‘It’s time,’ says Grandmother gravely, beckoning me forward.
I shrink backwards, shaking my head. ‘No. I’m not going anywhere.’
‘Blaze, you have no choice.’
‘But Flint –’
‘– Is being treated as we speak. There’s nothing more you can do for him.’
River squeezes my shoulder comfortingly. I take one last desperate glance in the direction of my brother before I’m steered from the tent.
‘Use your instincts, rely on your training,’ River murmurs. ‘Find Marina’s weaknesses and target them. Do not lower your guard, even for an instant.’
Grandmother gently wipes away my tears. ‘Stand up straight, my darling one.’
I nod dazedly, but inside I’m still screaming.
Two members of the Imperial Guard break away from where several knights are holding back the crowd and fall into step beside me.
‘Blaze?’
I turn back. Grandmother is gripping her stick tightly, her eyes boring into mine as she seems to come to some sort of decision.
‘Remember who you are,’ she says.
I swallow hard, holding on to her gaze for as long as I can before the knights lead me into the belly of the stands. Blood pounds in my ears as I walk through the tunnel, emerging once more into glaring sunlight.
Only now that I’m standing in the very centre of the amphitheatre can I appreciate just how many spectators there are. Tens of thousands, maybe more, all craning to get a glimpse of me. I stand up tall, shoulders back, chin in the air. I don’t smile. I don’t wave.
The beating of the drums grows louder.
That’s when I see Marina. She’s making her way towards me from across the other side of the blackened ground, her long dark hair pinned up with those silver clips shaped like tiny fish. Her eyes meet mine and linger, her mouth curling into a smirk.
Then a silken voice slips through the din, carried on obedient streams of air. Not a request – a command. ‘Silence.’
The crowd obeys instantly. I glance upward towards the golden dais and see King Balen smiling down at me.
Beside him, the emperor rises unsteadily. ‘I present the Aquatori Heirs.’
The stands erupt with cheers and applause.
I want to disappear down a portal, but I haven’t yet mastered how to draw them. I want to turn and run and hide. But it’s too late.
‘Let the battle for the Aquatori crown begin.’
There is one brief moment of nothing. Then I am blasted backwards by a jet of water, landing hard on my back, thewind knocked out of me. The sky is a perfect blue, bright and cloudless. I see birds flying overhead.
Focus.
I scramble to my feet just in time for Marina to send another stream in my direction. I’m faster this time though, leaping out of its path.
Marina closes her eyes. I look down as the amphitheatre starts filling with water, just enough to lap at my ankles. I should act now, while she’s lost in concentration. But I can’t stop thinking about Flint, lying crumpled on the ground …
I let out a shriek of pain as the water around my feet begins to boil. It hisses and bubbles, growing hotter with every passing second. Marina whips up the simmering sea, sending a wave sloshing right at me. I dodge it, hopping from foot to foot.
I think back to the very first day of training in the Keep. She’d burned me then, too. I was defenceless and out of my depth, and she could hardly wait to show me just how unwelcome I was. I use the memory to fuel my fury, letting it pour out of me like liquid ice.
Suddenly the water around me begins to cool. I can feel it through the sodden leather of my boots. Marina snarls as small icebergs begin to form. If I can just stop her in her tracks by freezing her in place –
