Chapter Three #2
‘Well, it sounds like they were awful. And besides, now you know, what have you done with the knowledge?’ Wren bit back. ‘Have you even looked them up? Do you feel better about being a Thezmarrian orphan now?’
‘I’m here now, aren’t I? I’m ready to learn, ready to harness my magic.’
‘Now that it serves your purpose,’ Wren snapped.
Thea took a step towards her, fists clenched.
Her fury was a living beast inside her, roiling through her, demanding freedom from its chains.
And the worst part was that it didn’t rage for Wren alone, but for herself as well.
For what had she done with that knowledge?
She’d been too afraid to look up their family history, too cowardly to learn what her true name was, lest it untether her from the self that she had fought so hard to forge.
There had been a book in Hawthorne’s cabin, A Study of Royal Lineage Throughout the Midrealms … He’d left it open, practically marking the page for her. But Thea had closed it and shoved it away, unable to muster the fortitude to read it. She had lived in the shadow of it ever since.
‘That’s enough,’ Audra said with sufficient force that both young women’s attention snapped to her. ‘I am not here to mend sisterly squabbles. I am here because the pair of you need help. Or will you deny it?’
In answer, Thea’s magic simmered beneath the surface and an ache bloomed behind her eyes. Her sleep had been broken, haunted by dreams of the reaper in the Bloodwoods, and the vision her brush with death had shown her. That vision came to her again now…
The scorched courtyard smelt of blood and heather.
Bodies lay lifeless on the cobbles; seeping crimson into the ground while the wheels on an upturned cart still spun, mead flowing from broken barrels…
Darkness had descended upon Thezmarr, and at its heart was a copper-haired little girl, no older than six, clutching a necklace of dried flowers and a small scythe of Naarvian steel to her pounding chest. The last of the onyx power left the blade in curling tendrils, wisps of magic swallowed by rolling thunder that seemed to call her name.
Anya .
The little girl whose name chimed like a familiar, eerie bell at the back of Thea’s mind. So strange, what the monster had shown her. Thea shuddered at the memory and forced herself to picture something else: images of herself wielding lightning in the Great Rite, stronger than she’d ever been.
She met Audra’s expectant gaze at last. ‘I won’t deny it.’
The librarian pushed her spectacles back up her nose and gave a stiff nod. ‘Good. And you, Elwren?’
Wren was nodding. ‘I need help,’ she said, voice cracking.
Thea had to fight the urge to go to her.
It had always been the two of them, together against the world.
She hated the thought of her sister suffering, in pain without Thea by her side.
But Wren had broken something between them, and Thea had been nothing but a fool for it, so she remained where she was, even as a tear tracked down Wren’s cheek.
‘Just as well,’ Audra was saying. ‘Today, we learn the history of storm wielders, of your family. Then in our next session, we’ll go somewhere safe, where we can endeavour to partake in a more practical lesson —’
‘Can’t we start on the practical today?’ Thea interjected, thinking of how she might use the skills in her private sparring sessions.
‘No.’
Irritation flared. ‘What could you know of storm magic?’ Thea demanded.
‘I’m a librarian,’ Audra said bluntly. ‘I know everything.’
‘That’s not it,’ Thea ventured. ‘There’s something more.’
Audra gave a huff of amusement. ‘I take it you don’t know the meaning of my name?’
Thea frowned. ‘Why would I?’
‘ Audra is a name passed down through all the women in my family. It means “storm”.’
Thea’s skin prickled. ‘Why? Why did they give you a name with that meaning?’
Wren was staring at Audra now, gobsmacked. Thea felt some small satisfaction at that. At last, something her sister didn’t know.
Audra sniffed. ‘I’m a descendant of the tutors who used to teach the Delmirian line.’ The older woman surveyed them critically, as though weighing up whether they were worthy. ‘I am the granddaughter of the tutor who taught your parents storm magic.’
Thea baulked. ‘What? But you’re…’
‘A librarian?’ Audra supplied drily.
‘A warrior,’ Thea corrected. ‘How —’
‘The details are irrelevant. What matters is that I’m the only person who has any inkling of knowledge about how you might summon and control your power.
’ She gestured to the far corner of the room, where dozens of books had been stacked in precarious piles atop a wide table.
‘For our theory and history lessons, we’ll be here. ’
For the first time since her arrival, Thea looked around and realised she had no idea where they were. ‘Where is here?’
Audra gave a long-suffering sigh. ‘My private chambers. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that these sessions are confidential . Shall we begin?’
Without waiting for a response, she pushed a familiar-looking tome towards the sisters.
It was the book from Hawthorne’s cabin, with a messy star scrawled beside a list of royals.
But the list ended without branching off into the offspring of the reigning couple.
The line had died, or so it had been recorded.
‘You come from a long line of powerful storm wielders. Your parents, King Soren and Queen Brigh of the Embervale family —’
Thea’s stomach turned to lead. She was not a Zoltaire. She didn’t even know where that name had come from, had never asked.
She was an Embervale .
As was Wren.
Elwren Embervale . Althea Embervale … It didn’t sound right. It didn’t sound like her .
Audra continued. ‘— possessed some of the most potent magic the midrealms had ever seen. It was said that their magic could be felt across the realms, causing terror tempests in faraway lands.’
Thea recalled the crackle of lightning at her fingertips, how she’d summoned it to strike the reaper in the Bloodwoods, and again when it nearly cleaved the sky in two atop the cliffs by the black mountains.
Had her magic been felt elsewhere too?
‘When Delmira descended into ruin thirty years ago, the blame fell at the feet of King Soren and Queen Brigh. They were tyrants who sought to bring the other kingdoms under their command. As a result, their own kingdom succumbed to the dark forces from beyond the Veil a few years before you were born, but not before the Embervale royals poisoned the minds of the Naarvian king and queen. They followed in your parents’ footsteps, taking up their power-hungry mantle, only to follow their demise as well. ’
A sour taste filled Thea’s mouth. All those times she had wondered about her heritage, had wondered if she was from a family of fighters.
She had imagined a warrior father, a sword-swinging mother…
But she had never considered something so damning.
She was the daughter of tyrants, a truth so at odds with her lifelong dream of becoming a defender of the midrealms.
Audra paused to let her words sink in before she spoke again. ‘There are things you need to know – laws, protocols and such – before you make any decisions about your futures.’
‘I have been researching,’ Wren offered eagerly, her hands tracing over the Embervale family tree in the book before her.
‘I know that if an heir of a fallen kingdom announces themselves, the rest of the kingdoms are obligated to help them rebuild, to see the heir back on their throne for the balance of the midrealms.’
Thea’s blood went cold. ‘What?’
Wren forged on, still trailing her fingers across their written lineage. ‘But there was no royal announcement of any heirs being born before Delmira fell, no official line of succession.’
‘Broken kingdom or not, you are storm wielders,’ Audra replied. ‘There is no denying that you are the trueborn heirs of the Embervale family.’
Wren glanced from their warden to Thea, looking nervous. ‘Then we can take back the kingdom? Thea can reclaim the Delmirian throne?’
Thea was convinced she was misunderstanding. There was no way that her alchemy-loving sister was considering such a ridiculous notion, was there? Wren was too clever for that.
To Thea’s surprise, Audra was more patient than usual. ‘While that law does require the kingdoms to help heirs rebuild, it’s not so simple. Delmira is known as the dark stain on the midrealms’ history… And the children of adversaries are not celebrated.’
Thea’s ears were ringing now.
Audra wasn’t done. ‘Think about it. What existing rulers will want to pour their coin and limited resources into the rebuilding of a kingdom that might once again try to overthrow them?’
Wren made a noise of frustration. ‘It sounds like you’re trying to convince us to keep ourselves a secret… To hide.’
‘That is between the heirs of Delmira and no one else. I’m trying to convince you to be smart ,’ Audra cautioned.
Wren turned to Thea, her eyes bright, as though she’d heard none of Audra’s warnings. ‘Think what this could mean, Thee. Imagine what you could change… You could see women warriors return to Thezmarr. Or start a women warrior guild of your own. Reclaim your throne, our kingdom and —’
‘What throne? What kingdom?’ Thea shook her head in disbelief, her chest painfully tight.
‘I have no interest in being an heir of a fallen kingdom. I have no desire to rule over lands that fester and host swarms of shadow wraiths. The only reason I am here is to learn how to master my magic, so that I might be a stronger Warsword, a better protector of the midrealms.’
Silence slid between them like a bolt into a lock.
A long moment passed, amplifying the unnatural void of quiet.
Dread unfurled in the pit of Thea’s stomach. ‘What?’
‘Althea…’ Audra said gently.
Gentle was not in Audra’s nature. That alone was enough to startle Thea, to clamp her teeth down on the inside of her cheek.
Audra’s hand slid across the table towards her. ‘You cannot be both a storm wielder and a Warsword.’
Thea drew back from her touch, staring at the librarian. ‘What?’
‘The laws of the midrealms are ironclad. A born magic wielder cannot undertake the Great Rite. It has been this way for centuries. A Warsword has to be without bias towards any kingdom.’
Thea blinked slowly, feeling nauseous. ‘That’s…’ But she couldn’t finish her sentence.
‘You have to choose, Thea,’ Audra said. Any fleeting notes of compassion were gone. Her voice was now sharp with authority, with command.
Thea was still shaking her head, her hands trembling as she stood on unsteady feet. ‘I can’t.’
‘You must.’
Wren reached for her. ‘Thea, magic is a part of you. You can’t deny who you are. You’re an heir —’
That familiar storm of fury reared up inside her and Thea shoved her chair back, starting towards the door. ‘I already told you. I have no interest in ruling a kingdom of ruins.’
And with that, she left. She could give no more.