Equinox (Book One of the Firebird Chronicles) WATTY AWARD HIDDEN GEM WINNER 2015

Chapter Sixteen: the Equinox Ball

‘Death?’ I repeated, trying to keep the fear from the tone of my voice. I knew for a fact, having growing up around adults having “viewings” for adoptions, that children were never as clueless as you expected. They could read an adult far better than they were given credit for.

Morwena nodded. ‘She must stay in her rooms, for fear of accidentally touching someone. There are no exceptions, bar me— since giving birth to her, I was able to hold her.’

I had heard about pregnant mothers passing on their immunity to babies, but never babies passing on immunity to their mothers.

‘When she was born, our midwife sadly held her— and was cast these strange, black shadows along her skin. These marks grew, and within a day, she had fallen desperately ill, as if the baby had poisoned her. She did not recover.’ Morwena stroked Val’s hair sadly. ‘I allowed nobody else to hold Val after that day, not even her father. Sadly, there were still accidents. A child is very difficult to keep locked up. But until Val can control her power, we have no choice.’

‘Unless I can Steal her power,’ I said quietly, Morwena’s earlier enthusiasm suddenly making sense.

‘Can you?’

‘I’m not sure,’ I sighed, ‘but I can try.’

The entourage in the hall went silent, watching the three of us.

‘Alright,’ Morwena agreed, ‘what do you need to do?’

‘Time, and practice,’ I said firmly. ‘I’ll need Val to use her power on me. If that’s the case, if I fail, I die…I need to be sure I won’t fail.’

‘That’s reasonable,’ Morwena said, nodding. ‘In return, I’ll hide you here, on the provision you work for your keep. It’s what we all do here. And trust me, Lord Dale won’t find you unless I want you to. Nobody hates this system more than I do.’

I wondered what she meant by that, but I didn’t want to display my ignorance. Kirsten was nodding fervently in agreement.

‘I’ll also need volunteers to help me train,’ I said, and Morwena paused.

‘Ah, yes,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘Kirsten will help you. The other workers will help you, too. That makes three. Hattie as well, perhaps?’

‘That should be plenty,’ I said, shrugging. By my side, Hattie herself had appeared, taking my elbow.

‘I’ll show you to your new rooms, miss,’ she said kindly. ‘You’ll live in the workers’ quarters, they’re right this way.’

She turned to lead me, so I quickly looked back and gave Valkyrie a tiny wave.

‘I’ll come back for you!’ I promised her, and she gave me a sweet smile, hugging at her mother’s leg. Morwena ruffled her hair, her fingers tangling around the red curls.

Hattie led me to the ground floor, where the kitchens, cleaning cupboards, and workers’ quarters were all close together, separated from the guest rooms. As she showed me around, she explained that guests would arrive before curfew and stay overnight. By the way she talked, and my memories of the Sapphire district at night, this was a regular occurrence on Angelica.

Luckily, Hattie rightly guessed that I was new to the Emerald district, and took the liberty of explaining a little of the history.

‘This Bathhouse was originally just an inn, but its owners lost all of their money after the Red Solstice. The Emerald district struggled especially, because it’s an entertainment district. A curfew that bans anyone out after sunset, plus an island-wide poverty…it’s been a mess here. Is it like that where you come from, too?’