‘The problem,’ he begins slowly, ‘is that Blaze just cast an enchantment without using the Eye of the Soul.’
‘What’re you talking about?’ I brandish the talisman in my hand. ‘It’s right here.’
‘No, it’s not. You’re holding the Eye of the Past.’ Fox gestures to the talisman round his neck. ‘Thisis Syla’s Eye.’
I cross my arms impatiently. ‘I’m not following.’
‘I swapped them.’
Flint makes a derisive sound.
‘Why would you do that?’ I ask, perplexed.
‘Because of what you just said about the first time you touched the Eye. The way it felt. How it’s felt ever since.’ Fox glances away and murmurs, ‘Why didn’t I see it before?’
I throw up my hands in frustration. ‘Seewhat?’
‘Most things I put down to you being Demari,’ he continues. ‘Surviving that snake bite, turning the forest to ice. And the portal from Brava. The Aquatori spend years learning how to use portals, and yet you got us here, safe and sound, on your first try. But it didn’tallfit. Take the Eye of the Past, for example. It took me a long time to figure it out – you just said so. Even now there are things I miss, memories I can’t seem to find no matter how hard I try. Only you got it to show you exactly what you wanted to see – your entire history, just like that.’
My skin tingles nervously.
‘Then there’s Elva,’ Fox goes on. ‘The night you returned her shadow magic, you told me you’d cut yourself.’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’ I demand.
‘I could feel the power racing through me, as if it were in my blood,’ he repeats. ‘Well, what if it was? What if the source of the Eye’s power wasn’t sitting round your neck but running through your veins? Elva bandaged your hand, remember? She didn’t get her gifts back because she touched you – she got them because she came into contact with yourblood.’
My gaze flickers.
‘Think about it. Both Sifa and Seera tried to hide their Eyes so they could never be wielded by another, but they were still discovered. Doesn’t it make sense that Syla’s last enchantment was not only designed to hide her talisman butto ensure that it would never belong to anyone else?’ Fox pauses. ‘That is, except for someone she had chosen.’
I’m shaking my head, but as his words land each new realization pummels me in the ribs before slotting into place.
‘The Eye called to you. It wanted you to find it. Not so you could possess it but so it could possess you. When you touched it, all that power – it must’ve been … transferred.’
My voice is barely a whisper. ‘What are you saying?’
Fox takes a long, deep breath. ‘Blaze, I think … I think youarethe Eye.’
59
Blaze
For a moment there is silence.
Then everybody starts speaking at once.
‘As if,’ scoffs Flint.
‘Are you out of your mind?’ Spinner demands.
‘Seems plausible,’ muses Sheen.
But Fox is looking only at me.
I stare back at him, dumbstruck. My limbs seem to be made of rubber. I lean heavily against a tree to avoid keeling over into the pile of glittering ash.
I was only just beginning to come to terms with the fact that I’m Demari, let alone that the Rain Singers believe me to be some kind ofGod, or that, in a few short days, I’m going to be crowned Queen of the Aquatori. Butthis? Me? TheEye?
