Page 9 of The Fifth Heir

Then the Prism awakened.

A white spark appeared deep inside it.

The light was small at first, no larger than the flame of one of the western lamps. It brightened and expanded, illuminating fractures that did not exist in the crystal’s smooth exterior. Hundreds of shining lines spread through its center.

I forgot about the candidates.

I forgot about Camilla and the ceremony and Master Orin standing in front of me.

I had spent six weeks working around the Prism. I had measured the platform beneath it, cleaned the silver channel surrounding its base, and recorded every change in temperature during its awakening.

None of that had prepared me to see it alive.

Color moved through the clear column. Red appeared first, followed by blue, green, gold, silver, and violet. They twisted together without mixing until the entire Hall filled with shifting light.

Something beneath my keeper’s badge warmed.

I pressed my palm against the metal. The sensation vanished before I could be certain it had been there.

The candidates’ uniforms changed beneath the Prism’s glow. Fire red deepened; Frost blue turned almost white. The black stone walls reflected colors they had never reflected during our preparations.

The first torc turned bright red.

The Fire candidates stiffened.

A concentrated beam shot from the center of the Prism and swept across their line.

It passed over the first dragon, then the second. It crossed three more before striking Torren in the center of his chest.

His body jerked.

Red light surrounded him, outlining his broad shoulders and running down both arms. Heat rolled across the Hall. The candidates nearest him stepped back, leaving him alone within the beam.

The glowing torc flew toward him.

Torren did not flinch as it opened, circled his throat, and closed against the collar of his uniform. Fire opals blazed across the metal.

Keeper Malcolm struck the staff once.

“Torren of the Ember Guard,” the headmaster announced. “Chosen heir of Fire.”

The Fire delegation bowed.

Applause broke from the galleries, loud but brief. It ended the instant the red beam withdrew.

Torren remained where he stood. Only the movement of his chest showed that he was breathing harder than before. His hand rose toward the torc, stopped before touching it, then lowered.

The Prism shifted to violet.

I looked toward Sebastian just as the second beam emerged.

It moved more slowly than the first, sliding over the Shadow candidates with an almost deliberate hesitation. Several appeared to stop breathing when it reached them. The light paused on one woman’s shoulder, then continued.

Sebastian finally lifted his attention from the floor.

The beam struck him.

For an instant, his expression held pure surprise. Then the shadows at his feet rose in thin black ribbons, winding through the violet light without extinguishing it.