Page 107

It was Anya’s voice that sounded from the edge of the room. She stood leaning against the wall, her scythe bloody but sheathed at her belt, and she caught Thea’s eye before she addressed the company.

‘You have three storm wielders to unleash upon the enemy. And the might of Delmirian fury.’

‘I was getting to that,’ Kipp said, turning to Thea and Wren with a grin. ‘I think it’s about time the Embervale sisters united on the battlefield, don’t you?’

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

WILDER

The first thing Wilder noticed at Kipp’s declaration was how Torj stiffened in his seat. He looked around as though they were all mad – the near-manic grins the Embervale sisters were sharing hardly dissuaded the notion.

‘Wren’s not trained,’ he objected. ‘She can’t —’

‘Can’t what, Bear Slayer?’ Wren challenged. ‘If memory serves, I was the one saving your arse on the battlefield at Aveum.’

‘This is different,’ Torj argued. ‘This is an attack on a wraith-infested fortress —’

Wilder already pitied his fellow Warsword. Arguing with an Embervale sister was like arguing with a brick wall. Torj would be better off saving himself the hassle and admitting swift defeat.

‘A fortress I grew up in,’ Wren countered. ‘A fortress I know just as well, if not better than you —’

‘I’m a fucking Warsword —’

‘And I’m a fucking storm wielder.’ Forks of lightning shot out across the tabletop, causing several people to leap back in shock, but Wren’s eyes, bright with power, were fixed on the Bear Slayer in challenge.

‘If you’re so concerned about her lack of battle experience, perhaps you should be her guard,’ Thea offered.

Torj’s mouth fell open. ‘That’s not what I meant.’

Wilder had to bite a knuckle to keep from laughing.

Kipp’s voice commanded their attention once again. ‘Wren? What do you want to do? It’s your choice.’

‘I want to fight,’ she said firmly. ‘Alongside my sisters and friends. There is nowhere else I’d rather be.’

Wilder could practically feel the pride radiating off Thea beside him, and for a brief moment he marvelled at how far they had come. From squabbling siblings to a united front, facing the end of the world together. He met Talemir’s gaze across the table, similarly awed that after all this time, after all his anger, he and his mentor were fighting together again as well.

‘Good,’ Kipp said.

Vernich cleared his throat and looked at the strategist. ‘It was smart,’ he said with difficulty. ‘To keep their powers in reserve…’

Kipp blinked slowly, clearly in shock, as was the rest of the company. His eyes narrowed as he replied, ‘I’m a smart person. You might have known that sooner, had you not had me beaten to within an inch of my life and sent to the infirmary.’

Silence fell across the table. Not everyone there knew of what Vernich had ordered Seb to do when he and the others were shieldbearers, but Wilder remembered well enough. He’d found Thea bleeding to death in a broom closet. She still had the scar along her ribs to prove it. By her account, Kipp had suffered worse.

‘It was poor judgement,’ Vernich said quietly, his lined face flushing. ‘I meant to harden you up for battle. I meant to make the shieldbearers unbreakable. But that’s no excuse.’

Wilder remembered the brawl he’d had with Vernich after finding Thea. He’d broken the Bloodletter’s nose, and that had been the least of it.

‘What are you trying to say, Vernich?’ he prompted now, a small, cruel part of him enjoying his fellow Warsword’s discomfort.

A muscle twitched in Vernich’s jaw. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m saying I’m sorry.’

A lesser man might have made him squirm a little more, might have humiliated him further. But Kipp, Wilder was coming to learn, for all his jokes and teasing, was no lesser man.

The Guardian offered Vernich his outstretched hand, which the Warsword grasped in his own, shaking it firmly. ‘Apology accepted,’ Kipp said, before motioning to Esyllt. ‘The maps, weapons master?’

With reports of their casualties and remaining supplies coming in from Aveum, the allies talked long into the night. The dancing and drinking from earlier felt like it had happened a decade ago, to other people. Now there were only the cold, hard facts of war, and the impending doom of the world as they knew it.