Page 3 of An Empress of Earth & Darkness

The knock on his father’s office door boomed through the corridor before Gideon slid into the room.

He halted in the threshold as his eyes found Emara Clearwater’s. She sat in a leather chair at the opposite side of the wooden desk from his father—his commander. She was dressed in a lilac chiffon dress that complimented her skin tone, and it bared her shoulders to the world elegantly. He took in a breath as her dark eyes met his, tired and swirling with uncertainty. She hadn’t been sleeping much, that he knew. Whispers around the Tower had said that she was screaming in the night. And Sybil had told him that she had been letting darkness whirl around her room as nightmares stole her peace. Sybil and his mother had helped her keep the darkness at bay, for now.

Emara lifted her chin in a cold, authoritative way, and Gideon nodded slowly in her direction as he took his place in the other chair across from his father.

Gideon suppressed a shudder.

Viktir cleared his throat. “Thank you both for joining me.”

Emara shifted in her seat, causing the leather to creak. She moved her hair from the back of her neck. A rush of air swept in around her, cooling her down, and Gideon was grateful for her gift as he felt the benefit of it too.

Viktir smacked his lips before he began, “It has been a while since our last meeting, and I think it’s clear that many moons have passed since I declared my intentions of your alliance to the kingdom. It’s true, with the trouble at the palace, I had priorities to take care of before my focus fully set on our arrangement. But the majority of my missions are now complete, and this union has my true attention at last.”

Gideon’s lungs squeezed.

There had been a lot of damage control for Viktir to do, making sure that none of his hunters were involved in the attacks on the witches at the Amethyst Palace or for the kidnapping of Emara Clearwater. Whilst Viktir’s eyes had been elsewhere, they had gotten away with their union being at a standstill. Their relationship was…complicated.

“Can I have an update on your status?” Viktir asked as he moved some loose papers around on his desk.

There was a potent silence in the room that lay thicker than the summer air.

“We are still courting.” Gideon cleared the lie in this throat. “We will give you an update when we set a date for the engagement to be announced.”

“Still courting?” Viktir put his pen onto the table and looked down his long nose that had been broken in more places than one. “What could possibly be left to explore between you?”

Emara’s voice was small but stern. “We just need more time. We are still getting to know one another.”

“I think I have given you long enough to get whatever was happening between you and my eldest son out of your system. Is that what this is about?” The commander flung a lethal glance towards Emara, and Gideon’s mind flashed back to hearing his brother’s voice beg his father not to remove the treaty from him. From them. “I would have assumed that whilst I was working hard, ensuring your safety within my Tower, that you would have dabbled enough in social experiments with my warriors to last a lifetime. You should be ready to fulfil your duty, Miss Clearwater.”

How did Viktir Blacksteel manage to suck the life from every room? He really did have a way with words that could cut into your skin and make you bleed out your own pride.

“And you, Gideon”—his bottle-green gaze landed on him, the wrinkles around his eyes scrunching together—“I assume you have been courting Miss Clearwater enough to ensure that this alliance is a successful one?”

His throat dried.

Viktir wanted heirs to the Blacksteel name. It had nothing to do with the success of their marriage. Viktir wanted a strong and powerful alliance, one that could wield elemental value to him. Heirs and magic, that was what this was all about. Power.

A daring, hot anger coursed through Gideon’s veins, mixing with guilt and shame. It had been so very clear who Emara’s heart had chosen, and this exercise of Viktir’s dominance on the clan was truly sickening. He didn’t dare take a glance at Emara as he thought of what to say. What lie could he come up with that didn’t condemn them both to what “courting” had actually been happening between them?

He opened his mouth to speak, but it was Emara who got there first. “Let me ask you something, Commander Blacksteel.”

The tone of her voice was full of unwavering steel, and Gideon’s head whipped in her direction.

She remained unfazed by his father as she said, “What professional tone are you setting if you continue to demean me in front of your son, my proposed fiancé, by not using my correct title? Is that proper etiquette for an important meeting such as this, Commander Blacksteel? Should I just call you Viktir?”

Gideon’s windpipe closed entirely as he whisked his head back to his father.

Viktir’s mouth pulled into a taut grin that could have been confused for both anger and respect for her.

Emara continued, “My title is no longer Miss Clearwater, Commander Blacksteel. It is Empress, and I should be addressed as such.”

Gideon’s heart didn’t know whether to jump from his chest and dance or crawl into his stomach and die.

Since the moons had passed on from the winter solstice, Emara Clearwater’s heart had hardened. She was one of them now, a valued member of the magical society, Empress of House Air, and a warrior in her own right. In such a short space of time, not only had she won over the hearts of her coven, but she had also earned the respect of the other witches in her efforts to defeat any threats that her faction faced.

Gideon was in awe of her progress, and as he watched her stare down the commander of the Blacksteel Clan, he could do nothing but respect the challenge too. She was fearless.

Or so it seemed.

---