Page 69 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

“Rough day?” Messy hair framed Gideon’s face, hovering above his green eyes. Emara looked up at him. “I saw from across the dining hall. And heard,” he added.

Emara glanced at the door where Cally had exited, questioning if she should have gone to the party with her. But she really wasn’t in the mood to and had no idea where it was.

She exhaled and stopped herself from running out the door after her.

“If it makes you feel any better, I think everyone is on edge today.” Gideon moved with Emara in the food queue. “It’s the moon, it makes people crazy.” Gideon gave a gentle smile.

“You seem fine.” She looked him over. His chocolate-coloured hair that was brighter at the tips had swept to one side slightly, allowing her to see his full face. He didn’t look like himself, but he was handsome. So handsome. The kind of handsome you read about in fairy-tale books as a child.

“Yeah, that’s because you didn’t see me this morning after we trained...” he trailed off. “I’ve calmed a bit since then.”

“Did I miss something?” she said as she placed potatoes onto her plate from the food trays.

“It doesn’t matter, not really.” He smiled, but she noticed a darkness spread in his eyes. “Hey, how about this? After dinner, meet me in the gardens out front?” he asked. Emara noticed that she had never seen Gideon look less confident than he did now, and she was convinced that confidence was a Blacksteel trait. Was he nervous for her answer?

He shot her an endearing look. “We can walk together.”

Her heart fluttered. “Yeah, sure,” She smiled back at him. “Sounds good.”

He nodded and left with a smile still on his face as he strode over and sat with Marcus and a few others. They both laughed about something Marcus had said and she found herself smiling at his face as he broke into another fit of laughter. Her damned heart fluttered for a second time.

After she inhaled her food and engaged in regular chit chat with the villagers, Emara politely excused herself from the table of weeping family members. Almost instantly, she found herself wandering through the gardens of the tower, relieved to get away from the heartache. To breathe fresh air. She was glad to have a little bit of alone time, and she had noticed how beautiful the scenery in the gardens was.

Yellow and red roses lined the gardens, meeting the greenest grass she had ever seen. Hedges that were shaped into waves boarded the outside, and they seemed to have been cut into with the finest tools to make intricate details along the shrubbery. Grey-blue stones paved the walkway, weaving a path through the lawns.

“My shirt looks better on you than it does on me,” Gideon called as he jogged to catch up with her, his hair bouncing in his strides. She turned, looking down at herself in his fleecy shirt. Clearly today’s events had fogged her mind and she had forgotten to change out of the clothing Gideon had lent her at the training session hours ago. She had left her wet cloak in the dining hall by the fire to dry.

“I don’t know about that,” she said quietly as she looked at the flowers, pulling the oversized fleece down onto her thighs. It bounced back up marginally.

They walked in silence for a few moments before Gideon said, “She will be okay, you know.”

“Who, Cally? Oh, no. I know.” She let her lip tug up at one corner. “She’s Cally.” She raised her eyebrows and fun danced across her face. “She will be fine.” She always is.

“Well, then, if that’s not bothering you, then I would pay top coin to know what is running through your head right now.”

Emara looked up at him through her lashes.

“What’s on your mind?” Gideon asked as he turned, walking backwards to make sure he was maintaining eye contact. His body easily navigated the way like he had eyes on the back of his head.

“It’s honestly nothing.”

“You don’t have to keep everything to yourself, you know? You can trust me.”

Something in his voice made her believe that she could. Or maybe it was the way he was looking at her…

She sighed.

She had been planning to tell Cally everything tonight. Everything about who she was. But she supposed it had to wait.

“I just think it’s strange,” she started, “that people can live a full lifetime and never show you who they really are.” Scratching her neck, she looked round to Gideon, who looked deep in thought. What she said could open a can of worms, and she’d promised she would keep who she was a secret. For Torin. And her safety. “What I mean is, that people can hide themselves, pretending to be someone they are not.”

“Has he said something to you? Because he was told to leave you alo—” Gideon pushed his lips together and clapped his hands forward.

“Has who said something to me?” Emara’s eyebrows frowned in confusion.

“Torin! I warned him not to play games with you and with what you are saying, I was wondering if he had gotten into your head.” He sighed. “You’ve been through enough. You would think getting punched in the face would be a clear enough warning.”

Gideon casually slid past the punching part like it was no big deal. Emara’s head snapped towards him.

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