Chapter 27
“It was much harder than you’d think, but I have the birthing-blood testing kit,” Snow announced as she swept into Rain’s room without knocking, Eleanour hurrying behind her.
Rain looked up from the textbook open on his desk; research on blood-testing procedures.
Now that Snow had the kit, they were finally ready.
Eleanour carried a large brown leather medical case; presumably the kit.
“Nurse Aphlee was reluctant to hand it over. Anyone would think she was Aetherial herself, the way she clung to the box of Aetherchrome.” Snow gestured toward the small table by the armchair. “Just place it there, Eleanour. Thank you.”
Eleanour obeyed, bowing slightly to Rain before slipping out.
“She’s still scared of me,” Rain murmured, watching the door close.
“That’s to be expected. Some of the long-term staff have… history.” Snow avoided the darker details. “Anyway—science experiment time.”
She shrugged off her blue velvet bolero, crescent moons glittering across the fabric as she tossed it onto the bed before settling into the armchair.
Rain followed, lifting the side table with his power and setting it neatly in front of her.
He opened the leather case, unfastening each brass zipper with care, laying out the contents piece by piece.
Snow unfolded the medical tray for the blood samples while Rain arranged the vials of Aetherchrome chips.
“Okay,” he said, tapping the tray. “We need eight blood samples each. We’ll cut and drip parallel to each other—here, here, here and so on—so we can test simultaneously. We’ll get the same results, obviously, but we may as well do it properly.”
“Agreed,” Snow said, nodding.
“Then we simply drop the Aetherchrome of choice into the sample; if our blood holds the same frequency as the Aetherchrome it will react. The texts state that crystal will draw out the essence of the power within the blood sample and use it to recharge itself. It’s pretty cool really.
They usually use this little thing to prick a baby’s heel. ”
Rain held up a pen-like needle, twirling it between his fingers before tossing it aside with a faint clatter. The tiny instrument looked absurdly delicate in his hand. “But we need more than a drop, and we’re not babies. I think I have a suitable blade in my drawer.”
Snow’s eyes widened. Rain felt her nerves spike like a sudden cold draft. He opened the cabinet and pulled out a carved onyx throwing dagger, the black stone catching the lamplight.
“Yes! Not its intended purpose, but a blade is a blade.”
“Where exactly are you planning to cut me open?” Snow asked warily.
“You don’t have to do this, you know. My blood is enough.
” He twirled the blade casually, smiling in that infuriatingly calm way of his.
“We’re just testing whether my visions and Isarion; are right about our bloodline.
It could be a complete waste of time. But if you want to do it, I’ll take the pain for you. You won’t feel a thing.”
“Okay, Mr. New Power,” she said, rolling her eyes to hide her nerves. “My hands are very fragile. Please don’t maim me.”
“Trust me.”
“I do.” She took a breath, then held out her hand. “Do mine first. Before I change my mind.”
Rain laughed softly at her adorable panic. He transported a lighter to his hand and with a flicker of flame, sterilised the blade, the metal hissing faintly. Taking her left palm, he gave her a moment to breathe, thumb brushing her wrist in reassurance.
“Okay. Inhale.”
She obeyed, turning her head away. Rain pressed the blade to her skin, slicing horizontally with practised precision.
He siphoned the pain instantly, the sting blooming in his own palm.
Snow winced at the sensation but felt no pain.
Rain ignored the sharp throb in his hand and tilted her palm, letting blood drip into eight neat pools on the metal tray.
“Ah—shit.” He dropped the knife and pressed her palm between his hands to stop the bleeding.
With his power, he flung open the bathroom door and summoned a flannel, catching it mid-air.
“Hold this until it stops. I’m going to stop siphoning now; it’ll sting, but you’re done. Slow breaths. Your energy is spiking.”
“Okay. That wasn’t too bad. For future reference, saying ‘shit’ while cutting me open is not helpful.”
“Sorry. My bad.” He smothered a smile, unable to help himself.
He cleaned the blade again and sliced his own palm, repeating the process with far less ceremony. Snow kept her eyes averted until he finished.
“Done. Next, we need one of each Aetherchrome chip.” Rain wiped his bloody hand on his pants without a second thought; battle wounds were nothing new. He reached for the vials, then paused.
His hands were covered in both their blood.
“Okay, we need to wash this off or we’ll contaminate everything. Come on.”
They washed up, the water running pink before swirling clear. They wrapped their palms in strips of towel and returned to the table. Rain opened the vials and set eight colourful chips before each of them, the crystals catching the light like tiny stars.
“Let’s start with Blue,” Snow said, rolling the crystal between her fingers. “We know what should happen.”
“Yes, good idea, start with what we know,” Rain said, picking up his blue chip. They leant in together, lowering the crystals onto the first samples. The blood bubbled instantly, reacting to the Aetherchrome. Rain exhaled a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.
“For a moment I worried we’d get no reaction and have to start asking Mother some serious questions.”
“Or you hoped,” Snow said, giving him a pointed look.
“Well, it would certainly unburden me if that were the case. Green next, right?”
“Mother’s blood, yes.” Snow lifted the green Aetherchrome, her fingers trembling just slightly. The crystal caught the lamplight, casting a soft emerald glow across her palm. They dropped them simultaneously. The blood reacted again; identical to the blue.
They stared at the samples. Then at each other. Then back again, as if the answer might change if they blinked hard enough.
“Okay… that is not normal,” Snow whispered. “But maybe it’s just blue and green. We don’t have other parents.”
Rain snorted, the sound sharp in the quiet room, but grabbed yellow. Snow mirrored him, their movements synchronised the way they always were when nerves ran high. They dropped the crystals.
The blood bubbled.
“Holy shit.” Rain swept the remaining chips into his palm, the crystals clinking like tiny bells, and dropped them one by one across the remaining samples. Every single one reacted. Snow repeated the process just to be sure, her breath quickening with each identical reaction.
All eight samples reacted to all eight Aetherchromes.
“That isn’t normal, is it?” Snow said slowly, eyes wild, voice thin with disbelief.
“Nope. Well—yes. For us. We just never knew.” Rain leaned back, mind racing, the weight of centuries pressing against his ribs. “We’re the ninth bloodline. Which means there is a ninth Aetherchrome—one that holds all the colours. Imagine the power we could draw from that.”
“How?” Snow demanded. “How have we gone hundreds of years—multiple generations—and never stumbled across Rainbow Aetherchrome?”
“I think the Gods are guiding me towards that knowledge,” Rain said quietly.
His voice softened. “Guiding us. I’ve been shown the first twins; the first Royal aetherials.
What did they say…?” He bit his lip, searching memory.
“‘The first set of twins, born of the true royal bloodline. Only their descendants should sit upon the aetherial throne.’ Before them, I don’t think we had a ruling family.
The twin mutation was created to help our kind support the realm bringing unity, order, balance.
That is how I understood it. Though, I imagine our kind must have held an advantage over other bloodlines, we can channel all Aetherchrome, we can wield our power across the realms without weakening. ”
Snow listened, nodding as she absorbed every word.
“Our bloodline came from the source Aetherchrome,” he murmured, the thought crystallising as he said it.
“Each Aetherchrome must channel from the source too.” The truth of it settled heavily in his chest. He’d seen that iridescent Aetherchrome in his dreams for as long as he could remember—shimmering, shifting, impossibly alive.
But lately… lately it had changed. Darkened.
Shadowy tendrils creeping across its surface like rot.
The vines are growing.
The chant echoed in his skull, cold and insistent.
“Something happened a thousand years ago to our ancestor.”
“Queen Skylar,” Snow supplied.
He nodded. “Yes. Queen Skylar” Even saying her name felt like brushing against a locked door.
“Something that made her close her entire kingdom, locking it behind a wall of thorns. I wonder if anyone is still living there; trapped. Anyway, her sons became the first monarchs of White and Blue. How were the other Kings determined?”
“Power,” Snow said. “That’s what we’re taught.”
Rain could almost see the lessons in her eyes; history etched into memory. Families rising and falling. The most powerful families ruled. Some firstborn sons passed over.
“..It happens even now; the yellow King, Reece Sulantice for example; his older brother could barely channel influence. Reece is telepathic. His father chose power over birth order.”
Rain exhaled slowly. “So, something fractured the realm. Every new kingdom is thrown into chaos as they're forced toward segregation. There’s power struggle, manipulation and even murder.” He moved to sit on the arm of Snow’s chair, needing the grounding of her presence.
“Why does it feel like we are about to fall into a similar chaos?”
“Do you think there are others like us? Unaware of the blood within their veins.” Snow asked, not wishing to contemplate the hard times ahead.