Page 83 of Forgotten Embers

Wren wasn’t sure if she was grateful to be far away from the thief who stole her power or if she bemoaned the chance to do away with him before he could return to his army. That was assuming she could control her power. It felt closer to her now and easier to access, but then again, Wesley had seemed to have no problem calling upon it. She remembered her flames in his hands as she lay dying, a wave of coldness ran through her body as she recoiled from the memory.

Wren was brought back to the present by Sophie's calm, but insistent voice speaking. Wren turned her head towards her groggily, as if she couldn’t quite shake the memory she had just been in.

Sophie's face was concerned, but her gestures and her voice were as if she were trying to coax a dangerous animal. "Wren, you are here with Kai and me. You are safe."

Wren wrinkled her brow, not understanding Sophie's needless reassurance. "I know that," she said absently.

She did know that. She was far away from the man that stabbed her and left her for dead as a message to her friends. The man she had loved, gods help her, the man she knew she still loved. She rued that knowledge and she would rage against it later, but in this moment, she was too tired to try.

"All right, good. Just put out the fire, Wren." Sophie still watched her as if she were some feral animal, but her words gave Wren just enough awareness to realize what she was doing.

Both of her hands were raised palm up before her and fire flared bright and eager, weaving through her fingers. She hadn’t even realized that she had called upon her fire. It must have been the memory of Wesley and her magic on his skin.

She quickly recalled the magic, absorbing it back into herself, it spreading throughout her like an old friend. She looked around the cabin and everyone stared at her. Captain Smollett, Maxon, Sophie, and even Kai, all looking at her as if she were dangerous.

It was Captain Smollett who broke the painful and accusatory silence, "Miss Blackwood, I do feel compelled to tell you that wooden ships and fire rarely go well together. Indeed, I’d venture to say that they have a rather poor history. Please do be kind enough to refrain from such theatrics in the future." The strange woman then picked up her fork and took a bite of the fish as if nothing had happened.

Concern flooded Kai’s tired features. "Wren, what happened?”

She shook her head, unwilling to discuss the memory that would haunt her dreams for the rest of her days, be they few or many. Kai didn’t press her for more information, but Captain Smollett studied her with cool indifference. "Will it be a problem, Miss Blackwood, for you to control your magic while on this ship?"

"I don’t know," replied Wren, the truth finding its way from her mouth.

Captain Smollett tilted her head, almost imperceptibly. "We might consider sedating you for the remainder of this voyage for the safety of those aboard."

Kai stood up, prepared to say something likely rude to the Captain. Wren put her hand gently on his arm. "It is all right, she isn’t wrong." turning her gaze back to the Captain, she said, "If it is a problem, I will inform you immediately."

Whatever the other woman saw in Wren's face caused her to nod slightly. Kai sat back down, clearly considering threatening Captain Smollett.

"What would you like to know, Captain Smollett?" Wren asked the other woman who had done away with her dinner.

"First, please call me Amelia." There was no smile or nod of friendship in the other woman's countenance. "Secondly, I think we would all appreciate learning how a very dead body stored in my hull became reanimated."

Wren searched Kai to see how much she should reveal to ease the Captain's concerns, but also preserve what would be dangerous knowledge.

"I understand your concern, Miss Blackwood, however, I am well aware of the circumstances that led you to your seemingly temporary demise. I would not agree to give passage to the prince or Miss Daugherty unless they divulged all the details leading up to their rather hasty request."

Wren still looked in askance at Kai despite the captain's reassurance, and he nodded in agreement. The captain must be a formidable woman to elicit such information from her friends.

Wren took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I suppose the easiest method is to ask you what you know of why Wesley did what he did." When she opened her eyes, she met Maxon's pale gaze knowing he would have been the one to put the pieces together. She had met the man only once before, but she could tell he was especially studious.

He nodded nervously, pushing his glasses more firmly to the bridge of his nose. "Well, ah, the prince, that is Prince Malaki, came and found me soon after your departure because—his um…” His nervous rambling made her want to shout at him to be more straightforward, but she was saved the indecency by Kai.

"I went to Maxon after my father came to my rooms frantically talking of getting you back saying that you had been spirited away by the North Helm royalty. He told me of the last verse and how he had planned to force your affection to me so that I might lead our country to greatness. It would seem you were not being as pliable to my father's plans as he would have liked and so he began to encourage his." His mouth curled distaste at the mention of Wesley. “Affection, as he thought, jealousy might be an apt motivator. He had not expected that he would convince you to leave with him. That is when I went to Maxon." She could see the reciting of those events was difficult for him yet he did so with restraint.

Maxon cleared his throat. "Yes, well I, of course, knew of the prophecy from my arrival into the North Helm court and I had been concerned when I first received Prince Malaki's letter regarding your arrival and the king and Bishop's involvement. I am familiar, you see, with the Bishop, as our community of sorcerers is small and continues to grow smaller. He has always been an ambitious man, but this. To manipulate gods and their power is blasphemy for our order. When I heard that Princess Mary was coming I sent a missive to the king and queen to ask them for permission to join the delegation and they approved." He glanced around nervously, suddenly uncomfortable with all eyes on him. "So, as it were, when I had heard that you had left with the prince and princess I was able to deduce their intentions."

Wren breathed in and out, feeling her lungs expand and release. "You are obviously aware that he succeeded. He intends to put all of Valmere under his rule. He doesn’t realize he doesn’t have my full power. He only has one third of it." She turned her gaze to her lap and smoothed the blue silk gown. She could feel everyone’s gazes on her. She raised her eyes to Maxon who smiled at her, trying to offer support.

Only he had deduced what she had meant on the deck of the ship. It was one thing to tell Sophie that she loved her, but quite another to confess, in front of all these people. She shook her head, realizing she was not strong enough.

She was forever grateful for Maxon, who recognizing her discomfort said, “I suppose we should be grateful that he did not entirely succeed and that you are still with us."

"Thank you, Maxon." She could see that he knew she meant gratitude for more than just his words.

"But what are we to do now? He will only learn to control my powers more and he made it clear that North Helm's forces were no match for Haradon's." She presented the query to anyone, eager to evade the subject from how she survived Wesley's betrayal.

Kai leaned back in his chair. "First, we must deal with my father. His actions have proven that he does not have Haradon's best interest in mind and he will need to be deposed."

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