Page 85 of Thorns & Fire
Wren
‘Above all else, alchemists are seekers of the truth’
– Alchemy Unbound
THERE WAS NOsound from the adjacent room, but three words came to Wren, echoing in her chest.They remained as she readied herself for bed, and they were with her when she awoke the next morning.
I love you.
She couldn’t explain it, she didn’t understand it, but somehow, in her bones, she knew it to be true.In spite of the brutal way he’d ended things, and all his protests and mixed signals since, the Bear Slayerlovedher.He may not have said the words aloud, but she had felt them in his kiss.
The knowledge only added to her turmoil.It was yet another question she didn’t know the answer to.Her gaze drifted to her windowsill, where her assassin’s teapot – the Ladies’ Luncheon – sat, a layer of dust coating it.She had been proud of it, once.An invention she’d used to deliver justice on more than one occasion.But now...now it was just another thing that could be used against her, against the people she cared about.
I should destroy it, she thought.Like I should have destroyed those manacles after the war...Butwhen she reached for the dainty work of ceramic, she found that she couldn’t cast it into the fire as she intended.Sam and Ida had brainstormed its design with her.Her friends had been by her side when she’d given Farissa the first successful demonstration.A part of them lived within the invention, so instead, she boxed it up and hid it away beneath her bed.She couldn’t bear the thought of it hurting someone she loved.
One day I’ll get rid of it,she vowed.But not today.
As the early sunlight filtered through her window, Wren cleaned her cuts and treated them with more salve, thinking of the Warsword on the other side of the wall.Now, more than ever, she was drawn to him, and against her will, the love she’d drowned so thoroughly in anger was rising to the surface once more.
She pressed her fingertips to her lips, still swollen with the passion of his kiss.Whatever he was keeping from her, she would crack him, eventually.
As if she’d summoned it, there was a gentle knock at the adjoining door.
‘Come in,’ she called, throwing her apron over her head and tying it at the back.
The door creaked open and Torj entered tentatively.‘Morning...’
The Bear Slayer, as handsome as he was, looked tired.There were dark shadows beneath his eyes, and his stubble was longer than usual.
‘Couldn’t sleep?’Wren asked, surveying him.
‘Hard to sleep after a kiss like that,’ he replied gruffly.
Wren’s brows lifted.‘So we’re not pretending it didn’t happen?’
Torj pushed a loose lock of silver from his forehead.‘I can still feel the imprint of you like a brand, Embers, so no.No pretending.’
‘Thank the gods for that,’ she said.
‘How are you?How are your wounds?’he asked, scanning her critically.
‘No lasting damage.’She eyed her empty toolbelt on her workbenchwith a pang of regret.‘I’ll have to go without that today, or I’ll aggravate the cuts.’
Torj frowned.‘You never go anywhere without it...’
‘No, I don’t,’ she replied.‘I suppose I’ll have to rely on your burly presence to protect me after all.’
Torj went to her workbench, picking up the belt.‘Have you got more supplies for it?’
‘I do.’Wren motioned to the spare vials held in a wooden frame.‘There.’
‘Restock the belt,’ he told her.
‘Why?If I’m not wearing it—’
‘I’ll wear it.’
Wren blinked.‘What?’
