Page 122 of Silver & Smoke
‘Torj...’
‘Just come with me.’
Wren followed him wordlessly, the shadow of the bell tower darkening their path down one of the narrow, empty streets. She tried to picture Dorinth as a bustling city like Highguard or Hailford in Harenth, but her imagination failed her. She’d spent too many years thinking of Delmira as a burden, a place of curses and poison, something rotten to be cast aside and forgotten – like her.
‘It’s just here.’ Torj’s voice cut through her preoccupation as he gestured to an old shopfront. The windows had been smashed in and boarded up a long time ago, by the looks of the decaying timber facade. The metal frame above the door, where a sign might have once hung, was bare.
‘What is this place?’ she asked, taking a tentative step forwards.
Torj pushed the door open for her, the wood groaning on its hinges.
Inside, Wren stopped short. Any aromas were long gone, only the lingering scent of damp remaining, but there was no doubt in her mind what this place had been. Light spilled from a lanternTorj lit and confirmed what she’d known in her bones. She was standing in an apothecary – one larger than any she’d seen before. If she closed her eyes, she could smell it: the earthy scent of roots and mushrooms, the sharp vinegars and sweet honey and the dried bundles of rosemary, thyme, sage and lavender that might have hung overhead.
It had been ransacked, of course, broken vessels of clay and glass crunching beneath her boots and the shelves bare of the powders and potions they would have once stocked.
‘There was a garden out back,’ Torj told her quietly. ‘The frames of the beds are still there.’
‘They would have grown fresh herbs out there, essentials to always have on hand,’ she murmured, her eyes skimming the dusty countertop and the set of brass scales that had been upturned and left behind. ‘Why have you brought me here?’ she asked, her voice hoarse.
‘I thought you’d like it,’ Torj said.
‘And?’
‘And I thought maybe when you’re queen... you might want to restore it, back to its former glory.’
Wren’s heart was suddenly in her throat. ‘Why show me now? Why not when the battle is won and we’re able to make such plans for the future?’
Torj met her gaze, and sheknew. Wren knew why he wanted her crowned that night, why he was planting ideas in her head now rather than later.
‘You don’t think you’ll survive the battle.’ The words rushed out of her, broken and hoarse.
‘Wren...’
‘Tell me the truth, Torj Elderbrock,’ she demanded, her voice suddenly sharp. ‘You have my heart and soul; you haveallof me. And I deserve to know the truth.’
His throat bobbed and he dipped his head in reluctant acceptance. ‘The poison...’
‘Is spreading,’ she finished for him, reaching out to touch his chest where she knew it built up the most. ‘I can feel it through the bond. Every day it takes more of you.’
His larger hand covered hers against his heart. ‘I’m needing more and more of the strengthening potion. One day it won’t be enough, and though I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of failing you in the moment you need me most.’
‘Torj...’ Her voice broke. ‘What good is being queen, wielding so much power, when... when I don’t have the power to save you?’
He kissed her then, desperate and deep, tasting of metal and smoke, of everything she couldn’t bear to lose. She revelled in the taste of him, the feel of him pressed to her. She wanted to lose herself in him here and now. This couldn’t be how it ended, not for them, not after everything they had been through.
He broke their kiss and rested his forehead against hers.
‘Listen to me, Elwren Embervale,’ he growled. ‘If these are my final days, then they’re yours. Every breath. Every heartbeat. They belong to you. They have since the moment I met you in the Bloodwoods.’
‘I refuse to accept it. These aren’t your last days,’ she said fiercely. ‘I won’t let you go. I don’t care what it takes. I’ll drain every drop of my storm magic, brew every potion and cure in existence...’
‘My stubborn alchemist.’ He brushed his thumb gently over the scar on her cheek. ‘Always trying to solve everything.’
‘Don’t.’ She dug her fingers into his muscular forearms. ‘Don’t you dare make light of this. Not when I can feel you slipping away. Not when you’re giving up—’
‘You think I want to?’ he cut in. ‘You think I want to leave you behind? I’m trying to make this easier. I’m trying to make lifeaftermeeasier.’
‘There is no life after you, Torj,’ she said, dragging his face down to hers, sealing her lips over his.
