Vows & Ruins (The Legends of Thezmarr, #2)

by Helen Scheuerer

remember this: being a true Guardian of the midrealms is not about hating the evil before you, but loving the land and its people behind you. Remember that glory will not be found in failing to fall, but in rising from the chaos when you do.’

‘Cal and Kipp, a noble effort from you both, but your strengths lie elsewhere. The princess can handle herself.’ Thea could have kissed him then and there.

She made to return his sword to him at last, but he pushed it back to her. ‘I love you,’ he told her. Tears burned her eyes and she wondered if the shock of everything was at last wearing off. ‘I love you, too.’ Her Warsword started for the castle, but he hesitated, half turning back to her. ‘You’re ready, you know.’ ‘Ready?’ ‘For the Great Rite. When you feel its call, you go. Drop everything and go. You will emerge a Warsword. The very best of us.’

Anya, the Daughter of Darkness, the enemy to end them all… was the true heir of Delmira.

In the wake of war, there was always a jarring contrast between the joy of the survivors and the reality of the dead.

‘Have you seen them? Thea? Wren?’ he asked, unable to keep the edge from his voice. Audra blinked at him for a moment. ‘Not in the flesh,’ she said at last, lowering her voice. ‘But their storms have graced the skies.’

She was covered in the filth of battle, but it only made her look more formidable. Every warrior who was able stood to attention. And to Wilder’s shock, they raised three fingers to their left shoulders. He’d never seen anything like it in his life. She was not a Warsword, not yet… But she had the respect of one.

‘Where walks death, so does Althea Zoltaire,’ someone called.

He must have fallen asleep at some point, because he woke to Thea tracing the contours of his face, her lips brushing against his. ‘I need you,’ she whispered. ‘You have me. Every part of me belongs to you,’

‘But tell me exactly what you need, Thea, and it’s yours.’ ‘Remind me that we’re alive. Promise me that as long as we’re together, and our friends are unharmed, that’s all that truly matters.’

This woman… My woman… He had fallen for her long ago, but what he’d failed to realise was that when it came to love, it wasn’t a single fall, but many, over and over. It was there in the grander gestures: slaying monsters, fighting furiously and making heartfelt declarations. But it was in the smaller, quieter moments that he felt it the most deeply – that shift at the very heart of him, where he fell for her beyond reason. His throat closed up as it hit him. He would forever be falling for Thea.

She burned so bright for him, and he burned with her, fucking her, loving her with all he could give her.

Only someone who had burrowed deeply inside a heart could shatter it from within.

This would not be the end of her. She would make herself a legend from the ruins.

‘You’re mine?’ she’d asked. ‘Beyond reason.’ ‘Then I’m yours.’ It meant something else now – something far darker, full of poison. ‘He’s mine,’

On the bed, the bed they’d shared, was the map Wilder had given her. The very one that marked the weakest parts of the Veil, the places to search for fallen Warswords.

My sisters told me if I don’t ride at your side, they’ll disown me. They’ve got it into their heads that they’re going to be warriors like you when they grow up. My mother’s not overly pleased.’

Yes, she thanked him from the bottom of her cold, wretched heart. For he had forged her into the warrior she needed to be to slay her enemies. And Wilder Hawthorne was now one of them.