Page 14 of Thorns & Fire
– A History of Thezmarr
QUEENREYNA’S CONDITIONhadn’t worsened, but nor had it improved.
‘Either she’s dead and doesn’t know it yet, or they want us to have whatever information she’s gleaned in the past few weeks,’ Torj wagered to Wilder after they had located rooms at a local inn.‘Whatever the reason, it’s not good.’
‘No shit,’ Wilder huffed.
The Warswords stood by the door inside the queen’s room while the healer they’d requested tended to her.Torj was driving himself insane with all manner of theories.In the brief time they’d been away, they’d seen first hand the influence Lord Silas had garnered over the common people, and now this?
‘You can ask, you know.’Queen Reyna’s voice floated towards them as the healer took the coin they’d left and bid them a silent farewell.
Torj glanced up to see the queen settled against a pile of pillows, the quilts tucked in around her waist.The colour had returnedto her cheeks, but she still looked frail and weak.He wanted to ask her about what she’d said earlier, about the blaze of iron and embers...
‘How are you feeling?’he asked instead.
‘As well as can be expected,’ she sighed.‘I presume you want to discuss the events while they’re still fresh?’
‘It would help,’ Torj replied.
‘I don’t know how long I’ve been gone,’ Queen Reyna began.‘But I know we travelled nearly every day, moving from camp to camp.I was blindfolded for a lot of it...but I heard enough.’
Hope soared in Torj’s chest.‘Do you know where they were headed?I could get word to Audra to rally the other Warswords.’
‘Lord Silas had planned to remain in the dry docks until you caught up.He wanted to make examples of you both.To show how his dark alchemy can eliminate your kind.But an hour or so before you arrived, he received word from another base.They had something he wanted.Apparently, he wanted it badly enough to abandon two Warswords and a ruler...The very things he says he’s most intent on destroying.’
Torj shifted, knots tightening uncomfortably in his stomach.‘Did they harm you?’
‘They...they held me down and forced some sort of tonic down my throat.I fought, but there was no use.As soon as that substance touched my tongue, a numbness spread through me.Like my magic was being leached away, drawn out by something...’
‘Fuck,’ Torj muttered.‘So they took whatever they put on those blades and made it into something consumable?’
‘Seems that way.’She closed her eyes, as though bracing herself against something.‘My magic...I can’t feel it at all.On an ordinary day, I can always feel its presence.But not now.Not after they gave me that tonic.I think...I think it might be permanent.’
‘Only an alchemist or healer can confirm that,’ Torj tried to reassure her.‘It might just take time to fade from your system, or perhaps it was designed to stay there and do something else.I don’t know...but we can take you back to Drevenor.Have the masters look you over.Have—’ He cut himself off.
‘Wren make a cure?’Wilder finished for him.
Torj didn’t look at his friend.‘If need be, yes.’
‘I won’t go back to the academy,’ Queen Reyna said.‘I wish to return to Aveum as soon as I am able.’
‘Your Majesty,’ Torj protested.‘If you do indeed need treatment—’
The queen shook her head sharply.‘In captivity, I was privy to a lot of their conversations concerning their forces.Lord Silas draws more followers to his side every day.They’re more organized than we thought.They have a recruitment process.They hold at least three villages between here and Naarva.We would have to pass through them all or take four times as long to return.They will not expect us to go back to my homeland, and that is where I wish to go.’
Torj exchanged a look with Wilder, who had started to pace the worn carpet before the hearth.‘Perhaps you only heard what they wanted you to, Your Majesty.’
‘Why would they leave me behind, only to recapture me on the way to Aveum?’she asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Torj admitted.‘But that’s the problem.At the moment, we can’t predict their actions.And whatever you’ve heard could be false information they wanted you to report back to us—’
‘They captured a Warsword,’ Queen Reyna interrupted.
Wilder turned to face her slowly.‘What?’
‘They thought I was unconscious,’ she told them.‘But I heard them...Lord Silas – he was instructing some of his underlings on how to keep the Warsword contained, what dose of the alchemy to ply her with.’
‘Her?’Wilder’s voice rose.‘Did you hear a name?’
