I ram my elbow into his gut.
He sucks in a sharp breath. ‘You little bitch.’
Ralph lunges forward, pinning me between his body and the wall. I scream as white-hot pain shoots through my wrist.
There’s a crunch.
A popping sound.
The snap of bone as Ralph breaks my arm.
I WAKE UP IN A darkness shot through by candlelight. I’m lying in a bed, a blanket pulled up to my chin. My head feels heavy and when I move I realise my left arm is bound to my chest. I can hear a scratching sound. I sit up slowly, and it takes all my effort to reach for the candle on my beside table and lift it up. My arm is in a sling. There are empty beds on either side of me and a shelf lined with bottles full of liquids and pills. A nurse is sitting at a desk in a corner, her pen scratching against paper.
‘Recruit Featherswallow,’ she says sternly, ‘go back to sleep.’
‘Where am I?’ I ask.
‘The sanatorium,’ the nurse says. She stands up, lifting her own candle.
‘What’s a sanatorium?’
‘The hospital ward.’ The nurse nods at my arm. ‘That’s what you get for trying to abandon your post.’
A sharp pain shoots through my arm, followed by a heavy throbbing.
‘I didn’t abandon my post,’ I say. ‘I was …’
I was trying to get away from Ralph. But what happened after?
‘Guardian 707 said you put up quite a struggle.’ The nurse takes a bottle from the shelf and pours a deep red liquid on to a spoon. ‘He accidentally broke your arm trying to prevent you from endangering yourself.’
Accidentally?
‘I wasn’t endangering myself—’
‘There are dragons everywhere, child! And rebel ones at that.’ The nurse tuts. ‘You young ones have grown up thinking dragons are just the stuff of fairy tales. Back in my day, you were lucky if you could walk down the street without seeing one.’
She spoons the medicine into my mouth and I gag. It’s as thick as syrup and tastes of smoke and metal. I force myself to swallow it and my eyes instantly feel heavier.
‘What was that?’ I say.
‘Fireblod,’ she says, her mouth pursed as if daring me to say any more.
I’ve just swallowed an illegal medicine made from the blood of dragons, only available on the black market. I’ve heard rumours the First Class have access to it, and now I know they’re true.
‘That’ll heat your veins and have your bones fixed in no time,’ she says. ‘You fainted from the pain of the break, of course, and it’s a good thing you did.’ She screws the cap on to the medicine bottle and gives me a pitying look. ‘We all have our part to play in the war, dear. Be brave, do your duty and all will be well.’
I sink back into the pillows as my vision clouds.
*
When I wake again, the sanatorium is filled with light. The nurse is standing with her back to me by the washbasin, rinsing some cloths. A breeze comes in through the open window next to my bed. I peer out of it and see the tops of the forest trees, two dragons soaring above them.
There’s a knock at the door.
‘Yes?’ the nurse calls.
Marquis steps into the room, followed by Sophie.
