The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,61

the dampness hanging in the air. An ominous feeling crept up Lyana's spine, worsening as they crossed the suffocating space, until finally the door at the other end swung open.

She gasped.

It was…beautiful. The darkness gave way to an explosion of color—swatches of ivy, blooming flowers, vibrant leaves, towering trees, as though the jungle had fallen out of the sky and landed in this sorry space, carrying life with it. There wasn't a single stone in sight. The walls were living gardens, cultivated by the men and women standing within them, green sparks flaring at their fingertips. Lyana's wings opened on instinct, the urge to explore too difficult to contain, until she remembered that because of Malek she couldn't.

She snapped her wings closed.

"Unexpected, isn't it?" Malek murmured.

Lyana swallowed the emotion clogging her throat. "It looks exactly how I always imagined the House of Flight might look. Abaelon, the City of Life, sits in the middle of a vast desert, but the walls themselves are said to breathe, every inch of the oasis covered in foliage."

"It's funny you say that, because I've been told all the seeds for these plants were stolen from the hummingbirds hundreds of years ago, after the isles first rose into the sky."

"Really?" A note of wonder rang in her tone as her mind filled with clandestine expeditions. "How?"

"Much the same way I visited the isles to find you," Malek said. It was interesting, she couldn't help but note, how he reframed their first meeting as though he'd happened upon her rather than stolen her from her home. "The ocean offered little by way of food, even less by way of medicinal herbs, so our people had to steal them. Using powerful wind magic combined with metal magic, they lifted four vessels into the sky—two to the House of Flight and two to the House of Paradise. In the dead of night, they stole as many plants as they could, digging them out from the roots or plucking off seeds. Then they returned to Da'Kin where our earth mages turned a handful of scattered scraps into this. Though I assume it took more than one trip and likely multiple lifetimes for us to establish the floating fields and fruitful gardens we now maintain across the sea. Every city in my kingdom has an infirmary, and within every infirmary hides an oasis of plants chosen specifically for their medicinal uses."

"And where are the people?" Lyana asked, fascinated.

"Inside the walls, though each room has a view into the courtyard. I've been told there are some who injure themselves just to be able to peek at the splendor hidden within."

"Right you are, my liege," Lord Daegal said as he continued leading them down a winding path. "And when they do, I give them a smack on the head and a kick out the door. A healer's time is never to be wasted, as I'm sure you both well know. Shall we start with the children?"

"Let's."

He ushered them through an open door and inside the building to where a group of men and women were waiting. The air was warm and dry, the work, she suspected, of a hydro'kine or perhaps a pyro'kine. But it was also stuffy compared to the fresh air of the gardens, and almost immediately, the pain and suffering of the desperate souls she'd felt before clawed at her again. Lyana nearly collapsed as they led her into the first room. A young girl rested there, buried in blankets, her skin flushed with fever and her pupils so dilated only a thin sliver of amber hinted that she had any irises at all. Before Malek could even speak, Lyana took the girl's hand and unleashed her power. The world fell away as she pushed her magic into the child's skin. All she saw was spirit.

This wasn't a lesson spent playing with bowls. This wasn't a display before the masses, meant to sway hearts or gain loyalty. This wasn't magic for magic's sake. This was power with a purpose, and it filled her with a sense of determination all her days in the mist had thus far lacked. With her focus on this single task, the ache of the other spirits slipped away, no longer a burden too heavy to carry, but an afterthought.

The healing came more quickly than it ever had. Her magic ruthlessly ate away at the dark stains littering the girl's soul, the foreign bodies that never should have been there. Before she knew it, she