by LJ Andrews
Maddox nodded curtly before turning on his heel and silently rounding the corner, leaving Nova stunned and silent.
The billowing storm within her grew stronger, surging through her body until she could taste the dark strength.
“My diligence? He doesn’t see my purpose? Who does he think he is,” she ranted aloud, feeling a powerful desire to cross blades with Maddox and prove her strength to him. Her hands trembled, and it took every ounce of willpower to move in the opposite direction, away from Maddox.
“Lass, ye there?” Briggs’s voice carried across the wind as Nova was pushing open the door to the wooden hut she’d been given. Some members of the band remained housed inside the island, but Nova preferred to watch the stars and feel the chilled air as she slept. It was peaceful and quiet seeing as only a few others had selected to live topside.
Turning around, she saw Briggs, Kale, and Atlas climbing over a rocky ledge toward her. Atlas stopped short, gripping one of the long, curved swords he’d been given. His shirt was unbuttoned, revealing his chest, and his shoulder-length hair blew wild and free in the wind. She sighed, knowing he’d been pulled from another female escapade to join them. Atlas smiled, but his eyes were lost somewhere else.
“What’s wrong?” she called to Briggs and Kale.
Kale jogged toward her, his face light, but his stance showed tension. “Your father wanted us to meet with him.”
“I can see there’s something bothering you,” she said, whispering into his ear. His eyes darkened and he tangled his fingers with hers.
Briggs leaned over, huffing from trekking up the hill. “Lass…it be time…to meet with, and I don’t want to hear no wafflin’ about it…ye need to come with us to meet…the Three…Brothers.”
Nova’s blood chilled. The moment she’d tried desperately to avoid for days had now caught up with her.
The moss-covered cave wall jabbed hard into Nova’s side, but she didn’t care. Beneath her furrowed brow she glared at the clammy-skinned creatures sitting straight and proper as if they were kings. Patus, Co, and Virtus occasionally glanced in her direction, Patus the only one able to watch her with his yellowing eyes. When she briefly met his gaze, she offered a seething glare before turning her gaze to the other side of the room.
Kale stood near her, keeping his shoulders tense and ready for anything. Atlas leaned against the opposite wall, seething his own hatred for the brothers.
Briggs whispered something to Varick who quickly walked closer to Nova. “Love,” he said. “I hope you will understand this is necessary.”
“I don’t trust anything about them,” she hissed back to her father.
“She does not deserve our help,” Co snarled to his brothers. Though his voice was low, it was intentionally loud enough for her to hear.
Nova shuddered but tried to conceal her discomfort from the empty black holes Co called eyes. He spewed his disdain for her as he rubbed a wrinkled, chapped finger over the black scar across his wrist. Nova remembered the moment she’d used her dagger against the brothers. She’d escaped their clutches, but they had promised she’d need their assistance once again. Nova’s jaw was taut. Her father was asking for their help, not her.
“She has much to learn about respect,” Patus agreed, patting Co’s knee. They whispered as if no one in the room could hear them, and their obvious attempts at antagonizing her only made her stomach turn as the dark power boiled through her veins. “But we agreed we would hear the entire plan. But it is uncommon to forgive such barbaric behavior as she displayed not so long ago, wouldn’t you agree, Brother?”
Patus whipped his head toward Virtus, his pale colorless hair flipping across his wide forehead. Virtus’s brow narrowed, and the empty sockets shrunk in a frightening glare. “I have never seen such a lack of refinement and such a lack of gratitude,” he said snidely, looking at her over his shoulder.
Nova’s cheeks flushed in anger, and she could keep silent no longer. “I cannot work with these…these creatures,” she shouted. “They are manipulating us, Father! They only want my Djinn power!”
“Well, I have never,” Patus said, feigning disgust. “After all we have offered to do with no real benefit to us.”
“You tried to take Nova for yourselves,” Kale snarled, cocking the hammer on his pistol.
Co and Virtus stood, each clasping two long daggers with rust-colored tips. The blades had tasted flesh recently, and it only spurred Nova’s brash power to react further. Unlatching the Djinn dagger from her ankle belt, she twirled it threateningly before stepping toward the brothers.
“Nova, do not do this, we need what they have,” her father’s voice commanded, but the spinning dark strength pushed her onward.
“Enough!”
As if a powerful cyclone tore through her body, the Djinn power dissipated into nothing more than a bitter tantrum. Her resolve to attack the brothers weakened and she stopped mid-step, holding her dagger against her side, wondering why she suddenly had such reservations to approach the Three Brothers.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Hadwin push into the room. She huffed loudly so he would pick up on her annoyance at him for using his own power to suffocate hers. “There is a history, Hadwin, that can’t be ignored.”
“Well, for now it must,” he responded. “Varick, I have just received word from my contact at the temple. It’s about Kamali.”
Chapter 3
The Temple
His hands were covered in gold rings with vibrant jewels in the center. When his skin wrapped around hers, she shuddered as it scratched against her youthful palms.
She turned away at his dark scowl and watched the rolling hills of her beloved home fade behind the clouds.
“You understand the requirements?” The king said. His eyes held nothing but purpose, no love for her could be found.
Raine nodded. “Yes, my Liege. I am to be your wife and take on the name Neah. No one is to know my origins. I am a noblewoman from Silva.”
“Very good. If you provide me an heir, all will be well.” He trailed his fingers along her thin neckline, looking at her with greed and lust. “And from the looks of you, I don’t see a problem. We’ll soon see to it.”
Raine stiffened, wishing her mother was nearby. But her mother had protested her daughter being given like a sacrificial lamb. The last Raine had seen of her, the royal guard had taken her out of their home, and in the morning she still hadn’t returned. Raine bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. She desperately wanted to inquire on her mother’s welfare, but King Insel shoved her into the hands of the footman before she could speak.
“Take her to my quarters. I will be along shortly.”
The footman gripped her arms with unnecessary force and shoved her into the small cabin aboard the royal vessel. Raine’s silent tears trailed her cheeks as she rubbed the chill and foreboding off her skin. This was her fate. She was certain she would die with the king, but whether sooner than later, she did not know.
The sun was so bright. It was warmer, like a heated blanket brushing against her face. Raine’s eyes fluttered open and she rubbed her temples, feeling as if her head was filled with lead. She hadn’t dreamed of King Insel in weeks, but since being ripped away from Koning the dreams continued to flood her mind.
The last thing she remembered was dangling over the edge of the broken-down carcass of the Scarlet Moon. She’d seen Nova shouting up at her, she’d seen…Atlas. His face had fallen, she remembered. He was truly distraught seeing her on the ship. The idea of his concern tickled her lips into a smile until she remembered that was the final moment in her memory.
Slowly, Raine lifted herself from the down, plush bed. It was covered in silky sheets that gleamed as if spun with real gold. Each wall was painted in pure white, so pure it seemed as if all the white clouds and beautiful snowflakes she’d seen on Regen were of a different color entirely. The room was round and a large arched window released the brilliant sunlight across the marble floor litt
ered in white fur rugs.
Scanning her figure beneath the sheets, she tried hard to remember how the perfectly fitted blue nightdress had found its way on her body, but her mind was blank. Atlas was the last memory she had, and she held tight to his handsome face and light eyes as fear of her situation settled like a heavy stone in the center of her chest.
Gathering up the soft knit throw over the foot of the massive bed, she wrapped her shoulders and inched toward the window. Raine gasped, unsure if she was dreaming or in another reality. Outside, beyond a sprawling garden filled with dark petalled flowers and shrubs, she saw solid ground. Her room granted a brilliant view of the landscape. As far as her eyes could see, the clouds floated high above, and below were lush forests with trees topped with blue and green leaves. Beneath the forest cover, she could see small rivers and hints of towns bustling about. Raine looked up at the deep turquoise sky with the peaceful, pearly clouds floating lazily above.
How is this happening? she thought, craning her neck even more, trying to catch a glimpse of an island or ship sailing overhead, but the sky was empty of any vessel or land mass. It was clear, this land was grounded, but where?
She jumped back, her heart pounding like stampeding stallions, as the door creaked open. A beautiful woman with long ebony hair braided across her shoulders stepped in. She was followed by a small girl. The child’s face was round, and her almond-shaped eyes matched her mother’s. She kept her eyes low, but Raine noticed she kept casting curious glances in her direction as she shuffled her small feet after her mother.
The mother’s blue silk pants matched the top, but the sash around her small waist was intricately designed in pink and green thread, while her small daughter wore a simple gray and white tunic.
A second nature seemed to overtake Raine when they entered. She’d once been a queen after all, and it was clear this woman was sent to serve her. “I insist on being returned to my home,” she demanded, straightening her shoulders and narrowing her eyes.
The woman bowed her head, saying nothing. The child stopped, folding her hands and never looking at Raine. The mother shuffled across the floor holding a silver tray topped with a silver dome. Each step the servant took was silent, and her face kept the same stiff smile though she never met Raine’s eye. Carefully, she placed the tray next to a tall sitting chair on a mirror-topped silver table. The woman bowed her head again and shuffled her feet in the same small footsteps until she backed out into the hallway, her child close behind.
“I will not be held here,” Raine shouted after her, but her voice trembled despite trying to hold her regal tone.
No one came. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence as if she were the only person in the tower.
“This is ridiculous,” she chided herself and marched to the silver tray. Beneath the dome was a steaming plate filled with sizzling meats and warm rolls. Raine’s stomach grumbled at the smell of the intoxicating food. Glancing once at her closed door, she sat and devoured nearly everything on the plate. The food slid down her throat and seemed to rejuvenate her with serene comfort. It was delicious, truly the most delectable food she’d ever tasted. Taking a long drink from a silver chalice filled with smooth blue juice, she sighed, reveling in the magnificent meal.
When she was finished, Raine leaned back in a blue velvet chair, feeling calm and at peace about the beauty of the room. Could being prisoner in a place such as this be so terrible? As if on cue, a small embossed envelope slid beneath the door. Suspicious, but far too curious to ignore, Raine knelt, running her fingers across the beautiful markings on the ivory paper. Inside was a single page letter written in beautiful, curled handwriting.
My dearest Raine,
You are safe, as are your friends. All will be explained in time. Until we have the pleasure of meeting this evening, take the time to survey the grounds. Meet the people. It will perhaps, serve you to come to an unbiased opinion before we meet.
With much affection,
Lurlina
The name was familiar. Her mouth dropped as the realization struck her like a heavy pendulum swinging against her face. This was the same woman Nova spoke of once—the woman who had taken her mother. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, but inside her heart, she felt calm and collected. The thought of learning more about the woman Nova seemed to fear spurred a hopeful thought. It might help them find Nova’s mother if she could learn the weaknesses of the people keeping her captive.
Raine smiled, folding the card back into the envelope. Determination surged through her. She would not take being held prisoner for granted. She would play the part of fearful captive, but would also use all she learned to exploit Lurlina’s weaknesses. For one thing was clear, as she reminisced on Atlas’s furious expression. He would come for her.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, Raine had traipsed down a winding marble staircase leading to an open entryway at the base of the tower. She’d found a beautiful yellow gown covered in small flower buds in the wardrobe, and the material hugged her thin frame as if it had been made especially for her. With each step, the gown rustled around her ankles and seemed to echo in the silent entry hall.
Raine’s heart hadn’t stopped pounding since she’d descended from the tower, anxiously anticipating anyone to leap from the shadows and unleash torturous treatment. But no one seemed to be anywhere nearby; the halls were vacant and eerie, although grand and spectacular in their craftsmanship.
Swallowing hard, she slowly pulled on one of the gold handles on the door, which spiraled in a tight knot with intricate markings, and stepped outside. Shielding her eyes from the blaring sunlight, she found herself at the front of one of the magnificent gardens she’d spied from above. Blinking the shocking brightness out of her focus, she took in the scene. Trees with smooth, twisted trunks lined each cobblestone pathway. The stones were pure white with flecks of silver and gold creating a luminescent glow along the garden walls. Between each tree were lush shrubs with smooth, shiny leaves. The color seemed a greenish blue, but was peaceful and inviting. The flowers seemed to turn their fragrant heads in her direction as she sauntered past, filling her lungs with fruity smells more intoxicating than anything she’d yet encountered.
At the back of the upper garden (for there were multiple terraces with similar yards), she caught a glimpse of life. Caretakers dressed in similar blue and white silk clothing stood on ladders tending to the trees or bent over the beautiful lively flowers. Raine quickened her pace, gripping the folds of the gown tightly to avoid tripping over the smooth stone walkway.
A man with long black hair tied tight at the base of his neck took notice of their visitor, and he bowed low as she approached. He smiled widely, his chestnut eyes twinkling when he locked on her gaze.
“Can you tell me where I am?” she demanded, though her voice sounded desperate and weak. Get a hold of yourself, Raine, she chided inwardly.
“Hello,” he said. His voice was like a song, pitching and dipping in tones. The accent was foreign, but he seemed to understand what she was saying. “You are most welcome here.”
“Where?” she said in agitation, trying to display her annoyance, but finding it harder to feel any stress the longer she stood in the garden.
“You are most welcome. You are a Djinn honored guest,” he said, the wide smile unmoving on his tanned face.
“The Djinn? Am I at the Djinn temple?” she asked.
He nodded vigorously and pointed behind her. Raine shuddered as she turned her head toward the direction she’d come from. Her eyes widened as her mouth turned to ash from shock. The structure towered over the gardens like a golden idol shimmering beneath the brilliant sunlight. Three levels were divided by rows of gold pillars. She’d exited through a side entrance, as the framed door facing the sunrise boasted a long, smooth marble path leading down the curved hillside. The top of the temple had a long gold spire that caught the sunlight at its point like a glimmering diamond, though the pearly clouds fluttered past, occas
ionally shielding the upper levels of the temple from view.
“You are most welcome in the empire of Unten,” the caretaker said, his smile widening if it was even possible. “Do you find it lovely?”
Raine gaped as he waved his hand across the garden as if displaying the entirety of his land for her pleasure. “Unten? I have never heard of Unten. How can I return to the kingdom of Launi?”
Whispers filtered through the workers huddling around their plants at the mention of her homeland. The caretaker’s smile faded and his eyes deepened in sad disappointment. Raine almost felt sorry for dimming the light behind his eyes but brushed her sympathies aside. Too much was at stake.
“You come from above,” he said, a look of disgust on his face, the sing-song tone of his accent had darkened, as he spat the words. “Unten is the beginning and is the homeland. We all belong in Unten.”
Raine faltered slightly as the blood rushed to her head. It couldn’t be. Licking her dry lips and trying to swallow the ball of emotion in her throat, she stepped closer to the caretaker, her voice lowering as if revealing a great secret. “Are you telling me…am I in the Below?”
The whispers rose again, but sounded harsher as if the gardeners had been offended greatly. The caretaker pursed his lips and folded his dirt-crusted hands in front of his chest. “Unten is below you,” he said pointing up to the lazy clouds, “but it is the only land that belongs. We wish to reunite as one. Unten is peaceful and safe. We care for one another. Above, there are dangers in your skies. Ships of thieves. Ships of murderers. You will not find such atrocity in Unten.”
“You don’t have pirates?” Raine asked curiously. He shook his head but said nothing. “But the Djinn, they have oppressed you, yes? You must serve them?”
The caretaker stepped closer, so his deep brown eyes were aligned with hers. Though he was slightly shorter than Raine, she still backed away, intimidated by his determined expression. “The Djinn bring us peace. They care for this land and wish to have it restored to its fullness. We are not slaves to the Djinn but willingly serve to better our land. The people in Unten work together, united and with the same desire for peace. The Djinn use their power to bring our desire to reality.”