Page 104 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

“Not as easy as you, but he’s been great with introducing weaponry.”

Before she could speak any more, she thought of the mist descending around her as she stood in the grounds, swinging a sword for the first time. You look good with steel in between your hands. Her stomach flipped at the memory of Torin’s words. She had felt good with a weapon in her hands. Better than good.

She whipped the thought of his ice blue eyes out of her mind as Gideon spoke.

“He’s the best at weaponry we have,” Gideon smiled. “Other than Torin, of course.”

Emara swallowed as she heard his name. “Marcus is a good teacher and an even better friend. He’s like a brother to us.” He pulled his hand from hers and untangled his fingers as he yawned. “I am going to get a little bit of shut eye. You should, too.”

Emara smiled at the thought of sleep. Knowing that Gideon was back in good spirits, she would be able to sleep better tonight.

“Okay, get some rest.” She smiled and turned to leave.

Gideon’s hand shot out and pulled her back into him. “I would like to know where you think you are going.”

“You said you wanted to get some sleep, so I am just going to...” she trailed off as she gestured to the door.

“I didn’t say you had to leave this bed to sleep.” His white teeth gleamed through his full lips. “Stay with me.”

Emara’s heart felt like it was about to explode at the sight of his face as he lay back lazily, waiting for her to snuggle back in.

“I will stay with you, but only if I get to keep that fleece tunic you gave to me. It’s the warmest thing I own.”

He raised his eyebrow and delight danced across his face. “I would say that is a fair trade.” He waited a second before he pulled her in close, motioning her to rest her head on him.

After a few moments, she relaxed into him, feeling the warmth of his chest as it began to rise and fall, his breathing getting heavier.

With every breath that he took, Emara could feel her eyelids draw down until they were closed too, and she was no longer awake.

A mellow voice pulled her from a deep sleep. “Emara...”

No! She didn’t want to wake up from the comfort of her sleep or the warmth of the fur rug that was tucked in at her sides. Hearing her name again, she blinked her lids open to see Rhea’s face.

“It’s sunrise; you slept right through until morning,” Rhea said, not looking like she had done the same.

Emara’s head snapped to the window where beams of light emphasized the specs of lazy dust that lingered in the air.

“Gideon’s having his bandage removed downstairs.”

She looked behind her to see that Gideon was no longer curled into her back. “Is he okay?” Urgency ran through her voice.

“Yes, my dear. He is going to be simply fine. He has been incredibly lucky,” she said as she made her way to the door. “He is going to try a walk this morning to build up his strength. He then muttered something about reminding you that you have a training session with Marcus at sunrise. That is why I woke you, or I would have left you sleeping a little longer.” Rhea’s kind eyes crinkled at the side.

Emara swallowed, knowing that Rhea was now without her husband. He had lost his life fighting in the Blood Moon battle and her heart hurt for the caring woman. She didn’t deserve to feel that kind of loss.

“Thank you, Rhea. I do have a training session.” She rubbed her neck and swung her feet out of the bed and onto the cold flooring.

Ugh! She would do anything to get back under the covers and have the warmth of Gideon beside her.

“Gideon had clothes brought up from your room so that you didn’t have to go down there.” She lifted her eyebrows and a curve settled onto her lips, turning them up at the corners. How she still found it in her soul to smile was beyond Emara’s imagination. “He didn’t want you being late, then muttered something about one hundred press ups if you had been. You’d best make haste.”

Emara grabbed a handful of her hair and started to push it up into a high ponytail, as she moveddown the corridor. Even with a ponytail high upon her head, the ends of her hair still swished along her back as she made her way to the east wing.

She didn’t have time to even eat a small piece of fruit this morning like she always did, so she filled up her water bottle at the fountain outside and pushed the door open. Her legs jerked tightly to a halt as she saw the smug smile of Torin Blacksteel, standing with his arms folded across his chest, waiting. His maddeningly wide grin pulled across his angular face.

“Where is Marcus?” Emara demanded.

“Marcus,” he said, walking towards her with a taunting expression, “was given the day off after suffering the trauma from your training session yesterday.” He paused. “Given the fact that the knife you threw missed his head by a fraction of a hair.” He unfolded his arms and pushed a hand through his neat hair that lay soft on his head.

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