Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

WREN

The shadow kin surged around Roland, and Wren screamed.

Not in fear, not this time. This was all rage. She lashed out, her mind and will as one, desperate to push them back. How dare they? How could they?

She hadn't called them and she didn't need them. She had already tried to make them leave but they refused. They were hungry, wild, dangerous. The darkness recognised her, and she felt them on the edge of her consciousness, the shadow kin singing in response to her touch. Sweet songs of seduction, thrilling through her blood, seeking out the dark heart of her. But they didn't obey her as they had before.

Leave , she told them again, more forcefully this time. Don't touch him. Don't you dare!

The shadows recoiled from her, and from Roland, rising over the Grandmaster in a gyre of hatred and desperation. Pleading with her. For him. To take him. Great light, they wanted him so badly. They seethed with animosity.

‘No!' Wren yelled and the air shook with the sound.

The song turned to a lament. Enough, there wasn't time for this. She shoved all the darkness around them away as hard as she could.

Light burst along the length of Roland's sword, burning brightly as he plunged it into their depths and the voices only she could hear became a shriek.

The door flew open and Finn was there as well, his face pale with anger as he ploughed into the fray.

It only took moments and all was still again but for their panting breath and the sound of footsteps hurrying towards them outside.

Finn pulled Wren into his arms and held her close. His free hand shook as he smoothed it over her hair, his sword still at the ready. That didn't waver.

‘Were you hurt? Did they?—?'

She shook her head rapidly and cut off the rest of his question. ‘They're gone.'

‘They shouldn't have been able to get in here.' Roland ran his hand along the length of his sword, the surface still shimmering with the light she had inadvertently imbued it with. By driving back the darkness she had called the light to their aid.

Everyone else would believe she summoned the light but it didn't work like that.

Wren had understood that, finally, in the stone circle. And perhaps she could use that. It was difficult though and left her drained. Roland turned his attention on them both then and she started at the grim determination in his features. ‘Finn, I want one of the maidens here to check the wards. Now. See to it.'

Finn released Wren reluctantly and gave an obedient bow before he left. He didn't even say another word. She winced, wondering if he would always put duty first. But how could he do anything else? That was one of the things she loved about him.

‘Wren, sit down,' said Roland. Still barking out orders, she thought. Did he ever stop? He had sheathed Nightbreaker once more. ‘It takes effort, to do what you just did. You look like you're about to collapse.' He was stating the obvious and she was certain she felt even worse.

She sank back into the chair, unable to argue with him anymore. An unwelcome trembling had entered her limbs and if she didn't sit, she feared she was going to fall.

Had she called them in the first place? She had been angry with Roland. And afraid. And the next thing she knew…

No, she hadn't summoned them. Not even instinctively. She was sure of that.

‘You did well,' her father said softly, his large hand cupping her shoulder as he passed. A simple gesture but it left her stunned. ‘Take a moment and breathe.'

‘I'm fine,' she told him, trying to hide the way her hands shook.

‘Your mother used to say things like that. She was never telling the truth either.' He slumped back into his own chair as if suddenly carrying the weight of the world.

He should have been safe here, in the Grandmaster's study, protected by wards.

But wards could be circumvented.

‘Did they…did they follow me in?' Wren asked, as carefully as she could.

‘You?' He sounded surprised, which gave her a moment of hope. ‘How could they have followed you in here?'

Because they had followed her every footstep her whole life. Because they were part of her and she was part of?—

Wren shoved herself up. ‘I should go.'

Noise outside interrupted anything Roland might have been about to say in reply and Finn entered again, followed by Sister Maryn.

‘What happened? We felt it in the air and I came as soon as I—' She stopped as she clapped eyes on Wren.

‘The wards failed,' Roland said. ‘Shadow kin attacked but Wren repelled them.'

The woman's left eye twitched a little. ‘Did you now?'

Oh light and shades, she knew. Somehow, she knew. Wren could see it as if it was scrawled on her face in red ink. She glanced at Finn who looked as lost as she was.

‘How could they fail?' Roland continued oblivious. ‘They were only renewed a month ago, Maryn.'

‘Out,' said the maiden with an imperious wave of her hand. ‘All of you. I need to concentrate.' Wren couldn't get out of that room quickly enough, but even then it was no escape. ‘Not too far, princess,' Maryn called after her. ‘We need to talk.'

Which left her trapped in the antechamber, stuck there with Finn and Roland, like she was awaiting judgement.

Roland had a number of hushed conversations with others who came and went. Finn stared at her and Wren tried to look anywhere but at the door to the Grandmaster's office.

‘I didn't do anything,' she whispered and he reached out to take her hand for a moment, to gently squeeze her fingers and then retreat. At least, she thought, she had that.

A booming voice broke the silence that followed. ‘Grandmaster? What's this I hear about an incursion?'

Was it her imagination or did Roland wince for a second before wiping his face clear of all expression and turning to greet the newcomer? Finn moved closer to her, a shield again, her guardian. Which meant he felt she was now in need of protection rather than simply comfort. This could not be good.

‘Lord Sassone.' Roland's voice was a rumble. ‘There's nothing to be concerned about. We have the matter in hand and a representative of the maidens is already?—'

Lord Sassone didn't quite come up to Roland's eyeline, but he made up for that in sheer obnoxious presence. The clothes he wore were the most costly Wren had ever seen, trimmed with gold thread and embroidery. He had an entourage following him as well, armed men in uniform wearing a simpler form of the same livery, his personal guards no doubt. They filled the narrow antechamber and suddenly it seemed as if all the air had been sucked out of the place.

‘Is the princess unharmed?' Sassone asked courteously.

‘Of course,' Roland replied. ‘She's perfectly safe. She was with me the whole time.'

Thankfully he didn't mention her magic or that she had used it to drive them off. At least Roland was discreet.

Sassone turned his piercing gaze on her. He might have been handsome in his youth, she thought absently. And he would have known it too. He reminded her of Pol, the boy from the village she had thought she was in love with. The one who had found out about her ability with magic and shunned her. Who had married someone else, and got her with child in the darkwood. Who had nearly killed her.

She didn't know if he was still alive. The village of Thirbridge had been destroyed by the Ilanthians led by Prince Leander, hunting Finn. The prince who had captured her and almost killed Finn. The man who served the Nox and would see Wren made its vessel in the world, filled with its power with no will of her own.

Sassone had the same air about him as Leander as well, she thought suddenly. That was who he truly made her think of. Finn's brother. Raised to rule and heedless of anyone else.

He skewered her with his gaze.

‘Well, that's good news at least. Light forfend anything should happen to you, princess. You are precious to all of us in Pelias.' He was saying the right words, but every nerve in her body felt repulsed.

She didn't know how to reply to that. People like him tended to lock away precious things and never let them see the light of day.

‘She needs a guard, Roland,' he went on, Wren dismissed as a person capable of her own thought and speech. ‘A reliable guard.'

‘And she has a unit already assigned to protect her,' Roland ground out, clearly irritated. ‘Your son is among them, as requested.'

‘And Ward?' Sassone lifted the corner of his upper lip as if he tasted something unpleasant. He glanced at Finn, still so close to Wren that she could fold into his arms if needed. She didn't dare move.

Roland's jaw tightened. ‘Ward has other responsibilities, as you know.'

‘We had word from Ilanthus,' said Sassone. ‘The Ilanthian ambassador will be here soon. You should probably take yourself off to the embassy to see it's all in order before they arrive, Ward.'

Roland let out another of those low growls but Sassone didn't seem fazed. He narrowed his eyes, and there was a light deep inside them that was almost gleeful. Oh, he did not like her father at all, did he? Nor Finn.

‘It's an olive branch, Roland. I know you don't see them often in your line of work, but we need to grasp them when offered. The light knows, they are few and far between when it comes to the line of Sidon.'

At the sound of his family name, Wren glanced surreptitiously at Finn. His eyes were focused on the wall above Sassone's head as if he might bore a hole into the stone with his will alone but she was sure his shoulders stiffened.

An Ilanthian prince given in hostage to the victors of their great war, he must have heard this sort of thing a thousand times over. How could he just ignore it?

‘I am aware,' said Roland quietly. Nothing more. The silence stretched on, awkward and strained. ‘Is there anything else I can help you with, Lord Sassone?'

‘No, I think not.' His pale grey eyes lingered on Wren again, weighing her somehow. She drew back and Finn stepped in front of her, arms folded over his chest. Sassone didn't seem worried about that either. ‘It will be good to see some of your own, Ward,' he continued, a little louder than was necessary. ‘I am told the last meeting with your brother didn't go so well.'

Wren lifted her hand to Finn's back and his muscles stiffened beneath her touch. Alarm, anger, grief…they came off him in a wave that only she could feel. If Finn managed a polite smile, it was fleeting and there was no trace of it in his voice. ‘They rarely do, Lord Sassone. But then, I'm sworn to serve here now.'

‘And you serve us well in all things. Including this new mission, I am sure. When do you leave for the embassy? I presume you'll quarter yourself there?'

It was Wren's turn to stiffen, to try to stop herself showing her dismay.

When Finn had said he had to leave, she hadn't given it much thought. Everything else had driven that from her mind. He was leaving the palace.

When had he planned to elaborate on that?