Firebrand by Antony John

Author:Antony John
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

We had an hour before dinner and everyone was resting. Jerren had said he didn’t think we’d all fit into the room, but he was wrong. A few weeks ago, Hatteras Island itself had felt too constraining for our colony. The nine of us who were left now fit inside four walls.

The tiny lantern that Griffin had been using that morning cast a feeble glow against one corner of our room. It was just enough light for me to see that Father was sitting up in his bed, back against the wall. He tried to smile as he saw me, but his face was still too scabbed for the expression to come naturally.

I sat beside him. “You seem better.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Everything’s relative. But Rose has been making sure I eat and drink.”

I was about to thank Rose when I noticed her mother watching us. From her expression it was clear how much Marin disapproved of the way Rose had ignored Kyte’s dying wish to avoid my family.

“Have you been working with your element, son?” Father asked.

He took my hands in his. I responded by sending energy into him. It was a foolish thing to do, to try to impress him like that. Especially after I’d told Rose to stop using her element.

“Yes, I can feel you have,” he said.

The pride in his voice crushed me. I didn’t deserve it, and I didn’t want it—at least, not for my element. “We have to let our elements go now, Father. We all discussed it.”

“Well, I didn’t. And I never would’ve agreed to it.” He looked confused. Winded, even. Hands still connected to mine, he furrowed his brows in concentration. He was trying to summon his element—to return power to me, and show me what we shared—but there was nothing passing between us now.

He loosed my hands and gave a melancholy smile. “All those years I kept wishing for it to go. Now it’s gone, and I feel empty.” He leaned closer. “Elements peak early, Thomas. You have power now, and you need to use it.”

I felt Rose watching me. “No. Not here.”

“Especially here.” His face hardened. “You know nothing about these people.”

“And I know nothing about you. If my element is so important, why did you hide it from me all those years?”

He sighed. “I made a promise. They were going to make us leave the colony, Thomas.”

“But why?” I was almost shouting and couldn’t stop myself. “Why?”

Marin produced a humorless laugh. “Go ahead and tell him, Ordyn. How we’re godless. How we’ll die for our sins, every last one of us.”

“That’s enough,” Father muttered.

Rose’s mother was undeterred. “No, it’s not. It’s time everyone knew what we are, what we’ve done. Just don’t leave anything out, Ordyn. Especially not the story of the boy you killed.”

My heartbeat flew, as sudden as a sail catching the wind. I waited for Father to deny it. He didn’t, though. Just tugged at his tunic’s bloodstained cuffs.

Silence fell over us. Then, to my surprise, my father spoke: “It happened just after you were born,” he said softly.

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