Page 47 of Empire of Wrath and Ruin
"How is she really?" I asked quietly, nodding toward Livia, who stood with Taveth near the centre of the chamber.
"Better now that you're all here," Tarshi replied. "Being separated from all of you was hard on her. Harder than she wanted to admit."
"And Taveth? How is he handling... all of this?"
Tarshi was quiet for a long moment. "He's struggling," he said finally, his voice so low I almost missed it. "The shadow magic takes a toll, and the emotional stress of the situation isn't helping."
Before I could ask what he meant, Taveth approached our group. "Are you ready?" he asked. "Your new quarters are prepared."
As we began to file out of the chamber, I caught sight of Jalend's face and felt that familiar twist of unease. Whatever Mira's news about the Imperial prisoners meant to him, it was clearly something more than general sympathy for captured Talfen.
The secrets we all carried were going to come to light eventually, especially if we were truly going to war against the Empire. I just hoped that when they did, they wouldn't tear apart the fragile alliances we were building.
16
The relief was so overwhelming I had to sit down.
After a week of constant tension, of not knowing whether we'd live or die, of being separated from Livia with no guarantee we'd ever see her again, the simple act of walking freely through temple corridors felt almost surreal. My hands kept going to my wrists where the iron shackles had been, touching bare skin and marvelling at the absence of weight.
We were free. Not completely—there were conditions, restrictions, watchers—but we were no longer prisoners facing potential execution. The council had decided we were allies rather than enemies, and for the first time since our capture, I could draw a full breath without the crushing weight of dread in my chest.
"Marcus?" Livia's voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I looked up to see her standing in the doorway of one of the side chambers. "Are you all right?"
"Just processing," I said, getting to my feet. "It's been a long few weeks."
She crossed the room to me, and I pulled her into my arms without hesitation, still hardly believing I was allowed to touch her again. She looked better than she had in the council chamber—rested, fed, the terrible strain of our separation finally beginning to ease from her features.
For a moment, we just held each other, both of us needing the simple reassurance of contact after so long apart. The bond between us hummed with warmth, and I felt some of the tension I'd been carrying finally start to drain away.
"I was so afraid," she whispered against my chest. "When they brought you in as prisoners, when they wouldn't tell me anything about your condition..."
"We're here now," I said firmly. "We're all here, and we're safe."
She pulled back to look at me, her hands coming up to frame my face. "The others are settling in. Antonius is practically vibrating with relief, and Septimus keeps touching things like he can't believe they're real."
"And Jalend?"
Something flickered across her expression. "Quiet. He's been quiet since the council meeting. I think Mira's news about the prisoners hit him hard."
Before I could respond, footsteps in the corridor announced another arrival. Taveth appeared in the doorway, carrying what looked like a tray of food. He paused when he saw us, and I felt the familiar tension that had marked most of our interactions over the past weeks.
He was Livia's mate, bonded to her just as surely as the rest of us, but he was also Talfen, and there were undercurrents in this situation that none of us fully understood yet. I'd been watching him carefully, trying to read his intentions, his feelings about sharing Livia with four other men.
"I brought food," he said simply, setting the tray on the table near the window. "I thought you might be hungry after the council session."
"That's thoughtful," Livia said, moving toward the tray. "Thank you."
But I stayed where I was, studying Taveth's face. There was something in his expression—resignation, maybe, or a kind of sad acceptance that I didn't fully understand. He caught me looking and met my gaze directly, neither challenging nor submissive.
"We need to talk," I said quietly.
Livia glanced between us, clearly sensing the tension, but Taveth just nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "We do."
I approached him slowly, aware that Livia was watching us both with concern. When I was close enough to speak without her overhearing, I stopped.
"I know this isn't easy," I said. "For any of us. The situation we're all in—it's complicated."
"It is," he agreed, his pale eyes studying my face.
