Page 40 of Thorns & Fire
‘I’ll be seeing to your wounds now, Warsword,’ she said, lacing her words with steel.
‘Like fuck you will,’ he bit back.
She raised a brow at him.‘You didn’t retie the bandage.They’re sticking to your shirt.It’s an infection waiting to happen, and as much as your presence pains me, if you drop dead now it will delay my plans even further.Are you going to play nice, or do I have to use an incentive?’
Torj gaped at her in disbelief.‘You’re not serious.’
But Wren held up a hand, calling what little lightning she could to her fingertips.If he feared her magic, then she’d damn well use it to her advantage.‘Deadly serious.’
‘From what I witnessed last night,’ Torj spluttered, ‘you don’t have it in you—’
She let a single burst of magic fly – a delicate bolt of electricity – and it hit him on the shoulder.
He jumped, shooting her a glare.‘Shit, Wren!’
‘What were you saying?’she taunted with a sly smile; her day was suddenly looking up.
‘What’s the point in checking my wounds if you’re just planning on injuring me further?’he muttered.
‘If I recall correctly, you told me once that my lightningtickled...’
‘I’m not doing this,’ Torj replied, snatching his reins back and urging his stallion onwards.
Wren ground her teeth, the thought of his burns festering setting her on edge, but she forced a shrug.‘Don’t come crying to me when you have to peel a layer of skin off with your shirt.’
By midday, the space between their horses had imperceptibly widened, and just when Wren thought she couldn’t bear the silence, the tension any longer, she saw a familiar pair of horses on the horizon, and a long arm waving at them.
Her whole body sagged with relief – a feeling that lasted all of two minutes before they reached the road, and it was replaced with disbelief.
‘Took you long enough,’ Kipp said cheerfully, his mouth full of food.
‘Is that a leg of ham?’Wren blurted, her eyes falling to the enormous slab of meat he was picking at.
On her horse beside him, Dessa gave Wren a resigned look.‘I wish I could say we didn’t nearly die for it, but...’
‘Nearly died?’Kipp interjected.‘It wasbecauseof the ham that we escaped that madness.It’s been smoked and honeyed.’
Wren opened her mouth to ask more, but Torj beat her to it.
‘Are you telling me that while Wren and I were nearly fucking burned alive, nearly run down by a mob of fanatics...you were off somewhere stealing a leg of ham?’
Kipp tore off a strip of meat and offered it to Torj.‘It’sreallygood ham.’
Torj stared at him, and Wren swore the Warsword was going to reach across and throttle her friend with the aforementioned meat.
After another moment, the Bear Slayer shook his head and guided his stallion away, muttering, ‘I’m too old for this shit.’
Wren tried to ignore the turn-off for the Mourner’s Trail – the road that led to Thezmarr – as they passed it, but Dessa wouldn’t let it lie.
‘That’s the way to the fortress?’she said, perking up and trying to peer down the road before turning back to Wren, Torj and Kipp.‘That’s where the three of you met?’
Kipp nodded.‘The very place.’
‘Perhaps one day you can show it to me—’
‘I wouldn’t bother,’ Wren said flatly, squeezing her mare’s sides to increase her pace.The more distance between her and that wretched place, the better.
To her dismay, Torj caught up with her.‘You’re telling me you don’t have a single decent memory from your time there?’he asked.
