Page 24 of Thorns & Fire
‘Because he’s fine.’
Thea looked ready to strangle the Bear Slayer.‘Tell me.How bad?’
‘He’ll befine, Thea.Just keep an eye on him when you get there.You know how stubborn he gets.’
‘What happened?’Her eyes were bright with worry.
‘We’ve been in several ambushes over the past few days.Stupid bastard failed to mention that he was hurt until I saw the blood dripping onto the floorboards.’
‘Ambushes?’Wren blurted the word before she could stop herself, her stomach suddenly roiling with concern.She had noted the cuts and bruises on the Bear Slayer the moment he’d arrived, but it was another thing to know he’d been in true danger.
Torj simply nodded before continuing to reassure Thea.‘I’ll let him explain the rest.He told me to tell you not to worry.I told him you would anyway.’
‘Imagine the state he’d be in if our positions were reversed.I’ll worry as much as I damn well please.’Thea turned to Wren, her face lined with anguish.‘I didn’t want to leave you just yet—’
Wren forced a smile and waved her off.‘Go.You belong at his side.’
‘I really did want to see it with you this time,’ Thea said quietly, her gaze drifting north, to where their homeland lay beyond the borders.
‘One day,’ Wren told her gently.‘Now go.There’s a Warsword who needs fussing over.’
Thea nodded and got to her feet.‘I’ll leave now.’
Wren walked her sister over to her stallion and hugged her.‘Be careful.’
‘Careful’s my middle name,’ Thea grinned as she broke away from the embrace.
Wren huffed a laugh.Noting the Bear Slayer lingering in the shadows, clearly wanting a final word with his fellow warrior, she bid her sister farewell.
Without looking at Torj, Wren passed him, but as soon as he reached Thea, she slowed her steps and ducked into the nearby underbrush.She knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, that it was a childish solution, but if Torj wouldn’t talk to her, he’d left her no choice.She spared little guilt for Thea, knowing her sister would have done exactly the same in her shoes.
Wren watched as Thea checked over her tack, speaking to the Bear Slayer in a low voice, her words drifting through the night.‘After this expedition, Audra will keep her word to replace you,’ she warned.‘The Guild Master is many things, but her word is her bond.’
‘I know,’ Torj replied hoarsely.
‘So don’t fuck it up.’
‘Thea, I can’t—’
‘You need to fix this, Elderbrock.And you’ll have no chance of doing that if you’re not by her side.Don’t leave her again.Don’t fuck it up,’ she repeated firmly, before setting her gaze in the opposite direction.‘As for being on the road?Keep a watchful eye.We were followed from Settler’s Port.There are bounties on all of our heads, and plenty of hungry villagers keen to claim them.’
‘You dealt with them?Whoever followed?’he asked.
Thea mounted her horse.‘Wren did.’
‘Of course she did.’His words were warm and rich with pride, and from her hiding spot, Wren felt them wash over her in a wave.It contradicted the way he’d flinched at her magic...It made no sense.
‘You need to tell her,’ Thea said gently.
Wren stiffened, her heart suddenly hammering.But a smile tugged at her lips.Thea clearly knew she was there in the shadows and was trying to get Torj to explain himself.If Wren hadn’t been so desperate for answers, she would have laughed.It was typical of her sister.Gnawing at the inside of her cheek, she peered through the underbrush, studying the warrior, waiting.
‘There’s nothing to tell,’ Torj said at last.
Wren’s stomach bottomed out.The Bear Slayer was lying.He was lying to all of them.Why?What was so bad that he couldn’t bear to tell them?To tellher?
‘You know where you’re going?’he asked Thea, changing tack.
Thea scoffed.‘I always know where I’m going, Bear Slayer.’
