"I'M TRYING! YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK THROUGH MY WIELD! BACK UP!"
Her face scrunches in focus as she tries to expand the shield over to Orem, Max screaming at him. As the two of them inch closer, Max's voice becomes louder, and Orem instinctively turns towards it.
That one small action would be his worst mistake.
The soldier uses his brief second of distractedness to spear the tip of his sword through Orem's throat. "NO!" I scream as Max and Millie stare in horror—
-
"STOP! P-PLEASE, EVEERA!" The choked sobs break through my concentration as my Wield recoils. The impact of my power slamming into me tears the two of us apart. We're both hunched over on the floor, the sound of tears and panting surrounding us, and I struggle lift my head to look at Max's prone form.
"Max…" I cry out, and his back bows, arms collapsing underneath his weight as he curls into the floor. His wails are low and quiet as he rolls over, his body shaking from exhaustion and emotion. I slowly crawl over to him, my tears and sweat staining the floor as I do. "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry, Maxwell."
We lay there on the floor until our bodies tingled with numbness, defeated and drained.
"I guess we should have thought that through a little better." He whispers.
My head lolls over to my left, his eyes are bloodshot, focused above us. I hum in agreement, and he sighs. "Are you alright?"
"A-hem. Yes, you?" He traces the burns where his Wield charged through me.
"Fine. I've been in worse shape."
Max laughs, the genuine sound of it jarring me, and the two of us burst out into a maniacal fit. Catching my breath, I press the heels of my palms over my eyes and will the ache behind them away.
"I miss them." He admits, his voice quieting again.
"I do too."
The tears fall freely down his cheeks, his lip quivering between his teeth. "Did you know?"
"Know what?"
“About the necromancy?"
My lips flatten into a thin line, and I shake my head. "I should have worked it out sooner… I mean, the beasts didn't start showing up until after…" He nods as my voice trails off, “a-hem, if I had I wouldn't have—"
"Evie. Even if you knew — I don't think you would have reacted any differently. If I had your Wield, I wouldn't have either. We watched themdie,E."
"I know."
"Don't torture yourself over something you couldn't control, and don't apologize for it either. It's painful to watch you apologize." My mouth parts, and I smack his arm, pushing him back over onto his back as I roll onto mine again.
"As much as I hate to break up this display—" Our heads snap up at the sound of Armond's voice, "your guests are preparing to see you a final time."
"Since when did you become a messenger? Isn't that Felix's job?" I snark, rising to my full height and extending a hand out to Max. He clasps my palm roughly, the contact sending a small shock through the skin, and I flinch. "So the leeches are waiting?"
Armond rolls his eyes and waves me ahead of him. "Youinvited them, your Majesty."
"Must you take all of my fun away, Monty?"
“Yes.” He deadpans.
I narrow my eyes and pat his chest. “Mmm – fine. Let’s go.”
Rorin was already there, waiting with Felix for me when I pushed through the council room doors —bothof their expressions unenthused as I swept my way up to the head of the table.
I could feel Rorin's building irritation through our seal while I cleaned up after my spar, a feeling that has only amplified now that we're sharing the same space.
