Page 112 of The Fifth Heir

“It has no color.”

“The light gives it color.”

I moved my wrist. A narrow rainbow passed over the table.

Camilla’s lips parted.

“What kind of dragon does that?”

“No one knows.”

“Did it hurt?”

“No.”

“When did it appear?”

“Last night. Sebastian noticed it while we examined the cabinet runes.”

“Were you using magic?”

“Only the rune lamp.”

“Did the torc react first?”

I tried to remember. “I don’t think so.”

“And you felt nothing?”

“Nothing unusual.”

Her gaze stayed on the scale. “The First Trial didn’t trigger it?”

“The healer didn’t see it afterward.”

“But she may have missed it.”

“It’s nearly invisible.”

Camilla looked toward the lamp controls. “May I?”

I stepped aside.

She adjusted the beam herself, reducing its intensity until the scale disappeared. Then she brought it back slowly, watching the precise point when clear surface divided the light.

“When I shifted,” she said, “my back hurt for three days.”

“I remember.”

“You were eleven.”

“You broke the headboard.”

“That wasn’t part of the shift.”

“You gripped it when the first scales appeared.”

“I forgot that.”