Nina bounced on her feet, bursts of green pooling around her as her magic begged to help. “Come on, come on.”
“We get to them quickly,” Alix commanded. “Don’t let anyone register what that was.”
Sawyer looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but most of the crowd was too fixated on the drama and blood, not on what caused it. It had to have been Sol’s blood bond. Unless her cousin had known the Dark Spells and not told them.
Or Cas had managed to connect with Loumallet more than he’d let on.
The Enchantment fell with a crackle.
They jumped over the border, sprinting to Sol and Cas.
“You’re more like Irene than anticipated, Niece,” her father laughed dryly behind them. “Very much like her indeed.”
The healers worked on them for hours, using a combination of earth magic and Driodell Forest plants, until they finally shared with Nina, Sawyer, and Alix they were stable.
Weak, but stable.
Nina tried to go inside to see them, but the healers advised to let them rest. Now, Nina and Sawyer both sat on the wooden bench outside, watching servants and students roam by, eyeing them with curiosity.
“Can you believe Sol did it?” Sawyer folded her hands behind her head. “The untrained, magicless, small-town girl bested the Vows.”
“Shh!” Nina smacked her side. “Don’t say anything about magic. The walls have ears.”
Sol channeling her Aunt’s magic was unexpected. Not only is that a skill honed through years of practice, but the fact Lady Lora allowed her niece access to the deadly energy was odd. Dark Magic in the hands of inexperienced souls was as good as throwing them to Loumallet himself. They would have to take Sol to her god’s temple to purge, pray, and release the darkness, then hope it didn’t take hold. Even if Lora had siphoned the magic, it would still require Sol to purge it from her system.
Again, if that’s what had happened.
First, though, they would need to figure out which god was Sol’s. Sawyer rubbed her temples. “I need this day to be over.”
“I agree.” Nina sighed. “I haven’t had so much anxiety since the Wielder tests at the academy. Do you remember those?”
They both laughed at the memory. The four of them had studied the Rimemere texts and practices for weeks, pressured by their Yarrow Court status to pass everything with perfection. Nina and
Alix had gotten the highest marks, both on the written andphysical magic portions. Sawyer made a hole in the rooftop’s training rink arches with her fire, and Cas had thrown his own test to make Sawyer feel better, although he never admitted to it.
“Cas made his Shadows push that one man from the roof, the one who kept bothering you,” Sawyer laughed. “What was his name?”
Nina shivered. “Rolian. What a creep.”
“Too bad he survived.”
“Sawyer!”
Sawyer leaned her head on her friend’s shoulder, their laughter echoing before hushing into an aching silence. Despite the attempts for humor, they both knew the turbulent oceans awaiting them now. As soon as Sol took the throne, the true tests would begin. The war against the Jinn would unfold, and it seemed against their own people as well.
“Do you think we will win?” Sawyer whispered.
Nina grabbed her hand. “There is no other option, S.”
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?”
