Page 44 of A Kiss of Flame

The Aurum rose higher as Elodie approached, her eyes closed against the brightness. It seemed to bend towards her, as if reaching out to her. Perhaps it was.

If Sassone noticed the flames and their increased activity, he gave no sign. He was like a cloud crossing the face of the sun, Wren thought and that chilled her. He didn’t want the Aurum to judge too quickly, she realised. This was his moment and he intended to relish every second of it.

The light flared even more brightly and it was hard to see Elodie, as if it had already swallowed her up. Roland stepped to her side, hoping to help her perhaps, but she lifted up a hand, holding him back by that action alone.

He hesitated, and stepped back. But he didn’t leave her.

‘Read forth her crimes,’ Sassone said, and it was Ylena who responded. Her voice didn’t shake, didn’t falter. There was music in her voice, no matter how cold.

‘Queen Aeryn of Asteroth, daughter of Aelenor and Jonquil, Chosen of the Aurum, you are charged with deserting your kingdom in our time of need, of colluding with the shadows to hide from your rightful destiny, and of refusing the call of the light when it bid you serve. You forsook your crown and your calling. How do you plead?’

CHAPTER 22

WREN

No one would have known Ylena was Elodie’s aunt at that moment. No one would have suspected she was any relation at all. She fulfilled a role, a sacred duty, and she did it well. Oh but she was cold and heartless with it. No emotion showed whatsoever as she listed Elodie’s crimes.

‘All this I did,’ said Elodie, in a voice as clear as a bell. The sound of a host of people drawing in a shocked breath echoed around the chamber, followed by alarmed murmuring.

Wren flinched. She’d expected her to deny it. Something in Ylena’s face tightened. Perhaps she had expected that too.

‘But,’ Elodie added once the murmuring died down, ‘I never turned away from the light. The Aurum has always been with me and within me. All I have done, I did in its service.’

That was better, wasn’t it? It had to be better. Wren tried to breathe.

‘And did you know you were with child when you fled?’ Sassone asked, his tone flat and uncaring. ‘Did you deliberately take your heir with you as well?’

Elodie looked at him, her expression disdainful. ‘I was not with child.’

Another shocked murmur ran around the chamber. How many people were in here, Wren wondered, crammed into the shadows, eagerly hanging on every word? And what were they thinking? Roland’s face gave nothing away. Neither did Elodie’s.

If she hadn’t been with child when she left, then who was Wren’s father? If it wasn’t Roland, then… who?

Wren felt a host of eyes turning on her and she wanted to shrink back. Maryn lifted one hand to her back, a brief gesture of comfort. It held her still, something to cling to.

‘Then who is this daughter you bring back with you?’ the earl sneered, pointing at Wren, delighted to have caught Elodie out in an apparent lie.

Except she couldn’t lie here in the sight of the Aurum. That was the rule, wasn’t it? The light flooding through her wouldn’t allow her to lie. That was what they had all said.

So how was this possible? Unless… unless everything Elodie had already said about Wren was a lie. Wren clenched her hands into fists at her sides, her fingernails digging into her palms. Her hair shifted warily against the back of her neck. Something was wrong here. Something was terribly wrong.

When Elodie didn’t say anything, bowing her head slightly, Sassone pressed on.

‘Do you deny her now, lady? Or did you take yet another as your lover? Look at her and tell us the truth. Who is she?’

Finn was here somewhere. He had to be. The Ilanthians were gathered at the far end, as far from the Aurum as they could stand, but still here. Wren could see them in their fine clothes so different to those of Asteroth, Leander and Hestia’s pale hair bright in the shadows as the light played on it. But she couldn’t see Finn. She wished she was with him, that she could reach out for him.

Everyone was looking at her now and she only wished she could hide. If she wasn’t Elodie’s child, who was she?

Elodie lifted her face again, looked over her shoulder at Wren, and light illuminated her. It flowed through her body, moving beneath her skin, the Aurum reaching out to her and through her, rising in her.

‘She is Wren,’ said Elodie in a calm, crisp voice that would not be argued with. It trembled with the truth, and behind her the flames surged higher again. ‘And she is mine, and has been from the day she first drew breath.’

Elodie found her among the maidens and smiled at her, trying to reassure her even now. When Wren made to move towards her, Maryn caught her wrist in a grip like iron, holding her back. Wren was jerked to a halt and turned, confused. The maiden in her white veil had eyes like steel, reflecting that holy light.

‘Not now, pet. Stay here.’

Deep in the flames something flickered, something that sapped a little of the light away. As Wren stepped back, horrified, it vanished. She glanced up at Maryn’s grim face and the maiden nodded solemnly.