The words dance round my mind, each one given new meaning.
Rain Singer. Storm Weaver. Etheri. Mage.
Demari.
40
Blaze
‘Get up.’ My voice slices through the air, sharp as freshly forged steel.
Fox grunts and opens one eye. He peers groggily at the dagger brandished at his throat, still half asleep. ‘And good morning to you too, Storm Weaver.’
‘I said,get up.’
‘As much as I enjoy it when you threaten me, could it perhaps wait until after breakfast?’
I grit my teeth. Slowly, I sheath Silverclaw and get to my feet.
Fox props himself up on his elbows, bemused. ‘Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine. And there was me thinking we were getting on rather well last night.’
My face grows hot. He’s still covered in blood – bone-dry and flaking – but I can pinpoint the many smears and smudges that indicate exactly where I’d touched him, the memory of that kiss imprinted on his body as well as in my mind.
He smirks a little. ‘Seems a shame to get rid of the evidence,’ he says as he reaches for the waterskin and douses himself clean.
My blush deepens. Faintly glowing embers hiss as I aim a kick at the smouldering remains of the fire. Then I turn away and begin to pace furiously, my fists clenched.
‘Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or am I just supposed to guess?’ Fox asks, sitting back against a tree, his chest glistening in the dappled light.
‘I’m surprised you can’t work it out given how well you seem to know me,’ I snap. ‘So well, in fact, that you apparently knew more about my past than I did.’
I pull Sifa’s Eye from my pocket and hurl it straight at his face. He snatches it out of the air before it can meet its mark.
There’s an almost seismic shift in his demeanour as he unfurls his fingers.
‘What have you done?’ Fox demands.
‘What haveIdone?’ I splutter. ‘You’re the one who went snooping through my family tree and then just conveniently forgot to mention that for the last seventeen years I have been living a lie. And don’t even try to deny it, because while you might know me, I know you, and this wouldn’t be the first time you’ve kept something like this to yourself.’
He grimaces. ‘How much do you know?’
‘I know that I’mDemari,’ I spit. ‘And thatyouare a liar.’
‘I never lied to you. I just … didn’t tell you the whole truth.’
‘That’s the same as lying.’
‘What was I supposed to do?’ Fox shoots back. ‘Just tap you on the shoulder and say,Oh, by the way, remember that storm you summoned as a baby which almost drowned the empire? So that was actually a result of the Magi blood you inherited from your real grandfather, who, as it turns out, is River, the Aquatori trainer.’
‘Yes,’ I say fiercely.
Fox gives up sparring with me. ‘I should’ve told you.’
‘Why didn’t you, then?’
He exhales before getting to his feet. ‘I appreciate you’re upset –’
‘Try furious.’
