Page 27 of An Empress of Fire & Steel

She wasn’t ready to talk about the Uplift.

The summit had gone pretty much like Naya had said it would, although she hadn’t predicted the new rules for the witches.

She thought about what it would feel like to have a person (or three) at the back of her heels, everywhere she went. Everything she would do, their eyes would be on her. Torin Blacksteel’s eyes would be on her.

Her heart squeezed tightly.

Torin Blacksteel was her personal guard.

Her lungs pinched, her muscles tightened, and her stomach flipped. Granted, there were another two of them in her trio, but did the Gods really want to punish her so much that they would assign Torin to her? Weren’t there another thousand hunters that could have been put in his place?

Or had they aligned Torin to her as an acknowledgement to their treaty?

No, no, no. She couldn't think about that right now. She couldn't think of marriage again, not when there were several things that took precedent first—like ascending!

“They clearly think you are special, Clearwater. To be paired with three of the best hunters in the kingdom.”

Torin’s words drifted through her mind and caused a spasm of nervous energy in her belly. Did she even want to be classified as special? Emara wasn’t sure that would ever sit well with her. In her old life, she was a small village girl, a nobody. Now, in this new world, she had one of the most important bloodlines in history. She was the granddaughter of the late Supreme. And now she was going to ascend to be an empress of her coven.

She exhaled and fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt as she walked behind Naya and Kellen. They were discussing how he had been assigned to a powerful witch who belonged to House Fire. She wasn’t destined to be an empress, but she was a well-regarded witch in the coven. Apparently, that was more than Kellen had hoped for.

Quickly, her thoughts turned to Gideon.

He had been placed as a guard for the House of Earth empress, which meant he would leave with her.

A twisting feeling stirred in her gut. She would see Gideon again, that she knew. He would be at the ascension; she just didn’t know where to place the disappointment of not being able to see that he was okay before he made it there. But then again, it was selfish of her to want him as her guard. She knew that too. It would just have been nice to have someone she was already comfortable with.

Maybe this time apart would do them good, clearing both their hearts and heads of the mess they had caused. Possibly this time would allow her to let him go and he could let go of her too.

It would be better that way.

They made their way along to the second largest sparring room, by the order of Viktir Blacksteel, and as she entered, witches were being acquainted with their guards. A humming of chatter sounded over the room. Oversized maps of Caledorna were being pushed out onto the floor. Fae guards were being assigned by their king as he liaised with the Shifters to see what territory they covered, taking pressure off their faction too. And the elite were negotiating with the chief commander about who would be their protection, evidently unhappy with what was provided.

It felt like the buzz of the tower had turned up its intensity levels by a million.

Naya Blacksteel looked over her dainty shoulder and encouraged Emara to stand beside her as she stopped. “There is no need to have that worried look on your face, my darling.” She smiled gently. Emara released the frown she had been wearing. “You will be just fine. Plus, you have my boy to look after you.” Emara tried to smile, but Naya choked back a laugh. “You are going to have to get better at hiding how you really feel underneath that face of yours. It will get you into trouble as a female of power in this kingdom.”

“Ah, there you are.” Torin Blacksteel’s voice drifted across the space and found her. She turned on her heels, as did Naya. “Emara, I would like to introduce you to Magin Oxhound. He is going to be the third guard in your cluster.” Emara’s eyes drifted from Torin’s to Magin’s. The male was just shorter than Torin and more like Gideon in his build. However, she couldn’t pull her stare from the scar that ran from his lip across to his ear. It was still raw, and it looked like a healer had done everything she could to bring his skin together. She wondered what kind of demon he had been fighting to receive a scar like that. “He was the personal guard to the late Empress of Air.” A change in Torin’s tone caught her attention and she flashed her eyes over his face quickly before returning her attention to Magin. He stood stoic, but there was sorrow in his eyes.

“It’s lovely to meet you.” She bowed her head and let a warm smile grace her lips.

He nodded back, keeping his lips shut.

“I wish that was the response I received,” Torin said as he raised his eyebrows. “Do you just save those pretty scowls for me?”

“I don’t scowl,” she argued, her cheeks flushing pink.

“You are doing it now,” he teased.

A cough interrupted them and Artem Stryker made his presence known, standing beside Torin before he moved into position, forming her trio.

“Miss Clearwater.” He bowed. “We have already been acquainted. It is an honour to be your guard.” A mischievous grin pulled on his mouth, and he danced his eyes between Emara and Torin. “I can’t believe we have fallen into the same cluster, Blacksteel.” His grin widened. “It will be like old times.”

That comment pulled Naya’s attention off of fixing Kellen’s tunic. “I hope not,” she said light-heartedly. “I would like to believe you will both behave and not lead each other astray,” she scolded them with a grin. “Like old times.”

“No ma’am.” Artem placed his hands behind his back and raised his chin in respect for her. “You have my word.” As his charming grin lay sincerely on his face, a few of his inked markings peeked out from underneath his tunic, the detail covering his throat.

“Good. All of your focus must be on high alert. You have someone very precious you need to protect.”

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