CHAPTER 94 Wren
‘I hereby pledge myself to Drevenor’
– Drevenor Oath of Secrecy
T HREE DAYS LATER, Wren found herself cornered by Remington Belcourt and Audra in the High Chancellor’s private quarters. They confirmed that it was as Thea had told her: Queen Reyna had been captured by the enemy – an enemy who was a Master Alchemist in their own right.
‘We need to know how you made that cure,’ Audra demanded. ‘The one that saved our long-lost prince’s life.’
Wren took a deep breath, still reeling from the events of the battle. ‘As I told Farissa, I’ve been experimenting with what might counter the alchemy’s effects throughout the semester. I had very few samples to work with, and I used myself as a test subject.’
‘But it worked,’ the High Chancellor said. ‘Zavier is living proof.’
‘And I used the last of it on him.’
‘Then you will make more,’ he replied. ‘We will give you whatever resources you need. The fate of the midrealms depends on it.’
Audra pushed her spectacles to the bridge of her nose. ‘Agreed. The cure is paramount. Can you make more?’
Wren shifted on her feet, trying to ignore the emptiness that attempted to swallow her from within. Slowly, she met Audra’s eyes. ‘On one condition.’
Audra’s nostrils flared. ‘Oh? You’d use our desperation to your advantage?’
But Wren didn’t flinch beneath her scrutinizing stare. ‘I will reproduce the cure. On the condition that Torj Elderbrock is removed as my bodyguard, effective immediately.’
The following silence was stifling. But Wren did not yield.
‘I do not want the Bear Slayer in my service for a moment longer. My sister, Thea, can take his place in the interim, until I find a suitable replacement of my choice.’
Audra’s eyes narrowed. ‘You do not get to make demands, Elwren—’
But Wren lifted her chin in defiance. ‘Those are my terms, Guild Master. Take them or leave them.’
Afterwards, Wren nearly collapsed as Thea’s arms encircled her in the hallway. ‘We’re getting the fuck out of here,’ her sister muttered. ‘Let’s hit something. Or drink. Or both.’
‘Both,’ Wren said instantly. But the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as Thea tried to spar with her, Cal and Kipp all at once on the way to the Mortar and Pestle. Zavier and Dessa walked with them as well, Dessa interrogating the Naarvian prince to no avail.
‘How could you say nothing, all this time? We’re your teammates !’
‘I’m afraid it was top-secret information,’ Zavier replied.
Wren tried her hand. ‘Did anyone know who you were?’
Zavier offered an infuriating smile. ‘Audra,’ he allowed. ‘I approached her before the semester began, told her who I was. It was her idea to put me on your team. She and Farissa orchestrated the whole thing.’
Wren stared at him. ‘What? Why?’
Zavier shrugged. ‘The heirs to two fallen kingdoms? Guess she thought we might need each other.’
‘Unbelievable...’ Wren shook her head. ‘I guess she was right. You did need me, in the end.’
Zavier shrugged. ‘What’s a debt between friends, Poisoner?’
‘Is that what we are now?’ Wren scoffed.
‘I’m afraid so.’
Dessa laughed at that and linked her arm through Zavier’s, doubling down on her barrage of questions.
A hand grasped Wren’s elbow and pulled her back so that she fell behind the others. Kipp produced a crumpled scroll from his pocket.
‘As requested, Your Queenliness,’ he said with his usual mischievous grin. ‘It was incredibly hard to come by.’
When she’d first broached the topic back at the Mortar and Pestle, she’d honestly thought her friend wouldn’t remember come morning. Surprised, Wren made to take the parchment, but Kipp didn’t release it immediately.
‘You need to be careful with this information,’ he warned.
Wren tugged it from his grasp. ‘Thank you.’
He wiggled his brows at her and gave her a weighted look. ‘Just remember our deal.’
‘Kipp, we were drunk out of our skulls...’
The strategist shrugged. ‘A deal’s a deal.’
Wren sighed and tucked the scroll into her satchel. ‘Suppose it is, Professor .’
As she crossed the grounds with her sister and their friends, she felt the absence of a shadow in their wake.
The Warsword who had been hers for a few fleeting moments.
Wren clung to the lightning that was solely her own, the power that coursed through her veins, matching the drumbeat of her heart.
She had survived her first semester at Drevenor.
She had survived the Gauntlet.
And she had survived him .
She didn’t look behind her, to where he’d once been. She vowed she never would again.
For knowledge was the victor over fate, and love, just like the mind, was a blade: beautiful, until its sharp edge found its mark.
Then, there was nothing but blood.
Alchemist. Poisoner. Lover...Wren had been a hundred women before this moment, but now she shed their skins.
As though sensing the storm that simmered so close to the surface, tangling with Wren’s dark mood, Thea came to her side. ‘What is it?’
Wren considered her sister before she spoke. ‘I was just thinking...about war.’
‘What about it?’
‘That the shadow war was made for you, one of monsters and steel. The next one...The next one is mine. A war of minds and alchemy.’
Thea glanced at the storm clouds on the horizon ahead, her expression hard. ‘I hate that you might be right...That there’s another reckoning coming. It feels like last time...’
‘It won’t be like last time,’ Wren vowed.
Thea gave her a sad smile and threaded her fingers through Wren’s. ‘Whatever happens, I’ll be glad to be with you at the end.’
‘End?’
Wren followed Thea’s gaze to where lightning split the sky.
‘Sister,’ she said. ‘It’s only the beginning.’