Page 52 of A Touch of Shadows

They didn’t know what she had done, had entirely misinterpreted what they had seen. Just as Leander had. But Finn knew the truth. She was certain of that.

And what might he have said to the man who raised him?

The door closed behind her with the finality of a tomb being sealed.

Wren stood there, without any of the guards or Lynette and Anselm to hide behind, looking at the broad back of a man bred for and honed by war. There was no other way to describe him. He was taller than anyone she had ever seen, with wide shoulders and long legs. He wore a light mail over his leather tunic, topped with a surcoat of a brilliant blue. In the centre of the cloak, which fell down his back, the flame of the Aurum symbol was picked out in gold. When he turned, she saw the face from the locket, although years had reshaped it. There was a new hardness there, a chill in his eyes, and strands of silver at his temples, a stark contrast to the jet black of his hair.

Wren straightened her back, held her head high and tried to make herself look him right in the eye. For a moment they regarded each other warily.

Was he really as nervous as she was? The thought was impossible. And yet, that was the feeling she had.

‘Wren,’ he said at last, his voice a deep rumble, but surprisingly soft, like distant thunder. Not a threat.

At least there was that.

But what should she call him? ‘Grandmaster de Silvius,’ she said, falling back on formality.

He leaned on the desk between them, both arms straight, and stared at her for another long moment. ‘Where is Elodie?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know.’ Which was true. At least she didn’t have to start this with an outright lie. ‘I was hoping she’d be here.’ Or near here. But she didn’t want to tell him exactly where. Elodie said not to trust him.

‘She didn’t tell you her plans?’ He was still studying her and Wren shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. ‘No, I suppose not. She always could keep a secret.’

‘A secret like me?’

‘So it would seem.’ He held out her locket and Wren took it gratefully, hanging it back around her neck. He sighed then and gestured to the seat opposite his desk. Wren sank into it and he took his own. Neither of them spoke for a moment. Finally, he broke the painful silence. ‘You must have questions.’

Of course she did. She’d be a fool not to have questions. ‘Many.’

‘And she never answered them either? She never spoke of the past? Of… of who she was?’

Had he been about to say ‘of me?’ or ‘of us?’ Wren winced, and looked to the floor. What could she tell him? Elodie had hidden him completely from her, as completely as she had hidden Wren from him. It was only in her nightmares she mentioned his name. No man would want to hear that, would they?

‘No,’ she said. And the narrowing of his eyes told her he knew that for the half-truth it was.

‘She is Queen Aeryn of Asteroth, and she never mentioned it? Never spoke of marrying a prince of Ilanthus? Never mentioned fighting the Nox?’

Wren’s mouth hung open. She closed it as quickly as she could. She knew none of that. Of course Elodie had never mentioned any of it. She’d clearly been trying to hide from it all. Why would she turn around and tell Wren when it was the last thing she wanted anyone to know? Especially not Wren.

She’d never even said she was Wren’s mother. Not out loud. Not to anyone. Not once.

It was too much. It was all too much.

‘We fight the Nox, now and always,’ she told him, trying to push all the rest of it aside. That was what Elodie had always said and so Wren repeated it now. Like a comfort.

She gripped the seat of her chair until her knuckles turned white. It felt too much like the lie she was trying to avoid. She hadn’t fought the Nox, had she? She’d opened the door and invited it in. She would have done anything to save Finn.

‘With flame and sword,’ Roland replied, intoning the words. ‘The vow of the Knights of the Aurum.’ A smile flickered over his lips. ‘At least she taught you that much.’

Something bristled in the back of her mind.

‘She taught me everything,’ Wren countered, not willing to hear all Elodie had done for her dismissed in such a way. ‘Everything I needed anyway.’

‘In the forest, perhaps. But it’s a whole new world now. Princess Wren of Asteroth…’ He let out a long sigh, as if there was something profoundly disappointing about saying those words. ‘This is going to take a lot of explaining. The regents’ council alone are going to?—’

Princess?

‘Wait. I’m not a princess. I’m no one.’