Page 49 of A Kiss of Flame

‘But she’s going to be all right, isn’t she?’ Wren knew she sounded like a child. She didn’t care. Panic flooded through her and she threw herself forward, dropping to her knees before the regent. ‘Please, Ylena, she has to be all right. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll be good. I promise, but I need to know?—’

The old woman put out her hand and smoothed it through Wren’s unruly hair, making a soothing sound. There was a brush of magic, like static electricity between them. ‘There now, hush. Maryn has her and no one can heal like my Maryn. We’ll start again, you and I. Is that fair? And when Elodie is ready, you shall see her. That much I can promise.’

‘Thank you,’ Wren whispered and tried to smile.

‘We really need to do something about your hair though,’ the old woman murmured absently. ‘It really grows in fits and starts, doesn’t it?’

Wren brought her own hand up to it and found it far longer than it should be, curling down to her shoulders already.

‘It… it reacts to…’

‘I noticed,’ said Ylena calmly. ‘Perhaps, Lynette, you would fetch me a pair of scissors?’

Lynette was only halfway across the room when there was another knock on the door.

This time it was just Roland. He looked grey and washed-out, a bit broken. He had never looked old before this moment, not to her. But now… now he looked like someone twice his age.

‘Is she hurt?’ Wren blurted out, coming up to her feet, Ylena forgotten.

‘She’s exhausted, that’s all. Too much magic, too much power… the Aurum is… it’s not kind to her. She won’t be able to raise so much as a spark for days. The maidens are caring for her.’

‘I want to see her.’

Roland glanced at Ylena, his face a mask. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. Do you?’

Wren sucked in a breath to say something in reply but couldn’t find words. Not in response to that. She stood there, staring at him, gaping like a fish on dry land.

‘Roland,’ said Ylena sharply. ‘Be kind.’

He cast a look at her as if he had only just realised she was there. ‘Lady Ylena,’ he murmured but didn’t say anything more than that.

At least it gave Wren some time to recover. She needed to know what was happening. ‘Where’s Finn? Was he hurt?’

Roland made a noise deep in his chest, a rumble of something like disappointment or disgust. ‘He’s gone back to the Ilanthian embassy with his brother and cousin, trying to smooth things over, I think. He’s a better diplomat than he gives himself credit for. I think he will stay there for the time being, until we know what has become of his brother. And how this will all fall out.’

Also probably the best thing, Wren thought absently, and felt like the worst traitor. Finn was safer there than anywhere near her. But something inside her ached at the thought of not being near him. And she wasn’t sure if it was her heart or something else, something darker she could never trust.

There had been royal Ilanthian blood spilled before the Aurum once more, and Wren had felt the Nox clawing its way through her to get out. Elodie had felt it too and the Aurum… oh light, the Aurum had gone wild. If she stepped in front of it again, what would it do? Would it recognise her?

‘Elodie is safe, isn’t she? She’s… she’s herself again?’

‘Lady Regent Ylena,’ Roland said after a pause, his voice all stiff formality. ‘May I have a moment alone to talk to my daughter?’

Wren’s great-aunt didn’t move from her seat. ‘I think it best if I stay, Grandmaster.’

There was a long and painful silence.

Roland’s sigh was bitter with exhaustion and regret. He didn’t even bother arguing with her, not anymore. He looked as if in that moment he dismissed the regent and anyone else from his mind, and turned all his attention on Wren instead.

‘Were you or Elodie ever planning to tell me the truth?’

CHAPTER 25

ELODIE

Everything ached. That was the first thing she realised. Everything, everywhere, all through her body.

‘Don’t get up too fast,’ said Maryn, her voice soft. ‘You channelled more power than you have in many years. More perhaps than anyone has if I’m honest. The Aurum has never been so alive. We all felt it. All the maidens. I thought we’d lose you.’