Page 78 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

That would get his attention!

“I burned down my grandmother’s gallery.” She laughed as she processed the overwhelming emotions pushing their way into the tear ducts of her eyes.

He stilled. Looking over his shoulder, he said, “That was you?” Something darkened in his eyes. Something that pulled her in, beckoned her towards him.

She nodded and swallowed. “It was her only instruction. Well, that, and for me to run and never look back.”

For a second, he thought over what she said. “And are you going to run?”

Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t want to run.”

“Well, then, it’s time to admit that it’s the second time I have been impressed by you tonight.” He turned from her again, taking steps towards the stairs.

She bit her lip.

“I think I know why you are upset tonight,” the words rolled from her mouth quicker than she could stop them. His spine froze as his heavy legs came to a halt. “I know it’s none of my business—but I think I know. Gideon told me that you are being forced to marry someone you don’t love. And I just thought that maybe...maybe you should have someone that you can speak to about it.”

He turned to face her, and she felt a heat crawl into her cheeks.

“I don’t have anyone to speak to about this—this magic, this new world.”

His lips parted, but he shut them tightly.

“And if you’re feeling half of what I feel right now, not being able to talk about it to anyone...” Her hands clamped together as she put her words out there. To Torin. “If you are upset…”

His eyes dropped, like he dreaded to look at her after the words spilled from her mouth.

But she continued, “I know what it is like to not feel in control, and I don’t have anyone to talk to about that—about who I truly am. And maybe you feel that way too.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. My fate is sealed, remember?”

Emptiness spilled into his eyes; his mouth parted as he tried to say something else but couldn’t. Something inside Emara’s heart broke as she finally understood that Torin was just as isolated as she was.

If not more.

At least she had Cally to talk to when the time was right. Someone who got her and always would. He was alone in a world where he shouldn’t be. He couldn’t make decisions about his own heart.

A feeling that sometimes threatened to consume Emara ached in her chest. As she stood in front of the warrior, with her mass of dark hair lashing at her back, she offered him a look of comfort, a plea to talk to her.

Torin hesitated for a long moment before turning his back on the offer, moving faster than she expected, and disappeared into the shadows of the staircase without a single word.

All the night offered Emara in return was the memory of the hauntingly beautiful stare of Torin Blacksteel.

When Emara had rolled over in bed as the sunrise broke through the night’s darkness, a nest of blonde hair had stolen her pillow. Happiness filled her heart as Cally slept beside her, still in the same blue dress from the night before. The fact that Cally had nestled her way into Emara’s bed meant that there had been a silent peace offering between them, rendering their discord forgotten. Emara had quickly forced herself to get out of bed, get dressed, and head down the stairs to the dining hall. She picked up a few fruits from the kitchen on her way and headed to the sparring room, where she had planned to meet Gideon for another training session. Apparently, he was going to take this one easy on her.

Walking quickly reminded her that her muscles still ached from the training sessions yesterday, and when she arrived at the doors of the sparring room, they were locked.

“Mhm,” she pondered. Gideon hadn’t told her they would be training elsewhere. Looking around, she found a note pinned against the wall, advising that all training sessions with the Hunters were cancelled due to tonight’s circumstances.

A splash of disappointment washed up in her chest. She had found that training was her only release at the moment, and she didn’t like the idea of missing a full day of it. A full day of tempest thoughts with no training to take her mind from them... Oh, Gods.

“Emara, right?”

Emara swivelled at the sound of her name.

Kellen Blacksteel stood before her. The youngest Blacksteel.

“Yeah. It’s Kellen, isn’t it?” Emara offered a friendly smile.

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