Chapter 5 #2
‘Enough about the past,’ Vernich interjected. ‘This girl here broke our laws. She must face the consequences.’
Girl . Always girl. Like she was an unruly child to be disciplined, not a woman who had survived . Anger crackled in Thea’s veins.
Audra stiffened, as though the insult landed upon her shoulders as well.
She seemed to draw herself up. ‘Need I remind you,’ she said between clenched teeth, ‘that the original Warswords were women. The Three Furies were what our entire culture was based upon, what everything the guild stands for started with them.’
‘Don’t bring your books into this,’ Osiris snapped.
‘Don’t bring your prejudices from decades ago into this,’ Audra bit back. ‘Rather than punish Althea for what she is, ask her why she breaks the rules.’
‘I don’t care why.’
‘You should . She has wanted nothing more than to train since she was old enough to walk.
All the while we have less and less recruits.
Our shieldbearers are failing the initiation test more than ever before, some of them not even reaching the point where they can undertake it.
Perhaps it's time to try something new . Althea is no scholar, that's for sure.’
Thea suppressed a wince at that last comment.
Osiris’ eyes narrowed and adopted a dangerous glint.
‘This is your fault,’ he told Audra, his focus honing in on the small daggers at her waist. ‘You encourage this sort of behaviour with your blatant disregard for our ways. You allow your past to cloud your judgement, to interfere with your duties.’
‘You mean my past as a former Guardian of the midrealms? As a former warrior of this very guild?’
Air whistled between Thea’s teeth. The librarian had never uttered those words aloud before.
But Audra didn’t miss a beat, her voice icy.
‘I have nothing but respect for the Thezmarrian ways, Osiris, as you well know. My very purpose here is to uphold its spirit, its vision and its place in the midrealms. That’s why I stayed, even after your abhorrent law changing.
’ She gestured to the miniature weapons at her belt.
‘And these are ceremonial, as I’ve told you before. A tribute to the Furies.’
‘How can you expect your charges to follow the laws when you yourself —’
‘They look like letter openers to me,’ Wilder Hawthorne cut in, as though Osiris hadn’t been speaking. ‘A fitting tool for a librarian, Guild Master. Surely, we would not rob Audra of their uses. And surely, Thezmarrian warriors would not be threatened by such insignificant blades.’
He posed seemingly polite questions, but Wilder Hawthorne had swiftly ended the debate regarding Audra’s letter openers .
‘However, regarding your… charge,’ Hawthorne said it with disdain.
Thea’s fists clenched in her lap, her pulse spiking.
‘She broke one of our most important laws, and now it seems you’re suggesting that not only she be granted leniency, but what? A place in the shieldbearers’ ranks?’
In that moment Thea didn’t care if Hawthorne was the most celebrated Warsword of all time, or that she’d briefly admired his figure in the hall. He was an unfeeling bastard through and through.
But Audra spoke calmly as she faced him. ‘In short, yes.’
Hawthorne laughed darkly. ‘Warriors of Thezmarr are forged with blood and steel, not plucked from the shadows of the Bloodwoods, or the alchemy workshop.’ His words were harsh, unforgiving, as was his gaze upon Thea.
Thea shifted in her seat. She had spoken no word in her own defence, but aware that her fate was hanging in the balance before her, she felt compelled to say something.
‘I’m good,’ she blurted. ‘Better than good. As Audra said, I’ve been training all my life. I’d be an asset to Thezmarr, to the midrealms —’
Hawthorne’s nostrils flared, his knuckles paling as he gripped the hilt of her dagger.
‘Twirling sticks around in the dark is no warrior training.’
Thea blanched.
Osiris spoke again. ‘The prophecy was clear then, and it is clear now: A daughter of darkness will wield a blade in one hand, And rule death with the other… You know it as well as I do. ’
Audra snorted. ‘Death comes for the midrealms, whether a woman holds a sword or not.’
‘Althea risked an attack on us all by wielding a blade, one of Naarvian steel, no less. And now you beg a concession to the laws?’
‘Yes.’
Hawthorne made a noise at the back of his throat. ‘The system is already broken, a pathetic mess of would-be mentors and weak fools. The last thing Thezmarr needs is another shieldbearer’s hand to hold like a child —’
‘I’m not a child,’ Thea objected. ‘I’m twenty-four years of age.’
‘Then perhaps you’re too old —’
‘Silence!’ Osiris pinched the bridge of his nose.
‘Wilder, I’m well aware of your opinions.
You’ve made no secret of them over the years.
And Audra, even if I wished to permit the girl to train, it’s against the laws of the three remaining kingdoms. A law that was put in place for our own protection. ’
The girl. The girl. The girl. That same fury from before sparked anew, coursing through Thea like a formidable current.
Silver eyes fell upon her once more and she stilled.
Audra paced at the head of the table. ‘No,’ she agreed. ‘You cannot permit her that.’
Thea’s heart fell.
‘However…’ Audra continued. ‘As Hawthorne articulated so well , the system is broken and so something must be done. There is to be a feast in Hailford in three days’ time, honouring the end of King Artos’ mourning period for the queen.
There will be an open court beforehand where all the kings and queens of the midrealms will be present. Althea can make her case there.’
Thea hadn’t realised she’d stood, her heart daring to swell as Audra’s words sank in.
The Guild Master spoke again, a curious lilt to his tone. ‘I have never known you to fight the causes of underlings. Why?’
Without tearing her gaze from Osiris’, Audra’s hand went to one of the daggers at her belt. ‘Because of this.’
There was a flash of silver as the dagger cut through the air.
Thea twisted, swerving from its path.
Suddenly, the dagger was in her hand, having caught it midair by its jewelled hilt.