Chapter 16

S omething was wrong; Gideon could feel it in the air.

Just a few moments ago, he had taken a seat beside Sybil, who seemed to be the only one acting normally, as she sat making a chain out of daisies. She had already looped a few through braids in her hair, but apparently this one was for her wrist.

Artem Stryker was unusually quiet, his head down and his hands clasped together. Emara looked ghostly pale and not her usually primed self. Gideon noticed that she was holding Sybil's arm like she was in some sort of pain, squeezing it. He had tried to smile at her, like he always did, but she had rejected his gesture. Her wonderful eyes alert and sharp as she stared at a blank space on the floor.

Breighly Baxgroll sat behind her. Her leg jumped nervously, like she had received bad news or was fighting sick trailing from her stomach up her throat. If she hadn't passed the tests with Aerrick, then she wouldn't be sitting here, so it wasn't that.

And then there was Torin, who was not dramatically late like he always was. He sat beside the wolf, behind Emara, geared up in fighting attire instead of his uniform.

And as Gideon looked back at his brother, he could see in the plains of his face that something was well and truly off. There was no exaggerated hunter mask or cocky smirk. Something tortured his eyes, and his hands looked a little shaky.

Gideon couldn't help but feel like he'd missed something over the last twenty-four hours, and he needed to get to the bottom of it. Torin Blacksteel was never shaky.

He looked around to find his father and Marcus, who all seemed to be making normal conversation and speaking with the elder hunters around them. Naya was reading a book, The Herb of Helmsbrook, and she seemed to be passing time before the meeting began. Kellen was trying to smooth out his hair, and Arlo was talking to a witch in the earth coven.

Normal.

Everyone was acting normally except for Emara's cluster.

Had someone tried to attack her and they were keeping it under wraps? Had there been a disagreement? Surely, Breighly and Artem hadn't knocked heads already. They had been nothing but friendly towards each other .

That wasn't it. But there was definitely something. And the more Gideon studied them all, the more it irritated him that he couldn't pinpoint it.

He leaned into Sybil, whispering low so only she could hear. "I need to ask you something." Her vast green eyes found his face. "Can you sense something right now? Like something's not right?"

She huffed a laugh, brushing a fiery curl from her face and putting down her flower chain. She leaned in. "I am an earth witch, Gideon, not the Empress of House Spirit," she whispered back. "You would need to be more specific."

One of her loose curls bounced back into her face a second later, and Gideon's eyes followed it. Why did he have the urge to push it back from her face and tuck it behind her ear? That would be very unprofessional of him. He coughed, tightening his grip around his weapon belt. "I am being serious," he said. "Something is wrong. Do you not feel it?"

He nodded discreetly to Emara's hand interlinked with hers.

"She does that when she's nervous," Sybil whispered back. "It's not exactly a new thing."

"My point exactly. Emara had her case heard yesterday, surely nothing must come of it today, right? Did she say anything to you?"

A small smile pulled at her lip. "Gideon, you're being paranoid," she said, giving her hand over to him. "Must I soothe your paranoia?" Her creamy hand lay softly over his. It was tiny in comparison to his hand, and a small emerald ring sat on her middle finger, twinkling.

Her sister's ring.

On their walks around the garden, she had told him many stories of her sister, how they were when they had grown up, close in age and even closer in bond. She missed her dearly and often looked to the emerald on her hand when she was thinking. It was like she was asking it, " What would Meryl have done? "

He smiled back at her as the soothing magic entered his body. "You need to teach me how to do that."

Her delicate cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. "You can't learn someone's sheer talent, Gideon Blacksteel. You either have it or you don't."

His grin was wide on his face as she removed her hand from over his. He whispered in her direction, "That's very true."

Before she could respond, the chief commander announced something that Gideon couldn't hear as his gaze caught Sybil's. For a second longer than it should have, something burned between them, bright and powerful. Something unexplored.

But she must have not been as ignorant in their moment together as he was; she must have understood what was happening around them as her head snapped to the commander and then to Torin. Shock brushed over her face. Gideon turned his head, looking around, finally coming back into the room. He watched as Torin rose from his chair, a whole court of people gasping like he had just wielded the element of fire or something.

What had the chief commander said? What did he miss and why did it involve Torin?

When Sybil's mouth fell open wide and Emara's knuckles tightened around the earth witch's hand, he knew he had missed something unmissable.

"No, Chief Commander Stryker, I did not write to the prime prior to today for you to hear my case," his brother said as he produced a letter from under his attire. "Because I feel that I cannot wait a moment longer to say what I have to say. I have sent you all endless letters and they have never been heard. But you need to read this one."

Gideon looked from Torin's face to Emara's, and he could feel something uncomfortable coil in his gut. The chief commander took a few steps forward and removed the letter from Torin's grip. After a few moments of terrible silence, Aerrick looked to Viktir Blacksteel, who was sitting rigidly in his chair. Gideon peeked at his mother to see that concern had found its way into her eyes. Utter panic pulled Naya's shoulders up close to her ears.

"What I have here, Commander Blacksteel," the chief said, "is a letter in plea from your son for me to command you to entirely dissolve your current treaty with the House of Air."

Viktir rose, chest puffing. "How dare you, girl—"

"Are you not listening, Father?" Torin bit in that nonchalant way he did to get under Viktir's skin. Gideon had always envied how he could do it. "The chief commander said that I wrote the plea, not her. So you can take that poisonous stare off her face."

Gideon's heart launched itself across his chest a few times.

Fuck!

Viktir growled, "I forbade this."

"You did," Torin said, and if Gideon wasn't mistaken, there was a small, sly grin on his mouth. But Gideon knew Torin too well; that look was for show, for the audience. Gideon knew deep down the depths of how hard this had been for him. "And that is why I am going above you."

Gideon's throat squeezed shut, and he looked towards his poor mother again. Thank the Gods Rhea was by her side.

"You see, Chief Commander Stryker, my father has been the leader of our clan since my grandfather died at the hands of the Dark Army. And he has made many decisions, ones that I have not seen eye to eye with, yet I have taken instruction. I agreed to follow him obediently."

A fierce hiss of disagreement came from Viktir.

Torin ignored him. "I stood by him when he chose to ignore the fact that our wards had been failing for many moons, rendering us unprotected as my clan slept. I was silenced then, commanded not to speak a word of it. I stood by him when he sent our men out, unprepared to fight the horde of Dark Ones that were ransacking our kingdom. He had the men in our clan be his spies in the markets and city for his personal gain as we lost lives. I stood by him when he made decisions on wives for the clan. I have been second-in-command to his barbaric training techniques and backwards coaching. I have watched him punish not only me, but my brothers, my mother—" His voice cracked a little then, and Gideon felt the urge to stand. "I have kept my tongue unmoved in my mouth when I have witnessed him take sides with people who have wronged his own clan for coin, and as his second-in-command, I was silenced. But I will not and cannot obey him when he orders my silence on the matters involving Emara Clearwater, Empress of House Air."

An unholy stillness smothered the room.

Gideon's heart stopped, and Sybil let out a gasp beside him.

Torin finally spoke again. "Chief Commander, King Oberon, Alpha Baxgroll, and Minister of Coin, I stand before you today asking for support to pardon the treaty my father has forced upon Gideon Blacksteel and Emara Clearwater. I'm asking for a different verdict from what my father has granted us time after time." He looked at the other prime members and then into the crowd. "You see, as a hunter, I have been selfish and arrogant. I have drunk in every tavern after spilling the guts of Dark Army every night since I could swallow hard liquor. I have been blinded in thinking that my path was already laid out for me, numbing myself to the fact that I didn't appreciate a marriage or an alliance with anyone that I couldn't choose for myself. I considered my fate to be all but marriage for convenience, a life of fighting and bleak work until my eventual death." He paused. "But that all changed when Emara Clearwater came through the Tower doors and entered our world." Torin's gaze found Emara. "My world was turned on its axis, for the better."

Gideon looked to Emara, who sat a few seats down, her stare unfaltering from Torin's face as she watched him lay down his heart before the factions. He had always known there was something between them, but Torin was so utterly in love with the Empress of Air.

A strange beating thrummed in his heart, but he couldn't place what it meant.

"You see," Torin played out to the crowd again, showing his usual confidence, but with a vulnerability he had never displayed before, "I was under the impression that the first-born son of a clan's commander had to marry for nothing but an alliance. Emara, she changed my prospects on that. She showed me light in a dark future that I cannot even bear to think of. And she has time and time again shown me that she is worthy of a better man to stand by her side." His eyes finally found Gideon in the crowd, and a moment passed between them that made Gideon's heart hurt.

Emara stood, causing the crowd to suddenly look her way. She gave Torin one final nod, and there was a fire in her eyes that was deeper than desire, deeper than friendship, deeper than respect for her guard. Gideon had never seen that fire when she looked at him.

It was then he understood that she and Torin were destined for each other. No one could change that course. Even if he had been holding on to some foolish hope that there might be a chance for them to find happiness in their forced alliance, he realised now that there was no way for them to find their way back to how it had once been. They couldn't pave something new.

As Torin stood in front of his commander, challenging his decision, Gideon knew it felt right.

Strangely, his chest felt a little lighter.

He took a deep breath as he looked at his brother, standing in front of the crowd, his sapphire gaze on Emara's face, his longing for her unhidden, open for everyone to see.

"She has given me something"—Torin turned back to the prime, who all had straightened in their chairs, their eyes wide with astonishment—"that I never thought I could have. A future that is ours to build. And that is why I stand before you and ask that you overturn your decision to marry my brother to the Empress of Air. It should be Emara's choice."

Viktir's face was red with rage, probably horrified that his son had chosen emotion over obedience.

Gideon quickly surveyed his clan, all of them in shock. Marcus Coldwell looked like he could fall from his chair at any moment. Kellen's eyes were soft with tears. Gideon found his mother, her face portraying a thousand emotions at once.

Commander Stryker moved forward and put down the letter. "Commander Blacksteel, speak on the matter presented. I would like to hear your thoughts."

The room was deathly silent.

Gideon could feel his throat bobbing, his shoulders tense, every muscle coiled.

Viktir's lips thinned as he scowled. "My decision is final."

Gideon knew this was all in an effort to punish Torin for something that felt like it had happened years ago. Gideon wished for one silly second that Torin had just told his father of the Resurrection Stone and maybe then he wouldn't still be trying to torture him.

But that was the difference between Gideon and Torin. Torin was brave enough to challenge his commander for the girl he loved.

The prime gave Viktir a moment, but as everyone looked at him, it was clear he would not change his mind. Gideon wouldn't have expected anything else, and maybe Torin hadn't either. Maybe he had been clever to show everyone how ruthless and callous his father was. Would that swing in his favour?

For one Blacksteel to win, one must back down, and they were both as stubborn as the mountains of the north.

The Minister of Coin rose from his seat, and his eyes found Torin's. "It sounds like temptations of the flesh to me." He walked to stand over by the chief commander. "Couldn't you just continue your relationship after your brother marries her?" He sent a vile smile in Torin's direction. "Everyone has a mistress."

Did he have a death wish?

Gideon prayed to Thorin that Torin stayed calm. He had done such a good job to show a different side of himself today. The chief commander's eyes found Emara's. "Empress of Air, do you agree with Torin Blacksteel in his claims that you should be allowed the choice of whom to marry?"

Why did Gideon's heart rate suddenly speed up?

She swallowed before raising her chin. "It shakes every part of who I am to believe there should be a piece of paper that determines whom I should marry, especially when it was not my hand that signed the treaty." She paused, letting that statement filter down to the community around her. "However, I do not shun the respectable alliance to Clan Blacksteel. I, as an empress of this kingdom, would only like a say in whom it should be to." Some of the spectators who had not been in her corner yesterday seemed to have softened towards her, their glances sympathetic. "What I will say on the matter of the current alliance is that it is unfair to toy with the emotions of one's sons to punish them for no good reason. An alliance now hangs by a thread due to such harsh behaviours. It is self-indulgent and an abuse of power."

Viktir scoffed. "There is no one more self-indulgent than Torin Blacksteel, Empress Clearwater, and you better believe that as the truth before you challenge my decision."

"That is where you are wrong, Commander Blacksteel." Emara's eyes turned a steely grey as she walked forward from her chair. "I can see your sons' hearts, and all of them are a credit to your clan. There is only one person who lets the Blacksteel name down."

Fuck, fuck, fuck! What was she doing? Did she want him to tell the world about her blood? Gideon realised that would condemn Viktir too; keeping a secret like that from the prime was unacceptable.

"Your son has declared what he thinks is best for the clan's interest, and you are too stubborn and selfish to right your wrongs." She finally lifted her gaze. "And I hope the prime can see that today. It is unfair for you to drag us through this process just for your own vengeance." Her gaze found Gideon. "And I hope they recognise that it is not just Torin's heart that Viktir does not respect, but Gideon Blacksteel's too."

A hot flush took over him as she looked at him. He didn't know what he was doing as he rose from the chair; he even felt Sybil tug on his arm, but something had taken over him.

"Members of the prime…" His voice did not sound like his own, it was higher and somehow louder than usual. He cleared his throat. "Since my name has been mentioned, I would like a say in how this treaty should go too."

"Sit down, boy." He heard Viktir speak, but Gideon didn't glance in his direction. He couldn't lose his nerve; this was the first time he'd ever disobeyed his commander.

The Fae King moved in his chair, reminding Gideon he was in the room, and he caught his wise, violet gaze. The king gave him a nod to continue. "I believe the warrior should be allowed his voice in court." His glittering eyes cast over the chief. "After all, his name has been mentioned a few times now, has it not?"

His voice was earthy and ancient.

Murk nodded in agreement, as did the Minister of Coin. He seemed to be enjoying the hunters being in the hot seat for once.

Gideon lifted his gaze to his chief commander. "I would agree with my brother on his stance regarding the alliance." Emara looked over at him with tears in her eyes. This was not only final for Gideon, but Emara too. Every moment together had led them here, led him to save her from the treaty. "The reasons my father suggested to the prime that I replace my brother was not due to the stability of my character like he said." He placed his hands behind his back. "It was for punishment for Torin's well-intentioned actions. Therefore, I am unable to say that I could go into the alliance with the House of Air. I can assure you all that there is no stronger alliance than that of Torin Blacksteel and Emara Clearwater. I would be doing my clan a disservice if I married the Empress of Air." He found Emara's face once more, and the tears in her eyes humbled him. "She deserves someone like my brother. I am in full support of their alliance, should she choose him. Torin and Emara are right, an empress should have a choice in the matters of her heart."

Torin's jaw flexed before his throat shoved down a swallow, and Emara let out a half sob.

"Chief Commander," Viktir cut in as he stood, "I will not overturn my decision here today. If one of my hunters will not obey my rules, they know the consequences. An oath is an oath. A treaty is a treaty. They will be exiled."

The chief commander threw a look at Torin, and a concern rose in Gideon's stomach that Aerrick agreed with Viktir.

Viktir's word was final.

"And you are not even going to attempt to persuade my father?" Torin asked, disgust lingering on his lips as he took in the reaction of Commander Stryker. "You are the chief; you could command him to do that without it going to a deliberation."

A small rumble went through the crowd, showing support for Torin's challenge. Gideon even heard a few sighs and curses.

The chief placed his hands behind his back. "I can see he is a man that is not willing to budge. If I ask my prime members here today to take a vote, it may be overstepping their jurisdiction when it comes to the oath of a warrior of Thorin."

"Even if it's wrong? Even if the decision is unjust? Even if you have the power here in court to make him budge?" Emara let her voice be heard.

The chief commander said lowly, "What kind of chief would I be if I overturned every man's quandary with their commander? Where would the authority lie in the clans?" His dark gaze found Torin again. "If you were commander and your word was final, would you expect it to be challenged over something as political as a marriage?"

"But—"

"It's done, Emara." Torin looked over his shoulder at her, and she wobbled on her feet so marginally that it would have taken a hunter to notice it. "We tried."

Gideon fell back into his chair, and he heard his mother let out a small cry.

"I had the smallest sliver of hope that it wouldn't come to this," his brother said before turning and finding Gideon in the crowd. He lowered his lashes with a darkness in his eyes, almost saying sorry as he looked to Kellen and his mother. He turned back to Viktir, who looked smug. "But you have left me no other choice."

Gideon tore his hand from Sybil's grip and stood once more. "Torin, wait—"

"I have no other choice, brother." Torin lifted his blue eyes from the floor to his face.

The crowd gasped as Naya Blacksteel shot from her seat too, but Marcus Coldwell was faster than a cobra to grab her and pull her back. Gideon swore he could hear her trying to negotiate with Torin over something, but there was a lively buzz in Gideon's head. Torin was going to challenge his father.

A final challenge.

The crowd was now moving and whispering, and all Gideon could see was the Blacksteel War happening before his eyes.

"My relationship with Emara is not a rejection of my oath to my Gods," Torin shouted, and it brought Gideon back to the room.

"It is a direct rejection of your commander's orders. Do you think your Gods would want you to do that?" the chief challenged.

Gideon halted as Torin roared, "Maybe I don't believe in your fucking Gods anymore! If they are saying that Emara and I are not meant for the same path, then I don't want their guidance."

Every member of the court flinched.

"Torin—" Naya tried to go to him, but Marcus held her firmly. "My love—"

Torin's fists curled as he heard his mother's pleas, her cries. But like the unyielding warrior he was, he stood tall and faced his audience. "On this day, as we stand here together, you all hear my declaration. I, Torin Blacksteel, second-in-command of the Blacksteel Hunting Clan, challenge the commander of the Blacksteel Hunting Clan to a duel of commandership."

The chief commander walked forward as Murk stood. The King of the Fae sat forward in his chair, his brow showing a hint of irritation towards the chief. The Minister of Coin snickered, and Gideon wanted to punch the life from his body.

Aerrick was the first to speak. "I suggest you think about what you are doing, warrior."

But Torin ignored every single person in the room as he glared at his father. "It's done, Viktir. It's either me or you."