His eyes widen. ‘Halescorted you?’
‘He did.’
‘Let me get this straight,’ my brother says, throwing an arm round my shoulders. ‘So far, you’ve made two friends. A mad old Riftkeeper, and the Crown Prince of Ostacre.’
I lean into him. ‘That’s about the size of it.’
We walk together through the crowd. Everyone is dressed in their finery, expensive silks and brocades from Vost, glittering jewels from Thaven. The golden Court of Eyes are everywhere I look, and looking back at me.
‘How’s your chaperone?’ I ask Flint.
‘Sheen? Silent, morose and perfectly miserable. I’m sensing the start of a beautiful friendship. How’s yours?’
‘Very …enthusiastic.’
‘Want to swap?’
‘I’m afraid not. I doubt Sheen has such good taste in dresses.’
Flint lets out a sudden whoop of excitement and yanks me over to a couple of Ignitia courtiers. ‘So it is true,’ he says with a grin, gesturing towards their glowing brandmarks. ‘It seems the Gods really are letting their standards slip. Cole, Elaith, I’d like you to meet my sister.’
The muscular, fair-haired boy, Cole, clasps my brother’s hand and wrestles him into a one-armed hug. ‘Wondered when you’d show up, Harglade.’ He catches my eye and nods. ‘Blaze. We’ve heard a lot about you.’
The girl, Elaith, rolls her eyes. ‘Obviously. We haven’t been living under a rock.’
‘Well,’ says Flint, ‘you live in Fire Mountain. So, technically, you kind of have.’
She laughs, punching his arm. Elaith is small, with blue eyes and flame-red hair that clashes frightfully with her dress. She holds out a hand. ‘Nice to meet you, Blaze.’
I shake her hand, mirroring her smile. Flint accepts a glass from a passing serf and offers me a sip. I try not to wrinkle my nose at the tartness of the wine.
‘It’s not fair,’ Elaith is grumbling. ‘The emperor didn’t come tomyName Day ball.’
‘Which is probably a good thing, seeing as you threw up on your shoes,’ notes Flint.
Elaith holds up a finger indignantly and points it at him. ‘I blame you for that. I didn’t exactly spin myself around the dance floor.’
‘No,’ Flint concedes. ‘But you did drink enough champagne to fill the Lagoon.’
This time, Elaith holds up a different finger.
Flint chuckles. ‘How long have you two been slumming it here, then?’
‘Couple days,’ says Cole. ‘After your ball, Queen Yvainne sent us back to court. We’d barely been travelling an hour before the eclipse.’
A gaggle of Terrathian girls calls out Flint’s name in greeting, and he waves to them over the sea of heads.
‘We still have no idea what to expect for the first trial,’ Cole continues. ‘Elaith got Hal black-out drunk on wildfire wine last night and he wouldn’t let anything slip.’
Elaith smirks. ‘And that’s saying something, as I can beverypersuasive.’
I catch sight of Hal from across the room, laughing at something a pretty Aquatori girl is whispering in his ear.
‘What about the Council?’ asks Flint. ‘How are they taking it?’
Elaith shrugs. ‘They’ve mostly been shut up in the Council Chamber.’
‘And our aunt?’
