Resurgence (33 page)

He doesn’t mind and shuffles across to the grave, sitting on the ground in front of the stone bearing Faith’s name.

‘I’m sorry . . .’ she croaks, but I hold up a hand to stop her. She looks at me, eyes wet and sad.

‘You have nothing to apologise for.’

‘I’ve never told you about Opie – about why it had to be him.’

I shake my head. ‘I already know. You’re with him because you’re made for each other.’

She bites her bottom lip and I’m desperate for her not to cry. ‘I still need you,’ she says.

‘I’ll always be your friend.’

I don’t tell her that a part of my heart will always be hers because nothing breaks mine more than seeing her in tears.

‘Is it right that you’re going to stand in the election?’

I shrug. People want me to – maybe I want to, I don’t know. It feels too soon and I know I’ll always be the people’s second choice. Silver is the one they want, but she
only craves two things – the man hunched over the tombstone and this village in which she has grown up.

‘You’d be perfect for it,’ she adds.

‘I can’t even get my sisters to do what I say.’

She laughs. Another dagger. Everything she does is enchanting.

Behind her I see Opie standing, bobbing nervously from one leg to the other. It’s not that he is jealous; simply that he wants his time with Silver.

We all do.

I lean forward and kiss her on the forehead and she hugs me tightly. I don’t want to let her go but I need her to think I’m over her, so pat her affectionately on the back and say
I’ll see her soon.

I shake hands with Opie and start to walk through the woods, thinking about how this place made Silver who she is. The covering of leaves above, the lush green grass, trees to climb, bushes in
which to hide, animals to chase. The ultimate playground.

Don’t look back
, I tell myself.
Don’t look back
. Except that I have to. I can’t resist taking her in one final time.

And there they are: Opie Cotton and Silver Blackthorn.

Opie is on one knee, hand outstretched, holding hers. His mouth opens and closes, asking the question I wish was coming from my lips. She drops to her knees, hugging him tight with tears of
happiness in her eyes as my heart breaks one final time.

So . . . that’s the final chapter.

When I write a book, I have everything planned out beforehand; essentially, I write the book once in bullet-point form and then a second time full out. Sometimes the bullet-point version is
ridiculously long in its own sense – 10,000 words or more. For anyone not old enough to know, that’s a university dissertation’s worth of words that nobody ever gets to read.

In all of my notes for the final Silver book, I knew it was going to end like this. I’d been writing in and around my job and wrote most of the final part on a Friday evening. By the time
it was half-past ten, it was bedtime.

I had one chapter left to write and a two-hour train journey to London on the Saturday morning, during which I figured I would get it done.

In theory it was all well and good. I caught the train, found my seat, plugged my laptop in and then looked around. The entire area was occupied by a group of Japanese tourists catching the
train from Scotland to London, with at least three generations of more than one family in front and behind me.

Blocking out their conversations was no problem: I really can write pretty much anywhere. The issue was that the closer I got to the end, the more it dawned on me that this was THE end.

It’s hard to describe what fictional characters mean to you when you’ve created them. They’re a part of you and you find yourself feeling what they feel, whether it’s
triumph or despair.

And so, as I was getting closer and closer to the final words, there was the dawning realisation that this was the last time I’d write about Silver, Opie, Imrin, Jela, Pietra and everyone
else. You can probably guess where this is going, in that I spent one of the most silent, strange, emotional moments of my life on a train, surrounded by Japanese tourists who were speaking in a
tongue I didn’t understand.

I do hope you enjoyed the ending. It’s the only one I ever had and, from the time I first started writing about Silver Blackthorn, this was where it was going to go.

Thanks for reading.

the first book in the Silver Blackthorn trilogy

One girl. One chance. One destiny.

In the village of Martindale, hundreds of miles north of the new English capital of Windsor, sixteen-year-old Silver Blackthorn takes the Reckoning. This coming-of-age test not
only decides her place in society – Elite, Member, Inter or Trog – but also determines that Silver is to become an Offering for King Victor.

But these are uncertain times and no one really knows what happens to the teenagers who disappear into Windsor Castle. Is being an Offering the privilege everyone assumes it to be, or do the
walls of the castle have something to hide?

Trapped in a maze of ancient corridors, Silver finds herself in a warped world of suspicion where it is difficult to know who to trust and who to fear. The one thing Silver does know is that she
must find a way out . . .

the second book in the Silver Blackthorn trilogy

Outlaw. Rebel. Hero.

Silver Blackthorn is on the run.

She fled Windsor Castle with eleven other teenagers, taking with her something far more valuable than even she realises: knowledge.

With the entire country searching for the missing Offerings, Silver must keep them all from the vicious clutches of King Victor and the Minister Prime. Until now, no one has escaped the king and
lived to tell the tale. Or have they?

With expectations weighing heavily on the girl with the silver streak in her hair, will she ever find her way home?

Praise for the Silver Blackthorn trilogy

‘I read the book in one very long sitting . . . a beautiful work of fiction. Silver is simply amazing in every way’

School Library Journal

‘Utterly thrilling, wonderfully original – a truly great read’

Sun

‘Not since George Orwell has there been such an effective use of the British countryside and townships in a dystopian fiction . . .
Renegade
was a ripper of a
read. It tore open my head and heart and jumped inside’

A Bit Behind on Books

‘Engaging and compelling throughout . . . I am entirely in love with this series . . . Silver is a character who is a gorgeous mix of strong independent woman and ditzy
teenager’

Liz Loves Books

‘A strong voice and an intricate endgame’

Publisher’s Weekly

‘
Renegade
not only lives up to its predecessor, it also shines on its own. A shining example of how to keep your readers reading – but also
guessing’

Much Loved Books

‘An incredible story which is so cleverly written . . . Silver is just kick-ass!’

Book Nook

‘
Reckoning
is addictive . . . Most certainly a strong contender to
The Hunger Games
. I have a feeling this trilogy will be just as popular and talked
about’

Book Love Bug

‘Hand this one to teens who have finished Lauren Oliver’s
Delirium
and Alexandra Bracken’s
The Darkest Minds
to keep them contentedly
reading’

Voya

KERRY WILKINSON was one of two things as a child. If you ask him, he was a well-meaning, slightly hyperactive young man with an active imagination. If you ask his mother and/or
teachers, he was a bit of a pain in the bum.

Before the age of flat-screen televisions, laptops, mobile phones, hover boards and the Internet, there were BBC B Microcomputers and there were real books with actual paper pages. Really! Kerry
grew up playing ropey-looking computer games that you needed a keyboard for, being rubbish at football, and reading science fiction and fantasy novels.

The Silver Blackthorn trilogy is Kerry’s first fantasy work. His other crime titles are also published by Pan Macmillan.

He is also definitely not a pain in the bum.

For more information about Kerry and his books visit:

www.kerrywilkinson.com or www.panmacmillan.com

Twitter: twitter.com/kerrywk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/JessicaDanielBooks

Or you can email Kerry at [email protected]

Also by Kerry Wilkinson

The Silver Blackthorn trilogy

RECKONING

RENEGADE

The Jessica Daniel series

LOCKED IN

VIGILANTE

THE WOMAN IN BLACK

THINK OF THE CHILDREN

PLAYING WITH FIRE

THICKER THAN WATER

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

CROSSING THE LINE

SCARRED FOR LIFE

FOR RICHER, FOR POORER

The Andrew Hunter series

SOMETHING WICKED

Standalone thriller

DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN

First published 2016 by Pan Books

This electronic edition published 2016 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan

20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-4472-6221-3

Copyright © Kerry Wilkinson 2016

Cover Images: Girl © Gordon Crabb

The right of Kerry Wilkinson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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www.panmacmillan.com
to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews
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