Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I t had been a month since Thea’s first day as a shieldbearer, and with her own training in addition to the required load, she’d hardly seen Wren. But when her sister tracked her down in the hour before dawn in the armoury, she knew something had changed.
‘I’ve been looking all over for you!’ Wren practically shouted. Despite the cold and the ungodly hour, she was beaming. ‘I’ve been made Farissa’s apprentice! A formal apprentice of the alchemy arts, Thea!’
Thea blinked for a moment and then dropped the blade she was sharpening. She launched herself at her sister. ‘That’s amazing, Wren. I knew it would be you! You’re the best there is.’
‘You’re truly pleased for me?’
Thea pulled back. ‘What? Of course I’m pleased for you. This is your dream.’
‘I know, I just…’
‘Just what?’
‘Well, I wasn’t sure you’d be entirely happy.’
‘Why in the realms would I not be?’
‘I… It doesn’t matter.’ Wren grinned. ‘Come and see my new quarters! I get rooms all to myself, can you believe it?’
Thea hardly had any choice in the matter. Wren was all but dragging her back to the fortress. Somewhat dazed, Thea allowed Wren to pull her through the passageways to the upper levels towards the masters’ and commanders’ residences.
‘You stay up here?’
‘I have to be close to Farissa. I have the room next to hers.’
At last they came to her door and Wren opened it, proudly motioning for Thea to step inside.
‘How long have you been here?’ Thea asked, frowning as she took in the obscene amount of clutter. Her sister had always had a tendency to be messy, but this was a whole new extreme. There were plants on nearly every surface, glass vials balanced precariously on uneven edges.
‘Two days.’
Thea baulked. ‘ Two days? And it looks like this?’
‘It’s organised chaos, I’ll have you know, Althea. I know where everything is.’
‘Gods help anyone else who needs to find something, though,’ Thea replied with a laugh.
‘But no one would,’ Wren said gleefully. ‘It’s my room. My very own.’
Thea knew what that meant. In all the years they’d lived at Thezmarr, neither of them had ever had a space of her own. So Thea reached out and squeezed her sister’s shoulder. ‘Congratulations, Wren. You deserve it.’
‘Thank you.’
Thea waited a beat. ‘Did they give you a spare key?’
Wren rounded on her. ‘Not a chance, Thea. I only just got rid of you.’
Thea laughed. ‘I was only joking… Mostly. You try living with twelve men in your room. They’re loud. They stink. And they constantly brag about sleeping with women they’ve clearly never spoken to.’
‘Sounds charming.’
‘You have no idea.’
‘You should come and visit more, Thea,’ Wren said suddenly. ‘Sam and Ida miss you. And you’ve missed a lot in our alchemy shifts. They’re throwing me a little party this afternoon to celebrate. You should come.’
‘I can’t.’ Thea gave a heavy sigh. ‘I don’t have time, Wren. Not if I want to be —’
‘A Thezmarrian warrior. A Warsword,’ Wren cut her off sharply. ‘We know . We know how important it is to you. But it’s not the only thing that’s important.’
Thea’s hand flew to her fate stone. ‘It is to me —’ She regretted her choice of words as soon as they left her mouth, but she couldn’t take them back.
Wren’s expression hardened. ‘When was the last time I asked anything of you, Thea? When was the last time you did anything for someone other than yourself?’
‘It’s just a party, Wren…’
‘But it’s not just a party. It’s about supporting me, your sister. It’s about acknowledging that I’ve achieved something I’ve been aiming for for years. How would you feel if you became a Warsword and no one gave a shit?’
‘It’s not the same.’
‘Not the same? You mean that being an alchemist isn’t as worthy as being a Warsword? That your dreams are bigger and better than the rest of ours?’
‘I didn’t mean —’
‘Yes, you did. And it’s fine. If you’re so determined to become a Warsword, you go do that, Thea. But when you’ve cheated death and you want someone to cheer for your victories, don’t be surprised if you turn around to find yourself alone.’
‘Wren…’
‘You have no idea , Thea. No idea what I do for us, for you . And here you are, with your Warsword complex, thinking you’re so much better. Do you know where you’d be without me? Do you know what would happen —’
‘Wren, please.’ A sour taste filled Thea’s mouth.
She had never seen her sister like this: furious to the point of tears, almost unhinged.
What was she talking about? Was it that stunt with the Widow’s Ash and Seb?
Was it about covering for her with Audra and Farissa?
Thea’s heart was sinking. This was not how this conversation was meant to go.
She wanted to celebrate Wren’s achievements, she just…
Wren was shaking her head, cheeks flushed in anger. ‘I can’t stand the sight of you,’ she spat. ‘Get out. I have silly potions and teapots to make.’
‘I didn’t say —’
‘ Out. ’
Head hung, stomach in knots, Thea left Wren’s new room to find Dax waiting for her.
But not even the dog’s stoic presence padding beside her could pull her from her dark mood, for she had the feeling that there was more to the argument than she knew, that there was something Wren wasn’t telling her.
Over the next few days, Thea turned inward. While she and Wren had bickered and argued their entire lives, this was different. A crack had formed between them, a fissure that grew wider with every day they didn’t speak.
Thea had tried to explain, had tried to track Wren down the next day and the next, but her sister was suddenly like a shadow that kept slipping between her fingers. And the thought of Wren celebrating her new position without her made Thea’s chest ache. She should have been there.
‘What’s wrong with you lately?’ Cal asked over breakfast, his brow furrowed deeply as he studied her.
‘Nothing,’ Thea mumbled into her porridge.
‘Liar,’ Kipp interjected. ‘You’ve been moping for days. And you’re not a moper. I’ve seen you get walloped into the ground by a man twice your size and you hardly blink, so there’s definitely something wrong.’
They waited expectantly, to the point of irritation.
‘I had a fight with Wren, alright?’ Thea snapped.
‘What about?’ Kipp asked.
Thea sighed. ‘I don’t know. About me only caring about being a Warsword, or something to that effect.’
‘You told her that?’
‘Accidentally.’
Cal let out a low whistle. ‘Brutal.’
‘I didn’t mean it.’
‘Well, you’d best fix it with her soon. You’re not gonna win any apprenticeships by being a sad sap, are you?’ Kipp told her.
‘Helpful, as always,’ she said flatly.
‘We could request some leave. Take her down to the Laughing Fox.’
‘You and the fucking Laughing Fox, Kipp!’ Cal nearly upset his breakfast. ‘For the love of all the gods, will you shut up about it? And you git, when has anyone in the history of Thezmarr requested “leave”?’
Thea waved him off. ‘It’s fine, it’s fine. He’s only trying —’
‘To help, I know. Tell me this though, why is his version of help so annoying?’
Thea twisted in her seat, exchanging a surprised glance with Kipp. ‘It appears I’m not the only one in a mood this morning…’
‘Oh, don’t start.’
But to her surprise, Kipp grinned gleefully. ‘Who is she?’
‘What?’ Cal snapped.
‘There’s only one way to get you in such a strop and it’s certainly not my poor attempts at helping Thea. Who is she?’ Kipp winked in Thea’s direction.
Suddenly fascinated, Thea watched the tips of Cal’s cheeks turn pink.
‘We’re not having this conversation,’ he told them firmly, getting to his feet.
‘We are definitely having that conversation,’ Kipp whispered to Thea as they left the breakfast table. ‘Skip your reading and have a jug of mead with us tonight. We’ll get it out of him. If anything, it’ll make you forget about your sister troubles for an hour or so.’
For the first time in days, Thea smiled. ‘Alright,’ she told him.
Though the nagging guilt persisted at the back of Thea’s mind, she felt lighter throughout the day, grateful for Kipp and Cal, despite his bad mood.
The hours passed in a blur. They finished endurance training; they completed a session of archery and they spent an unusual few hours with the Guild Master himself in the library, where he explained several military strategies the warriors had employed over the years.
Kipp was the most eager of their cohort, interrupting regularly with questions and comments.
Surprisingly, Osiris didn’t seem bothered by this, but rather energised to have a keen contributor.
Though Kipp had told Thea of his interest in strategy, she had thought little of it until that afternoon, where it became clear that Kipp’s mind was a cut above the rest. What he lacked in coordination and strength, he more than made up for in devious tactics and a vast understanding of how an army worked.
When they left the library, Kipp was practically glowing. ‘Incredible isn’t it?’
‘What?’ Cal asked sullenly. ‘All the ways men and monsters can kill one another?’
‘Exactly,’ Kipp beamed. ‘In all our time here, you’d be forgiven for thinking that fighting is just swinging a blade or brandishing an axe at someone, but this…’ he trailed off for a moment in awe. ‘This shows a much bigger picture. It shows cunning and brutality in a much more refined way.’
‘And that’s admirable?’ Cal replied, raising a brow in Thea’s direction.
‘Of course. Certainly no less admirable than what happens on the battlefield, surely?’
‘Come on,’ Thea urged, tugging Kipp’s sleeve. ‘We’ll be late.’
‘Oh gods, it’s combat with the Bloodletter, isn’t it?’ Her friend quickened his pace instantly.
‘Yes, and you know how he gets,’ Thea muttered. She had only been in a handful of training sessions with the older Warsword, and what she’d seen had not sat right with her. But right or not, they were due back at the training arena within minutes, and she didn’t want to risk his wrath.