‘Tell me.’ Varin is insistent.
‘Like music.’
‘Aha!’ He claps. ‘She is truly your daughter, Aleks,’ he calls across the ring. ‘She hears the steel sing.’
‘Emelia.’ My mother touches my hand. ‘I don’t know if this is wise.’
But my heart is still singing. I’ve never experienced anything like this …longingto do something. It feels as though I could step into the ring and join the deadly dance. As though I’m meant to do it.
Varin draws his sword. The blade is long and slender with a slight curve to it, the razor-sharp edge catching the light. It’s utterly gorgeous.
‘Please.’ He holds it out to me, hilt first.
I stand and take it from him, wrapping my fingers around the worn leather. I hold the sword out in front of me. It feels like magic, like an extension of myself. ‘It’s so light.’
‘All vampire swords are. Lightweight and razor sharp. We have no need of heavy metals, or brutal weapons. Wearethe weapons. The sword is simply an extension of that.’
I sweep the blade one way, then the other. I consider what it might be like to be a weapon, to be able to defend myself. Iwantthis, I realise. So much.
‘That’s it. Keep your wrists straight. The power must come through you in an unbroken line.’ Varin puts his cool hand over mine, correcting me as I try again. My father stops what he’s doing and comes over.
‘She’s a natural, Aleks.’ Varin glances at my father. I adjust my stance, taking the blade in wider sweeps, feeling as though I’m dancing.
‘Would you like to learn, Emelia?’ My father smiles. ‘I confess I never dreamed you would.’
I scowl. ‘Because I’m human?’ Possibly a bit of a low blow.
‘Human, yes,’ Varin says, his hand still on mine. ‘But with vampire blood, a vampire heart. Your father, like most fathers, simply wants to keep you safe, my lady.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I mutter.
‘So am I.’ My father’s voice is soft.
I return Varin’s sword. My father reaches over the barrier, folding me into a hug. He smells like metal and violets. Then he holds me back from him, a smile on his face.
‘If you want to train, let’s begin.’
ChapterEight
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Later that afternoon, my shoulders and back aching, I catch the bus back to the Safe Zone. My father made me change clothes, then brought me into the practice arena where he and Varin had me do push-ups, stretches and arm movements. I’d done all right, I thought.
But they’d both looked at each other. ‘Sword-fighting uses these muscles,’ Varin said, touching my shoulder blades and arms lightly, then my abdomen. ‘You need to strengthen them before you pick up a blade. Your father and I can help with this.’
‘So, I don’t get to work with swords yet?’
‘Not yet. But you will.’
Another thing I wish I’d started when I was younger. But I suppose letting me wield razor-sharp blades wasn’t high on my parents’ list of How To Keep Emelia Safe. So, just like learning the intricacies of ruling, it’s something I’m coming to late, meaning I have to work all the harder. If I’d actually accepted that I was going to be Raven, instead of trying to run away, maybe I wouldn’t be so overwhelmed now. But that is a shutter opened which cannot be closed. All I can do is go forward.
I spoke to my mother before I left. About how much I love her and want her in my life. But that I only have a short time to rule, compared to her. She understood, but it hadn’t stopped red lining her eyes. I get that, too. There are still plenty of years left for us.
I also made a decision. One that made her smile through her tears.
It’s time to leave the Safe Zone.
Time to stop being Emily Reynolds and become Emelia Raven.
