I don’t answer him. I don’t need to. Someone – I think it’s Fjord – audibly gasps as rain begins to fall from the ceiling above.
River is smiling. He gestures for me to walk with him, and we break away from the others, skirting along the edge of the forest. I glance around briefly to catch sight of Marina looking murderous, shaking the droplets from her hair.
I turn back to River. ‘The notes in the margin. That was you, wasn’t it?’
He inclines his head. ‘All you needed was a little push in the right direction.’
‘But how did you know?’ I press. ‘That my gift was Melded, I mean.’
‘You’re a Rain Singer, Blaze,’ River says. ‘It wasn’t a question of your possessing power, but of unlocking it. The answer was always inside of you. You just had to find it.’
I let this sink in before I ask, ‘Why do you know so much? All that stuff about Melding – it wasn’t in the book.’
River pauses, then says, ‘I was always fascinated by the Rain Singers. I knew there was much I could learn from them, and so, many years ago, when I was the same age as you are now, I travelled to Brava.’
I stare at him, wide-eyed. ‘Yousawthem? The Rain Singers?’
‘I did.’
‘What were they like?’ I breathe.
River closes his eyes for a moment. ‘They were … remarkable. Their gifts had no equal, not in strength nor in beauty.’
I swallow. ‘All the stories say they were dangerous. Even savage.’
‘You’ll come to find, Blaze, that many stories are spun from lies,’ says River softly. ‘The truth can often get lost within the tapestry.’
I feel overcome with relief that not all the legends are true, that the Rain Singers were not wild or vicious, or a threat to their fellow Etheri.
We walk in silence for a time, listening to the soft patter of my rain. The shower intensifies twofold as I’m struck by a sudden desperate sadness that, unlike River, I will never get to meet them, the only people capable of truly understanding who I am.
And who am I, exactly?
The question tumbles out of my mouth. ‘If you can explain all this, then how do you explain me? I come from a long line of pureblood Ignitia, and yet somehow, I was born a Rain Singer. It doesn’t make sense.Idon’t make sense.’
A strange expression crosses River’s face, fleeting and entirely indecipherable. When he speaks, his voice is gentle. ‘I’m afraid I can’t give you all the answers you seek, Blaze.’
Disappointment coats my tongue. I swallow it down.
‘So, what now?’ I ask, cutting off the shower.
‘Well, now that you have claimed your rain,’ River says, ‘I would like you to try your hand at ice.’
‘Oh,’ I respond, a little disgruntled. Some time to revel in the fact that I’m not a complete failure might have been nice.
River simply smiles. ‘Melding can help concentrate power, but it can also have consequences. These can consist of sporadic outbursts and flare-ups, especially in those asyet unfamiliar with their gifts. Though perhaps you know this already.’
I nod slowly, remembering the sound of a thousand shattering glasses.
‘Being unaware of which emotion is the key to unleashing a particular gift can prove dangerous because it results in a loss of control,’ he says. ‘You’ve figured out which of your emotions is anchored to the rain, Blaze. Now you must discover the same for ice.’
And suddenly I’m not with River in the training room of the Golden Keep. I’m in a crowded ballroom at Harglade Hall while a sweet voice spouts cruel words in my ear. I feel something sharp and cold spreading inside of me. Anger. No, not anger.More.
I clear my throat, my gaze landing on the small silver trident strapped to River’s belt. It’s always seemed so familiar to me, and suddenly I realize why.
‘You were there,’ I say. ‘On my Name Day. You were speaking with my grandmother.’
River runs his hand down the rain-slick bark of a sapling. ‘I was. Queen Hydra was most insistent that the Court of Waves attend the occasion.’
