Page 13 of Thorns & Fire
‘It never was the best use of my talents,’ he replied with a wink.
‘Speaking of...Howdidyou wrangle your attendance on this expedition?Don’t you have lectures to give?’Wren asked him with a quirk of her brow.During her previous semester, Kipp had caused quite a stir as a supposed visiting academic, delivering talks on strategy and how alchemy had been employed during the war.
He offered a roguish grin.‘I’m always in high demand, but there’s nowhere I’d rather be than at your side during your time of need.’
Wren snorted.‘So it has nothing to do with the fact that we’ll be within a few hours’ ride of the Laughing Fox at some point?’she asked, naming his favourite tavern.
‘No idea what you mean,’ he replied with a straight face.
‘And where’s Cal?You usually like to rope him into all the trouble you make.’
Kipp gave a wistful sigh.‘Off doing important Warsword things.He was assigned to be Zavier’s guard for his return to Naarva.’
‘And you didn’t want to pester him instead?Swing by the Dancing Badger?’
‘I hear it’s been restored to its former glory, but no...I’d rather scope out your homeland.For when you need to come good on our deal.’
Wren cringed, cursing her past drunken self for calling in a favour with Kipp in the early hours at the Mortar and Pestle.Sliding her hand into her pocket, she found the scrap of parchment she’d torn from the scroll her friend had given her after the battle at Drevenor.How many times had she considered tossing it in the hearth?How many more had she considered giving it over to Audra to send to the Bear Slayer, wherever he was in the midrealms?
‘Have you decided if you want me to take further action?’Kipp asked her now, eyes bright.‘I’ll remind you that it’s a deal regardless of what happens next...’
She’d known for years that the Son of the Fox loved to collect favours like they were going out of style, and yet she’d gladly put herself in his debt.
For Torj.
‘Is she still alive?Your grandmother?’she had asked the Bear Slayer, watching the emotion ripple across his painfully handsome face at the mention of the woman who’d sent him to Thezmarr, who’d saved him from himself all those years ago.
‘She went missing a long time ago, presumed dead.I searched for her for years, but never found anything.’
‘Well?’Kipp prompted eventually, brow furrowed.
Wren didn’t know why she said it, but she said it all the same.‘I want you to keep digging.’
If Kipp was surprised by her answer, he didn’t show it.Instead, he saluted her.‘My investigative services are yours as long as you require them.’
A message was waiting for them the next morning, delivered by raven in the night.
‘Apparently Audra has found a suitable Warsword replacement for me,’ Thea mused over the curling parchment.‘We’re to meet Cahira on Trader’s Road, at the Harenth turnoff.’
‘Oh.’Disappointment soured in Wren’s gut.‘I guess this means we won’t be visiting Delmira together after all.’
‘I guess not,’ Thea replied glumly.‘But Audra doesn’t like the idea of us together for extended periods – she says that two magic wielders together, one of them a Warsword, is too much of a prize for the enemy to resist.’
Wren knew the Guild Master had a point, but it didn’t mean she had to like it.
‘Cahira’s nice, though,’ Thea offered.‘You’ll like her.’
Wren gave her sister a reassuring nod.Their arrangement hadalways been temporary while Audra found someone else, but that didn’t stop the ache from forming.Thea had been her distraction from it all, her connection to a life long-gone.They had both said how they missed Anya, Sam and Ida, but Wren hadn’t told Thea that she missedheras well.
Making her excuses, Wren wandered the ship, weaving through the other passengers, catching a glimpse of the midrealms’ mainland on the horizon.
The closer they got to shore, the more restless her magic became.
CHAPTER 5
Torj
‘Every war that has ever come to pass in the midrealms was first foretold by a seer’
