‘– but it felt cruel to just spring this on you. I told you about Demari in the hope that you’d, you know …’ He gestures wordlessly. ‘Figure it out.’
‘Oh, I’msorry,’ I say in a voice so remarkably like Grandmother’s that it’s almost frightening. ‘But in case you hadn’t noticed, there’s been rather a lot going on recently, and I haven’t exactly had time to sit and reflect on yourcryptic little mind games.’
‘This was never a game to me, Blaze.’
‘Then what is it,Fox?’
He flinches. Last night I’d said his name like a plea. Today it’s a punishment.
‘Look, I was waiting for the right time, but now I realize there wasn’t one. And if I’m being entirely honest –’
‘There’s a first,’ I interject.
‘I told myself that I was merely shielding you from the truth, not concealing it; that I was acting solely in your interests rather than mine,’ he says. ‘Because Iknew that this would change things between us. I know these past few weeks have been hard, but being with you has felt so …easy.’ He swallows. ‘And I didn’t want to ruin it.’
For a moment I feel myself soften. Yet when I speak, my voice is hard. ‘Too late.’
‘I’m sorry, all right? I am.’
This takes me by surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Fox apologize to anyone before. ‘I suppose you weren’t the only one who didn’t tell me,’ I concede. ‘All this time, Grandmother knew what I was, and she knew why. And then there’s River …’
‘I’m sure they were just trying to protect you,’ Fox offers.
But that was the wrong thing to say.
‘Will everyone just stopprotectingme?’ I half yell. ‘I’m sick and tired of being treated like a little girl who doesn’t know her own mind!’
He holds his hands up in surrender. ‘You’re right.’
Some of my rage seems to evaporate, and I lean against Cedar’s flank, fingering the tiny braids Fox has woven through the horse’s mane.
Silence stretches between us. My mind is spinning. A thousand questions clamour and claw like a flock of birds.
‘My mother,’ I say eventually. ‘She was Demari too, but she was born Ignitia.’
Fox nods. ‘The purity of the Harglade bloodline made it the more potent, but when it was mixed with Magi blood …’ He lets out a low whistle. ‘While your aunts could conjure flames, your mother could create an inferno.’
‘But then what about her Choosing? Why didn’t she win?’
‘Given the unpredictable nature of her gift, I believe your grandmother advised her that it might be best if she …didn’t.’
My eyes widen. ‘You mean –’
‘That your mother lost on purpose,’ Fox confirms. ‘She let her eldest sister take the crown, then hid herself away on your father’s coastal estate where any threat of wildfires was swallowed by the sea.’
My nails cut like little scythes into my palms. ‘Did she ever discover what she really was?’
He shakes his head. ‘I doubt it. I believe your grandmother would’ve taken the secret to her grave, all to protect the reputation of her House.’
‘If my mother was so powerful, then how did she die in childbirth?’ I ask quietly.
‘Demari blood is strong. It can withstand a number of ailments and infections. It’s why you were able to survive that snake bite, for example. But your mother … she lost too much of that blood.’
A cloud of drizzle forms, droplets clinging to my eyelashes.
‘As for River,’ Fox adds, ‘the strength of his blood has weakened with age. That’s why he wasn’t able to defeat my uncle at the Binding Ceremony.’
‘And what of my brothers?’ I ask. ‘This makes them Demari, too.’
