Page 89 of The Half King
The cavern was brighter than she remembered. The walls flowed with turrets of glowing liquid that collected into a stream and followed the downward slope of the mossy floor to somewhere out of sight.
Cerise dipped a finger in the water and smoothed it against her thumb. The droplet was warm, with a slippery consistency that reminded her of the congealed chicken plasma she had once fed to Blue.
“Shiera’s blood,” Nero said.
“Hmm?”
“This is the mountaintop where she was stabbed. Her wrathful side blighted the Above, and her merciful side created the Below.”
“You mean this is her actual…”
“Blood? Yes.” Nero teasingly flicked a glowing droplet at her. “It won’t bite. It’s inside you.”
Not so long ago, she would have dismissed the words as superstitious nonsense. Now, she gazed in awe at her hands. “This is what I want to talk to you about. I think the fire in my blood lit up today.”
He tilted his head in confusion.
“I received a Claiming Day gift,” she admitted. “I have magic.”
The transformation on Nero’s face put her in mind of a tight bud instantly opening to full bloom. “A woman withresha?”
“Doesreshamean magic?”
“You call it energy.”
“Then yes,” she told him. “That’s what I have.”
Nero grinned as he shook his head. “My grandfather—the man who tested you—said magic might come to you, but I didn’t believe him. I thought your gift would be different, like my aunt who reads dreams.”
“My magicisdifferent,” she said. “I can’t disobey an order from the king. In that way, I’m like the priests. But I can leave my body in dreams. That’s my second gift. My spirit can go with the king into the shadows. So I think I have the magic ofumbra sangiand the magic of priests. That means you and your grandfather were both right.”
“I can’t wait to tell him.” Eyes sparkling with excitement, Nero bent to her height. “He’ll assign someone to train you. Maybe my uncle in the city.”
“Are thereumbra sangiin other lands?” she asked. “Like Calatris or Solon?”
“Of course,” Nero said. “Shiera’s descendants are spread across the world.”
“Do they always live in hiding? Or do they mingle in society?”
“I imagine both. Why?”
“I think my father isumbra sangi,” she said. “My family won’t tell me anything about him, except that he’s dangerous. But if I can find out where he met my mother—whether it was in Solon or somewhere else—I might be able to narrow down who he is.”
Nero frowned. “He could be anyone. Many men are dangerous.”
“So I’ve learned.”
“I’ll ask my uncle,” he said. “He has contacts in other lands. We’ll talk to him about it when I take you there for training.”
“Actually…” She trailed off and gave him a hopeful look. “I want you to train me.”
“Me?” Nero touched his chest. “I’m no teacher.”
“I don’t have time to be choosy.”
“You don’t understand,” he said. “Sloppy instruction is worse than none at all. You would have to unlearn everything I taught you. My uncle would flay me.”
She shook her head. “I need help now, not a fortnight from now. I already lost control once. What if I use magic in front of Father Padron? He’ll brand me a sorceress and have me executed. At least show me how to turn my magic off.”
