CHAPTER 2 Wren #2
She cleared her throat. ‘Silas was – is – a keen alchemist himself. He has been using a dark form of the art since he made himself known to us, but furthermore, he has sought shadow war relics and has been extracting the same magic that was used against us then – gathering the bones of monsters and drawing out any lingering power. Warsword Hawthorne proved that when he brought back a vessel of shadow magic from one of Silas’s laboratories. ’ Wren suppressed a shudder.
‘Where is he finding such things?’ Queen Reyna said quietly.
‘Old battlefields, former wraith lairs,’ Wilder chimed in. ‘I’m guessing that’s where he held you captive, Your Majesty. He had such items when the Bear Slayer and I rescued you.’
The moniker was like a blade to Wren’s heart, but she still refused to seek him out. She had to keep her mask in place. It was only when she met the gaze of the High Chancellor across the table that a bolt of realization shot through her.
She addressed him directly. ‘Do we have such artefacts here? Artefacts from the war? You have chroniclers writing up the history . . .’ Wren recalled the biased questioning of Magnus Crane easily enough.
‘We do,’ the High Chancellor said slowly. ‘Purely for scholarly purposes, of course.’
‘Of course,’ Wren replied evenly. ‘But Drevenor has them in its possession?’
He nodded. ‘Some.’
‘Some? What does that mean?’ Audra asked sharply.
‘Well, a portion of that wing was destroyed in the initial attack during the novice graduation ceremony.’
Wren’s stomach bottomed out, and across the table Audra and Farissa’s expressions mirrored her own.
Thea let out a low whistle. ‘So, you’re saying that during that battle, Silas stole historical artefacts containing old shadow magic and is now using them against us?’
Silence hung across the table like a heavy fog.
Audra pushed her spectacles up the bridge of her nose. ‘High Chancellor, you’ll need to direct my warriors to the remaining artefacts. We’ll need to set up additional guards at once. Or better still, remove them from the academy entirely.’
The academy’s leader dipped his head again, pale-faced.
‘So, what does this mean for our enemy’s power?’ Lord Lucian pressed on.
Wren fought the urge to let her head fall into her hands. Instead, she answered calmly. ‘When applied, shadow magic distorts any natural alchemy at play. For those who fought in the last war, it’s how we suspect the howlers were made.’
‘Howlers?’ Darian prompted, turning to her. ‘Are those monsters?’
‘By the time the shadow magic is done with them, yes,’ Wren told him, ignoring how her fingers were growing clammy beneath his. ‘They were men once, cursed by shadow, whose voices were replaced by blood-curdling howls. They were lost to cravings of violence and destruction.’
Lord Lucian’s eyes narrowed. ‘Have there been any sightings of such things?’
Audra spoke up. ‘Not according to our scouts. But I will send word to Talemir Starling. It’s my understanding that the shadow-touched folk still have a crop of sun orchids, which we used against them last time .
. . The thing about this usurper is that, beyond the fact that he’s digging up old wraith bones and extracting shadow magic, we don’t know how he was able to match the strength of a Warsword. ’
‘In the battle at the novice graduation, he drank a potion, didn’t he?’ Thea interjected, her brow furrowed.
‘He did,’ Wren confirmed. ‘But I suspect that’s only one part of this . . . He has to get the strength from somewhere first.’
Thea dipped her head in acknowledgement. ‘Do we have information as to his movements?’
‘According to my spies, he was poised to march on Delmira a matter of days ago,’ Lucian replied. ‘My sources say he will aim for the capital, Dorinth, and establish a stronghold there in the ruins of the old castle, for it’s the only place Princess Elwren can be legally crowned queen.’
‘A challenge, no doubt,’ Darian declared. ‘A dare to the rightful heir to come and claim her throne.’
‘One you expect all the kingdoms of the midrealms to answer to, no doubt,’ King Leiko said, a clear note of bitterness in his tone.
‘I have no expectations,’ Wren told him coldly.
‘Though the midrealms should understand the threat . . . If the usurper holds Delmira in his grasp, he has the might of the silvertide roses to further his dark agenda, and they are out of our own hands to create any countermeasures. That means the rest of the kingdoms and their freedoms will be next.’
King Leiko’s narrowed gaze fell on Wren and the gold dress she still wore. ‘And how does the heir of Delmira plan to respond?’
Before she could answer, Darian swept in.
‘We shall visit the noble houses of the Devereux bannermen, gathering allies to Princess Elwren’s cause, calling in old oaths.
We shall build an army in her name with every resource of the Devereux name at her disposal.
’ Darian brought her hand to his mouth, his lips brushing her knuckles.
‘The world is at your feet when you are by my side, my love.’
Wren’s breath hitched as she caught Torj’s stare across the hall. His sea-blue eyes were full of fire, watching them from the shadows as Darian referred to her as his.
I belong to you, she called down their soul bond.
But there was only silence.
‘Well?’ King Leiko demanded abruptly, staring at her expectantly. ‘Is what Lord Darian is saying true? Are these your intentions?’
If someone had told Wren at the end of the shadow war that this was where she would end up, she would have scoffed in disbelief.
She wasn’t made to be a queen. She loathed the games of the rulers and nobility, but here she was, playing the biggest game of her life, with the highest stakes on the table.
And so Wren refused to falter, refused to let a tremor into her voice.
She didn’t look away, didn’t shrink back from the challenge.
Instead, she stood and braced her palms against the table.
‘We cannot let Silas take Delmira. It houses the most potent silvertide roses in all the kingdoms, which could be our cure, or our poison. The usurper already has shadow magic in his possession, and, in the hands of an alchemist and a tyrant, the consequences would be catastrophic. As such, my education as an alchemist at Drevenor is at an end. My duty is now to Delmira, to the midrealms . . . and I intend to take back what is mine.’