HEIRS OF TIME (CASTE BOOK 2) SAMPLE CHAPTERS

Chapter 2

For three days the castle had been teeming with people. I had observed from afar the many visitors who came from all over the world to meet—or see again—the queen everyone was talking about. Her fearsome reputation dated back to when she defeated the Six. The most powerful, Althea, was actually my great-grandmother, and my mother had to slay her in plain sight so that peace would finally return to the community. This confrontation had gotten the better of her jet-black hair; it had turned white. It was also by this sign that you recognized her brother Ethan, who was just knocking on my door.

“Uncle!” I said, wrapping him in my arms, a broad smile on my face.

He hugged me tight and pulled away a few seconds later in awkward silence. Ethan was undemonstrative and I had noticed that for a long time.

My mother had told me about my uncle’s troubled past. The consequences of his mistakes were still vivid among our people, who mistrusted him like the plague, even though Carmichael had recently appointed him to head Canary Wharf, London, the other great caste stronghold of the Middle Territory. I didn’t know all the details, but I had a strange fascination with Ethan. During his stay in the United States, he spent most of his time in profound silence, except in the presence of my mother, and enjoyed my company without saying a word. The love he had for his sister could be read in each of their conversations, and I guessed, despite his enigmatic attitude, that he also loved me very much. When I was eight years old, a kid pulled my hair. When Ethan found out, he lowered himself to my level and said to me: “I promise you that if someone hurts you one day, I will make them not want to do it again”. His determined face, under his white hair, sent a shiver down my skin. I still remember it.

As I watched, he paced the room, his gaze scanning every detail of the decor. It had been a long time since I was surprised by his youth. My uncle barely showed his adulthood, and only his impenetrable eyes revealed his experience and the scars of his difficult past. He walked around the king-sized bed, glanced for a moment at the brightly coloured abstract canvas above it, and at the paperwork scattered on the large oak desk and the flowers of a bouquet above the console, ran his eyes along the beams of the ceiling, and finally went to sit in the living room. I sat down in an armchair, facing him.

“So, Isabelle?” he finally decided to say. “What news since our last meeting? Are you getting used to castle life?”

“Much better than I thought!”

“Really?”

“Eh, yes. I met some interesting people, and everyone is absolutely charming to me.”

“You’re the queen’s daughter, no wonder,” he said, without the slightest emphasis.

“Thanks, Ethan,” I said, pursing my lips. “I thought it was my personality that had charmed them!”

“No doubt this is the case... Who have you met so far?”

“The Hanlons, as you can imagine, Estelle, the housekeeper, and Stella, Carmichael’s assistant. Cousins Caleb and Alysson, as well as other inhabitants of the castle, and Elvis, Soraya and their two sons, who I hang out with all the time.”

“So, instead of castes, you’re hooking up with humans. You look like your mother!”

I watched him cautiously, for this remark seemed to have amused him.

“Until now, I’ve only dated humans, if you remember correctly. Elias and Wassim are the closest things to my American connections. At least, if we forget their somewhat flowery language.”

Ethan chuckled, which was unfamiliar to him. My mother had explained to me one day that living in Brixton, if only for a while, left traces, and that the dialect specific to its inhabitants remained forever anchored in their speech. She had proven it to me several times when she got angry. I was a victim of the same phenomenon, except that it was my American accent that was particularly pronounced when I got angry, which fortunately was rare.

There was a knock on my door again and Johnny stormed in, followed by his husband, Alonso.

“My darling!” exclaimed the first, all smiles. “What?! You’re not giving Uncle Johnny a kiss?!”

I went to kiss him, jumping into his arms, before repeating my gesture to Alonso. I hadn’t seen them since they had been in Montana a year earlier when I called them for help, thinking they might help my mother regain some semblance of a smile. Johnny had long brooded over this bitter failure, her, his best friend, who had always been present in the darkest moments of his existence.

“How beautiful you are, sweetie!” shouted Alonso, whose soft Spanish accent sang in my ears.

I considered them for a moment. Despite his sixty-five years, Johnny had retained quite a powerful physique and a barely wrinkled face. A shaved head and only a few white hairs scattered in his beard betrayed his age. Alonso, meanwhile, from the height of his forty-seven springs, displayed the vigour of an athlete. His large clear eyes stared at me as he ran his hand through his perfectly neat brown hair. Their intensive sports sessions and the care they took of their bodies were visible to the naked eye, and it was with an athletic step that they went to greet Ethan before sitting down beside him.

“So? What news?” asked Alonso, crossing his legs.

“I had just told my uncle how well I had been received since my arrival.”

“They know your mother’s reputation, so no one is going to take the risk of treating you badly!” sighed Johnny.

I smiled, thinking of Ethan’s previous remarks.

“Did you take care of everything for the ball?”

“With the help of Alonso and Estelle, of course. I wasn’t going to let my employees organize the biggest event in forty years. We are talking about the return of Eve! How I would have liked to see Carmichael’s face when he saw her again!”

“I was there,” I said, glad I knew more about it than he did, “and yeah, he looked surprised.”

“He’s been waiting a very long time for this moment,” Ethan said, “and I’m glad she can finally come back because we have business to deal with as soon as possible.”

“We’re not going to talk business today, Ethan!” Johnny said, before turning his gaze in my direction. “Besides, sweetie, get ready for 7 p.m., I’ll arrive with a battery of castes ready to take care of you.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, intrigued.

“Your dress, your make-up and your hairstyle. Come on!”

“But I’ve already planned…”

“Damn, you’re like your mother!” he cut me off with another sigh. “My beauty, tonight, you enter the world of the castes and, for them, you are a princess. So you’re going to do what I tell you because now isn’t the time to wear cheap clothes.”

“Well, it’s actually a brand and…”

“I don’t care,” he added as Alonso and Ethan hid a laugh, “7 o’clock sharp! I then have to take care of Prisca and Connor, not to mention Eve, who decided to come back at the last minute. She’ll drive me crazy, that one!”

“Everyone will be there, then?” I asked. “I’ll be able to meet them, that’s great!”

“Of course,” Ethan snapped, “they’ve been waiting for this for forty years. And it would be inappropriate to miss my sister’s return.”

And at these last words, they all rose and left me, giving me an appointment at the ball.

I went to take a shower because I had a little less than two hours before Johnny the tyrant arrived with his company of torturers. Later, seeing them enter my suite like an elite army, I turned pale and surrendered to their good care without asking the slightest question. And the rest of the evening proved to me that I had been right to trust them.