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Tears pricked Thea’s eyes as she took in the floppy auburn hair and the long arm waving about as orders were doled out.
‘And who’s paying for it this time, lad?’ Albert grunted.
Thea’s face split into a wide grin as Kipp had the gall to look offended, before he turned to a nearby group of patrons. ‘Who wants the honour of buying these heroes a drink?’
Thea caught Wilder’s eye across the group of men who spilt forth to do exactly that, offering them the three-fingered salute to their shoulders. Her Warsword simply shook his head and muttered something that sounded a lot like, ‘Son of the fucking Fox…’
Kipp enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug, nearly lifting her clean off her feet. ‘Ah, it’s good to see you,’ he said. ‘Both of you.’
Thea’s chest felt fit to burst and she squeezed her friend back, hard. ‘I can’t believe you’re here. I’ve missed you.’
Kipp offered Wilder a grin before swiping their tray of foaming tankards from the bar and making his way towards the booths at the back. While his lanky frame had filled out a little over the last few months, Thea’s heart warmed to realise that the rest of him hadn’t changed a bit, evident in the wink he aimed at a nearby serving girl.
‘What is this mission from Thezmarr, then?’ Wilder asked.
But Kipp waved a finger in reprimand. ‘All work and no play makes Warswords incredibly dull, Hawthorne.’
When they reached the booth, Thea let out a cry of surprise, her hand flying to her mouth. For there was Cal, with a broad smile, and as he stood to hug her, a jolt of shock shot through her. She grabbed him, holding him at arm’s length to survey him. His hair was shorter, his shoulders were broader, but that wasn’t it…
Iron gleamed at his right bicep. Thea gaped.
‘You did the Great Rite?’ she all but yelled. ‘You’re a fucking Warsword?’
Cal beamed and wrestled her into a hug. ‘Couldn’t let you have all the glory forever, could I?’
Thea could hardly contain her excitement. ‘When did this happen? Where? How? Where’s your sword?’
‘At least pass the drinks around before I have to listen to that saga again,’ said another familiar voice.
Torj Elderbrock strode up to their booth, fresh tankards of ale in hand. He seemed larger than life all of a sudden, his silver hair tied back in a knot, his dark blue eyes sparkling.
Queen Reyna’s words came back to her then: I have seen that gold will turn to silver in a blaze of iron and embers…
The winter queen had foreseen the Bear Slayer’s fate.
The man himself gave Thea a smile. ‘Glad you’re back.’ Then he looked to Wilder and offered his large hand.
To Thea’s – and apparently Torj’s – surprise, Wilder laughed and batted it away, embracing his fellow Warsword like a long-lost brother. ‘Good to see you’re still keeping such entertaining company.’
‘We’re not all bad.’
A head of bronze hair and a pair of celadon eyes appeared at the booth’s edge, and a gasp escaped Thea as Wren smiled back at her.
‘If it isn’t Althea Nine Lives,’ her sister said, hauling her into a hug.
It had been a long three months since they’d seen one another, and Wren was more beautiful than she’d ever been. Thea had always deemed her younger sister the prettier of the pair, but now… Something about her had changed, had amplified her beauty in a way that Thea couldn’t quite pinpoint —
‘For Furies’ sake,’ Kipp whined. ‘Can we please have a drink? You can do just as much gushing over one another sitting down with a tankard of mead in your hand.’
Still reeling from the shock of the reunion, Thea couldn’t help but laugh as she slid into the booth after Wilder, Wren taking the place on her other side. Kipp, Cal and Torj took the opposite bench, looking a tad ridiculous all crammed in together, particularly with the enormous silver-haired Bear Slayer on the end. But Kipp’s joy was infectious, as always. Eagerly handing out the tankards, he pulled the fullest one in front of himself and looked around.
‘How about a toast?’
A collective groan sounded around the table as Kipp got to his feet and cleared his throat.
‘May you walk amid the gardens of the afterlife a whole half hour —’
‘Before Enovius reads your ledger of deeds,’ Thea and Cal finished, knocking their tankards against their friend’s, laughing.
