Spinner relaxes. ‘Oh. Well, if you’re sure.’
I nod, inwardly cursing my own carelessness. What Elva did, telling me about her past, is forbidden. If it was ever discovered, she would be punished. Spinner can never know what I know about Elva. She is my friend, yes, but she is also an Eye of the Imperial Court. It’s easy to forget sometimes that Spinner has loyalties that extend far beyond me.
The setting sun paints the sky peach, and I wander through to my bedchamber to watch it from the balcony. The moment I swing open the glass doors I see somethingwrapped in fine blue silk waiting for me on the golden ledge. Beside it lies a note.
For you.
Another gift.
I glance over my shoulder before unwrapping it. It’s a dagger, the handle silver and shining, the blade curved like a scythe, like a …
I flinch and the dagger clatters to the floor. Because I have seen this blade before, only it wasn’t a blade then. It was one of many vicious, razor-sharp claws attached to the body of a creature with hideous black scales and blood-red eyes – the beast from my first trial.
Slowly, I pick it up.
Why would Hal give me a dagger? And not just any dagger, but one made from thatthing’sclaw, as if I wanted some twisted memento of my time in that arena. It doesn’t strike me as something he would do. It’s not his style. Besides, he makes no secret of the roses. As for the nightlight, he put it straight into my hands. There was no note, no doubt.
I nibble the inside of my cheek.
First the burn medicine, then the dragonfly mask, and now this.
What if the gifts were never from Hal at all? What if they were from someone else?
Footsteps sound. I quickly hide the dagger behind my back and crumple the note in my other hand.
It’s Elaith.
‘Which one?’ She holds up what appear to be two identical red dresses. ‘I just can’t decide. They’re both so different.’
The following day I arrive at Queen Hydra’s quarters, apprehensive and exhausted. I had lain awake for hours, thinking about Hal, trying not to think about Fox, and when I had eventually drifted off to sleep, the golden eye was waiting for me, only this time at the centre of a maze.
A serf leads me through a number of interconnecting chambers until we reach a large room overlooking the city. The Aquatori Queen is seated at a long golden table, facing away from me. She wears a modest gown in a light shade of azure, her flowing silvery-white hair a curtain of snow around her shoulders. She turns as I approach.
‘Blaze Harglade. What an honour it is to meet with you again.’
I curtsy deeply. ‘Your Majesty.’
‘Sit with me.’
The chair makes an awful scraping sound as I pull it out and perch nervously on the edge.
‘I must say, your performance in the first two trials was unforgettable,’ remarks Queen Hydra as she boils the water in the teapot with a small flick of her wrist. ‘Most unforgettable indeed.’ She leaves it to brew for a moment, then proceeds to pour the tea into a little silver cup. ‘Honey? Lemon? Milk? Sugar?’
‘Honey. Thank you, Your Majesty.’
She stirs in a generous spoonful of the stuff and hands me the cup. I take a scalding sip and place it back down on the table.
‘I’m told that you have now mastered the gift you were born with?’
I manage a small smile. ‘Yes, Your Majesty.’
‘Remarkable,’ she murmurs. ‘To have the power to summon the rain. To bend the weather to your will. And you, the last of your kind.’
I glance down at the table, finding that her words weigh heavily.
The last of my kind.
I thought I was something of an expert on solitude, but I’ve realized that being isolated is in fact entirely separate from feeling alone.
