Page 165 of The Eye of the Fifth
Kyra hadn’t seen that coming. ‘You’re joking?’
He gave a small smile. ‘I loved her. I still do.’ He frowned. ‘I think I always will.’
‘What ended it?’
‘She did,’ he said casually, but his voice was tinged with sadness. ‘To this day, I don’t really know why. I was good for her. I know I was.’
‘I don’t doubt that.’
Mankar smiled again, then sheathed his sword. ‘I know Zuriel is… how she is. But try not to hate her. I think she feels just as alone as you do.’
???
Gedeon.
Later that night, Gedeon stared up at the crooked ceiling, wide awake. The pain-lessening tonic was working its magic, though instead of a dull ache as he had been relentlessly experiencing, there was now an incessant itch in its place he couldn’t reach, lest he dive inside his own back to scratch it. As Maida had warned, the taste had been foul, and he cursed himself for not chasing it with some wine. Or something stronger.
Knuckles rapped softly at his door. Gedeon looked up with a frown.
It was late. No one ever knocked for him. No one except-
‘Sunsi,’ he said by way of greeting as he opened the door. ‘Why-’
‘I couldn’t sleep,’ she interrupted. ‘Can I-?’
‘By all means,’ he said, stepping aside to allow her into his room.
They had not seen each other much since the trial. Only infrequent times such as this, when she would call on him and they would sit innear silence as though they’d forgotten how to talk to one another. He expected tonight to be no different.
She stopped in the centre of the room, and the light of the dying embers in the hearth set her skin aglow. Dressed in a nightgown, shoulders draped with a grey shawl, her hair hanging loose around her shoulders… she was a sight to behold. Bathed in this orange hue, she was regal.
As soon as the door clicked shut, she turned to him. Her eyes were glassy. ‘I miss Zarynth, Gedeon. I’m grateful that we have been pardoned by the Air Warden… but this isn’t my home. The Base needs me, and yet I can never return. Not if I want my head to stay atop my shoulders. Not to mention it’s unbearably cold here.’ She perched on the armchair by the hearth and wrapped her arms around herself. ‘I’m sorry… to come in here and whine. You’re the only familiar thing in this unfamiliar place.’
Gedeon moved to stand by her side. ‘It is I who is sorry, Sunsi,’ he murmured. ‘I wish there had been a way to not involve you in this.’
Sunsi was quiet for a moment, staring blankly into the shimmering coals.
Finally, she said, ‘Had I not been involved, you wouldn’t be here at all. You and Amala would not have escaped your mother’s wrath. And had you never seen the Base, you wouldn’t have seenwhyaction needed to be taken. I regret nothing, even if my heart aches for what once was.’ Her features softened. ‘But… I want to thank you, Gedeon. For giving Zarynth a chance at survival. You’ll be a great Emperor one day.’
‘Emperor,’ he repeated dully.
In truth, the thought had not crossed his mind. That once his mother had been dethroned, and Sekun sequestered for his crimes against Droria, that the natural succession would fall to him. Without thinking, he said, ‘I don’t want to sit upon the Black Throne.’
‘I thought you might say that,’ Sunsi said with a sad smile. ‘Your unwillingness to rule unfortunately makes you the best candidate for the job. Once our people have seen how you have fought for their liberation, they willwantyou as their leader. As their king.’
Gedeon tried to imagine it. Sitting upon that ancient blackened wood, building an Empire from the rubble of the wars to come. He had always been a male of duty. If that were to be his new position, however much he may dislike it… so be it.
He glanced at the strong woman at his side. ‘Will you rule beside me?’
She blinked. ‘As… as your…’
‘Advisor,’ Gedeon said quickly, realising his mistake.
Sunsi loosed a short, breathy laugh. ‘Thank Eraura. I thought that was a marriage proposal.’
‘Not quite,’ said Gedeon through a smirk, then added, ‘Though, you would make an exemplary Empress.’
She chuckled again. ‘I think you and I might be cursed, Gedeon. Nothing good has ever come from our union.’
