I turn rigid. I know that name. I know what it means to these people. The Rain Singers do not recognize Etherian customs. They bow before no king or queen, nor do they worship the Water Goddess, Morwenna. There is only one figure they venerate:
Om Shikara.
A myth, a deity, the one true God.
I gaze out at the sea of Singers, my chest rising and falling, half bemused, half horrified. ‘Er … no. No, I’m not … I think there’s been some mistake,’ I garble, turning to Fox. ‘Why are they calling me that?’
He rakes a hand through his damp hair. ‘It appears they think you’re a God.’
‘But I’m not a God,’ I almost wail. ‘I’m just –’
‘You’re notjustanything,’ he corrects.
My voice is pleading. ‘Tell them, Fox. Tell them I’m not who they think I am.’
‘I’ll do no such thing,’ he says with a grin. ‘I’ve never been particularly devout, but if anyone could convert me – it’s you.’
Then he, too, bends the knee.
I hold his gaze for a long moment. Then my eyes latch on to a figure behind him, walking slowly through the crowd – a man with dark-blue eyes and frost-white hair. He comes to a stop several paces away, one hand resting on the hilt of his silver trident.
‘Hello, Blaze,’ he says.
45
Blaze
‘River,’ I whisper.
Since discovering the truth about my family, I haven’t had much time to consider all the ways this moment might play out, and now that it’s arrived I don’t know how to handle it. I don’t know how to handle any of this, quite frankly.
First I find out that I’m Demari, then that Fox is too. Then I wake up after being drugged and abducted to be told that the Rain Singers are alive, and not only are they alive but they truly seem to believe that I, of all people, am aGod.
Power still hums through my veins. My head is spinning and my hands are shaking and all I can hear is this rushing, whistling sound, like when you hold a seashell to your ear.
For a moment I wonder if I’m going to vomit. Wouldn’t that be an auspicious way to mark my elevation to divinity?
‘I …’ My voice trails off limply and I begin to sway on my feet.
Fox reaches for me, but it’s River who says, ‘Shall we go somewhere quiet and talk?’
And I nod, because I seem incapable of doing anything else.
I let River guide me through the kneeling Rain Singers. I try my best to smile, though in truth their apparent deference makes me so deeply uncomfortable I want to curl into a ball. For I have lived my entire life as an outsider, feared and reviled. I am used to people tripping me up or tearing me down, whispering insults in my presence, not prayers.
I glance back to where Fox is standing with the now-weeping Elder, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. He gives me an encouraging smile coupled with a shrug, as if to say,Just own it.So I hold my head up high until the pebbled beach turns to rough-hewn steps cut into the cliff face, which lead into the mouth of a cave.
River is not dressed like the other Singers, but wears the same crisp blue tunic he wore at the Golden Palace. The last time I saw him it was covered in Queen Hydra’s blood.
I follow him through a series of interconnecting tunnels until we come to a large chamber lit by a crackling fire. In the centre sits a low stone table set with an array of food – fish mostly, plump spit-roasted birds, a loaf of slightly burnt bread, cheese. I realize suddenly how ravenous I am. My stomach is tight and hollow, but I don’t sit down; I just stand stiffly by the fire, letting it thaw the chill that seems to have crept right into my bones.
‘They’re not dead,’ I say weakly.
River shakes his head. ‘No.’
‘Fox said that … that the rumours about the Rain Singers’ extinction were fabricated after his grandfather ordered their deaths. That he sent his soldiers to slaughter them.’
‘That’s true,’ says River. ‘Caius disliked their autonomy, their refusal to be governed by Etherian laws. He saw them as a threat. But his attempt to eliminate them, though crippling, was unsuccessful. Thousands were lost, but hundreds survived. Now their existence is not only secluded but entirely secret. They’ve spent decades training to combat any future attacks. You saw how hostile they were when faced with intruders.’
