Chapter Forty-one

The first thing Wilder noticed at Kipp's declaration was how Torj stiffened in his seat. He looked around as though they were all mad – the near-manic grins the Embervale sisters were sharing hardly dissuaded the notion.

‘Wren's not trained,' he objected. ‘She can't —'

‘Can't what, Bear Slayer?' Wren challenged. ‘If memory serves, I was the one saving your arse on the battlefield at Aveum.'

‘This is different,' Torj argued. ‘This is an attack on a wraith-infested fortress —'

Wilder already pitied his fellow Warsword. Arguing with an Embervale sister was like arguing with a brick wall. Torj would be better off saving himself the hassle and admitting swift defeat.

‘A fortress I grew up in,' Wren countered. ‘A fortress I know just as well, if not better than you —'

‘I'm a fucking Warsword —'

‘And I'm a fucking storm wielder.' Forks of lightning shot out across the tabletop, causing several people to leap back in shock, but Wren's eyes, bright with power, were fixed on the Bear Slayer in challenge.

‘If you're so concerned about her lack of battle experience, perhaps you should be her guard,' Thea offered.

Torj's mouth fell open. ‘That's not what I meant.'

Wilder had to bite a knuckle to keep from laughing.

Kipp's voice commanded their attention once again. ‘Wren? What do you want to do? It's your choice.'

‘I want to fight,' she said firmly. ‘Alongside my sisters and friends. There is nowhere else I'd rather be.'

Wilder could practically feel the pride radiating off Thea beside him, and for a brief moment he marvelled at how far they had come. From squabbling siblings to a united front, facing the end of the world together. He met Talemir's gaze across the table, similarly awed that after all this time, after all his anger, he and his mentor were fighting together again as well.

‘Good,' Kipp said.

Vernich cleared his throat and looked at the strategist. ‘It was smart,' he said with difficulty. ‘To keep their powers in reserve…'

Kipp blinked slowly, clearly in shock, as was the rest of the company. His eyes narrowed as he replied, ‘I'm a smart person. You might have known that sooner, had you not had me beaten to within an inch of my life and sent to the infirmary.'

Silence fell across the table. Not everyone there knew of what Vernich had ordered Seb to do when he and the others were shieldbearers, but Wilder remembered well enough. He'd found Thea bleeding to death in a broom closet. She still had the scar along her ribs to prove it. By her account, Kipp had suffered worse.

‘It was poor judgement,' Vernich said quietly, his lined face flushing. ‘I meant to harden you up for battle. I meant to make the shieldbearers unbreakable. But that's no excuse.'

Wilder remembered the brawl he'd had with Vernich after finding Thea. He'd broken the Bloodletter's nose, and that had been the least of it.

‘What are you trying to say, Vernich?' he prompted now, a small, cruel part of him enjoying his fellow Warsword's discomfort.

A muscle twitched in Vernich's jaw. ‘I'm sorry,' he said. ‘I'm saying I'm sorry.'

A lesser man might have made him squirm a little more, might have humiliated him further. But Kipp, Wilder was coming to learn, for all his jokes and teasing, was no lesser man.

The Guardian offered Vernich his outstretched hand, which the Warsword grasped in his own, shaking it firmly. ‘Apology accepted,' Kipp said, before motioning to Esyllt. ‘The maps, weapons master?'

With reports of their casualties and remaining supplies coming in from Aveum, the allies talked long into the night. The dancing and drinking from earlier felt like it had happened a decade ago, to other people. Now there were only the cold, hard facts of war, and the impending doom of the world as they knew it.

Someone cleared their throat at the tavern's main door. Wilder looked up to find Commander Sylas Yarrow in their midst, flushing deeply.

‘What is it?' Wilder said coldly. He wished he'd pummelled the bastard even harder after the way he'd spoken about Thea in the war camp. Yarrow was lucky he was still able to stand.

But it was to Thea that the commander looked, regret shining in his eyes as he approached and slowly unsheathed his sword. He knelt before her, offering the blade. ‘The Warsword was right.' His voice was stripped of all contempt. ‘You are owed my apologies, and my allegiance. It was an honour to fight on the same field as you, Warsword Embervale. And I would do so again in a heartbeat. My sword is yours.'

A smug sense of satisfaction washed over Wilder. Commander Yarrow was not the first to be taught a lesson or put in his place by Althea Embervale, and nor would he be the last.

Wilder noted the subtle flush creeping up Thea's neck as all eyes in the room latched onto her. ‘Perhaps you can share that sentiment with the rest of the camp,' she said.

‘I have,' Yarrow answered, his head still bowed. ‘I don't have many men left, but they are ready and yours to command.'

Thea blinked at him, and Wilder squeezed her tensed thigh under the table.

‘Thank you,' she managed, with a glance to Esyllt. ‘Our weapons master can give you the details. All weapons will need to be treated again with what's left of the sun orchid essence.'

Flushing, Commander Yarrow scrambled to his feet, lifting three fingers to his left shoulder in a Warsword salute before Esyllt ushered him away.

Thea's leg bounced beneath Wilder's grip and she wriggled in her seat, scanning the faces before them. ‘Still no word from Audra?'

Wilder knew Thea had been asking after her former warden to no avail. Even now, Farissa shook her head in response.

‘Not that I know of.'

Thea made a noise of frustration. ‘Something is wrong. She wouldn't miss this – not a chance to defend the midrealms, to fight for Thezmarr.'

‘There is nothing we can do,' Wilder told her gently, squeezing her leg again. ‘We have no spare units to send to look for her. We can only focus on the battle ahead. Audra thought she was doing the right thing in Aveum, but none of us can change that now.'

Thea merely grimaced, toying with her fate stone.

They kept talking, until at last Talemir sat back in his chair, looking as exhausted as Wilder felt. ‘So it's settled?' he said. ‘We'll send Artos to Vios' dungeons, and then make our final stand tomorrow at sundown?'

Murmurs of agreement sounded around the table.

‘There's no point in delaying any longer than that,' Wilder said. ‘We only risk giving the reapers more time to rally, or having them move on the midrealms early.'

‘Two hundred men…' Vernich muttered with a shake of his head.

‘And women,' Thea corrected him.

Vernich dipped his head in apology. ‘And women.'

‘I don't know about you, Bloodletter,' Thea said. ‘But I've always relished beating the odds.'

Wilder pressed a kiss to her temple. ‘That you have.'

He had no notion of the hour when the company retired and Thea led him to the same room they'd shared last time. Memories came flooding back as the door opened. Someone had left the fire burning in the hearth, illuminating the modest space beyond. During their previous stay, they'd fucked on nearly every surface, and Thea's magic, which had been dormant for a year, had come surging back.

Now, his storm wielder looked longingly at the empty tub in the corner. ‘I think it'll be a long while until we enjoy such luxuries again…'

‘I think you might be right.'

She sighed. ‘Nothing has ever beaten those hot springs in Tver, anyway.'

‘Not the bath aboard the Furies' Will?'

‘Not even that. Those hot springs were something else.'

Wilder smiled. ‘One day I'll take you back there.'

‘Wouldn't that be something…'

Though she'd spoken of defeating the odds only moments before, there was no missing the note of grief in her voice, and the subtle wistfulness that told Wilder she didn't think she would live to see the hot springs again.

‘I'll take you back there,' he said more firmly this time, drawing her into his arms. ‘One way or another.'

‘I'd like that.' She sagged against his chest, her arms wrapping around his waist and locking together at the base of his spine. ‘We should get some sleep.'

‘We should.'

They peeled their clothes off and stumbled to the bed. Exhausted as he was, Wilder's mind whirred with battle tactics and visions of Thezmarr, and with thoughts of the woman who lay next to him.

They lay on their sides and faced one another, the sheets rumpled around their waists. Thea's hands were tucked under her cheek, the soft glow of the fire gilding her beautiful face and the curves and hollows of her body.

‘This could be the last time we…' She trailed off, her voice trembling, tears lining her eyes.

Remembering her words to him in their tent at Aveum, Wilder stroked her jaw with his knuckle and kissed her tenderly. He wouldn't deny that horrors awaited them at Thezmarr, nor the fate that had been chasing Thea her whole life. Instead, he broke from their kiss and cupped her face, memorising her features.

‘Then we'd best make it count,' he said.

Wilder slid his hands down beneath the sheets and gently rolled Thea onto her back, spreading her legs apart. He shifted so that he was on top of her, bare chest to chest, before he slid down, leaving a trail of soft kisses from the crook of her neck past her collarbone, mapping the curves of her breasts and waist.

His cock grew heavy between his legs as it hardened with his arousal, each pass of his lips over her causing it to pulse with need. The sheet came down with him as he moved, and soon, he was on his knees between her thighs. He gently bit the tender flesh there, coaxing a small cry from Thea, before putting his mouth to her core.

She moaned loudly then, the sound vibrating along his bones and stirring the ripples of desire within. Gods, he could listen to that sound forever.

Thea's hands shot into his hair, gripping hard while he lavished her with his tongue as though he had all the time in the world. He spread her open, gaining better access to suck on her clit and slowly sliding a finger inside her.

Thea writhed beneath him, her hips rising to his face, demanding more. He loved how wet and ready for him she was, the tip of his cock damp with his own need for her.

‘Wilder,' she panted. ‘Please.'

He moved up her body, relishing the heady sensation of his hard length sliding through the wetness he'd created between her legs.

Thea reached for his cock, and he moaned as her hand wrapped around it, guiding him to her. He moaned louder still as his tip breached her entrance and he covered her body with his, needing that closeness, needing to kiss her, to breathe her in for as long as he could.

Wilder burned for her, his mouth finding hers desperately. He traced the luscious curve of her lips and she opened for him, allowing his tongue to brush against hers. As he kissed her deeply, thoroughly, he pushed further inside her.

They panted in unison, their desire heightening with every slow thrust, their hips arching to meet one another.

It was different this time. Slower, gentler; as though they were savouring every second of each other. Wilder did exactly that. He relished every point of contact, every silken touch of her skin, the way she clenched around him, her ankles crossed at his lower back.

Their usual rough, frenzied fucking was replaced with something more aligned with the moment: a slow and decadent worshipping of one another. He moved inside her with luxurious strokes, building their pleasure together, the drawn-out sensations utterly intoxicating.

Blazing-hot need coursed through Wilder as Thea reached between them and circled her clit. He could feel the brush of her knuckles against his abdomen as she played with herself and he moaned as his balls tightened, threatening to spill his climax deep inside her. Gods, he couldn't hold on much longer.

His love for her hit him anew, a force not even the Furies could contend with.

He sank even deeper, hitting that spot inside that had her crying out, his name a plea on her lips.

As they both reached the precipice, their eyes locked onto one another's, wide with longing and desperation. He slowed his movements, dragging out those final building moments.

‘You asked me what I wanted?' he rasped, thrusting into her slowly, deeply. ‘I want more than war stories and bloodshed. I want to build a life with you, Thea.'

At his words, a sob broke from her, her legs tightening around him.

And together, they came undone.