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Contents ( 50)
  1. CONTENTS
  2. PROLOGUE
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  21. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  47. EPILOGUE
  48. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  49. Also by Liz Flanagan:
  50. COPYRIGHT

He couldn’t hear the next mumbled words as the men moved away, but he heard the final part all right.

‘He’d be dead if it weren’t for the Lady Milla. Maybe it’d be better for his folks if he were.’ Gabriel spoke Joe’s worst fears out loud.

He stopped breathing.

Is that what people thought?

Hearing it in someone else’s voice made it true and real 47in a way that sliced right through him. It would be better if he were dead.

In one day, his whole life had burned away, leaving noth­ing but ash and disappointment behind. Not caring who saw him now, Joe fled from his parents’ home, knowing he’d never be able to return.

48

CHAPTER SEVEN

Joe was never quite sure what happened next. If he’d been burning with anger at the ceremony, now he was left frozen and numb with shock, blundering through a night­mare. Strong winds brought sheeting rain. Later, he’d see the bruises and scrapes, his clothes ripped and soaked in mud, so he must have run, climbed, fallen. He vaguely recalled his hellish tour of the harbour in the pouring rain, begging each captain in turn for passage off the island. Two things made that impossible: he had no money, and each sailor took one glance at him and knew he was Nestan’s son. They told him to go home and tell his parents he was safe. Their voices weren’t angry, but their eyes told another story: distant and disappointed, they wanted nothing to do with him.

He was trapped.

His life on the island was over, but he couldn’t leave.

Again, he ran.

As dawn broke, he came to himself, like waking from a 49bad dream. He was standing on a grassy ledge on the north-west clifftops of Arcosi, alone.

A gusty wind blew, spattering his face with raindrops in a way that felt personal. The sky was mottled grey and full of moisture. He looked down: far, far below him, the jagged rocks gave way to deep water. From here it appeared blackish-blue, and very cold.

He stared down again and imagined a way out. He was already so overwhelmed by his shame that the idea of being free of it, even like this, seemed appealing.

He’d have to leap out, to be sure. He wanted it to be quick. He tried to imagine the pain, but he found it was impossible.

He shivered. He didn’t really want to die – he just wanted to start again, be someone else. Someone better.

What took more courage? To live or to die? He couldn’t tell any more. He was so tired.

He closed his eyes, gathering himself.

Just then, the sun heaved itself over the horizon into a narrow gap between clouds. Joe felt the light change. Behind his eyelids, the world turned deep purple, the purple of his dreams.

The purple of the dragon he didn’t have.

It wasn’t painful. It was comforting.