Page 33 of An Empress of Earth & Darkness

In that moment, she’d vowed to herself that she would find him again, find his soul, and fight for him. She would take it upon herself to tell him her stance in all of this. He was lost right now, but she would always find him. It wasn’t over for them.

Viktir Blacksteel was not a god, and he did not decide her fate.

“Thank you for showing up today—and for being in my corner,” she called out, hoping it would reach his heart. “You didn’t have to—”

“I did have to.” He punched into the bag with full force, the impact shuddering through the air. “You were being preyed on by the vultures of the prime. The Minister of Coin is a squirming. Piece. Of. Shit.” He struck the bag like it was the elite man’s face.

“At least we agree on something,” she tried to joke, but her voice fell flat. “You always seem to come to my aid when I need you most.”

She felt like her heart was open, bare for all to see, and when he didn’t respond, a spike of shame turned into anger.

Torin punched until the noise began to burn in her ears. “I wasn’t going to let him hound you like that in front of everyone,” he said finally, surprising her. “Oh, and by the way, you need to stop being cordial to people who don’t respect you.”

“What would you have wanted me to do? Light the Minister of Coin’s mansion on fire?”

“Exactly that.”

He punched and hammered and beat the leather. With every second that passed, Emara’s blood boiled hotter.

“Stop!” she roared, an overwhelming sensation pouring over her. “Stop punching.”

He halted again, stopping the weighty bag from moving. She took a breath, hearing the blissful silence, but she was soon swarmed by everything that had been left unsaid between them.

“Please, just stop punching,” she whispered.

He looked over his broad shoulder at her, his dark hair spilling over his brow that dripped with perspiration. For one desperate moment, she wanted to be the only thing in the universe to fill his shattered eyes with hope. She wanted them to fill with desire and admiration for her like they used to, to fill with jest and wicked taunts meant only for her ears.

He turned to face the punching bag again and his head fell towards his chest, his strong neck straining as he looked at the ground.

“Maybe we should talk about this.” A small voice that didn’t sound like her own passed her lips.

“There is nothing to say, Emara.” He whispered her name back like a plea to end his torment.

Her throat bobbed, shutting in all the emotion that she could feel escaping. “Why won’t you look at me anymore?”

“Emara—”

“Why?” she cried, finally breaking the tension in the air. “You are acting like I mean nothing to you.”

“You know that’s not true.” He glanced back at her.

“Stop shutting me out, Torin. I know you care about me. I know you do, so why can’t you show me your heart?”

He lifted his gaze to the sky that had begun to absorb the summer pastels and turn them into night. The wolf moon had not yet entered the sky fully, but a slow glow set over the city like a dampened oil lamp.

He shook his head and let out a huge exhale. “Do you think that is fair of you to ask me that?”

Her heart cracked open. No, no it wasn’t. But she couldn’t stand this any longer.

She wasn’t about to let some things go unanswered.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you had sent letters to the prime requesting our union be favoured?” A single tear tracked down her face in frustration and hurt. “Do you not think that I have a right to know of such requests?”

He placed his hands on his hips and turned to face her. Overhead, Emara could see a dark cloud forming, and it blocked out the glow that illuminated his skin and striking features. Instead, it carved them out, sending darker shadows across his face and a coldness into his eyes.

“There was no point in telling you that I had written to them if it were not to come to fruition.”

Emara’s heart had never hurt more as she looked at him, tortured by what she knew was his hope for a different future too. He had shared that intimate thought with her, the deepest parts of him. He had shared with her everything that he was. And she had shared it all with him too. Her heart had chosen him.

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