The Named Read Free

full member at a ceremony to be held in Athens next month.’
    The reality of his words are hard to grasp. ‘ Full member?’
    He nods, still grinning at me, pleased with my reaction. ‘But hold on, Ethan, there’s something else.’
    What else could there be, except maybe …? I reach across and grab his shoulders as if to hold him steady when I’m the one that needs holding up. ‘Arkarian, are you saying I’m going to be awarded the power of flight?’
    He glances briefly away, and instantly I understand that his words are going to disappoint. His eyes come back to mine and he says gently, ‘You’re not getting your wings yet, Ethan. Have patience.’
    But the disappointment, coming after the nightmare from last night and Mum’s depression this morning, hits me like a flood surging through the lower valley. My hands fly up in the air as I demand an explanation. ‘Oh, come on, Arkarian! I completed my apprenticeship years ago, and I’ve been an active member of the Guard for ten years at least.’
    ‘Yes, but you started when you were a mere infant.’
    I nod, admitting this. ‘But I’ve heard of others who’ve received this power years ahead of me.’
    He puts it simply. ‘They were ready; you are not.’
    I groan and slump, realising that there’s nothing I can do. Nothing beyond what I do already, that is – keep trying to prove myself. ‘So what’s this other news?’
    He releases a soft sigh, produces a matching stool for himself and sits opposite me so that we’re on eye level. ‘You’re to be given an Apprentice.’
    It takes a full minute to register. The impact of this honour finally hits and has me springing up again and pacing the windowless underground room, punching the air with my fist. ‘An Apprentice! Of my own?’
    Arkarian’s eyes follow me. When I stop and search his face for confirmation, his eyebrows lift with agentle nod of his head.
    For the Tribunal to give me this responsibility must surely mean my wings are almost assured.
    ‘Almost,’ Arkarian confirms, reading my mind as usual. ‘All you have to do is train your Apprentice, complete your next mission successfully, and you’ll have your wings by your next birthday.’
    ‘ Yes ! This is brilliant, Arkarian. How did you swing it?’
    He gives me a tolerant grin. ‘I’d like to take credit for your promotion, Ethan, but you did this yourself with your own good work. Now that I’ve admitted that, don’t let your advancement go to your head as I’m inclined to think it might.’ He looks at me hard. ‘You want to prove you’re worth entrusting with this ultimate power, don’t you?’
    I nod fiercely. ‘Oh, yeah.’ I come back to the old wooden stool and try to sit still long enough to make sure I understand it all, but my right leg can’t stop jumping up and down. I put my hand on my knee to hold it still. ‘So you’re saying, if I successfully train this Apprentice, I could have my wings within three months?’
    His lips don’t move, but his eyes are saying heaps.
    ‘There’s a catch, isn’t there?’
    ‘Not at all,’ he quickly assures me. ‘But there is a certain urgency developing …’ He nods towards the circling holographic sphere of Westminster Palace. ‘You don’t have a lot of time before your next mission.’
    ‘How long?’
    ‘A few weeks.’
    Weeks ? What could Arkarian, or the Tribunal for that matter, be thinking? To train a small child wouldtake years. It did with me. I remember some of those early lessons – Arkarian was patient (’cause I had two left feet in those days) but relentless. We trained here in a variety of rooms, learning skills most people wouldn’t learn in a lifetime, from self-defence to self-existence. But it was years before the Tribunal thought me skilled enough to handle my own mission.
    ‘I only have a few weeks to train an Apprentice?’
    Arkarian nods. ‘But it won’t be as hard as you’re thinking. Remember, you were an infant when you came to me, an