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“People are really worried about you,” Sophie offered.
A bitter laugh escaped Wren. “I am quite sure the people of this castle do not truly care what happens to me one way or another.”
Sophie narrowed her eyes. “The ones that matter do.” Wren shrugged and took a sip of her tea. “Are you up for visitors?”
“No,” murmured Wren.
Sophie whispered something under her breath and left the room without further ado.
Wren was grateful for the emptiness. Sophie had tried to tell her that this wasn’t her, but it didn’t feel like there was anything else left of who she was before. She didn’t even know if who she had been before was who she was.
Everything she had believed in was a lie. Her parents weren’t even dead. Pain and loss threatened to crumple her and she put the cup of tea down to clutch at her stomach. They had let her go. They had given her up.
The emotions running through her crowded her until she couldn’t bear them any longer. Her breathing was coming in raggedly. When she had cried enough that she was sure her body had nothing left to give, she curled up in the chair and stared at the crackling fire. Her aunt and uncle hadn’t wanted her and her parents had given her up.
The door opening shook Wren from her endless spiral of thoughts. She didn’t bother to turn and see who it was. It didn’t really matter. She heard the door lock before Sophie walked past Wren with purpose to Kai’s door, which she shut and locked.
Wren thought how odd it was and perhaps that this was somehow Sophie’s new tactic. A very poor one, if it was.
“Wren.” The last voice she would have expected spoke behind her. She whirled around in her chair to find Wesley standing, unsure of what to do with himself. Her mind told her to get up, but her body couldn’t muster the willpower.
“You shouldn’t be here,” was all she could think to say and then cursed herself because he deserved more than that from her.
He took tentative steps to her and knelt in front of her. Even kneeling he was tall enough that his face aligned with hers. “Sophie came and got me. She said you were awake, but not yourself. She thought…” He stumbled over the words. “She thought I might be able to help, but we don’t have very long.”
She focused on his ever-changing green eyes, and saw that they were darker than she had ever seen them. Dark like a forest at midnight. He reached his hand out and cupped her face and she leaned into the gesture.
“I’ve been going out of my mind, Wren. Mary and I have been asking after you, and all they would tell us is that you had taken ill. I saw them all though—Sophie, Malaki, and Richard—and I knew it wasn’t just a passing illness.” He breathed out. “It’s so good to see you now.”
She didn’t say anything, and instead just closed her eyes, relishing the warmth of his hand. It felt like an anchor in the chaos and emptiness of her mind.
“It had to do with the prophecy, with what you are.” He had the decency to not phrase it as a question when the answer seemed so obvious.
She undid the hook around her finger and lifted the silk from her wrist baring it for him. She couldn’t bear to see it, so she turned her head and kept her eyes closed. He ran his finger over it, and a shadow of what his touch did to her before found her.
Seeing she was upset by it, he pulled her sleeve over it and refastened the hook around her middle finger. “I understand if you aren’t ready to talk about it, but I am here for you when you are.” He hesitated. “I’ve been doing research, but I haven’t found anything remarkable. It would help if we had the next part of the prophecy.”
“As the vessel returns
Time seeps away
The curses sway
Weakens with each passing day”
The words came from her mouth unbidden. She hadn’t even realized she had memorized them.
“How?” he said, mesmerized.
“Maxon,” was all she said.
“They trusted him enough to tell him what you were?” His words held disbelief and a little bit of anger.
“He already knew from the first letter we sent. It’s why he came,” she explained. When he didn’t respond she said, “I’m the vessel.”
He nodded. “Yes, that makes sense. Sophie told me on the way here what you did earlier. I can see it in your face that you have more of your magic in you even if she hadn’t told me.”
“I feel so very numb,” she confessed.
