Page 1 of Switching Graves

PROLOGUE

Father falls into his seat at the head of the table as my mother buzzes around his back, quickly sliding a plate before him and filling his glass with ale. He hasn’t eaten dinner with us in nearly a week, too caught up in whatever problems Nocturne Valley is facing to step foot out of his study and complete basic tasks. Things like changing out of his stained trousers or brushing his teeth have become secondary to his work. When he’s not holed up in there, he’s at Mayor Payne’s house—a vile, round-faced man who resembles a hog more than a human.

Ever since we’ve begun rebuilding the road to Infinity Heights, the large city a few miles west of us, we’ve had to fire half our wait staff. It’s left the responsibility of preparing and serving meals to Mother and my older sisters, among other things.

She says she doesn’t mind. That things will get better and life will return to normal soon. We’re all making sacrifices for the town and the future Father sees in it. A new, paved road to Infinity Heights means clear access to things such as livestock and leather and steel—items that are quickly dwindling here.Even before the flood that washed away our previous road, it was a difficult trek between towns.

I’m not sure that I believe her. Each time I go into Nocturne Valley, I’m met with angry scowls and cold shoulders. Our nanny, Alice, said that everyone is just trying to find a way to eat and they aren’t angry at me, they’re angry at the world. I think they’re mostly angry at my name. Soon after, she forbade all eight of us kids to leave the property without her by our side.

My older siblings have struggled to adjust. We take our school lessons in the library now, since Mother pulled us from the schoolhouse after my older brothers got into too many fights with the other kids for what they say about our father. Things became dangerous when inexperienced children began using their gifts against us. John had a blistered burn across his cheek for weeks from an irritated pyrokinetic Primaris who claimed his father went back to drinking because of us.

It’s our sister Emma who challenges the new rules the most. She still sneaks off to meet with her friends in the town’s cemetery nearly every night, though none of us rat on her for it. John says we’re all we’ve got anymore, and it wouldn’t be right to turn on each other when the world has already done a good job at it already.

“How are things coming with the road plans?” Mother dares to ask Father once she’s seated again.

The rest of us wait for him to take his first bite before we start eating again.

He shakes his head back and forth, those ethereal eyes rimmed red, hair in disarray. The violet hue of his irises teeters on the edge of crimson. Mother says that’s how she knows he’s tired or angry.

They're a telltale trait of the Aeternum bloodline. They’ve always either given off the impression of importance, or terrified people into submission. Most fear those who can see what hasyet to come. The masters of time. At the very least, it makes them uncomfortable enough to feign respect.

Unfortunately, children aren’t as impressed by it, and instead use it as a way to single us out. As luck would have it, I’m the only child out of eight who was cursed with the same pigment. My siblings have favored our mother’s side and inherited Luminara gifts, manipulating lights and shadows.

Far more useful, if you ask me.

I wonder if he’s slept at all in the past few weeks. I overheard Mother telling Alice that he hadn’t come to bed in days, opting to sleep in his office instead.

“There just isn’t enough to go around,” he grumbles in a defeated tone.

“You’ll find a way. You always do,” Mother assures him confidently, resting her slender palm on his bulging arm.

Sighing, he keeps his gaze trained on his plate. “I’m not sure there’s much more time for me to do so, my dear. We’ve started to look into other options.”

“Like what?” she asks.

“Offloading the town onto a buyer. We figure that will help us afford to build a passable road and keep everyone happy.”

Mother slams her hand onto the table. “And what about you? That doesn’t sound like a situation you would be happy with—giving up your dream. What about everything we’ve already invested?”

“This is bigger than me.”

Scowling, she pulls her hand away before he can pull it into his grasp. “I’m sure this was that self-righteous Mayor Payne, wasn’t it? Why can’t he be bothered with finding the money?”

“Please don’t?—”

“Perhaps we can send a team out to ask Infinity Heights for help,” my brother, James, interrupts their argument to suggest hopefully.

“It’s a brutal hike through the mountains,” Father dismisses. “No one will want to take the risk.”

“Then, we’ll do it. Me, Henry, and John are more than capable.” He glances around the table at the others for confirmation, smiling when they nod their agreements.

Each of them is only a year apart, with James being the eldest at seventeen years old. They act more like a unit than three individual people, especially since Father has been too occupied with town business to lead the family. I wish I had a brother closer in age, but instead I’m stuck between two older sisters and two younger ones. At just twelve years old, I seem to fall into the category of ‘too young’ for anything they do and ‘too mature’ for the silly games my sisters still play.

“Absolutely not,” Mother interjects, pointing her fork at James. “Let your father handle the road, and you can focus on your studies. We’ve got plenty Terrakinetics from Primaris to handle moving the earth.”

“My studies can wait,” James argues back. “You’ve said it yourself: We need to be making sacrifices if we want Nocturne Valley to become the town that you and Father envisioned when you settled here. We’re old enough to be taking on more responsibility and bringing pride back into the Landry name.”

“These people want action from us, Father,” John adds. “They want a way to feed their families again.”

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