Page 154 of Thorns & Fire
Never for long, my love.Wren kept her mask in place.‘I need you to find Kipp and bring him to me.’
Torj’s eyes widened in disbelief.‘I—’
‘Her first royal command,’ the nobleman said dryly.‘You’d better run along, boy.’
Wren saw the Warsword’s fists clench at his sides and she placed a hand on his arm.‘Please.’
Torj’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he strode to the door and left.When it swung closed behind him, Wren turned her attention back to Lucian and folded her arms over her chest.
‘You realize how reckless your little dalliance is?’he sneered.‘No one wants a princess broken in by a Warsword.’
Wren hated that she flinched at the coarse words.‘Why are you here?What do you want?’
‘Surely you can guess, Elwren.Aren’t you meant to be a promising student?One of the brightest within your rank?’
Wren’s magic grew hot beneath her skin.‘Why would I give you anything?’
‘Because,’ Lucian said, his voice dripping slow and steady as poison, ‘I have the thing you need most in the world.’
Alone in the private study room, the walls began to close in.Wren fought to keep her breathing even, ground her teeth to keep the flashbacks and panic at bay.Everything had changed.Whichever way she studied her position, she was trapped, with Lucian Devereux’s words echoing in her mind, a drum beating a death-march rhythm.All that she’d imagined for herself, for Torj, evaporated, leaving the fates before them dark.Wren had to brace herself against the table to keep her knees from buckling, had to grip the edge to anchor herself to the present.
I have the thing you need most in the world.The thing she hadn’t even known she needed.
A knock sounded at the door, startling her.‘Wren?’Kipp called from the other side.
Trying to hide the tremor in her hands, Wren opened the door and greeted both Kipp and Torj, who were peering at her expectantly.Torj scanned the room behind her, his jaw clenched.
But Wren stopped him from entering.‘I need to speak with Kipp alone.’
Torj’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.‘What did that bastard say to you?’
‘I’ll tell you later,’ she said.‘Can you please wait outside?’
Torj looked like he was going to argue, and Wren hated herself for it, but there was nothing to be done.
When at last Wren was alone with Kipp, she told him everything.
Her friend listened carefully, never interrupting, waiting patiently as she gathered herself between breaths, passing her his kerchief when her tears tracked down her face.
And when she finished, he straightened in his chair.‘Let me get this straight...’he said slowly.‘You’re asking me to put aside my personal concern for your happiness and wellbeing?’
‘Yes.I need an army.I need funding.I need resources.I needtime.’
‘And you want me to strategize as though this is some cold, unfeeling decision?’he asked, peering into her face as though searching for signs of madness.
‘No,’ Wren told him.‘I want you to strategize like this is war.’
CHAPTER 65
Wren
‘A Master Alchemist knows the crucible merely completes what careful preparation begins.Perfection or poison – both are determined before the first spark ignites’
– Transformative Arts of Alchemy
THE ACADEMY INFIRMARYwas quiet, with only a handful of beds occupied.Wren knew which belonged to Zavier immediately – it was the only one with the curtains drawn and a Warsword stationed outside.
Cal gave her a grim smile as she approached, Torj towering in her wake.
