Page 65 of Of Stars and Lightning (Sun and Shadows #1)

Forty Eight

THE IN BETWEEN

SOL KNEW THIS PLACE.

There was a gentle darkness all around her and a peaceful silence as she took the biggest sigh. She walked forward to nowhere, her feet bare and hair loose around her chest. She wore a thin veil of fabric as a dress, and she traced it with her fingertips.

“Sol?”

She turned to the voice.

Cas was dressed in a black suit, as usual. But all the exhaustion the past weeks had drawn on his handsome face was gone, his expression fully awake and radiant, and a relief to see.

She ran to him.

He met her with a crushing embrace, his face sinking into her neck, his arms wrapping around her waist as he pulled her off the ground. Sol wrapped her legs around him, pulling back slightly to peer at him.

His breath was heavy and fierce. Restrained. “Are we dead?”

Sol laughed. “Hopefully, because if not, I think I’ll regret this.”

She took his face in her hands and kissed him.

Like a key sliding into its lock, a sense of utter rightness settled in her chest as he wove his free hand through her hair, pushing her closer with an urgency that left her breathless.

He broke away for a moment, but his gaze never left her lips as he said, “I hope you don’t.

” The arm that held her up wrapped around her waist. “I know I won’t. ”

“You Xanthos are always causing trouble for us, you know.”

Cas released Sol and pulled her behind him in an instant, the parting of their bodies leaving her with a frigid shiver.

Sol blinked into the darkness. “Aunt Lora?”

Lora smiled, “We must speak, Soleil.” She wasn’t like before. She was back to her normal self, her smile gentle and kind as it had always been, and her eyes the color of the purest honey. She angled her head at Cas. “Alone, I’m afraid.”

Cas’s figure shimmered, then in a burst of mist, disappeared into the darkness.

“What—” Sol looked around in alarm.

“He’s fine, Sol.” Her aunt walked closer. “And you will be too.” She held out her hands in a silent gesture to get closer. Sol did. She wrapped her aunt in a hug, the sensation so real it was almost as if she was truly there.

Lora sighed against her. “I’m sorry, Sol.”

“For what?”

“For what comes next.”

Sol inched back. “Are you okay? Where are we? In that in-between again?”

Nodding, Lora closed her hands over Sol’s. “Listen to me. You have a great task ahead of you, Sol. You cannot afford distractions, and I will not be here to guide you.” She pulled her into another hug, one that felt too rushed. “Please stay away from Casimir Xanthos.”

Sol’s head felt like it was filled with cement. It took her several tries to open her eyelids, and when she finally did, the blazing firelight made her regret it.

With a groan, she shut her eyes.

She tried moving her arms, her legs, her fingers, but they were too heavy. The only thing that made her sure she was actually in a body was the fact it was incredibly sore. “Did you know you snore?” Cas asked.

Sol peeled an eye open and let her head fall toward his voice. Although blurry, she made out his outline beside her. He seemed to sit on a chair, and she appeared to be in…

“Where are we?” Sol croaked, voice hoarse, and throat on fire. “The healer's quarters,” he replied, shifting in his seat. “Here.”

Sol felt the cool metal of a chalice against her lips. She tried not to moan with delight at the fresh water. Her head was held up slightly by a hand, then gently laid down after she drained the chalice completely. She blinked against the light, struggling to focus.

Then, all at once, the memories flooded her.

The duel.

Lora.

Dark Magic.

The dream.

Exhaling a breath, she pushed herself up on her elbows.

“Careful.” Cas leaned forward, outstretching his arms in caution. “You’re going to feel very disoriented.”

He was right. The room swirled and ebbed, but she made out the lifted bare cot she lay on, and the monotonous walls lined with jars of herbs, gauze, and other things she didn’t recognize.

“You’re alright.” For a moment, Sol fought the urge to reach for him, a desire likely brought upon by the bizarre dream. She ached to see if his lips would be as soft here, if his touch would be—

With an inhale, she sat up completely, resisting the temptation to grab his hand.

Instantly, Cas took her in an embrace.. Burrowing her face into his neck, she threw her arms around him, not bothering to suppress the bubbling sobs that built in the back of her throat.

He felt the same as in the dream, warm, magnetic…

safe. She sobbed harder. They had gone through so much in such a short period of time.

As he always did, he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, simply pressing her closer by cradling her head in his hand. “I know,” he whispered. “I know.”

They stayed like that for a long while, until Sol’s tears dried and Cas ran lazy circles along her back.

Sol sighed and pulled herself back. “How long have I been asleep?”

He gave her some space but remained braced on her cot. “Three days. I was out for one.”

Blood pounded at her temples. “Somehow I feel less rested than if I hadn’t slept at all.” She rubbed her bare arms, startled to find herself in only a small nightgown. Her arms were still covered in bruises and cuts, same as Cas’s.

He reached to the table beside them and grabbed a cloak that hung from its chair. He settled it over her shoulders. “Quite a trick you did out there.”

With a sigh, Sol told him about Lora and the strange visions of her, deciding to leave out the last dream where they had… seen each other.

“Perhaps the blood bond connected your subconscious as well,” Cas mused. “Interesting.”

“Sol!” The door to the room burst open revealing Nina, Sawyer, and Alix, all holding different sorts of trinkets. Nina threw the bouquet of flowers aside as she rushed to her, crushing her into a hug. “We didn’t know what to bring, so I brought flowers, and Sawyer got stew from the human sections.”

“It smells really rancid,” Sawyer commented, setting the cup on a stool. “But that may just be the typical seafood smell.”

Sol smiled and pulled her into a hug as Nina went to Cas.

Her cousin patted her back. “I’m glad you didn’t die.”

“I only brought extra clothes since I figured you’d hate the healer’s robes,” Alix said, walking to them. “It’s almost as bad as scribe fashion.”

Sol looked between them all, a sense of tentative peace settling over her. Perhaps there would be struggles ahead, but as long as she was with them, it would all be okay.

Word that the Semmena Court wished to see them reached moments later, instantly putting Sol in a foul mood despite the glorious success. Although she wanted to rest, the look on the King’s face when she slashed the Coronation Vows out of law would be fantastic.

Her Court agreed to let her change into the clothes Alix brought, as they were at least more modest than what she wore now, and she had no desire to stuff herself into a formal gown.

They left her alone in the healer’s quarters, the lack of anyone beside her was rather unsettling after having been around at least one person most of the past few weeks.

Sol took her time to undress, rubbing her hands over her skin.

Everything ached. Her bones, her skin, gods, even her fingernails were sensitive.

She drew a bath in her mind, decorated with lavender and mixed with oils.

She would ask Francis to tell her about the Vows from the castle’s view and have her help with tea.

The first thing she did when she emerged from the healer’s quarters was hug Alix.

The gown he brought her was comfortable against her wounds but also effortlessly elegant.

It was a green so dark it seemed black in the shadows, the color only shining through near firelights or sun.

Nina helped braid her hair into an elegant knot, and Sawyer gave her a medicinal tea to soothe any aches until she could return to bed.

Sol hoped the meeting wouldn’t take long, the gloomy feeling of dread simmering at the pit of her stomach as she glanced around. “Where is Cas?”

His absence was jarring, alarming. Her skin prickled with panic, still tethered to the urgency of the Vows, of needing to ensure he was okay—

“He will meet us there,” Nina said, placing her hand over Sol’s trembling fingers. “He is fine.”

Sol swallowed the protests, giving the Earth Caller a nod before following her to the Castle Foyer.

She didn’t have an expectation of where the meeting would be, but when she realized it was in the Courtyard, the tension melted from her shoulders.

Being outside, in the sunlight, and without walls to stop her, gave her much-needed ease.

Nina, wearing her usual black tactical suit, took her spot to Sol’s right, Sawyer mirroring her on the left. Alix gave Sol a courteous nod before stepping in front of her.

Even with them beside her, the people she had missed so much while away, the empty spot at her back ached stronger than any wound.

What if he was taken again? What if a Jinn— He is a trained soldier, Sol. Grow up.

She clenched her hands into fists, annoyed at herself, at the cocktail of emotions that brewed in the background, tainting her with its future problems.

“Looking for someone, Princess?” The gentle nuzzle of cool mist tapped at her bare back, the dress Alix had chosen leaving her birthmark exposed.

A sigh of unfiltered relief loosened her chest as she glanced over her shoulder.

She studied his raven-black hair, combed back into a messy knot with a leather band.

Although still bruised, his face seemed calmer, more relaxed now that everything was over.

When she glanced up to meet his gaze, he was already watching her.

Sol smiled. “Not anymore.”