Chapter 56

CHAPTER 56

WREN

Wren was hiding. She couldn’t face anyone right now.

Finn found her anyway, because he always did. He always would. She knew that with every beat of her heart. And the way it jumped into her throat when she heard his footsteps behind her.

She didn’t have to look. She knew. Just knew.

His scent, the way he moved, even the slight hitch in his breath…she knew.

She leaned on the windowsill and stared off into the distance, out across the city and north to the edge of the great forest, a soft green line on the horizon. Her hair moved with the breeze, softly whispering against her skin. She had taken a knife to it the first chance she got, cutting it back to her jawline, and no one had dared to stop her. It still stirred with magic, but magic of a different kind now. The Nox was gone.

She didn’t know what that meant.

Finn’s hand came to rest on her shoulder, squeezing gently, carefully.

‘I’ll have to leave soon,’ he said and she heard the way his throat tightened on the words, as if even his own body wanted to stop him saying them.

‘We stood here before and you told me that,’ she sighed. He was only going to the Ilanthian embassy in the city below them then. This time…this time…

He would be half the world away.

Perhaps he smiled. Perhaps he didn’t. She couldn’t bring herself to look. ‘Wren, I…’ His voice failed him. ‘Please, look at me.’

They’d found him a change of clothes befitting a king. There was even a sleek band of gold on his head, gleaming against his brown hair. It was a practical crown, that of a soldier, or a knight. It suited him.

And she hated it.

‘I can’t go to Ilanthus with you.’ She blurted out the words. ‘I can’t go back there.’

He flinched as if she had slapped him, but didn’t pull away. Slowly, he let out his breath and then inhaled carefully before he tried to speak again. ‘I know. I understand. I don’t exactly want to go back there myself. There isn’t anyone else and the kingdom is in chaos. The sisterhood is broken thanks to Oriole’s actions and the army is demoralised thanks to Leander. There are already many nobles vying for position and saying things like we should be declaring an all-out war of vengeance against Asteroth, the College and anyone else in our way. It needs a firm hand, a calm mind.’

But why does it have to be you?

That was what she wanted to say. To scream it, to howl it. Like a child denied what she wanted. She bit her lower lip instead.

‘I’ll come back,’ he said. ‘I swear I’ll come back.’

Wren just nodded and let the sting in her eyes distract her from the pain everywhere else. He couldn’t promise that. They both knew it.

If he was king of Ilanthus he was never going to escape that. And she…she didn’t even know what she was anymore. Not the Nox, thank all the powers for that.

But she wasn’t quite herself either.

Wren threaded her fingers with his and brought his hand to her lips, running the lightest of kisses over the tops of his knuckles. He sucked in a breath and she felt his body react. In a moment, he would sweep her up into his arms and carry her off if she gave him even the slightest indication that she would let him.

She couldn’t. She was losing him and the pain of that was intense. They could put off the recognition of that with sex, but eventually they would still have to face it, and it would be all the more difficult for that shared intimacy and attempted escape.

‘I will never love anyone but you,’ she told him. ‘Wherever I am, whatever happens…no one but you. I’ll wait. If you will truly come back…’

‘Wren, my love, my heart, I promise—’ She lifted her finger to his lips to silence him, a small surge of this new magic that flowed through her veins rippling against his skin.

‘Don’t make promises, Finn. It’s too hard to keep them.’

He shook off the urge to be quiet she had tried to lay on him. She hadn’t even been aware she was doing it. The magic flowing through her now was new and untried. But so very powerful. And so was Finn, it seemed.

He was not going to be silenced now. It was a testament to the power in him as well that he could do it. Did he realise? she wondered. That the old magic had marked him as well? Oh, most of it flowed in her veins now, because she had been created to hold power, a vessel for the Nox to one day fill. But in the end something far greater needed to be contained and she had offered herself up.

Finn Ward had been right there with her, with his forsaken heritage, and his bloodline and his truest of hearts. And now, that Finn was no more. King Finnian of Ilanthus was needed elsewhere. He had to leave. But still he tried to make her a promise. More than a promise. A vow.

‘I swear on the light and the dark, on all the old magic and the powers that live within us, I will find you again. I will dedicate myself to restoring peace to Ilanthus, find a way to build a secure future for my people and a ruler who will care as I care. And then I will find you again. Trust me, Wren. Believe me. No matter how long it takes, I will find you again.’

The air around them shivered and glowed. Somewhere, far off, she heard birdsong.

Wren smiled softly, unable to find an argument he would listen to. It was a nice dream.

And when he kissed her, touched her, made her sigh against him again, she prayed it was a dream that would come true. But she didn’t believe it.

In the morning he would leave and so would she.

He would go with fanfare and ceremony. She would slip away in silence once she had explained herself to Elodie.

It had to be that way.

The twins were waiting for Wren on the road outside the lower city when she slipped away. Elodie had argued, of course. Told her not to be ridiculous, that she couldn’t leave them, that they were family and that she needed to take her time to explore the changes in her. With the help of Elodie and the Maidens of the Aurum, she could come to terms with the power inside her and find a way to control it.

But it wasn’t something to control. It just was and Wren had no desire to develop ways of using it. She was not there to serve the Aurum.

The Aurum was gone.

Roland was quieter, calmer. He had already lost Finn. His dark eyes watched her as she told them of her plans. When Elodie had finished ranting about headstrong children, and stupid adventures, and all the other things she had to say, Roland just enfolded Wren in his warm embrace and told her to stay safe, to keep in touch, and that if she ever needed anything, they would be there for her.

Elodie scowled at him and called him a fool. But when Wren left the room she heard the tears and the words of comfort he spoke. She forced herself to keep going.

‘Hello, sister,’ said Lark brightly. She was spinning colourful flowers out of nothing on the edge of the road, dotting them among the grass around the spot where Robin sat, his long legs stretched out in the sun. A soft breeze stirred the air around them, and there were butterflies perched on his head, his shoulders and all down his legs. As he moved they took off like a burst of flower petals.

‘Are you going somewhere?’ he asked, artlessly. He knew full well that she was leaving. And he probably knew where she was going, too.

‘Cellandre,’ she told them and started walking.

‘Oh, good choice,’ said Lark, dancing around her as they walked. Robin matched her pace for pace and gave the impression of someone much older than he looked.

They were creatures of old magic too, of course. Like her. They always had been. Wren felt like the child beside them, despite appearances.

‘What about the others?’ Robin asked.

‘Roland and Elodie need to restore the kingdom to order. Maryn, Anselm and Olivier are working with the witchkind and the College to forge an agreement on their protection and future cooperation. Finn…’ Her voice failed her.

‘He’s already gone back to Ilanthus,’ Lark told her. ‘The ship sailed. He’ll have good winds and calm seas all the way. We’ll keep him safe, Wren.’

‘Thank you.’ What else could she say? Finn was gone. She didn’t want to think about that. ‘Why did you help?’ she asked after a long pause. ‘You didn’t have to.’

‘A long time ago,’ said Robin, ‘we were lost too. The darkwood had us. We had gone astray in those shadows and they were feeding on us. And oh it was strong. Until you arrived in Cellandre. You pushed it back, you and Elodie, and rescued us. So we returned the favour, sister.’

‘I’m not your sister.’

‘You are now,’ Lark replied with a laugh. ‘Or will be. Something like that. There are always three of us, you see. Eventually. Linear time is tricky.’

‘Lynette had two sisters,’ she said. ‘Alouette and Oriole. They were lost too and we found them.’

‘They never really understood,’ Robin replied. ‘We tried to help them, tried to teach them, but…they thought everything was about them. But it wasn’t.’

‘They thought it would make them more than hedge witches,’ Lark said, her voice suddenly heavy with sorrow. ‘They always wanted to be more. And nothing was ever enough.’

Wren didn’t quite know what to say to that so she kept walking.

Lynette had lost everything. She could have stopped, could have lived a life with Yvain and been happy. But she didn’t. She couldn’t.

That said, Wren was walking away from her family. And she had lost Finn.

‘What are you going to do in Cellandre?’ Robin asked after some time had passed.

‘I’m going to be what I was always meant to be, a hedge witch.’

They exchanged a knowing glance she didn’t want to think about. ‘That’s all?’

The old magic in her stirred and uncoiled, and seemed to laugh against her senses. She felt it in the land, in the wind, the small stream they crossed. She felt it inside her, a deep and abiding sense of rightness. It wasn’t like the Nox. It didn’t seek to control or overpower her. Nor was it like the Aurum demanding obedience and service.

It was part of her. And she was part of it. Just like the twins.

‘What is more important than that?’ she asked.