Page 137 of Of Stars and Lightning
I want to be that apple.Sol turned away. “Well, I’m glad.”
He extended his arm, his tattoo peeking around his wrist. “Your blood healed not only my physical wounds but also worked to calm my nerves it seems.”
“Gross, Cas.”
He chuckled and gestured her forward. “After you, Princess.”
They made their way to the front doors. Today was the day, the questions and riddles could wait. Today she wouldn’t let distractions win. She wouldn’t fail.
By the time Sol exited the front door of the Villa, Jonah and Phil were already waiting by one of the carriages. The guards wore unusually thick and vibrant attire, every inch of their skin covered by scarlet fabric. Sol eyed them, and the ones posted by the carriage behind, as she halted next to Jonah.
“I already asked why they look ridiculous,” he said, a brow raised.
“Did they respond?” Sol asked, working her hair into a braid.
“Nope.”
“What do you two think the Fire Trial is going to be?” Phil kicked rocks with his feet. “Emberdon’s beginning was from a volcano in Mosorrona.”
Sol shrugged. “Won’t be surprised if they found one here somehow.”
She and Cas rode in the first carriage, the brothers in the other. Mercifully, neither Fin nor Gina showed this time. Sol didn’t think she had the patience to stand either of their faces anymore.
They rode through the familiar forest for a while until tin roofs replaced the trees. Sol memorized the layout desperately, scanning the modest cottages that curled over hills and into valleys, looking for the one building she needed to end up in.
Fingers shaking and a bubbling sense of purpose flooding her, Sol closed her eyes once she located it.
It was almost done. Once the trials were over, she would do her Awakening. She would train until she could say she was a Yarrow without cowering and she would finish what her mother started—if not for her, for everyone else.
“You’re uncharacteristically quiet, Princess.”
Sol fidgeted with her nails. “I have nothing to say.”
“You always have something to say.”
She shrugged. “People change.”
The town’s delicate buildings rushed closer, bigger, but Sol kept her attention on the cathedral, the vantage point of her plan. She had to get Jonah and Phil there no matter what.
As they came to a rolling stop by the village square, an unsettling gnawing prickled at her neck. She tapped her fingers against the carriage window.
Something.
“Sol, what is it?” Cas inched closer within the already confined space. “I can’t help you if I don’t know??—”
She turned to him, quickly stopping him mid-thought. His face was lined with worry, raw and intense.
Trust. She needed to learn to trust.
“I—I’m getting them out,” she said softly. Cas narrowed his eyes, urging her on. She continued, “I need you to help me get them to the cathedral.”
“Sol, this is risky.”
“I don’t care.”
“But—”
“You offered help, so give it, Prince.”
