“Ember?” The Emperor had taken the seat at the head of the table, just to my right. He leaned toward me and touched my hand.
I stared down at his hand on mine.
“Ember, are you well?” he asked.
“Ember?” Xae growled and shook me.
I flopped limply but said nothing.
Xae yanked out the chair beside me and got in my face. “Stop that shit right the fuck now!” He grabbed my chin and subjected my face to the same treatment as my shoulders.
I pulled my face away from him. “Leave me be, Xae. I'm fine. Give me a minute to . . .” I trailed off.
“Ember, you did well today,” the Emperor said. “You've proved to me that you can use Death Magic with no repercussions. And Death has proven itself as well. Don't think that I didn't notice how furious the Corrupter was. He felt betrayed by Death. For me, that's enough to overcome my doubts.”
“That's good to hear, Your Imperial Majesty,” I said.
Rath and Kel took the seats across from me while Rontor sat down beside Xae. They all stared at me in concern.
“He's in shock,” General Rontor said.
“No, I'm not,” I muttered. “I'm disappointed. Vastly disappointed. Death made me believe that today would be the end of the war. It's not his fault that it didn't work out that way, but that's what I expected. What I trained for.”
“Yes,” Rath murmured. “You trained, didn't you? Without us.”
Xae went tense. “What?”
“Did you not notice him flinging Death Magic at the Corrupter?” Kel said. “He protected us with it.”
“You've been training secretly?” Xae asked. “Behind our backs?”
“Secretly?” The Emperor looked from my men to me. “I gave my permission for you to continue your training. Why would you have to do it in secret?”
“Because we limited him to learning to cast the ward, Your Imperial Majesty,” Rath said.
“I see.” The Emperor focused on me. “So, you met with Death in secret.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. He convinced me it was necessary.”
“And it seems he was right.”
Rath grimaced. Xae cursed.
Keltyr said, “Without it, we might have died. I don't want you going behind our backs again, but you made the right choice, Ember.”
I looked up in surprise. “You're not angry?”
“Oh, I'm angry,” Kel said. “More hurt than anything. But you saved my life, so I'll have to get over it.”
Xae grunted.
I looked at Xaedren, then at Ratharin. “And you?”
“Are you apologizing?” Rath countered.
“I'm sorry I hid it from all of you. I just wanted it to end.”
Rath sighed. “I know. We all do. If the war had ended today, a weight would have fallen from my shoulders—a weight unrelated to fighting. But don't lie to me again, Ember. To any of us. We are a team and lovers. You can tell us anything.”
