I am breaking my blog holiday (again) to take part in this very exciting tour to celebrate the release of the third and final book in the The Name of the Blade trilogy, Frail Human Heart. Now, I am very excited over this trilogy (am putting off reading Frail Human Heart because I'm not sure how heart will be able to cope!) so when Walker Books asked if I wanted to show off an extract from the book, I jumped out the chance! This extract isn't very spoilery, so you guys who haven't read the series, do not fear from me!
And I'm the first stop on the tour! ... oh heck! Anyway, thank you Walker for asking me to take part in the tour and thank you Zoe for writing this amazing trilogy! And now, off we go!
I couldn’t see her.
The pearly white flames sheathing the katana illuminated dark streaks of fungus on the concrete walls of the storm drain, the fleeting red gleam of a rat’s eyes further down the tunnel and the murky black water swirling and splashing at my toes. It also lit up a few things floating in the water that I didn’t want to look at closely. But it didn’t show me the one thing I had wanted and expected to see.
Rachel.
“Everything OK down there?” my dad shouted into the manhole over my head.
“I’m fine – hang on!” I yelled back.
I walked along the narrow edge of brick that ran down one side of the tunnel, trying to avoid the splashing water as I moved deeper into the darkness. I lifted the flickering light of the sword higher, squinting against the dark.
“You’re very quiet,” I whispered to the blade. “Nothing to say?”
The sword’s energy jumped against my palm like an uneasy heartbeat, but the familiar, metallic voice remained silent.
I still felt the compulsion – a magnetic, physical attraction to the blade – twinned with a deep-down sense of responsibility to protect him, keep him safe. That was apparently hardwired into everyone in my family. It sat alongside my own rational awareness that allowing the sword’s destructive power to fall into the wrong hands would be disastrous for the whole world. But the influence that the katana had exerted on my emotions, the silvery, persuasive whispering that had put such pressure on my mind that I sometimes thought I was going mad? It was gone. For the first time in what felt like forever, I was really and truly alone in my head.
I hated it.
“Rachel!” I called out. My voice bounced around the drain eerily. “It’s me! You can come out!”
There were tiny skittering noises in the shadows as vermin fled from the noise and light, but nothing else.
I strained my ears for any giveaway sounds: a splash, a footstep on the bricks, even a weak cry for help. This was where I’d sensed her, almost seen her, during my vision.
I knew I hadn’t been mistaken. She’d been in this drain.
But not any more. I was too late, again.
Next Stop for Zoë is KitKatsCanRead! Go check it out tomorrow or, if you haven’t already, pick up your copy of Zoë’s The Name of the Blade series at your local bookshop or online at Amazon, Book Depository, Waterstones.com and WHSmith.
Zoë Marriott is the author of many critically acclaimed and beloved books, including The Swan Kingdom, which was long-listed for the Branford Boase award, and Shadows on the Moon, which won the prestigious Sasakawa Prize and was an American Junior Library Guild Selection. Zoë lives in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Visit Zoë’s blog at thezoe-trope.blogspot.co.uk or her website at ZoeMarriott.com. Follow her on Twitter (@ZMarriott).
d be disastrous for the whole world. But the
influence that the katana had exerted on my emotion
s, the silvery, persuasive whispering that had
put such pressure on my mind that I sometimes thoug
ht I was going mad? It was gone. For the
first time in what felt like forever, I was really
and truly alone in my head.
I hated it.
“Rachel!” I called out. My voice bounced around the
drain eerily. “It’s me! You can come out!”
There were tiny skittering noises in the shadows as
vermin fled from the noise and light, but
nothing else.
I strained my ears for any giveaway sounds: a splas
h, a footstep on the bricks, even a weak cry
for help. This was where I’d sensed her, almost
seen
her, during my vision.
I knew I hadn’t been mistaken. She’d been in this d
rain.
But not any more. I was too late, again.
Next Stop for Zoë is
[MENTION TOMORROW’S BLOG SITE].
Click here to check it out and, if you
haven’t already, pick up your copy of Zoë’s The Nam
e of the Blade series at your local bookshop or
online at Amazon, Book Depository, Waterstones.com
and WHSmith.
[INCLUDE IMAGES OF BOOK JACKETS]
Zoë Marriott is the author of many critically accla
imed and beloved books, including
The Swan
Kingdom
, which was long-listed for the Branford Base awar
d, and
Shadows on the Moon
, which
won the prestigious Sasakawa Prize and was an Ameri
can Junior Library Guild Selection. Zoë lives in
Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Visit Zoë’s blog at thezoe-t
rope.blogspot.co.uk or her website at
ZoeMarriott.com. Follow her on Twitter (@ZMarriott
).
