Page 46 of An Empress of Earth & Darkness

A fierce hiss of disagreement came from Viktir.

Torin ignored him. “I stood by him when he chose to ignore the fact that our wards had been failing for many moons, rendering us unprotected as my clan slept. I was silenced then, commanded not to speak a word of it. I stood by him when he sent our men out, unprepared to fight the horde of Dark Ones that were ransacking our kingdom. He had the men in our clan be his spies in the markets and city for his personal gain as we lost lives. I stood by him when he made decisions on wives for the clan. I have been second-in-command to his barbaric training techniques and backwards coaching. I have watched him punish not only me, but my brothers, my mother—” His voice cracked a little then, and Gideon felt the urge to stand. “I have kept my tongue unmoved in my mouth when I have witnessed him take sides with people who have wronged his own clan for coin, and as his second-in-command, I was silenced. But I will not and cannot obey him when he orders my silence on the matters involving Emara Clearwater, Empress of House Air.”

An unholy stillness smothered the room.

Gideon’s heart stopped, and Sybil let out a gasp beside him.

Torin finally spoke again. “Chief Commander, King Oberon, Alpha Baxgroll, and Minister of Coin, I stand before you today asking for support to pardon the treaty my father has forced upon Gideon Blacksteel and Emara Clearwater. I’m asking for a different verdict from what my father has granted us time after time.” He looked at the other prime members and then into the crowd. “You see, as a hunter, I have been selfish and arrogant. I have drunk in every tavern after spilling the guts of Dark Army every night since I could swallow hard liquor. I have been blinded in thinking that my path was already laid out for me, numbing myself to the fact that I didn’t appreciate a marriage or an alliance with anyone that I couldn’t choose for myself. I considered my fate to be all but marriage for convenience, a life of fighting and bleak work until my eventual death.” He paused. “But that all changed when Emara Clearwater came through the Tower doors and entered our world.” Torin’s gaze found Emara. “My world was turned on its axis, for the better.”

Gideon looked to Emara, who sat a few seats down, her stare unfaltering from Torin’s face as she watched him lay down his heart before the factions. He had always known there was something between them, but Torin was so utterly in love with the Empress of Air.

A strange beating thrummed in his heart, but he couldn’t place what it meant.

“You see,” Torin played out to the crowd again, showing his usual confidence, but with a vulnerability he had never displayed before, “I was under the impression that the first-born son of a clan’s commander had to marry for nothing but an alliance. Emara, she changed my prospects on that. She showed me light in a dark future that I cannot even bear to think of. And she has time and time again shown me that she is worthy of a better man to stand by her side.” His eyes finally found Gideon in the crowd, and a moment passed between them that made Gideon’s heart hurt.

Emara stood, causing the crowd to suddenly look her way. She gave Torin one final nod, and there was a fire in her eyes that was deeper than desire, deeper than friendship, deeper than respect for her guard. Gideon had never seen that fire when she looked at him.

It was then he understood that she and Torin were destined for each other. No one could change that course. Even if he had been holding on to some foolish hope that there might be a chance for them to find happiness in their forced alliance, he realised now that there was no way for them to find their way back to how it had once been. They couldn’t pave something new.

As Torin stood in front of his commander, challenging his decision, Gideon knew it felt right.

Strangely, his chest felt a little lighter.

He took a deep breath as he looked at his brother, standing in front of the crowd, his sapphire gaze on Emara’s face, his longing for her unhidden, open for everyone to see.

“She has given me something”—Torin turned back to the prime, who all had straightened in their chairs, their eyes wide with astonishment—“that I never thought I could have. A future that is ours to build. And that is why I stand before you and ask that you overturn your decision to marry my brother to the Empress of Air. It should be Emara’s choice.”

Viktir’s face was red with rage, probably horrified that his son had chosen emotion over obedience.

Gideon quickly surveyed his clan, all of them in shock. Marcus Coldwell looked like he could fall from his chair at any moment. Kellen’s eyes were soft with tears. Gideon found his mother, her face portraying a thousand emotions at once.

Commander Stryker moved forward and put down the letter. “Commander Blacksteel, speak on the matter presented. I would like to hear your thoughts.”

The room was deathly silent.

Gideon could feel his throat bobbing, his shoulders tense, every muscle coiled.

Viktir’s lips thinned as he scowled. “My decision is final.”

Gideon knew this was all in an effort to punish Torin for something that felt like it had happened years ago. Gideon wished for one silly second that Torin had just told his father of the Resurrection Stone and maybe then he wouldn’t still be trying to torture him.

But that was the difference between Gideon and Torin. Torin was brave enough to challenge his commander for the girl he loved.

The prime gave Viktir a moment, but as everyone looked at him, it was clear he would not change his mind. Gideon wouldn’t have expected anything else, and maybe Torin hadn’t either. Maybe he had been clever to show everyone how ruthless and callous his father was. Would that swing in his favour?

For one Blacksteel to win, one must back down, and they were both as stubborn as the mountains of the north.

The Minister of Coin rose from his seat, and his eyes found Torin’s. “It sounds like temptations of the flesh to me.” He walked to stand over by the chief commander. “Couldn’t you just continue your relationship after your brother marries her?” He sent a vile smile in Torin’s direction. “Everyone has a mistress.”

Did he have a death wish?

Gideon prayed to Thorin that Torin stayed calm. He had done such a good job to show a different side of himself today. The chief commander’s eyes found Emara’s. “Empress of Air, do you agree with Torin Blacksteel in his claims that you should be allowed the choice of whom to marry?”

Why did Gideon’s heart rate suddenly speed up?

She swallowed before raising her chin. “It shakes every part of who I am to believe there should be a piece of paper that determines whom I should marry, especially when it was not my hand that signed the treaty.” She paused, letting that statement filter down to the community around her. “However, I do not shun the respectable alliance to Clan Blacksteel. I, as an empress of this kingdom, would only like a say in whom it should be to.” Some of the spectators who had not been in her corner yesterday seemed to have softened towards her, their glances sympathetic. “What I will say on the matter of the current alliance is that it is unfair to toy with the emotions of one’s sons to punish them for no good reason. An alliance now hangs by a thread due to such harsh behaviours. It is self-indulgent and an abuse of power.”

Viktir scoffed. “There is no one more self-indulgent than Torin Blacksteel, Empress Clearwater, and you better believe that as the truth before you challenge my decision.”

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