her steps.

“Sawyer, what in the world—”

“Shh.” Sawyer grabbed Nina’s hand. “A little further.”

They slid around the tombstones and branches until coming to a singular mausoleum with a pointed roof that faced away from the looming eyes of the castle.

“Sawyer, what am I to say if the kingsmen ask why we are in restricted grounds?” Nina braced her hands on her hips, easing from her grasp. “We need to stay under the radar, at least until after the Vows.”

“Tell them we finally decided to fuck, Nina, I don’t know.” Sawyer paced in small steps, digging her hands through her unbound hair.

Why am I even considering something a Jinn said? “Gods, S. Spill. You’re making me anxious.” Fuck it.

Sawyer turned to her, looking her straight in the eyes with the force of simmering embers. “I need you to promise me something first.”

Nina furrowed her brows and nodded. “Of course.”

“Swear it.”

“Sawyer.”

“My father is conspiring with the Jinn.” The words spilled like poison, hot and deadly. “I don’t know for what or when or how it happened.”

Nina’s chest rose and fell in silence as she processed the information. Slowly, panic flared in her eyes. “How do you know?”

“I overheard him and a Mind Slayer speaking in his study.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a long fucking story, but it’s true. The—the thing’s name was Lorkin.” Sawyer shook her head in disbelief, trying to somehow convince herself today had been a nightmare. She looked to Nina, expecting her to laugh or to ask if it was a joke.

But the Earth Caller was silent.

“You don’t believe me.” Sawyer sighed, “I know it sounds insane, but—”

“Who’s Morna, Sawyer?” Nina’s voice took a serious edge, enough to make Sawyer halt her pacing.

Sawyer snapped her head at her. “How do you know that name?”

“Seems like we’ve both had interesting days.”

Nina told her everything. She recounted her and Gaven’s encounter at the Jinn Den, starting from the summons from her father all the way to Morna’s warning.

The same one she had given Sawyer days before.

Afterward, Sawyer told Nina her own story. Starting from her mother’s death in Melisandre and Morna’s assistance in her own survival, ending at the day’s events. Once everything was out, it was as if a massive weight dissipated from her shoulders. She hadn’t shared that with anyone.

The entire time she spoke, Nina’s kind expression didn’t falter, nor did she interrupt. And once her friend was sure she was done, she only pulled her into an embrace.

“Can’t believe she let herself be caught.” Sawyer held her tighter.

“Because I doubt the kingsmen caught her without her allowing it.”

“I’m sorry you carried all this alone for so long, Sawyer,” Nina whispered. “I’m sorry if somehow I wasn’t trustworthy enough to help with the burden.”

“No, Nins, it wasn’t you.” Sawyer buried her face in her friend’s shoulder. “I think a part of me just didn’t want to recall it at all.”

They stayed like that for a while, until the bright calls of the curfew bells sang across the land. Sawyer pulled back, smiling a tad sadly to find Nina in tears as well.

“What now?” Sawyer glanced around, wiping her own face. “What the fuck do we do now?”

Nina shut her eyes. “I don’t know. Samara mentioned someone sent out a Mind Slayer to find Sol—"

Sawyer gaped at her. “I’m sorry, who?”

“Um—”

“Nina.”

“Samara,” said Nina through gritted teeth. She looked away. “Samara told me, okay?”

Sawyer didn’t know what she was expecting, but it certainly hadn’t been that. Though as she took the moment to process what that statement meant, it somehow made sense. “Out of all the women—”

“Can we not do this right now?” Nina slumped against the stone mausoleum. “And instead focus on the fact the king is basically that thing Lorkin’s proxy?”

“We should’ve never come back.” Sawyer sighed, leaning beside her. “Maybe Lady Lora would have kept us in Yavenharrow.”

Nina laughed. “Wouldn’t that have been something.”

A moment of contemplative silence passed, interrupted by another boom of the curfew bells.

Finally, Nina said, “We need Sol. Without her to rival his reign, anything else we do will cause an unwinnable civil war.”

“And you think Sol won’t cause an uproar? Be real, Nins. We are all hated at court.”

Nina looked out to the forest, her lips a tight line.

“She has supporters. You both do—the Yarrows do. Yarrows are the reason why Rimemere exists. You’re tethered to the land itself.

And although Irene left the castle in ruin, she made a difference here.

She rounded the Unsettled and the humans, fought for those who had no voice, and stood fierce in her conviction to allow others within our borders for safety.

” Nina sighed, “Then she and Draven had that fight after her Vows and gods know what happened.”

“If the Jinn infiltrate our walls, a lot of lives will be lost.” Sawyer peered at her. “We need to figure out where these things are hiding.”

“Sol and Cas should be back with us soon.” Nina grasped her hand. “We will figure out what to do then. For now, perhaps we should figure out what Semmena has over a Mind Slayer that he gained their allegiance.”

Sawyer swallowed a lump in her throat. “I know that answer.”

After a moment of silence, Nina said, “What is it?”

The final and third set of bells chimed. “He has Sol.”