Page 62 of Thorns & Fire
Torj rolled his eyes.‘Kipp...’
But the strategist waved him off.‘It’s fine, it’s fine.I assure you,shedidn’t mind.But I thought it best to stay out of the way for an hour or so, get in the cook’s good graces by peeling some potatoes—’
‘And drinking his wine?’
‘Never said I was a saint, Bear Slayer.’Kipp looked around with a sigh.‘Mainly, I needed somewhere quiet to think.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Torj replied.‘I still can’t believe a Warsword is dead, and another is missing...’
Kipp made a noise of agreement.‘If I were Audra, I’d be ensuring the Warswords work in pairs from now on.And that those stationed in more remote regions be called back to Thezmarr.’
‘It’s going to keep happening,’ Torj said.‘Even when I was fighting with Wilder, it wasn’t an easy victory, not by a long shot.They’re prepared.More than we realized.’
‘We underestimated them,’ Kipp agreed.
‘We did.’Torj leaned back against the bench.‘Well, at least you got to visit home...Howdidyou find returning to the Fox?’
‘Different,’ Kipp admitted, his face falling.
‘Oh?’Torj was surprised.It had seemed to him that the strategist was having his usual whirlwind of a time.
‘Harenth is different.Everywhere is different.Those damn posters are up everywhere, even in the Fox.According to Albert, people go there for a drink after rallies and protests and start fights.The Fox survived the shadow war, but this?I don’t know.Bounties on strangers’ heads?Public hangings?There are guards everywhere.My usual sources for...things...are going underground.’
Torj dropped the last potato in the bucket and wiped his hands on a rag.‘There was law and order before.There were systems and hierarchies.Designed for the protection of all those in the mid-realms.’
The stairs to the galley creaked, and Wren’s face peered down at them.‘Just because it’s the way things have always been, doesn’t mean it’s the right way.’
‘I didn’t say that it was,’ Torj replied evenly.
But Wren continued.‘Don’t you ever wonder if all the trouble the midrealms have been through in recent years, with the shadow war and everything that came after, might have been prevented if we’d changed things sooner?’
Tossing the rag aside, Torj shook his head.‘People taking matters into their own hands never works out.Not like this.’
Wren scoffed.‘Is that what you really think, Bear Slayer?’
Torj tensed.Wren had done exactly that as the Poisoner – had broken the laws of the midrealms to deliver her own justice.‘Why don’t you tell us whatyoureally think, Embervale?’
‘I think that societies that do not adapt or bend tend to break.Something is not working in the midrealms.It hasn’t been working for a long time now.Until we acknowledge that, we are doomed.’Wren paused, her expression like a midnight storm.‘In short, I’m starting to think the rebels have a point.’
CHAPTER 24
Wren
‘All transformation demands sacrifice.What is gained must first be paid for in equal measure’
– Transformative Arts of Alchemy
IN THE PAST,Wren had wondered fleetingly what it would be like to affect change throughout the midrealms.So often it was those with no notion of what life was like amid the mud who governed from their castles above the rest...To her dismay, she found herself pondering the same question more frequently now: who was anyone to decide the fate of others?What made someone worthy of that kind of power?And who heldthemto account?Silas, who was resurrecting an evil they had defeated long ago,neededto be held to account.
Wren had never been so glad to see the wrought iron gates of Drevenor.The golden dusk light danced along the worn gravel road to the towering building at the heart of the grounds.Six months ago, she had arrived here as someone else entirely – the Poisoner, still thirsting for vengeance, still consumed by the shadows of the past...but now another weight fell across her shoulders.The task of recreating a cure that could see her not only graduate to the rank of sage, but stop near-certain war from breaking out across the midrealms.
Beneath it all, another current ran deeper still.A current that found her slipping into someone else’s dreams, someone else’s memories...
Wren pushed the thought aside as she saw Cal and Zavier waiting for them in the academy foyer.
‘You’re back,’ she choked out, hugging Cal.She turned to Zavier, unsure if they were at a point in their relationship where they embraced.
Zavier seemed to sense her hesitation and pulled her into his arms.‘You saved my life.I’ll give you a damn hug if you want one.’
