Chapter One

Ket Thompson was a boy of many words; however, none of those words were spoken by him. He was twelve-years-old, newly budding into a teenager. He had grown two inches since he left his grandmother, Makeda Saevyer, to live with his adoptive mother, Kyara Larkin.

The villagers of his homeland, Winterberry Island, spread many rumors about the boy. He had been rumored around since his arrival in a basket ten years ago, with the Pattern of the Miringa woven into it.

The Miringa were a curious folk indeed. To put it simply, they were the embodiment of good – or so the legend says. However, there were many complex layers, each one being revealed to Ket as time went on. They were winged beings with magical powers, battling – of course – the embodiments of evil, the Manumos.

However, sometimes, when a Manumo takes a liking to a Miringa, a child could be produced. Such an event happened many, many eons ago, and from then the children evolved into being commonly called humans. History repeated itself, though; a Miringa man fell in love with a Manumo woman.

Kyros Saevyer had been a strong, noble Miringa, kindly to all. Even though he was the heir to a very large sum of money, and his home had been the Saevyer Mansion – one of the grandest dwellings in all of Renaruga – he had not thought himself better than others. He was a fair man who had given all an equal chance; thus, he fell in love with Sorena Kadaveer, Queen of Golachma and, most recently discovered, Dictator of Sotteraneo. When Sorena discovered that she was pregnant, she discarded Kyros, cutting off all ties to him. She gave birth to the baby, naming him Ketakano. When Kyros caught wind of Sorena’s plans to slay the baby, he immediately stole into the city of Golachma and took away the baby. He eventually was forced to set it adrift in the sea in a basket, where it washed upon the shores of Winterberry Island. A young girl, seventeen-years-old at the time, found the baby, and named him Ket Thompson, using her own surname as his own. Now her surname has changed to Larkin, her husband’s name, but Ket still retains her maiden name.

Ket now lay on his bed, thinking deeply, keeping the curtains drawn so that he could pretend it was still early morning. Two months ago, he had witnessed his mother’s current lover murder his father. Now, Ket had made a foolish but determined vow to destroy the Manumo race. Lots of crazy thoughts, memories, and images jumped through his mind, flashing like lightning. Most importantly, however – or so his deluded teenaged mind believed – he was thinking about Lora Jonat.

Lora Jonat was a year older than Ket and the ridiculous nickname Jadro Lackey had bestowed upon her was perfectly fitting: “Beauty Embodied”. Not only was she gorgeous, but she was also kind, sympathetic, and enjoyable to be around. Needless to say, Ket thought about her very frequently.

His thoughts drifted to the friends he had made last year while he trained at the School for Higher Comprehension. Lora Jonat was among them, but so were many others: Jadro Lackey, whose sister Jeri was on the Miringa High Council and held a secretive past; Dolores Cushing, a pretty and polite girl who Jadro was interested in; Cecilia Set, Dolores’ charming roommate who preferred “Ceci”; Irving Salt, a boy whose imagination was always in overdrive; Henry Recro, who had been in his last year of training when Ket met him; Ovak Irwin, a spastic boy who was nonetheless fun to be around; Kekasmai Aner, a girl with a sharp mind and an even sharper tongue. Ket laughed aloud as he remembered the first time he had met Kekasmai: he had been thinking about Lora yet again, and had literally run into her. She had engaged him in a verbal battle, and Ket’s temper fired up immediately. Strangely enough, this had impressed Kekasmai: she spoke words that stuck with him still: “The hardest thing for one to do is prove one’s life worthwhile.” Ket was in the course of trying to prove his own life valuable when she spoke these words, which had helped inspire the speech he had to write. Luckily, he had won, and his life continued; unfortunately, this display of ignorance and bigotry in the Miringa population showed Ket how imperfect the society truly was.

“Ket, sweetie?” softly called the voice of his adoptive mother, Kyara Larkin. She tapped gently on the door and opened it. “Oh, good. You’re awake.”

“Hullo, Mother,” greeted Ket. He had been hoping to pretend to sleep through the entire day. Ever since he had witnessed his father’s murder, his thoughts were mainly consumed with how to destroy the Manumo race. He no longer thought of them as individuals, with lives and jobs and children: they were all monsters, worthless creatures of sin. “How may I help you?”

“Would you mind watching Adriano for a bit?” asked Kyara anxiously. “I have to – go out.”

‘She won’t tell me where she’s going,’ thought Ket dully. He knew that this meant she was nervous, but trying to be casual about it. He knew not to press her for answers and obliged. “Okay. How long will you be gone?”

Kyara shrugged. “Only for a few hours, I think. I’ll be back soon; nothing to worry about. Adriano has been fed and napped, so all you have to do is make sure he doesn’t get hurt. Let him play with things.”

Ket nodded. “Okay.” She looked her up and down. She looked the same, but something was different. He couldn’t exactly tell what, but he knew that that was the reason why she was going out. ‘It will come to me later,’ he told himself, trying to drown his suspicion.

“Thank you, Ket.” She beamed, opening his door wider. Adriano Larkin, Kyara’s firstborn son, was lying on a blanket, playing with a rubber ball and a carved wooden figure. Kyara had discovered a knack for carving wood when she was younger and had to fend for herself. Both of her parents had passed away when she was in her late teenaged years, and until she had found Ket she had stayed very depressed.

Kyara left and Ket settled down in front of Adriano, who was chewing contentedly on the rubber ball. He paused and looked up at Ket, who tried smiling encouragingly. He must have accomplished this task, because Adriano resumed his chewing right away. After a few moments, he pulled the ball from his mouth, examined it, and through it towards the front door. Ket watched it sail through the air and hit the doorframe, where it bounced off and rolled to the umbrella stand and came to a halt. Ket and Adriano stared at it, then:

“Ball?” inquired Adriano. “Ball?”

“Do you want me to get it?” asked Ket, even though the younger boy only understood a few words.

“Ball!” insisted Adriano. “Ball, ball!”

Ket sighed and stood up, walking over to the door to retrieve the ball. When he found it and stood up, there was a knock on the door. Ket opened it; Gabriel Breckenridge was standing there, beaming and breathless.

“Ket!” exclaimed Gabriel. “Is Kyara here?”

“No, she went out,” explained Ket. He knew that telling Gabriel that both adults were gone was a safe idea; Kyara and Gabriel were childhood friends and he was a very trustworthy friend. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“No, no, something wonderful has occurred!” cried Gabriel joyously. “It’s Evelyn. She thinks she’s – ”

“Pregnant,” inserted Ket, remembering how he had previously sensed two life forces emitting from Evelyn. Gabriel stared at Ket in shock, but then quickly recovered. He knew about Ket’s parentage, seeing as his wife was the daughter of Kyros’ cousin and half-Miringa.

“You knew before, then?”

“Yes,” admitted Ket, “but I wasn’t thinking properly when I first detected it…I had my mind on…other things.” He trailed off, and Gabriel nodded understandingly.

“Well, when will Kyara return?” asked Gabriel breathlessly. “Now that I know that Evelyn actually is pregnant, we won’t have to spend money on the midwife to tell us!” Gabriel laughed. “Ket, wouldn’t it be something if you got paid to tell couples whether or not they were going to have a baby?”

Ket laughed too. He could never imagine himself doing anything of the sort. “Aye, that would be something. But my mother won’t be home for a few hours, and I don’t know where she — ” He stopped suddenly, a thought striking him. He knew what was different about Kyara. It had been so early that he was only catching faint traces, but he knew what he had detected. He felt it every single day. “Never mind,” he told Gabriel abruptly. “I think I know where she is, speaking of.” He grinned despite himself. “I think she’s gone to the midwife. I’m pretty certain that she’s pregnant, too.”

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Even amongst the tragedies that burden him, Ket is still able to appreciate the joys that come to him.

Here is book four. I hope you enjoy.