Empire of Ashes

Chapter LXXX - Together

"Are you alright, Lyra?" Tem asked.

It took all of my willpower, but I turned away from him, cold and indifferent, refusing to meet his eyes. Hurt swept across his face, and I heard him sigh. There was a pause while I played deaf and Tem decided on the best way to break through my icy exterior.

"Out, all of you," he said lazily. For once, they were not so quick to follow his orders. Fendur looked down at his feet. Melia folded her arms across her chest. Anlai snorted. And all three of them glanced at me almost imperceptibly, almost like they were asking whether I wanted them to leave.

I had no idea if I wanted them to leave.

Tem didn't look surprised, but he narrowed his eyes. "She's fine. Get out."

It was not worth fighting over. And he was right. I was fine, because I could handle him without their help. I nodded slightly, and the three of them retreated to another chamber in sullen silence. I was half tempted to follow them and lock the door behind me. As soon as they were out of sight, my heart started thumping against my ribs.

Footsteps at my back. And the bastard stopped there — right behind me, so close that I could hear the whisper of his breath near my ear. A tingle ran down my spine, and annoyance chased it. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"You didn't come all this way to ignore me, did you?" Tem asked me softly. "I would prefer anger to silence any day."

"And why should I give a shit what you prefer?" I spat. I turned to face him, and that put us dangerously close, but there was no way in hell I was going to be the one to take a step back. Our eyes locked — fiery amber against cool blue.

"That's better," he murmured, even daring to smile for a heartbeat. "I've missed you, little one."

Gods, it was difficult to be angry at him. I could summon an entire ocean of spite for any Anglian citizen at a moment's notice, but I had to fight for every drop when it came to Tem. Why was it so difficult? I knew the answer — had known for a while now. But I was not likely to admit it.

"And whose fault is that?" I demanded.

Tem inclined his head. For some reason, he was not rising to my anger. He was just letting it wash over him. "You may not believe it, but ... I am sorry."

"Oh, you're sorry?" I spat. "I suppose that's alright then. All is forgiven. Astonishing."

I had more to say. Much more. But at that moment the door opened sharply and Saqui came in. He was not panting, exactly, but he was breathing faster than usual, and his shirt had come untucked. At the sight of him, Tem swore and dragged me behind him. He would have gone for Saqui on the spot had I not caught hold of his belt.

"Down, boy," I sighed. "He's friendly."

In all fairness, he had every reason to think that Saqui was an enemy. He turned around to look at me slowly, and I could see the thoughts racing behind his eyes. "I am going to assume you know he was spying for the king..."

Saqui rolled his eyes and came into the room properly and shut the door behind him. That made a noise, and the noise had Fendur shouting a question in Cambrian. Tem answered with a handful of words too fast for me to decipher. It seemed to placate him.

"He was, yes. But he is working with me now," I told Tem.

And that was all I had to do. Tem made himself relax and stepped back to my side. Nothing to prove, nothing needed explaining — he took my word for it and took my judgement as law. If he thought that display of trust might score points with me, he was very, very wrong.