An emperor now lived in the Imperial Palace. Seranthia’s pride had returned.
Time passed as Ella looked out at the city, her thoughts turning from one thing to another. If anything, it grew colder, and Ella fought to control a shiver. The message was vague about the time, so she didn’t know if she was too early. Deciding to head back inside, at least for a while, she turned away, but then she caught a flicker of motion on a nearby building.
Ella frowned and tried to peer through the flurries of wind and snow. All she could see was a figure: a dark shadow.
Ella watched the figure, a man, climb from one roof to another, leaping and bounding with incredible agility. He ran and leapt from one building to the next, flying through the air for tense heartbeats before landing with catlike grace. A wide gap separated the Alturan market house from the surrounding buildings, but the figure didn’t pause. He dashed forward and threw himself into the air.
Ella stiffened as she waited for him to plummet to his death, but at the end he hovered as if floating, coming to rest gently beside her on the balcony.
Seemingly impervious to the cold, Killian pulled back his hood and grinned. The night was clouded, but the shimmering lights of the city poured from countless windows to light up his face. His wild red hair, down to his collar, framed a strong masculine face with a sharp nose and square jaw. Ella couldn’t help smiling when she saw the twinkle in his deep blue eyes.
“You couldn’t use the front door?” Ella said.
Her heart rate increased. Killian had a way of looking at her that made her feel there was nothing else to rest his eyes on.
“Easier said than done. You have no idea how hard it is to get away,” he said. “I have people by my side from the moment I wake to the last thing at night. Lords and ladies compete for the honor of having breakfast with me, and as for lunch and dinner . . .” He shook his head. “And then leaving the palace is a major event. There are the formalities. When the emperor travels to the Alturan market house, people speculate—particularly the Tingarans—that I’m showing preference to Altura. Every action is analyzed. I sometimes . . .”
“Shh,” Ella said. “You look well.” She smiled.
“I’ve missed you. First, the coronation, and now with just a few days to go until the Chorum . . .”
“I’ve missed you too,” Ella said.
She drank in the sight of him. He wore a regal purple cloak with black trim, and underneath, his embroidered collared shirt was tucked into black trousers. A silver belt bore the image of a nine-pointed-star, matching the silver buckles on his black boots. She saw both sides of him: the boy he was and the man he had become.
“Ella?”
“Yes?”
“Can we not talk about the future tonight? I mean, I’m happy to talk about our future. I’d like to talk about our future. Just not the war. I mean . . .”
“I’d like that,” Ella said. “I’d like that a lot.”
The night passed as Ella and Killian talked about Alise, Killian’s mother, and his joy at finally having the family he’d always searched for. Ella couldn’t help but think of her own mother, Katherine.
“You’re lucky you knew her,” Killian said, “even if you didn’t know who she was.”
Ella found herself looking into Killian’s eyes as they spoke, and they stood close together, so that Ella forgot all about the cold.
Without talking about the threat from across the sea, Ella told Killian how worried she was about her brother. Miro’s zeal kept him up at night, the desperation in his eyes evident every time Ella saw him.
Killian listened as no one else did, and he took Ella’s hands in his warm, comforting grip.
He then spoke about the things Evrin was teaching him. Killian had the powers of the Evermen, but Evrin had warned Killian that if he confronted Sentar Scythran, he would face the most dangerous opponent imaginable.
“Evrin says he doesn’t have time to teach me everything so he’s just concentrating on doing a few things well. I also have the knowledge from my time in Shar. I’m nearly ready,” he said.
Ella was glad he’d brought up the subject of his unique abilities, for it gave her an opportunity to ask the question she’d been burning to have answered.
“Killian,” Ella said, tilting her head to look up at his face. He looked just a couple of years older than she. “I need to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth. Evrin Evenstar and Sentar Scythran are both over a thousand years old. Will you live forever?”
“No one lives forever,” Killian said with a wry smile.
“I’m being serious. Will you live for a long time, like Evrin?”
“I . . . I can’t say. I honestly don’t know.”
“And I’ll grow old and gray while you tire of me. Then you’ll watch me die.”
“Ella, please don’t . . .”
“We’d be foolish not to speak of it.”