SILVERLIGHT- Book One of the FLY BY NIGHT Trilogy

Chapter 4

"Today," Says the man leading the ceremony, his leathery armour glinting in the moonlight, "We are here for a very significant reason." To initiate those who have earned their place as part of the Aurea Bellator. These people have demonstrated the words off by heart, and I mouth them along with the man, feeling Este shake with silent laughter at my right side. I feel confident with her there, and Beau on my left. We have finally made it. We wear our armour. One by one, the others are called forward, cutting a small slice into the palm of their hand and allowing it to drip into the stone basin. I know it's my turn now.

"Kaze..." The man falters. "I'm sorry Kaze, your surname isn't recorded on the scroll. Could I have your full name please?" I clear my throat.

"Kaze... Just Kaze." I say. He frowns.

"Well... Just Kaze." He says gravely. "I'm afraid without your full name, you cannot be initiated."

"But I don't have-." He cuts me off.

"Please be silent during the ceremony."

"But-." Two guards move forward, and take my arms. I thrash out at them. "This isn't fair."

"How can we know anything about you if we don't even know who you are?" Asks the man. He has a point. How can I even know anything about myself. Celso gives me a sympathetic glance from the audience. How could I disappoint him like this? The closest thing I've ever had to a father. I thrash out again, harder.

Kaze awoke with a thud, jolting awake. He looked around him with a start. Heart beating fast, he lay his head back on the floor. The way his ear was pressed to the grainy wood of the floorboards he could hear footsteps next door, so quiet that he was instantly suspicious. Where would Estella be going at this time of night? Why was she sneaking? He lay still on the floor, catching his breath so that he could listen more carefully. There was a gentle creaking noise as her door was opened, and then the line of light from the hallway that came through the crack in his doorway was covered by a shadow. He frowned. Was she checking that he was asleep? The door opened a tiny bit. He never locked it, and he closed his eyes, allowing only enough of a gap to see Estella's silhouette through his eyelashes. She was still wearing one of her white night dresses. Seeing him lying there, beneath his hammock, she crept inside, curious. He closed his eyes the rest of the way and made his breath slow and deep. It was more than tempting to mumble something incoherent about purple clouds or evil turnips, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to pull it off without laughing. Satisfied, she left, silently closing the door behind her. Kaze was up and pulling a black t-shirt over his head.

The corridor was dimly lit by a slither of moon through the windows, and Kaze just caught a glimpse of Este's dress as she disappeared around a corner. He knew he had to be especially careful to leave enough distance between her, because Este was sharp. He followed her down the huge staircase and then along more corridors, ducking behind pillars and hiding around corners when he thought he might be caught. On the bottom floor, giant tapestries replaced the windows, and it grew darker. Should he stop her if she was going to sneak outside? He'd never forgive himself if something happened. Around the corner and this corridor was slightly illuminated by a chink of light coming from under the library door. So this was her destination? Some midnight reading? But Este only pressed her face to the gap, the light from inside illuminating a puzzled frown before she continued along the corridor.

Kaze stopped too, and as his eyes adjusted to the light inside, he realised that for the second time in the last few days, he was spying through a keyhole at Celso. Again, the man was sitting at his desk, but this time, he was holding a dagger, turning it over in his hands thoughtfully. From so far away, Kaze could only guess, but it looked like Valyrian steel. He was reading a letter too. It sat up slightly on the table, crimped by folds. A wax seal was stuck to the top. Celso read the entire thing with a pained expression on his face, before he put both the letter and the dagger down on the table and dropped his face into his hands tiredly. He was still for a few seconds, and then he looked up, his face set- eyebrows slightly drawn above hard, pained eyes. He glanced around, checking he was alone. Then, he walked to the window behind him, removed a key from his pocket and opened it. Then he shivered a little in the draught of air that flowed in, brushing the tips of his dark hair, and flipped back the bottom of the window frame, revealing a hollow. Glancing around once more, he carefully placed the letter and the dagger inside. Then, he took a sword from his desk, which had originally been obscured from Kaze's vision by a large stack of books. A crown followed. Then, once the window frame was replaced and the window locked, he tucked the key into his pocket and begun heading for the door. Kaze jumped back in alarm and pressed himself against the wall.