Page 64 of Shadow & Storms

‘We could show these letters to Queen Reyna,’ Wren suggested, looking up from the sheets of parchment surrounding her.

‘We could,’ Anya allowed. ‘Though I don’t know how much it would help. She could just as easily say we forged them.’

Wren sighed. ‘I suppose she has to actually deign to see us first, anyway.’

‘True.’

‘Do you think she has seen something?’ Thea asked, opening the tin of salve Wren had given her. She’d been applying it to her scarred wrist since they’d arrived, and of course, Wren was a genius; the balm soothed the ache there almost instantly.

Her sister’s brow furrowed. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Like a vision,’ Thea clarified. ‘When I was here for the eclipse, she mentioned a premonition she’d had. Only she didn’t realise that it was about Artos, not Wilder…’

‘Who knows,’ Anya said. ‘Seers are notoriously unreliable – not to mention Reyna is in the throes of grief for her husband. Even if she did have a vision, I wouldn’t trust it for all the ale in the Singing Hare.’

‘Speaking of that place,’ Wren interjected, looking to Thea. ‘Was that a tattoo I saw on Cal’s arse the other day?’

Thea snorted. ‘Yes, it was.’

Anya baulked. ‘Why on earth are you seeing Callahan’s arse?’

‘Apparently while I was off doing the Great Rite, they saw fit to get blind drunk at the Singing Hare and Cal somehow wound up with a tattoo of a fox on his backside.’

Anya blinked, once, twice, and then tipped her head back and roared laughing. The sound came from deep in her belly, and she actually clutched her stomach with one hand, wiping the tears streaming from her eyes with the other.

Thea gaped. She’d never seen the fearless Daughter of Darkness laugh like that before. She found herself grinning, and then laughing with her.

Wren was shaking her head. ‘There’s never a dull moment with those two…’

‘Kipp’s apparently determined to make you fall in love with him,’ Thea said.

‘Kipp’s an idiot and a flirt. I’d sooner pluck out my own eyes and eat them.’

‘I told him as much.’ Thea grinned before turning her attention on their older sister. ‘And what about you?’

Anya raised a brow. ‘What about me?’

‘Anyone, uh… tickling your fancy?’

Anya scoffed. ‘Who says that?’

‘People.’

‘I disagree.’

‘There’s a shock.’ Thea smirked. ‘But that doesn’t answer the question.’

Anya looked amused. ‘There’s no one tickling my fancy,’ she replied slowly. ‘But…’

‘But?’ Wren leant in eagerly.

Anya sighed. ‘But I fucked Dratos before we left.’

‘What?’ Thea and Wren cried in unison.

‘Oh, don’t make a big song and dance about it.’ Anya waved them off. ‘It was a one-time thing. A mistake. We were drunk and stupid.’

‘And?’ Thea pressed.

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