Page 26 of Thorns & Fire
‘Shit...’Kipp murmured, looking green.
Torj instantly saw why.
On a hill up ahead, three bodies swung from a roadside tree, hung by the neck, left to rot.A violent warning to anyone who passed.
Wren tensed in her saddle, but said nothing, only giving a slight shake of her head.Torj wanted to hold her hand, to reassure her, but there was no reassurance for something like this.They had rid the midrealms of monsters years ago, only to find there was so little humanity left...
As they approached, it became clear the bodies had been dead for a while.Eyes plucked out by crows, flies buzzing around open wounds, and the stench...It was foul enough to make Torj want to retch.
‘Little rats, hanging for all to see,’Wren read aloud, pointing to a sign propped against the foot of the tree.
‘These poor people,’ Dessa whispered, her gaze dropping to the tools lying discarded in the dirt.‘They were just farmers by the looks of things.Just regular men...’
Torj made himself look upon their corpses.He marked their wounds and what remained of their faces, before he decided he would be the last to do so.‘I’m going to cut them down.’
He made quick work of the task, wary of the need to press on towards Delmira.There wasn’t time for a proper burial, so he stacked the bodies as respectfully as he could, surrounding them with branches.
Without looking at him, Wren stepped forwards and uncorked one of her many vials, tipping the substance over the gathered brush.When Torj struck his flint, flames roared to life, flickering blue as whatever Wren had used took hold.
‘Everyone should ride with their hoods up,’ Torj declared as they continued north.‘Hide any notable weapons or possessions.There are spies everywhere.’
After a while, they could no longer see the plumes of smoke from the pyre.They entered a forest of towering oak trees.Gnarled branches and lobed leaves danced in the breeze, and beams of sunlight filtered through the canopy.
‘We’ll ride until dusk,’ Wren told them, not bothering to look back to make sure they were listening.She had always been her own woman, but now Torj saw her as something else – a leader.There was no uncertainty in her voice, no droop to her shoulders; she carried herself straight in the saddle.He’d always thought fury became her, and the new scar across her cheek from the Gauntlet’s loyalty test made her look all the fiercer.
Their soul bond was lost to the wind, as Wren herself was to him.And it was all his fault.But if it was the only decent thing he’d ever do, he’d protect her from himself.
Feeling as though he were drowning, Torj grasped at the only lifeline he could find – he forced himself to look away, to pretend her presence didn’t still set his soul ablaze.
CHAPTER 10
Torj
‘A true bodyguard is not merely one who protects – they become the shield itself, flesh and bone becoming rampart when battle demands’
– Vigilance and Valour: Tactical Training for Professional Bodyguards
‘THERE’S NO VILLAGEmapped here,’ Wren said as they halted on the other side of the forest.‘Nor was this here the last time I came through...’
Torj followed her gaze to a towering wooden palisade, the likes of which he hadn’t seen since the shadow war.It surrounded an encampment; a timber sign had been hammered into the ground before its gates.Elmridge, it read.
‘It’s new,’ Torj offered, noting the mud surrounding the fence.‘They use paling like this to protect a site until a more permanent stone wall can be built.’
‘Do you think they’re responsible for the hangings?’Dessa asked, glancing over her shoulder.
‘There’s a good chance,’ Torj replied, surveying the settlement.They’d been there long enough to erect walls around it.‘We need to steer clear of this place regardless.There are posters all over themidrealms calling for information on outsiders...That’s exactly what we’d be here.’
Wren shook her head.‘We need to stock up on supplies,’ she said reluctantly, her eyes fixed on the gates ahead.‘I assure you, Delmira hasnothingto offer in the way of living off the land.’
‘No,’ Torj told her.
Only then did she look at him, her expression cold and hard, so far removed from the woman he’d declared his love to only a fortnight ago.‘You are here in a guard capacity only,’ she said.‘You are not the commander of this trip.’
‘I am when it comes to your safety,’ he countered, voice low.‘You’re my responsibility—’
‘I’m notyouranything, Warsword.’
They had had this fight before, but this time it was like a lance to the heart.
