Midnight

“Valkyrie,” Kes said, “leave now or she’ll see you.”

Valkyrie hesitated, but she knew she had no choice.

She let it go, let it all go, and the house vanished and the vision washed away and the cellar came back.

Kes looked at her. “You OK?”

“No,” said Valkyrie, walking for the stairs. “I hate seeing the future.”

9 (#ulink_e794dcb7-23f5-584d-a403-222b98c3df34)

For a solemn occasion such as an execution, the mood in Coldheart Prison was something approaching a festival.

The convicts lined the tiers, eager for the show and struggling to contain themselves. Every so often an excited whisper would drift down to the broad dais that hovered above the energy field. On that dais the teenage members of First Wave stood in the costumes that Abyssinia had ordered to be made for them – black, with shiny belts and polished boots – to give them the false sense that they were an elite military unit. To Cadaverous, they were scared little children, no matter what they happened to be wearing.

He stood with Razzia and Destrier and Nero. Beside them, and yet apart, were Avatar and Skeiri. Abyssinia’s new favourites. The up-and-comers. Cadaverous despised them even more than he despised First Wave.

The only member of First Wave not dressed in her finery was the annoying girl with the habit of constantly flicking her hair out of her eyes. Dressed in civilian clothes, she stood on the very edge of the dais, a mere step away from a lethal plunge to the force field below. The bracelet she wore was cheap but solid and needed a key to remove it. It also bound her magic.

“Please,” she said through the tears that were streaming down her face, “I just want to go home.”

Abyssinia stood beside Parthenios Lilt, their heads down, seemingly consumed by disappointment. They didn’t answer the girl. That wasn’t down to them. That was down to First Wave’s leader, the arrogant whelp Jenan Ispolin.

He strode forward awkwardly, as if his knees had locked. The bravado that he usually carried with him – even here in Coldheart, surrounded as he was by genuine threats – seemed to be missing at this moment. He was pale, and afraid, and he looked as young as he was.

“Isidora Splendour,” he said, his voice trembling slightly, “you have been found guilty of betraying your true family.”

Isidora shook her head. “I didn’t betray you, I swear.”

Jenan continued. “We are destined for greatness. We have been chosen to change the world. This is the highest honour.”

“Jenan, please.”

“And yet, you jeopardised this sacred mission with your cowardice.”

She turned. “I don’t want to kill anyone,” she sobbed. “None of us do. Mr Lilt, please. You’re my teacher. Please help me.”

Lilt shook his head sadly.

“Abyssinia,” Isidora tried, “I’m begging you, we don’t want to do this, but we’re too scared to tell you. Please don’t make us. We’re only children. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Abyssinia looked to the rest of First Wave as they huddled together. “Is this true?” she asked gently. “Have you reconsidered? Have you had second thoughts? We are training you, making you stronger, better, more powerful. Your old classmates would barely recognise you, you have advanced so much. You have evolved. You are my dream made flesh.” Her smile faltered. “But if this traitor’s words are true, if you do indeed see yourselves as only children, you must tell me. Please, I beg you – be honest. Open your hearts. If you doubt me, if you doubt my plan and you have lost faith in our future together, a future that is on the horizon, now is the time to make this clear. Speak, my loves.”

It was as if the entire prison held its breath and was silent.

Isidora fell to her knees, crying.

Abyssinia nodded slowly to Jenan. “Continue, my loyal warrior.”

The boy’s chest puffed out ridiculously, and he looked down at his weeping friend. “Today, you tried to leave,” he said. “You knew the punishment for that.”

Isidora shook her head again. “I didn’t know,” she said. “We were never told that! Please, give me another chance! This isn’t fair!”

The boy hesitated, then reached down, took Isidora’s hands, and pulled her gently to her feet. For a moment, Cadaverous thought he might give her a reprieve, but then he saw Abyssinia close her eyes, and knew she was in Jenan’s head.

Jenan put his hands to Isidora’s shoulders and pushed, and Isidora shrieked and toppled from the dais. The other members of First Wave looked away, covered their mouths, gave little cries of shock, and Jenan stepped backwards, a look of horror on his face.

“My loves,” said Abyssinia. “Come to me.”

She spread her arms and they walked to her, hesitantly at first, but Cadaverous could feel the waves of empathy Abyssinia was giving out, even from where he stood. When they huddled around her, they were safe and warm and they belonged.

Just like he used to.

Cadaverous followed Abyssinia back to her quarters. When she saw him, she sighed.

“Do you mind coming back later?” she asked. “We just had to execute one of the children.”

“I was there,” Cadaverous said. “You handled it well.”

She sat. “Thank you.”

“Do you think they’ll be ready?”

“Of course,” she responded.

“You’re putting an awful lot of faith in a group of scared teenagers,” Cadaverous said. “You have hundreds of followers now – most of whom would be all too eager to engage in some mindless slaughter for you.”

“But it’s not mindless,” Abyssinia said. “There is a point to it all, even if you can’t see it.”

“You could help me see it. You could explain it to me.”

“When you’re ready, I’ll tell you. Is there another reason you’re here, Cadaverous?”

“There is. But, now that I have you alone, I almost don’t know where to begin.” He took a breath. “We believed in you. We brought you back.”

“And I love you for it.”

“We love you, too. I can say that with absolute certainty because, before you, I didn’t know what love was. I knew it as an abstract thing, something other people said. Something other people felt. But your voice in my head, lying on that operating table … that was the voice of love. And I was hearing it for the first time.”

“That’s sweet of you to say.”

“You’re here because of us, and we’re here because of you. Because of the mission.”

“The mission,” Abyssinia said. “Yes.”

Cadaverous hesitated. “Only … only I think the search for your son has distracted you in recent months.”

The good humour drifted from Abyssinia’s face. “Do you indeed?”