The reminder is so shocking, soviolating, I want to vomit.
“Then who did I kill?” My voice is shaky, my mind filling with a thick fog. I might have murdered an innocent person. Who did I take from their family? From their friends?
“I don’t know. But why don’t you tell me why you’re trying to kill the most powerful man on this continent.”
I won’t implicate him in this. I’ve already told him too much. “Look. You never wanted to come here. But you did. And I survived the Sundering. Now you need to leave.”
His jaw clenches. “You don’t tell me what to do.”
“Why would you want to stay here?”
“I’m doing good work, Arvelle. Nyrant has offered me a position similar to Albion’s, helping those who don’t have a guardant to train for the Sundering again in a few months.”
“I don’t understand. You hate the emperor. If not for him, Kassia …” I trail off.
Leon is silent for so long, I wonder if he’s going to reply. And then he turns away, staring blankly at the wall. “Kassia’s mother once told me something.” His voice catches, his shoulders tensing.
I know little about Rosella. It was the biggest issue between Kassia and Leon. He would tell her stories about Rosella, but he never talked about how they met, or her death.
“She said that when you can’t battle evil on a grand scale, you have to chip away at it piece by piece. You have to hold the line, to protect others. And that duty belongs to everyone. You don’t get to hide from it when the stakes are this high. For six years, I ignored the reality of this empire. I hid. And Rosella …” Leon shakes his head, and his expression tightens.
Frustration drills into my temple, and I massage it in an attempt to relieve the ache. All this time, I wanted Leon to take an interest in living again. Now he has. And it could kill him.
Leon studies my face, likely seeing too much. Dark eyebrows slam together and he leans close. “Why don’t you tell me what is happening?”
Fine. He’ll have no choice but to leave when he understands the risks.
“Bran didn’t just want me to make it through the Sundering. The Sundering itself was a ruse. A way to integrate myself into this place and make sure I stayed alive until the consilium last night. Maybe he’s working with Rorrik, and Rorrik used the opportunity to make me kill one ofhisenemies instead … I don’t know.”
Something in my chest twinges at the idea that Rorrik could be behind everything Bran has done to me. He betrayed me tonight. I killed someone—maybe someone innocent—because Rorrik manipulated me. It was soeasyfor him.
I meet Leon’s eyes. “Bran sent me here to kill the emperor, Leon. And when I do—because Iwill—they’ll begin an investigation. My guardant will be the first person they torture.”
Leon slumps against the wall. “How could you be so stupid?”
“Evren was suffocating in front of me,” I snap. “Turning blue, foaming at the mouth. Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing.”
His mouth twists. “Who else knows?”
“Bran. Our bond prevents me from telling Tiernon. Or the emperor himself.” I don’t mention Rorrik. I can’t look Leon in the eye and admit just how much the emperor’s son knows.
“Tiernon was looking for you at the ball tonight,” Leon says. “We had … words.”
I wince. I can only imagine what they said to each other. Leon gives me a stiff nod. “He knows Bran manipulated you into the Sundering. I told him.”
“Leon—”
“Despite your history, Tiernon wants you safe.”
“This is too dangerous. For both of you.”
With a shake of his head, Leon sighs, hauling himself away from the wall. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Did you miss the part where you’lldie?”
“I won’t. Because I’m going to help you.”
I blink.
