But then, all at once, it stops.
Yet the darkness remains, thick and impenetrable. Except for …
‘Flint,’ I breathe into the silence.
Flint opens his eyes. I know this because I can see him. And I can see him because he is bathed in light.
When an eclipse occurs, the Gods select a number of worthy successors, and one by one, the Heirs’ brandmarks are set aglow.
Only the most gifted Etheri are summoned to the Golden Palace for the Choosing, and only the most powerful Heirs are Chosen, for a throne, for a court, for a crown.
My stomach drops.
Heir.My brother is an Heir.
I stare at him, open-mouthed, but Flint isn’t looking at hisown hand. I follow his gaze and choke on a gasp, releasing my grip on Renly.
I stagger backwards, eyes wide as I take in the light emanating from the Aquatori waterdrop seared into my flesh.
It’s glowing. My brandmark is glowing.
I stand there, clutching my wrist, lit up like the sun.
6
We don’t utter a word as the unit of Harglade guards escorts us to Grandmother’s parlour. She’s standing by the window, watching the commotion unfold below. I can hear the Etheri shrieking, hooting, singing, their voices filling the torrid air with … what? Uncertainty? Anticipation? Exhilaration? I can only wonder at how they feel, for I feel nothing at all.
‘Sit.’
Perhaps if I wasn’t completely numb, I’d be slightly more disgruntled at the way Grandmother has taken to addressing me of late.Sleep. Sit.What’s next?Fetch?
Flint takes the armchair, Renly and I the small couch. No one speaks. Eventually, Grandmother turns and faces us.
‘You do know what this means.’
She has this habit of turning questions into statements.
Renly starts nodding, then pauses, puzzled, the nodding turning to shaking. I just pull at the fraying edge of a red quilt.
‘Yes, Grandmother,’ Flint answers.
She eyes us beadily. I find that I can’t quite meet her gaze, so focus instead on her earrings, studded with fat rubies and so long they stretch her earlobes.
‘The Gods have spoken,’ Grandmother says. ‘There are to be new rulers. New blood.’ She starts pacing the room, the sharp rapping of her stick a third footstep on the stone floor. ‘I knew, right from the moment you were born, that you were both destined for lives beyond all imagining. Flint, a true son of House Harglade, you have been trained for this day since before you can remember. And Blaze, my darling one, the last Rain Singer, the girl who summoned the storm, now an Heir to the Aquatori throne.’
Heirs are meant to represent rebirth and rejuvenation. Life, not death. Yet my life caused death. They call me soulless, deadly, the beginning that brought the end.
The shock must be wearing off slightly, as the irony of the whole thing does not escape me. It’s so ridiculous, soimpossible, that it’s all I can do to keep from laughing out loud. But any threat of laughter dies before it can reach my lips as Grandmother’s gaze locks on to me, her expression charged with such intensity that it’s almost ferocious.
‘We must be ready,’ she says, ‘for they will come.’
I sink further into the cushions, squeezing my glowing brandmark between my knees.
‘Flint, Blaze, you two are Heirs now. That means they will be watching you, more so than ever before. From the moment you set foot inside the Golden Palace, your every move will be scrutinized. Remember, the emperor’s court aren’t called the Eyes for nothing.’
A shiver travels uncomfortably up my spine.
‘The Eyes live by a code of secrecy and deceit. Why do you think they only wear Imperial gold and not their gift colour? It’s a disguise. And it is this act of concealing their powersthat makes them dangerous. You must be wise about how you conduct yourselves. You must remain above reproach, in everything.’
