Page 72 of Of Stars and Lightning (Sun and Shadows #1)

Fifty Four

SAMARA

SAMARA NEVER GOT used to it. Granted, she didn’t use Dark Magic often, but every time she did she felt equipped enough to handle it.

She never was.

That familiar ache skirted through her bones, making her skin sensitive and sore as she leaned against the wall of the main courtyard. The castle broke into a frenzy as soon as the Jinn signature spread, sending the nobility into a panic.

Idiots.

Samara had been on her way to the kitchens for a glass of ale when she felt it, that cold embrace of Loumallet’s children.

She watched the Yarrow Princess butcher it through the simple Enchantment, one that hid her in place beside the gardens. The Princess bringing her sword down again and again, even after the creature was nothing but mush, was mesmerizing. It took her whole Court to stop her.

Taking a drag from the Kerproot cigar, Samara shook her head.

“One down, I guess.”

“Each one counts.” Gaven took the cigar from her fingers, leaning on a wall beside her. He stayed behind and in the shadows of the courtyard arches as he didn’t have the cover of Void Magic to shield him. “Especially Lorkin’s Mind Slayers.”

Samara shrugged. “I figured her mother would have at least told her about seeking aid with Mavka. Leave her without magic or knowledge of her best allies?” She motioned for the cigar. “Sol was set up for failure.”

She hadn’t believed it at first, either. The Jinn, children of the Void itself. Allies? Samara thought Irene was mad. But when she looked through the box the late Queen had left her in charge of, her opinion changed.

Quickly.

“Sawyer knows about Lorkin,” Gaven said. “Won’t be long before they piece together that Semmena is working with the Jinn who killed Irene.”

“Too bad that knowledge doesn’t do much.” Samara extinguished the cigar with a tendril of Shadows. “Not until we figure out who gave him the order to kill her.”

Semmena didn’t know. He didn’t know Samara knew of his scheme, of his own alliance with the Jinn—the ones who shouldn’t be allied with.

“And Mavka? Has she said anything?”

Samara shook her head. “Haven’t heard from her.”

Aside from Semmena’s scheming, that was another thing that had Samara on edge. Their one and only Jinn ally was missing.

Behind them, students ran into the halls and corridors, surely curious to see the chaos in the gardens.

“Are you alright?” Gaven neared her. “You’ve been using a lot of Void Magic.”

Samara’s eyes burned, the raised veins around her cheeks heated.

Keeping Jeriyah’s enchantments weak hadn’t been difficult—it was the fact Alix Bennet was now reinforcing them that exhausted her.

But they needed the enchantments to waver, to quiver and weaken.

They needed those tunnels open. “I’ll handle it. ”

The man smiled at her, his brow slightly furrowed. “I will keep you informed.”

Samara dipped her chin in agreement before looking back to the gardens. Sol and her Court were gone, but she made out the slight violet outline of her brother’s Ward.

“So, what now?” Gaven asked, flicking his brown eyes to her.

“Sol Awakens?”

Nodding, she released a sigh to the sky. “And meanwhile, we fast-track the reach for the Relics. I don’t think they will find them quickly enough.”

Gaven nodded and gave her a slight bow, making his way back into the depths of the courtyard.

“And Samara—”

She turned back to Gaven, who stood with his hand on the doorknob to the throne room. Wordlessly, he crossed his right arm over his chest and patted his shoulder four times.

Long may she reign.

Samara smiled, crossing her own arm over her chest, tapping it five times in response.

Long live the Yarrow Clan.