She did it.
She placed her forehead against his, face contorted into pain and gratitude.
“Thank you,” she whispered into the depths of her mind. “Thank you.”
“There is nothing to thank, young mage,” they soothed, “We did not do this.Well done.”
“I’m okay?” His voice was so faint as he looked at her, one of his hands tentatively wrapped around her waist as though he wasn’t sure what he was seeing and feeling was real.
She couldn’t hold back.
She leaned down and pressed her lips against his. Lips she’d stared at so many times, wondering what they felt like. Tasted like.
They tasted of roses.
She cradled his face in her hands as her tears fell into their mouths. Lightly at first, as though to tell him, ‘‘Yes, this is real.’’ When her lips parted and he opened his own to invite her, she eagerly responded. His tongue slipped over hers as his mouth pressed harder, claiming her in a way she never imagined. The nobles gasped but she ignored them. Her head swam and she didn’t know if it was from the exhaustion or from the way he felt pressed against her as though nothing in this world could be more right. His fingers squeezed her sides and his arm wound tightly around her waist, leaving no space between them that wasn’t… them. As one. Together.
She held him like she could lose him again at any moment, fingers curled into the collar of his shirt as she whispered with her mouth still pressed against his, “You’re okay.”
Akadian wrapped his other hand around her and pulled her close, his mouth exploring hers hungrily as she wrapped her hands back into his hair. Stomach fluttering, her chest squeezed, wanting him closer but no amount of closeness would ever be enough. He wrapped a hand in her tangled hair and pulled her in as though nothing else mattered more than that moment. Neither of them gave a gods damned who was watching.
Stuck in time, they stayed like that, melting into one before he pulled away and touched his mouth to her forehead. “I’m okay.”
The hall of beings around them had fallen deathly silent. Some stared open-mouthed at the sight before them. Servants, guards, Trial Champions,and nobility couldn’t take their eyes of the pair as Akadian pulled them onto their feet.
“By gods, shehealedhim.” The King of Sepikara stood in his chair as his wife held onto him with one hand, while the other clutched her chest. Their servants stood behind them in a congregation of stunned silence.
Ambrose looked around at the crowd while she kept one hand on Akadian as though she was afraid she still hadn’t used enough mana and might need to call her power back at any moment.
Adym looked at her with a mixture of pride and horror.
Lily caught her eye with a satisfied grin as she raised her swords into the air with a yelp of victory. Coated in minor injuries she’d have no problem healing, Ambrose didn’t see the shadow mage among the survivors and returned Lily’s triumphant smile.
A few royals seemed as though they didn’t know how to react but instead looked at Casimir waiting for…. something.
“Champion indeed.” Jovian raised a goblet to her in toast, a wicked grin on his face.
Akadian pulled Ambrose in close to him, keeping one arm wrapped around her waist.
“She even healed herself!” someone gasped from a corner of the room.
Ambrose looked down to check her wounds but there were none. The throbbing in her shoulder was gone as well as the pain in her back and neck. Even Eurus’ teeth marks had vanished along with the decay that almost took her arm. She wiped her face and only a clear liquid remained, rather than the pink salty mixture that had been her blood and tears. She stretched out her hand to make sure her shoulder had full mobility and it responded in full.
It even felt stronger than before she injured it.
In fact,everythingfelt stronger.
“Unacceptable!” Casimir spat as he climbed down from his seat. Ice reached across the floor towards Ambrose, freezing everything it touched.
She lifted her hand but before she could channel, the arm Akadian had wrapped around her pulled her closer and turned her away from the icethat rushed for her with deadly intention. Blue flames formed a protective circle around them, pushing Casimir’s ice back with a burst, and Akadian glared at the new king—ready for a fight.
Casimir stumbled, strands of his blond hair coming loose around his head as his eyes burned with cold rage. “Howdareyou. Do you forgetwhat you are?”
“That’s enough.” Akadian held Ambrose close as he challenged him. “It’s over. She beat your little game.”
“Mylittle game,has only just begun,” Casimir raged and threw blades of ice as big as swords, and just as sharp, at them with a blinding speed. “Howdare youdefy me, you have noright!”
Swords flew from their homes at the Imperial Guards’ sides and crashed into the icicles one at a time, shattering them into shards and snow as the swords returned to where they came.
