Chapter 46

CHAPTER 46

WREN

The worst part, Wren decided, was sitting there in the infirmary. How Finn had done it while she had been unconscious, she didn't know. But he slept easily, his chest rising and falling slowly, and she could almost believe that it had all been a nightmare, that she hadn't seen that same chest torn open by the black blade of Leander's sword, the armour curling away like the flimsiest tin. That she hadn't felt Finn's hot blood on her hands, or heard the Nox make its promises and threats. That she hadn't felt him die.

That she hadn't forced him back to life.

Because that was what it had felt like. She'd refused to let him go. She'd held him to her, and tangled him with herself and everything she was to keep him with her.

It had almost been too late. If Elodie hadn't come to her aid, it would have been. Her strength was already draining away. The light wasn't an innate part of her and only her desperate need had let her use it at last. She would have lost him. And, with him, everything that made her whole.

The ability had already gone. But the darkness was still there. The Nox had claimed her, named her as part of it.

It wasn't true. It couldn't be.

She was Elodie's daughter. She'd heard Elodie herself say it.

Everyone had.

Including Roland.

Beforehand, the voices in Knightsford calling her princess had sounded almost sarcastic. Because while they thought she might be Roland's daughter by the queen, that was still all rumour and hearsay really. Now it was confirmed. And her father's identity didn't seem to matter so much anymore.

Queen Aeryn was back, and she had called Wren her daughter in front of countless witnesses of unimpeachable character. No one was going to naysay that, even if there was talk of the queen going on trial.

Some whispered that there would be an inquisition and a thousand punishments looming over her when they returned to Pelias. She would face the judgement of the Aurum and if she failed she would die. Elodie had abandoned her throne. She'd plunged the whole kingdom into war. She had vanished for twenty years. They hated her.

All whispers though. Voices had a nasty habit of falling silent if they caught sight of Wren, or realised she might be there. That she could be listening. And she couldn't help but listen.

If Elodie was executed, what would become of Wren? Roland intended to put her on the throne, she was sure of it. She couldn't bear that thought. She wasn't ready. She wasn't the right person to wear a crown, not any crown. Especially not the crown of Asteroth. What would the Aurum do with her? It would look inside her and see… what?

Elodie came to check on Finn later in the day. Or so she claimed. Since Wren had refused to move, it was also the only way Elodie could check on Wren. She fussed quietly over them both. She sat down and was about to engage Wren in some kind of painful conversation when Roland arrived at the door as well.

He froze when he saw her like some kind of startled deer.

Given his size, age and gravitas, Wren would have smiled, if the pain in the air between the two of them had not been so palpable.

‘Oh, I'll…' he stuttered helplessly. ‘I'll come back.'

Elodie rose to her feet, hands clasped before her, eyes downcast. She refused to even look at him for more than a second. ‘No, I'll let you see to your ward. Come along, Wren.'

Wren, of course, didn't move. No one did. Instead, Wren reached out for Finn's still hand and wrapped her fingers around it where they belonged. Pointedly.

‘He would have died without Elodie,' she said. ‘I couldn't have saved him alone.'

Roland's nostrils flared just a little. ‘He shouldn't even have been there.'

‘And he wouldn't have been if it wasn't for me,' Wren finished for him sombrely. ‘I know.'

‘Don't you dare blame her for it,' Elodie cut in, that strange deference vanishing in an instant in Wren's defence.

Roland's voice came out clipped and sharp. ‘I don't.'

No doubting who he did blame then. Elodie straightened her back. ‘I should be going.'

‘You aren't going anywhere.'

Elodie rolled her eyes in a most un-Elodie-like way. She sighed heavily. ‘To my room, Roland. That's all I meant. Is that acceptable to you, Grandmaster?'

She swept by him and he turned as if to follow her, like he was drawn on an invisible string. Wren didn't miss the expression of longing on his face, but Elodie did. Perhaps she couldn't bear to see it.

‘We leave in the morning,' he called after her. ‘Be ready.'

Elodie didn't deign to reply.

‘I'm not leaving Finn,' Wren told him.

Roland sort of folded into the other chair. He looked tired, all of a sudden, and far older than his forty or so years. ‘Why am I not surprised that you're as stubborn as she is?'

Wren fixed him with a deliberate glare. ‘As stubborn as who?'

He caught her meaning and gave a brief snort of laughter, almost the same sound that Elodie made when she was amused but didn't want to admit it. For some reason it made him sound human at last. ‘You are my child, after all.'

Wren shrugged. ‘I've gone from no one wanting to claim my parentage to everyone, all of a sudden. It's a bit much.'

And as for everything else he must have seen in that stone circle, the magic, the darkness…

Finn's hand tightened on hers and she turned – Roland, Elodie, her dubious parentage and the dark magic that came so naturally to her completely forgotten. He gazed up at her with an unwavering gaze.

‘Wren? Are you… are you all right?'

The sound that came out was more a strangled sob than an answer, but she nodded all the same, and bent to kiss him.

Roland cleared his throat uncomfortably and Finn almost levitated off the bed when he realised where his guardian and commanding officer was. Wren pushed him back down and glared at her erstwhile father. Strange, to call him that. But it seemed she needed to get used to it.

‘Sir, I'm sorry, I—' Finn began, babbling away, torn between apology and explanations he couldn't hope to give.

Roland held up a hand for silence and Finn obeyed. Too well-trained, Wren decided. But Roland's voice was unexpectedly gentle when he finally spoke.

‘We will discuss everything later. For now, I just want you to get better. We're setting off for Pelias tomorrow. Will you be able to make the journey? The healers say there is nothing physically wrong but if you?—'

‘No,' said Finn. He still had not released Wren's hand, she realised. ‘I'll be ready. I'll come with you.'

Who was that for? she wondered.

Roland stood again. ‘Very well. I'll let you talk then. I need to—' He lifted his eyes to the window. Beyond it, in the garden, Wren saw Elodie sit on a bench and bury her face in her hands. You'd only be able to see her from here. The bower was draped in flowering wisteria, hidden from view from anywhere but here. ‘Excuse me.'

And then he was gone.

Finn was silent for a while, slowly sitting up and trying to work out if and how his body was still whole.

‘What happened in the stone circle?' he asked at last. ‘I saw… I don't know what I saw. But Wren… was that the Nox?'

She nodded slowly, dreading the expression he might wear at that revelation. But Finn just pulled her into his embrace and held her close. It was more than she had hoped and the relief made her weak.

‘Tomorrow we leave for Pelias,' she whispered, unable to hide her fear. ‘And everything is going to change, isn't it?'

‘Yes,' he said at last. ‘I'm afraid it is. But I'll be there with you. I promise.'

At least there was that.