“He was supposed to stand trial.” She could barely control her rage.
“He did,” Casimir cooed. “He was given the same choice as every criminal who isn’t already a servant: serve or die. He chose death.”
“That’s not an execution,” she spat. “That’s torture.”
“You seem to think there’s a difference?” Casimir tapped a slender finger on the iron gate.
“You’re both monsters.” She refused to look at Akadian, unable to look him in the eye.
Casimir feigned hurt, placing a hand over his chest. “I thought you’d be thrilled. He did try to kill you after all.”
“So that justifies…” She gestured at the body. “This?”
Casimir closed the distance between them. “Oh, yes.” He tried dragging an icy hand down her arm but she ripped it away from him. “No one defies our laws. Iwillmake an example of anyone who does so.” He grabbed her bicep and pulled her close, his hand burning where he touched exposed skin. “Do you understand me?”
Yes. She understood.
He was playing with her. Trying to get a rise out of her, looking for any weakness to exploit and she wouldn’t give it to him. She wasn’t going to give him the chance to make an example out of her and would be long gone where no one would ever find her. Even if she had to run for the rest of her life to do it.
She’d make sure he was sorely disappointed.
Ambrose wrapped her fingers around Casimir’s wrist and pried it from her bicep. Her fingers burned from the cold, his skin like death as it touched her. She wanted to bite back at the pain, pull her fingers away before they froze solid but instead, she took a deep breath and let the cold wash over her. It reached its way up her forearm and though she could feel it cracking on her skin, it didn’t bother her anymore. She pried his fingers away as she bit out, “Do not touch me.”
Casimir’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at her grip, before they narrowed and met her stare. “Excuse me?”
Ambrose stepped closer. “I am a Trial Champion of the empire in the name of Eltoria, and you willnotlay a hand on me again.”
Casimir’s grin threatened to tear his face in half, his composure impenetrable. “That is correct. For now. But you will do well to remember, there are other ways one can be harmed without being touched. And you’ll be gone for so long, I’d hate to see what becomes of your loved ones while you’re away.”
Ambrose wanted to throw venom on him. “What do you want?”
“I want you to know your place. And you will,” he said as though it were a fact.
Ambrose squared her shoulders and let go of Casimir’s wrist. “Message received.”
Casimir’s emerald eyes glared at her. “Good. Safe travels then. I’ll be seeing you again in what, a couple of months?”
“I’ll be there,” she lied.
“I know you will be.” Casimir nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
* **
Casimir instructed the servants to leave the body up on the gate until they returned. Their party made their way to the forest outside the Capital without a word to each other, the mood completely shifted as they started hiking. The vision of burnt flesh and melted fat impossible to erase from their minds, all anticipation for the journey sucked out and violated by Casimir’sgift.
Ambrose’s mind reeled as they walked. Casimir had Thornehart executed without another thought. A skilled mageanda three-star lieutenant? Truly, no one was safe in the empire. She always assumed nobility had more protections, it was so rare that one ever stood trial so she thought the empire might be more forgiving. She was a fool.
She couldn’t bear to look at Akadian. What was she thinking letting her guard down so quickly around him? Did a little mystery and an attractive face really make her forget herself so easily? The royals only had one loyalty—to the gods themselves. He would never be a safe place for her. She told herself she wouldn’t allow herself to be so ignorant again. She wouldn’t forget again.
Somehow, she would escape this.
Somehow, she would find a way to be free of the tyranny of the empire. Even if she had to disappear to do it.
She’d heard rumors once. There were isles off the coast of Nethyr that could offer her the perfect place to hide. She didn’t know how to sail but maybe she could stow away on a ship and find an isolated one where she could build a life. Those waters were controlled by pirates so it was practically suicide to go in or out of them, which might just make it the perfect place.
Or maybe, she could go deep into the Tundra Zone. She had Fire Magick and could hide out in the ice and survive easily if she could master it. It was such a harsh climate, hardly anyone went in or out who wasn’t one of Sepikara’s couriers. And even then, they stayed to a specific trade route. Itwould be difficult, but not impossible.
No matter what, now that she was outside the city, she could never go back.
