Free The Coming of Dragons: No. 1 (Darkest Age) by A. J. Lake Page B

stirred, and turning towards him, she saw that his eyes were open. She began to speak to him, but he put a finger to his lips and jerked his head towards the other side of the fire.
    Cluaran had risen noiselessly to his feet. Without a glance in their direction he turned and strode off into the darkness.
    Elspeth waited until she judged the man must be out of earshot, but her voice was still hushed when she spoke.
    ‘I wonder where he goes.’
    Edmund shrugged. ‘Who knows? Just be careful what you say – he walks so softly you can never hear his return.’
    It is true
, Elspeth thought, remembering the night of the attack when Cluaran had arrived seemingly out of nowhere. And not just Cluaran, but the thieves, too. She propped herself up on one elbow and frowned at Edmund.
    ‘When those men attacked us, how did you know it was thieves coming, and not Cluaran?’
    Edmund stared at her in silence for a long moment.
    ‘I could see through their eyes,’ he said at last.
    ‘You mean … you’re Ripente!’ Instinctively Elspeth drew back, her mind filled with stories of the second-sighted traitors who were bought by kings to spy upon their enemies.
    ‘I may have their sight, but I am no traitor,’ he spat back. Then he smiled bitterly. ‘It took Aagard to recognise what I am, even if it is not what I wish to be. I didn’t even know of it until the storm. Like you with the crystal sword.’
    Elspeth looked down at her right hand, flexing the fingers. ‘Then we both have a gift that’s more of a curse.’
    ‘But your sword saved us,’ Edmund argued. ‘All my gift has brought is trouble.’ His face twisted with pain as he went on, ‘Just before Aagard left us, do you remember what happened?’
    ‘Aagard said his old enemy – Orgrim – tried to use your eyes. But you have the same power as he, don’t you? And you fought him off.’
    ‘I managed to push him away, that’s all. But Aagard said he’d return, looking for the sword. And he knows me now, Elspeth!’ Edmund turned away so she could hardly hear his next words: ‘I don’t know if I can keep him out next time.’
    Elspeth felt a rush of sympathy. He sounded like a frightened boy, a long way from the powerful, shadowy Ripente figures who had been spoken of in hushed tones throughout her childhood. She longed to comfort him – and perhaps there was a way.
    ‘I think you’re wrong,’ she said slowly. ‘Orgrim has no reason to come back to you.’ She winced when she saw Edmund’s sudden hopeful look, and hoped she was right.
    ‘Orgrim uses his power to spy, so how can he spy on someone who knows he’s there?’ she went on. ‘Surely he’d look for someone who can’t sense him in the first place?’ She gulped. ‘Someone like me,’ she said with an effort. ‘Perhaps I’m the one who needs to be prepared.’
    Edmund’s face was wary. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Could you look through
my
eyes?’ Elspeth forced herself to ask.
    ‘No!’ he cried, twisting away.
    ‘But think, Edmund!’ she persisted. ‘Aagard told us he had learned to feel when his eyes were being used. Maybe I can as well. The only way is if you try to use my eyes, so thatI recognise what it feels like. Otherwise, how will I ever know if Orgrim is trying to spy through me instead?’
    Emotions chased across Edmund’s face like clouds. ‘You’re right,’ he said at last. ‘But are you sure you want me to do this?’
    Elspeth nodded with more determination than she felt. Edmund sat very still, concentrating his thoughts, while she braced herself, telling herself over and over that she had to trust Edmund, Ripente or no.
    Nothing happened. Edmund’s eyes were unfocused; his face as still as stone. After a moment Elspeth risked speaking.
    ‘What did you see?’
    He blinked and looked up, puzzled. ‘I didn’t. I couldn’t see anything!’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘I can’t use your eyes,’ he said. ‘There’s a sort of a … a whiteness around you.’
    She