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scarletaire · 3 years

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flowerfall

A/N: Not my usual Jurdan fare, I know, but after reading A Sky Beyond the Storm, this fic poured out of me and I was helpless to stop it. Canon-divergent for Chapter LX, but mostly follows canon for everything after.

WARNING: Spoilers for A Sky Beyond The Storm!

Fandom: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Ship: Helene Aquilla x Avitas Harper

Genre/s: Fluff

Rating: T

Links: Masterlist | Read on AO3

[Summary and tags under the cut because spoilers!]

Description:

When Avitas Harper falls, the Blood Shrike makes a deal with Death. Snapshots of their life together after the war.

Tags: Harper Lives, Fix-It, Happy Ending, Helvitas Living Their Best Lives, We Stan One (1) Power Couple

_______

When Avitas Harper falls, the Blood Shrike makes a deal with Death.

It happens as Mirra of Serra takes her knife to Keris Veturia’s neck. The blood and the life leave her body, but the Shrike cannot revel in it, for her love is dead and cold in her arms.

How is it possible that she still had anything left to lose?

But of course, to love someone is both to gain and to lose a thousand pieces of the world all at once.

She roars in the face of it.

In the face of Death.

And this time, with the bridge between worlds on the brink of evisceration, Death answers.

I need power, says Mauth to anyone who will listen, weakened, and scrambling for any strength to beat back the storm. Power to fight.

The Blood Shrike has never heard the voice of Mauth before, but what he asks for is familiar. She knows all too well the pursuit of power, the search for anything to keep fighting. It is what she searches desperately for now.

Give him back, she orders Death with the voice of a girl who has still too much to lose, give him back, and I will give you the strength you need.

The power of the Star. The power of song and healing. The power of Rehmat, reborn again through the centuries and a thousand times in her blood.

Whatever it is, it will be enough.

It has to be.

The maw opens its jaws. The Nightbringer succumbs to the maelstrom. The Sea of Suffering overtakes the sky.

And Helene Aquilla sings her last song.

____

For a moment, there is only the storm. It surges through the escarpment, it rages across the cliffs, it consumes everything in its path.

For a moment, all is lost.

For a moment, she thinks that at least she didn’t have to wait long before following him.

And then, between one breath and the next, the maelstrom disappears.

Beneath her hand, Avitas Harper stirs.

____

In the end, her deal hadn’t mattered. It wasn’t Mauth that saved them all. It was Laia of Serra, because of course, of course, who else could have done it but her. Helene is full of a strange mix of pride and awe when she pulls Laia into a hug. The girl she once tried to kill, the girl who pieced together the broken world.

The once Beloved, the once Forsaken now rests in chains of mercy, and so the world continues on.

Mauth never speaks to her again.

Maybe because there is nothing she could possibly offer anymore. Maybe because the next time Mauth speaks to her, it will be at the end, when his words will be the last thing she will ever hear.

Briefly, she wonders what Death will do with the power she gave him. Then she thinks that it doesn’t really matter much to her, anymore.

____

She stands with Elias as they take in the bodies of their dead. They are spread out in lines across the forest floor. There are too many of them, Martial, Scholar, Tribal – it isn’t important anymore. They were divided in life. Today, they are united in the loss of it.

Above her, around her, the forest blooms alive, like a panacea for the death and destruction spilt upon the soil, blossoms of apricot and cherry and Tala filling the air with their sweetness, falling to the ground like colored snow.

It is a good thing, then, that Harper is alive. If she had lost him, truly lost him, then she would not have been able to bear the sight of flowers ever again.

____

It turns out dying and being brought back to life takes a toll on a human body.

“When will he wake?” she whispers into the quiet of the healer’s tent. “It’s been days.”

She knows the body lying still before her is merely asleep, but she remembers the way he had looked with all the life drained out of him, and it is a sight she will never forget.

“Give him some time,” Elias says. “Being resurrected by Death itself is no easy thing.”

She raises her eyebrow at him askance.

“I know a thing or two about being resurrected by Mauth.” He shrugs, and the movement is so familiar, so genuinely Elias that she feels the corner of her lips tilt. “Guess it runs in the family now.”

Avitas Harper wakes two days after.

She doesn’t give him a chance to get his bearings. The words are out of her lips before he can even try to sit up, like a song she can’t keep silent any longer. “I love you.”

He raises his fingers to her face, tracing the scars there like a benediction. “I got my wish.”

Emifal Firdaant.

She presses her palm against his hand, trapping it against her cheek. “With all due respect, Captain Harper, it was a bleeding stupid wish. So I did you the courtesy of vetoing it.”

When she kisses him, she feels like she can breathe again after a millennium of holding her breath.

____

When Mirra of Serra takes up the mantle of Soul Catcher, Helene watches the life return to Elias’s eyes, and the hope return to Laia’s.

The Bani al-Mauth turns to Harper. “I suppose I should thank you. For offering me shelter and safety in the bowels of Antium.”

“It was an honor, Lioness. You repaid me in kind when you helped the Blood Shrike through the tunnels.”

“And when you aided in the battle with Keris,” Helene adds.

Mirra scoffs, white hair dancing in the wind. “I worried that the Shrike wouldn’t be able to keep the secret to herself. Not like you. A mind like a steel trap, you have.” She slaps Harper once across the chest. He does a fine job of hiding his grimace as she knocks his healing wounds. “Think you’ll be a fine brother-in-law for my daughter.”

Elias splutters, Laia flushes, and Helene feels a laugh bubbling up in her chest for the first time in ages.

____

As their troops begin to file out of the Forest of Dusk, she sees the figures of two men talking under the shade of a tree. Elias is taller, but Avitas is older. And so it is he who holds out his hand for his brother to shake.

And it is Elias who takes it, but uses it to pull him into a hug instead. She sees Avitas’s back stiffen in surprise, but he doesn’t push him away.

“It shouldn’t have taken so long for this to happen,” Elias says. “I’m glad you’re alive, brother. I’m glad I wasn’t the one to have to pass you on.”

____

When Quin Veturius proclaims her Empress in front of the conclave of their people, her eyes immediately seek Harper.

Help me, she tries to convey. Knock the old man out before he actually convinces them.

“Stand strong,” he says aloud, instead, love and pride sparkling in his green eyes, “Empress.”

____

Later that night, when she sings Zacharias to sleep with a soft lullaby, her blood doesn’t sing with her. It’s silent, dormant. The air is empty with the ghost of her magic.

Leaning against the door a few feet away, Avitas has closed his eyes to listen, his lips curled up at the edges.

And it should feel like something has been stolen from her, but really, it feels more like a blessing than anything else.

____

She dances with Avitas at the Moon Festival in Nur, and the night is warm and they’re both still in armor, and neither of them really know how to dance properly anyway, but it is enough.

It is more than enough.

Skies, it’s more than she could have ever asked for.

He lifts his arm and she twirls under it, catching the twinkle in his eye, and suddenly, she wishes they weren’t in such a crowded place full of other people. Suddenly, she wishes they were alone, in a room, flushed and pressed up against each other just like this. Dancing a dance they both know the steps of far too well.

On her next twirl, she catches Musa’s eye, where he leans against a table, flirting with a pretty Scholar girl. He winks at her, as if he knows exactly where her thoughts have strayed.

She’s far too happy to be annoyed in any way, and so she almost sends him a wink of her own before Harper pulls her close against him again and the thought is forgotten.

____

It occurs to her later in the night, as the festivities draw to a close and she glimpses Musa walking back to his tent alone, that she had come far, far too close to understanding his loneliness in a way she hates to imagine.

____

At night, the Empress walks her city.

Avitas Harper walks with her.

The blue irises native to Antium are in full bloom, littering the ground.

One year, she thinks, as she cups her hand around a petal that floats down to her through the air. It’s been one year since the last flowerfall.

The one in which the world was broken. The one in which the world was remade.

____

Sometimes, she wakes thinking of her family. Of Livia, bleeding out in front of her son. Of her mother, father, Hannah. All of them, their throats cut, their lives lost, gone.

Sometimes, she wonders if they will hate her for bringing back her lover instead of one of them, any of them.

Sometimes, she wonders if she will ever forgive herself for any of it.

____

Avitas Harper, as it turns out, is a shockingly good babysitter.

The first time he gets Zacharias to sleep in under ten minutes, she chalks it up to dumb luck and good timing.

The second time it happens she almost kisses him despite the baby in his arms, too grateful for the peace and quiet after a long hour of listening to her nephew scream.

The third time it happens, she stares at him in disbelief.

“Did you bring back anything from the afterlife, maybe? Does Mauth have supernatural baby-charming magic that we don’t know about?”

He flashes her that half-smile that she feels underneath her skin.

Her next decree, she decides, will be outlawing all attractive men in armor from holding adorable, sleeping babies. It should be absolutely illegal by now, the sheer power of the sight before her.

____

She may be the Empress, but she is a soldier first and foremost.

When the Karkauans hold hostage the Martial ambassador she had sent over to confer the peace treaty, she is first in line for the mission to take him back.

“It’s not over yet,” she tells her men, when all efforts at neutral negotiation fall through. “I’m most dangerous when I’m cornered.”

Harper stands strong at her side. Her Blood Shrike, always watching. “That makes two of us.”

They march together into the fray.

____

The next Moon Festival, Mamie Rila finally succeeds in shoving her into a dress.

She puts up a good fight, doesn’t go down easy. In the end, it takes the combined forces of Laia, Afya, and an exasperated Mamie Rila to wrangle the Empress into the thin, strappy excuse for a gown.

“What is this supposed to be, a slip? Where’s the rest of it?”

Laia furrows her brows. “What are you talking about? That is the rest of it.”

Helene gapes. “I can’t wear this. I’m the Empress. I can’t walk around looking like I’m one stiff breeze away from a public scandal!”

“If you ask me,” says Afya, “a public scandal might do you some good. Just the thing you need to convince some of those troublesome, barbaric Karkauans to ally with you like you’ve been planning.”

“Burning, bleeding hells.” Elias’s eyes go wide when he walks in. “Who are you and what have you done with the real –”

He chokes off as Laia elbows him in the gut. “Don’t listen to him. Or Afya. You look great. Harper will love it. Shall we get on with your hair?”

Helene rears back, because her hair is the last bastion of normalcy she has.

Harper looks like he's been stabbed in the heart a second time when he catches sight of her, and Helene vows to never wear a dress again.

But when his fingers find the hem of her skirt under the table, tugging first, testing the stretch of the fabric against the skin of her thigh, and then slowly inching under, and then up and up and up — well. Maybe dresses aren’t so bad after all.

____

Sometimes, when she walks, Laia is there beside her. There are some nights when the ghosts of the past seem to walk with them, too. This night, in Serra, is one of those nights. Spring has come, and the flowers here are different, cushioning the road on which they walk with bright yellow petals.

“I can’t forget their faces.”

Laia has never been a killer. But she has dealt her fair share of death during their war, and that leaves a mark on the soul that can never be burned away. The difference now lies in how one goes about dealing with those marks. No, Laia has never been a killer, even when she had to be.

Helene, on the other hand, has spent too much of her life wearing the skin of one, and so she speaks as much to herself as she does to her friend when she replies.

“And you won’t. Just don’t forget the ones you saved.”

____

The first time Zacharias speaks a full word, it’s in the middle of supply negotiations with Tribe Nasur. She has just been reunited with her nephew after months in the capital and so is making up for it by carrying and snuggling him everywhere she goes, even if it is to a highly political trade meeting.

Fortunately, Tribe Saif is in close relations with Tribe Nasur, and so no one throws dirty looks when the baby babbles nonsense right when someone tries to speak. The Fakira even smiles encouragingly when Helene begins to bounce him on her knee.

That’s when Harper enters behind her with a missive from Blackcliff.

“Empress.” His voice is warm, and she realizes that it’s because Zacharias has noticed him, and is dimpling up at him with his head tilted back in that way that only babies can do. “We have positive turnout for the new recruits at –”

“Hapa!”

The whole room stills, as if everyone understands the gravity of this moment. Helene feels a grin break across her face, and she realizes that this is a first for her, too. Her first real grin in so, so long, after so much pain. Harper’s large, brown hand comes over her shoulder to pat Zacharias’s downy head in gentle praise, and she forces herself to get it together in front of all these important Tribespeople.

The meeting goes on. But then, one little detail niggles at her, like a tiny pebble in her boot.

Later, when she’s pushing him against the side of an empty caravan, her lips maybe a little too punishing against the skin behind his ear, he has the gall to chuckle at her.

“Are you jealous? Because his first word was my name and not yours?”

And so Helene sinks to her knees and shuts him up the best way she knows how.

____

Once, and only once, Mirra of Serra, Bani al-Mauth, visits her on a balmy night. The snow is almost over, and the Empress stands at her balcony overlooking the grounds, singing a lullaby to a sleeping Zacharias. He is getting too big now, and so she relishes any moment with him while she can still carry him in her arms.

It is on a dying winter wind that the Soul Catcher comes to her, the white locks of her hair stark against the night. “So it was you. I should have known.”

Helene glances at her out of the corner of her eye. “Known what?”

Mirra casts her gaze out into the city, and beyond, seeing something that only the Chosen of Death can see.

“There is a song across the river,” she says. “In the Waiting Place. All the ghosts ready to pass on hear it. It gives them peace.”

Ah, Helene thinks to Mauth, even though she knows he isn’t listening, so you used my voice after all.

____

When flowerfall comes again, and she has lost count at this point, how many it’s been, Helene Aquilla does not need to walk outside to know.

The blue petals of her beloved city, so familiar now, drift across her window like rain. The air is sweet with the smell of it, and with all that the two of them had done during the night, tangled together in the sheets of her bed.

She lifts a hand to trace the outlines of the silver Mask on his face. He pulls himself out of his doze just enough to smile at her.

“I know I said I would never marry and have children and all,” she begins, and the words are slow like honey in her mouth, “and I stand by my vow as Empress. But the adjoining room to my chambers is empty and I was wondering if –”

“Yes.”

She blinks at the swiftness of his answer. “Are you sure?”

“Of course. How else will I keep you out of trouble, my love?”

And so their lives go on.

_____

End Notes:

Thank you for reading!

I did not foresee ever writing for this fandom, but after that ending, writing this was the catharsis I needed. Now back to regularly scheduled programming! 😂

* Didn’t tag anyone for fear of spoilers, and also because I wasn’t sure if they’d be interested in non-Jurdan fic 🙈But if you’d like to be tagged in any future stuff, I’d be honored to do so! ❤️

#helene aquilla #avitas harper #helvitas #helene x avitas #helene x harper #an ember in the ashes #a torch against the night #a reaper at the gates #a sky beyond the storm #a sky beyond the storm spoilers #aeita #atatn #aratg #asbts #asbts spoilers #sabaa tahir #zita writes

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astorianmalfoy · 6 years

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POISON & WINE [ a marcus/livia fanfic ]

An Ember In The Ashes fanfic

Emperor Marcus Farrar’s life is spared by his Blood Shrike. With the jinn released to destroy mankind, he must reestablish his befallen reign as Emperor. And in his indebtedness to Helene Aquilla, attempt to be a better man for his people, and for his Empress, Livia.

TW: blood and violence, read at your own risk

Author’s Note: I understand it's not the kind of ship anyone would even sail. And no, I am not excusing Marcus's previous actions. What he did to Livia's family and to anyone he's ever killed is inexcusable. I merely tried to give him some hope into the new life he had chosen to live after I made the Shrike spare his life. I think that if that had been the case, I really believe Marcus would have changed eventually.

Trust me, this pair has a long way to go. There are scars between them that are yet to be healed, and both characters understand that. But in the very long run, it's not to say there isn't hope along the way.

I tried my best to portray Marcus and Livia up to Sabaa's standards. I may have even written off some physical features wrong. But if I didn't live up to it, I apologize in advance~

How dare you say it's nothing to me Baby, you're the only light I ever saw

Marcus

He asked the Shrike to take his life. He wanted to, for once, so he could see his brother again. But there was a glimmer in Helene Aquilla's eyes as she dropped the dagger she was supposed to use on him. A sense of realization, and were he not bleeding and weak on the floor, he would have driven that dagger through his heart himself.

The Shrike looked him in the eye. "Get up, Marcus. This is no place to die."

Marcus howled at her to leave him be, but soon, she had her hands above his chest, and began to hum a tune he's never heard of before. The wound on his side began to close, stitching themselves in. A sharp gasp escaped his lips. Ten bleeding hells, she was healing him.

The song was through, and he could feel less of the pain. But he still felt weak, despite the great relief. With the strength of two men, the Shrike managed to pull him up on his trembling legs. He was too shocked to say anything, to move, even, and yet his feet moved on its own accord.

Keep going, get out of there, live; a familiar voice whispered in his ear.

He searched the room, as he seemed to always have now, for Zak's ghost. He was nowhere to be found.

"If you will not live for yourself, then live for your Empire," The Shrike growled at him when he seemed to weigh too much in her own exhaustion. "Live for your son."

This sparked a fire within him. With what little strength he had, he moved in time with Helene's strides. And soon enough, they were barreling through rooms and tunnels. There was still a fight to be had out there. And bleeding hells, if he wouldn't die in that room, he'd die fighting the Kaurkans if only to give the Shrike more time to get to his son.

Zacharias. The baby had his eyes—but they were soft and innocent, and had the gentle touch of Livia's. He looked much like his mother, but with his slight tan. When he remembered holding the child in his hands, he thought he would never have held anyone in such gentleness as he did. His son. His heir.

When they were surrounded by Kaurkans, Marcus numbed the aftermath of the pain of his healed side. He knew one day he would die fighting in wars, but today—he would die to fight not for himself, not even for the bloody Empire, but for his son.

His heir.

Marcus released a battle cry before he unleashed his rage at the oncoming Kaurkans.

Livia

She did not expect what her sister just told her. Marcus was at the brink of death, and Helene healed him. Confused was too slight a word. There was something else, but she couldn't quite place it. Still, it was the best way to describe how she felt.

"Why?" Is all Livia could ask as she stared at her sister, still fresh from having healed from her wounds. Marcus, apparently, was still asleep in the other room—despite having already been healed. He took quite a blow, it would seem, during his fight with the Kaurkans after Helene helped him.

"I know we've waited for this a long time," Helene said placidly, staring at her furtively. "But can you imagine Zacharias living without a father? Just because we don't have ours anymore, doesn't mean my nephew shouldn't have his either."

Livia's brows knitted. Of course she has considered that plenty of moons ago. It would have been a worst case to explain to the child that they assassinated his father so he could take over as Emperor one day. Her sister said that her son needn't know, and yet… would it have been morally right, then? A life for a life was all it seemed, and yet, could she have done what Marcus did to her family? Slit her husband's throat to make him pay for what he's done?

She shook her head. The thought alone made her sick. Even back then, she questioned the motive even though outwardly, she agreed with her sister. Marcus may be a monster, but if her sister spared him for the reason that Zacharias should not grow up without a father, then he must be one bleeding hells of a something to still have the mercy to live.

"You're right," Livia spoke gently this time, settling down on her bed. "I just fear…"

"If he hurts you again, I'll personally kill him myself." Helene told her firmly. "And this time, there's no bloody Empire out there that can keep me from doing so."

Livia nodded. She should be used to her sister's crass approach by now. And yet, the thought of killing Marcus is still as haunting as the first time they spoke of it.

"Maybe he won't have to." Livia replied hopefully, merely for the sake of saying something.

Helene looked at her in surprise before nodding her assent.

Though deep down, it was a naïve sort of hope she wished to keep close to her heart. Not many people can change in the blink of an eye. But she would be a hypocrite if she didn't give Marcus the chance to try.

Marcus

The moment Marcus woke up, he was briefed on what's been happening. The jinn were set free by the Nightbringer, and were approaching their location at rapid speed. As if that wasn't the cherry on top of the news that came to him. Now Keris's people were coming after them. Not just them, but Marcus. And not just him, but his son.

They travelled long, harsh roads while avoiding being caught by people now that they were enemies of the Empire. His empire. He never knew there would come a day when he would feel so wretchedly helpless. When they reached a cave far from where they travelled at the end of the day, he assessed what little people he had left.

There was the Shrike, Laia of Serra—to his great shock, though he mostly tried to avoid her—, Livia, little Zacharias and some of the Shrike's men. Several of Gens Veturius's men were with them too, apparently sent for assistance by the still alive blasted Quin Veturius who he had basically made to run off from the Empire. And yet the man still pledges his allegiance to Marcus.

But he was tired to think now. In fact, too tired. After a devastating meeting with the men on the positioning of Keris's men tracking them, Marcus found himself trudging further into the cave. It wasn't the palace in Antium, but it was well enough to hide them for a couple more days till' they start moving again.

At the edge, he saw Livia lying down in a less than prominent gown. He wasn't doing much better himself, dressed in his armor almost every day, always prepared for an ambush or attack from the jinn.

He saw that she was lying down next to the bundle of which was Zacharias.

Marcus found his feet carried him to his wife and son.

When Livia saw him, she sat upright almost immediately. There was a glimmer of fear in her eyes, but she showed little ways of shuddering like she used to. Was she always that scared of him?

No, he doubted that was it. She was afraid, yes. But she had always been so bleeding brave. She never was scared of him, but she was scared for her life.

"How is he?" Marcus asked monotonously, taking a seat on the other side of Zacharias. The baby was sleeping snuggly in his little blue bundle of blankets. His nose wrinkled delicately, which made his heart ache.

"He's well. Healthy, even. He eats a lot and is quite stubborn." Livia explained shortly, pulling her knees to her chest before her fingers brushed Zacharias's forehead gently.

"He's beautiful." Marcus proclaimed fondly, staring at the small bundle before them. There was a brief silence before he finally looked up to meet Livia's gaze. "Go get some sleep. I'll look after him."

A look of shock crossed her gentle face. His lips couldn't help but curve almost mockingly. He wasn't about to let her deprive herself of sleep especially after she just carried the child for months.

"Alright…" Livia said slowly, testing the words, still looking at him as though he's grown two heads.

When Livia turned over to rest, Marcus lied down himself and scooted closer towards the baby. His callous hands touched Zacharias's smooth cheeks. He was so delicate, and quite precious. Marcus never liked babies much. They were loud, insufferable and a right mess. But skies, he couldn't help but love the boy.

In that moment, he hoped to every being that the child would be much like Livia. Strong, brave, and kind. He wished the boy to be nothing like the man he is except for his strength in battle.

Zacharias gurgled in his sleep, emitting a low chuckle from Marcus.

The silence and lack of Zak's presence since his naming the child soon became a comfort to his too tired mind.

Livia

Livia found that whenever Marcus wasn't talking with the Masks and the Shrike, he would go to Zacharias and just lie next to him. Sometimes, she'd find him talking—whether it was to Zacharias, or her son's namesake, she wasn't sure. But she knew that she never heard him talk so fondly to the ghost of his brother. It could only mean he was being so with their child.

When Livia took the turn of watching over their son, Marcus came around and suggested he look after the boy.

Sometimes, she wondered if he was whispering vile and inappropriate things to such an innocent child while she's not around. She even thought that perhaps Marcus plans to train the boy as soon as he could walk on his two stubby legs. But every time she comes back to eavesdrop, she could only ever hear praise and gentleness, and see him hold Zacharias to keep him from crying, something she would never have expected from her husband.

The thought of it made her heart twinge. But in a good way.

"It's okay. I can't sleep anyway." Livia had said after Marcus's suggestion as she took to lie on the other side of their son, Marcus across her. She rested her head against a makeshift pillow and let her eyes flutter between Zacharias and then her husband.

Marcus looked so intent watching over the boy. Was the prospect of the Shrike saving Marcus truly the cause for his sudden gentleness? His sudden need to be protective of someone else other than himself?

"Did I ever tell you how brave you are?" Marcus suddenly asked, snapping Livia from her brief reverie. Her eyes lingered towards Marcus, who looked back at her. She was certain he had been talking to the baby, but the expectant look in his eyes as he stared at her said otherwise.

"Oh, well, no," Livia replied hesitantly, unsure where this was going. "If I'm being honest, you weren't particularly vocal back in Antium. Well, aside from when we're in your room."

The trick of the torch's light must have cast something odd, for she caught a slight tinge of red grace Marcus's cheeks.

A low chuckle came from him as he raised a thick brow. "You make light of almost all situations, it would seem."

Livia shrugged discontentedly as her gaze shifted to their son, who moved slightly in his bundle. "I try to. I'm not quite used to serious situations, and I rather hate tension. Best to make light of it while we still can. Light gives us our lives the tiniest shred of hope, even if it's temporary. Without it, it's really not living at all."

Perhaps she hadn't been so vocal herself until now. But she would take the opportunity to talk to Marcus… while he's still not hurting her, at least.

"A bleeding boring life, I reckon," Marcus answered, causing Livia to look up to him. Amusement was written across his features. "I suppose I expected much. You were the only one that kept the Illustrians at bay during the first few weeks of our reign. I still haven't thanked you for that."

She wasn't sure if she was even hearing the words right, but she'll be damned if she tried to ignore the simple fact that Marcus said what he said.

Livia gave him a small, grateful smile, feeling heat rise up to her cheeks. It was not everyday her husband showed any manner of appreciation on top of his iron hand.

Little Zacharias fluttered his eyes open, and Livia nearly leapt from where she lay. Her heart sang as the baby blinked twice before searching his surroundings. His Farrar eyes drifted towards Livia, and the baby made a soft sound.

"Hungry, little one?" Livia asked as she moved closer to the baby. Zacharias gurgled his assent before his eyes turned to look up at his father. A giggle burst from the small baby before his chubby arms began to reach out for Marcus.

She and Marcus sported surprised looks as their son opened and closed his fists up at his father. Livia couldn't help but smile and nod at Marcus, urging him to take the baby. There seemed to be a moment's hesitation before Marcus finally moved close to scoop Zacharias in his arms.

"He seems to be growing on you," Livia said with a slight giggle, watching father and son look at each other fondly.

Marcus met Livia's gaze. "He's very demanding, I'll give you that."

"Now, where do you think he got that, hm?" She asked teasingly, causing the baby to let out a string of giggles. Livia watched as Zacharias reached out to touch the stubble of Marcus's jaw. Their baby truly was the most precious thing to ever happen in such a difficult time of war.

Marcus's low rumble of laughter echoed the cave. "I seem to recall a certain Empress just as demanding in my bedroom."

"Oh, you're dreadful," Livia laughed as the color darkened on her cheeks.

She couldn't remember the last time she was this happy. Perhaps when she first saw baby Zacharias, but that felt like moons ago from today. Still, her entire body felt light as she and Marcus played with their little boy.

Since then, she was starting to think that perhaps she wouldn't have to fear her husband anymore.

Marcus

Two months passed before they finally made a move out of the cave.

They traveled weeks before they found a secluded safe house near Novium within the forest provided by Quin Veturius. He still couldn't quite place why the man still supported his reign, but he supposed plebeians can't be choosers at this point in his befallen reign.

Most days, he kept a clear head—clearer than he's ever had for the longest time. Sometimes, he found himself turning around, hoping to see the ghost of his twin brother. But sometimes, he turned and felt the slightest relief of not seeing him. He realized now that his reckless decisions have been guided by a ghost who could not move on.

And yet, he couldn't blame his brother for not wanting to. The guilt of every death on his hands began to take over.

Marcus excused himself from the war room of the safe house. He found that his feet automatically stumbled to Livia's room where she had taken to harbor their son to sleep at. She was lying next to him again, but she did not have the air of lightness and freeness in her the way he's seen her in the last few months.

In the past couple of months, whenever he wasn't strategizing with the Shrike and the Masks, or training to keep his strength, he spent his free time by Livia and Zacharias's side. Eventually, he found that he enjoyed Livia's company. She talked about everything, and nothing, and the simplicity of it was a temporary escape from the still-going war outside the walls of the cave then.

He resisted the urge of feeling something for Livia, though he might be too late on the resistance. His heart would leap at the mere sight of her, and every time she laughed, he swears he could have died and gone to the Waiting Place. Back then, they shared nothing but sexual desires abetted by Livia herself. But now, he was starting to see her as more than some pretty face he married out of "mercy" for the Shrike to still have one living relative.

"Train me," Livia said, sitting upright to look at Marcus as he shut the door behind him.

"What?" Marcus asked, taken aback.

Livia left the bed where Zacharias slept to walk over to him. He felt his breath hitch when he caught her scent of vanilla and honey. It was intoxicating.

"Stop ogling at me, Marcus." Livia demanded seriously. Marcus blinked. "Train me. Please."

"Your sister would kill me. And believe me, she had the chance." Marcus scoffed, pinching his brows together. "Besides, you think I'm going to let you overexert yourself?"

"I gave birth months ago." She complained, placing her hands on those delicate hips of hers. Bleeding skies, what he'd do to touch them again… "You can't expect me to sit around and do nothing. I want to help. I want to defend myself."

Marcus massaged his forehead in frustration. "Livia… That is exactly your job. You're the Empress and the people—or what little we still have left, anyway—expect you to be alive and well while the Masks and the Emperor do all the fighting."

"Please, Marcus." Livia stepped closer this time and took his hand in hers. Her hands felt so soft against his calloused ones. She was looking up to him desperately. "I never ask for anything from you. I just ask that you help me. Train me with basic defense. Nobody wants to train me because they thought you might hurt them if you found out. But I'm asking you now myself."

Her pleading gaze melted the winter in his heart, and he hated how she had this effect on him now.

Ever since they escaped the Kaurkans, Marcus never laid a hand on her again. He never had it in himself again to harm Livia even when the Shrike did the most idiotic mistakes. Back then, he realized, he took out his anger on her not just because of the Shrike, but because his brother's ghost raised his violence to a boiling point where he could see nothing but red.

Now that Zak's ghost was nowhere to be seen, he was beginning to regret what he had done to Livia. On top of, well, literally killing nearly her entire family. That was a whole other guilt he could never quite escape even as his heart seemed to ache for his Empress.

Marcus sighed in defeat. "Only once every day for two hours. Do you understand?"

Livia's face lit up, and skies, did she light up the room itself that way.

Livia

She did not expect him to say yes. True, he put up a fight, but it didn't last much long. Soon enough, Marcus began training her with defensive attacks. He had Faris fashion a makeshift scim out of wood for her to practice on. A part of her dreaded holding real Martial scims, but that didn't mean she would stop herself from learning.

Helene had thought it was absurd, considering how Zacharias might be without his father and mother by the time the jinn and the Commandant's men start coming for them. But Livia counter-argued that should it come down between her son and her life, she would fight to the death for her son's life. That's what her parents would have done, and she wasn't about to set off course from the family bravery.

Her progress was not as she had hoped it would be. It turns out movement was not her best suite, but she found that she was fluid enough to escape blows without harming herself. Marcus trained her the way he was trained in Blackcliff. He was not merciful on the field because he knew no enemy would be with her, but he was considerate and just to her on advises whenever training was over.

The training has gotten her into close proximity with him over the course of a few weeks, physically and perhaps, even, emotionally. She had always thought Marcus saw her as nothing more than some trophy wife he simply got out of the "goodness of his heart" and "mercy" towards Helene. But as they trained vigorously daily, she thought he was starting to see her as something more than that.

Perhaps what she hated was the thrum of her heart every time she saw him. Days never seemed to be complete without him coming into her room just so they can look after their son and all the while talk as Zacharias gurgled happily up at his parents. It was the simple joy of it that ignited the tiniest spark of light in the midst of the worst of their situation.

But such simplicity is painstakingly short-lived. The Commandant's men came in the night, giving them a disadvantage in the largest proportion. Livia had been singing a soft lullaby to Zacharias when she saw Marcus burst into the room, eyes wild with fear and apprehension, scims drawn and stained with blood.

"Get him out of here, Livia. Now!" Marcus commanded fretfully.

Livia bundled Zacharias in her arms, causing the baby to wake and let out an ear-shattering cry. She cooed at her son, trying to calm him, but it was no use. It was the worst time to be handling her child's woes right now.

"My lord," Helene came bounding inside the room, scims drawn. Faris, Dex and Harper stood on either side of her, covering her from any oncoming attack. Laia of Serra arrived too, flickering in and out due to her invisibility. She held a dagger stained with blood in her hand. "Fifty men at large. We're not sure if Quin's men can hold them off much longer. We must get you and the Empress out of here."

"No, get my wife and son to safety, Shrike. I'm fighting that bitch's men myself." Marcus whirled at her menacingly, taking a tight grip of Helene's arm before shoving her into the room. "That's an order."

"Marcus—" The Shrike started, but paused when Marcus sent her a deadly glare.

His gaze softened, however, when it turned to Livia and the baby.

"I want to fight—" Livia started, but Marcus cut her off by holding her face in his hands. She was surprised to find that he had a delicate hold on her. If they weren't under attack, she would have reveled at the gentleness of harsh hands, leaned into his uncharacteristically soft touch.

"No," Marcus said with conviction. "Keep Zacharias safe. Keep yourself safe. Remember what I trained you to do. Do you understand?"

"I can't just leave you!" Livia exclaimed above the baby's noise.

"You can and you must," Marcus insisted roughly this time before his hands moved down towards the crying bundle in her arms. Zacharias held onto his fingers hands like his life depended on it. Then, Marcus looked up to her. "For the Empire, Livia. For him."

Livia swallowed. She wanted to say something, anything.

Please be careful. Please come back to me.

Instead, she nodded her assent, but she knew it to be a lie. Marcus was gone before she knew it. Faris and Dex protected the door as Helene and Laia dragged her to a secret passageway she didn't know existed until now.

The passageway had stairs that lead down to the drawing room. She could hear the fight from the other side of the walls, hear the screams of men as they fought and lost the last breath of their lives. Livia had never seen much of war, and she wasn't sure she was even prepared given the short amount of training she's had, but skies, she would be damned if she left Marcus.

Something ignited in her; an impulse driven by months of having not much to do except stay hidden, keep close to her allies and Marcus…

Marcus who—according to Helene—could not change that much. Marcus who she caught singing a terrible baritone of a lullaby from his childhood to Zacharias. Marcus who had been patient with her as she stumbled on her makeshift scim during training.

The Emperor who would have laid down his life for his son, his wife, his empire—and yet, what was she doing herself? She was running the other way like she did last time. But she wasn't sore from having given birth now, was she?

They threaded the passageway in haste. Livia couldn't contain much of her aggravation. As the sobbing baby struggled in her arms, she stopped in her tracks; causing the Masks, Helene and Laia to nearly stumble on their stride and barrel into her.

Livia whirled to meet Laia's gaze before she gently transferred her son into the Scholar's hands. "Take him away from here. Far away. To the tribes, to Navium, I don't care. I want him safe and alive when I get out."

"What do you mean when you get out?" Helene howled at her in frustration. "Livvy, you're not seriously thinking of going back there."

"I order you as Empress to let me through, Shrike." Livia demanded this time, exercising the same firmness she often heard in Marcus.

Faris, Dex and Harper looked to the Shrike for confirmation.

Helene fists curled and uncurled menacingly, her face undetermined. From what little light the passageway gave, her sister looked less cruel than she could have remembered; likely from the missing Mask on her face. To her, she was just Helly, her big sister; and she could only hope she would be much like it now.

"Permission to escort you in your bleeding idiotic bravery to go back up there, Empress," Helene said between gritted teeth. Faris looked as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Shrike—" Faris started.

"Permission granted," Livia proclaimed before she hiked up her skirt. She saw Faris blush the color of beets as she unsheathed her hidden scim—Marcus's scim—from the strap around her thigh hidden underneath her dress.

"Bleeding hells, Livia," Laia recoiled just as Faris and Dex did when she wielded the scim to full height. "Where on earth did you—"

"No time," Livia exclaimed in exasperation at the Scholar. She leaned in close to look at her crying bundle. His golden eyes were red from all his crying, and he shifted erratically trying to reach out for her. She pressed a kiss against her son's forehead. "Live, Zacharias. Mama and Papa will be with you again. I promise."

"We'll meet you at Novium. It's a day's walk from here." Harper said sharply. "Helene knows where Quin's hidden house is from there."

Livia spun to meet Helene's gaze. "Let's go."

As they raced their way back up the steps, she heard Helene's labored breathing between her frustrated words.

"This is madness, Livvy. If we get out of this alive, I swear I'm tying you to a bleeding tree!"

Livia laughed, which was not at all right for the situation they were in, but it was a breath of something human before they meet their dooms in the safe house.

When they arrived back in her room, she saw the bodies of Keris's men scattered around the space and down the hallway. Her heart leapt when she thought she saw Marcus's body in one of them, but felt the greatest relief when it wasn't him.

They could still hear the fight going downstairs, and when Livia and Helene bounded down the steps, Livia saw that Marcus and a few of Quin Veturius's men were still holding. Helene drew her scims out, prepared to fight.

"Stay behind me!" Helene shrieked at her before she joined the fight.

Livia killed her first Mask that day.

He was coming at her at with such precision and speed. With the fluidity of her movements, she managed to dodge a killing blow that could have taken her life. She buried her scim in the Mask's thigh with the precision she was taught, and jammed her head upwards to break the man's jaw. He stumbled backwards. Livia retrieved her scim from his thigh before she drove the silver into the Mask's heart.

She felt as though she was going to be sick as the Mask's blood covered her scim and half the front of her body. But there was no time to mourn. She needed to move.

Helene was fighting off two more Masks while she saw Marcus fighting one other.

Her eyes flashed in worry when she saw another Mask creeping up behind Marcus. Instinct kicked in and in a moment's notice, she was strangling the Mask with one of the fallen curtains of the drawing room. The Mask choked and his body slowly sagged from the lack of oxygen.

She saw Marcus swipe his sharp scim upwards at the Mask he was fighting, spewing blood from the man's crotch up to his neck. He then wheeled around to see his opponent from behind. A look of shock and anger crossed his features, though before he could kill the Mask in her arms with his scim, Livia drove her own scim into the man's throat. Blood sprayed and fell in fountains before she released him.

"What in the ten bleeding hells were you thinking, Livia?!" Marcus howled at her ferociously.

"You're welcome!" Livia shouted back angrily before she heard the grunt of her sister from behind.

Marcus was quick on his feet to take on the other Mask. Before Livia could even go into the fray to fight again—the two Masks's bodies fell limp as Helene and Marcus's scims were buried into their skin.

Livia looked around to see a plethora of bodies around the drawing room, all men from either Gens Veturius or Keris's. There seemed to be little survivors of their men, but they knew it would not be safe to stay here much longer. None of them said anything as they threaded their way back up the stairs then into Livia's room to get to the passageway.

But she could feel the tension in the air—Marcus's oncoming anger. She feared him all of a sudden, the fear she felt within her during the first few months of their marriage. But she swallowed that fear as she had before.

She would not let him think she fears him.

Not anymore.

Marcus

Marcus never cared much of anything in his life. All he cared about was his brother, finishing his time in Blackcliff and bringing honor to the Empire. He never thought he would have to care for his Empress, and their son. He never thought his heart would nearly fall over when he saw Livia in that drawing room unprotected. He never thought he would be afraid of losing someone important to him like Zak until Livia came along.

But he was seething with the utmost rage. As soon as they escaped the safe house, they managed to catch up with the others in just a few short hours. Livia's guards, Harper and Laia were all huddled together in another cave, which apparently was going to lead them to Quin Veturius's home.

Marcus said nothing during their brief trip, and neither did Livia and the Shrike. Though he could feel much of the Shrike's anger emanate and collide with his. He couldn't believe she was idiotic enough to let Livia join the bleeding fight.

Laia handed Zacharias over to Livia as they walked the dark and damp cave. Marcus's feet moved as they instinctively have for the past months towards her.

He avoided her gaze as he looked down on the small bundle in her arms. Their son was awake and giggling uncontrollably, likely happy to see them again. Marcus smiled as he caressed Zacharias's soft cheek.

He felt Livia's breath against the side of his neck, causing him to pull away. She looked like she wanted to say something, but not before he began to move further up the path next to Harper and Helene. He needed to clear his head. Yelling at Livia would do neither of them good, and though he's avoided it for months, he had to restrain himself still.

When they finally arrived at the home of Gens Veturius, Marcus was surprised to find plebeians housing the estate. Marcus had almost forgotten about the damage the Kaurkans placed on his people, the damning manipulative stride of Keris as she risked the lives of thousands of men and the Empire's people. His blood boiled in anger, not at Keris, even, but at himself.

This was his fault.

But he had little time to argue with himself. Marcus gathered with his men and Quin Veturius in the war room to strategize their next move. He concentrated long and hard, and did his best to provide solutions temporarily until they can figure out what to do with the Commandant and the rapidly approaching jinn who will soon take them and wipe them from existence.

After three grueling hours of arguing, almost killing somebody and scims buried on the map of the Empire out of anger, Marcus left the war room. His head was too clouded with one too many things happening in one blasted evening. He needed sleep. Bleeding skies, he wanted the comfort of a nice bed and just hope to all the damn jinn that he could wake up dead.

But when Dex showed him where Livia and Zacharias was staying, death suddenly wasn't such a pleasant thought. He saw Livia in her room, but Zacharias was nowhere in sight. Instinct kicked in, and he drew his scims, looking around wildly.

"Where is he—" Marcus started, but Livia held her hands up.

"He's with Laia. I told her to look after him for a moment." Livia said as she met his gaze. "I wanted to talk to you. Alone. About what happened in the safe house—"

"You shouldn't have gone back!" Marcus's resolve cracked at last as he slammed the door behind him.

Livia jumped in surprise, but she kept a brave face. Skies, he admired her for that. But sometimes, he thought her bravery could lead to such idiotic things that would get her killed.

"What did I tell you? Get out of there with Zacharias and leave the rest to me. They're simple orders, Livia!" He berated as he went up to her. His height towered over Livia's as he looked down. "You could have died! Do you have any idea what that would have been like? For our son to grow up without his parents? How could you have done that to him?"

"How could you have done that to him?" Livia fired back, her face pinched together in vexation. "You were the one who decided not to come with us! Putting your duty above Zacharias's—"

"I defended your life! His life!"

"I defended yours as well!"

Marcus groaned in frustration before whirling to run his hands through his hair anxiously. "I never should have trained you. I knew it'd come down to this stupid recklessness!"

"If you hadn't, you would be dead." Livia's voice lowered this time, but still laced with conviction.

As he stared out at Novium through the windows of the room, he felt gentle hands touch his shoulders. Marcus spun to look down at Livia's soft features. Skies, she was absolutely beautiful. He had always known that, but he never appreciated much of it until now.

His heart raced with the sound of galloping horses. He feels as though it might burst.

"I couldn't lose you," Livia said as her hands travelled up the length of his neck. A delightful chill went up his spine. Her tender hands lay against either of his cheeks. She was looking at him intently now, a bright blush gracing her cheeks. "I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I did. I had to go back. I wanted to."

"Why did you?" Marcus asked, waiting with bathed breath for her answer.

Livia looked taken aback but she recovered quickly, the red in her cheeks darkening as she moved closer. "I..."

"Livia…" Marcus whispered her name like a prayer. Her face was so close to his.

"I don't know if I can ever forgive you for what you did." Livia went on, and he felt the prick of guilt at the back of his mind. She was talking about her family. But Livia shook her head. "But after everything we've been through..."

"Livia," He said her name again, relishing in the way it rolled off his tongue. Marcus has never been more out of words than he was now. "Why did you?"

"I…" Livia started, taking a shuddering breath before their eyes locked strongly. "Because I would have preferred to have died a thousand times over than to see you die before my eyes."

His heart sped rapidly as she drew close. Without even a moment's hesitation, he closed the distance between them. He captured her soft lips against his, strong arms wounding desperately around her form to pull her close. Sharp gasps escaped their lips at their contact.

The small ember that has built for so many months between them exploded into its full flame. It had been so long since he last held her in his arms, and back then, it was mostly meaningless love making that fed his carnal desire. But now, it was far from meaningless, far from the man he was to her when things hadn't exactly gone to hell just yet.

Marcus lifted her up in arms, feeling her wrap her legs around his waist before he took them into the soft sheets of her bed. His skin was aflame at her touch, and he felt even more compelled when her hands travelled south.

The room filled with their sighs, pleasured moans and quiet gasps as they moved in tandem to their love-making. It wasn't meaningless to him anymore. It was everything he ever desired and more.

After a while, their labored breaths resounded throughout the room. Livia's body rested on top of his, weighing little. His hands traveled from her pert ass up to her spine, a motion akin to a lover's touch. He could feel her breath fan against his chest, watching her recover still from their vigorous love-making. The aftermath was calming to him, and simply being able to hold his Empress in his arms this way gave him a sort of comfort he has not had in his days before knowing and… loving her.

He pressed a kiss on her forehead, emitting a contented sigh from Livia.

"Marry me," He whispered so softly in a manner he never would have done with anyone but their son.

Livia's dark head lifted to look at him in surprise, but there was a slight tinge of amusement that made her lips curl. "Marcus, we're already married."

"I meant marry me… again." Marcus rephrased, feeling every bit of heat rush to his cheeks. His golden eyes locked with her ocean blue ones before he plucked up the courage to speak more. "After we win this, after this bleeding hells of a war with Keris and the jinn is over, after we get our Empire back… I want to renew our vows. You must think I'm a bleeding fool—"

"I don't," Livia answered almost immediately. She stared at him fondly. "I don't think you're a fool at all. Marcus, I… I would like that. To marry you again, that is."

Marcus thought he must have heard wrong, but he couldn't have. If he did, Livia would be frowning at him, however elegant she may be in her anger. But she was looking up to him with an admiration he's caught every now or so in the last months they've spent time together. It made his heart race so painfully, he feels as though it might burst out in his sheer joy.

"Just promise me one thing." Livia said as she drew circles against his chest. Her eyes had towards her moving fingers. There was a momentary silence as Marcus waited with bathed breath then. She lifted her head to look up to him once more. There was a pleading, almost terrified but also hopeful look in her eyes. "Please don't… please don't hurt me again."

It was blow to every single moment he has done to physically and emotionally hurt her. He had drowned in many sleepless nights regretting everything he's done thus far since the trials. A part of him could never find a way to fix what he did and resurrect the lives he had taken. He did not deserve anyone's forgiveness, especially not Livia.

But he remembered her tell him this one thing before. How there is always hope at the end of the tunnel, even for those that people think is beyond repair or help. Back then, he had thought it was a silly and naïve idea—until she started giving him that very hope as the days passed.

"Don't leave me again." She went on, her voice cracking as she held his gaze. "Don't you ever leave me again, Marcus Farrar."

Marcus couldn't help but lift his upper body up. He held Livia to him with his arms holding her form to his. She was sat on his lap, her hands flying to touch the stubble of his jaw. Bleeding skies, her touch unraveled him.

"I wouldn't even if the very life was tortured out of me, Livia Farrar." Marcus swore his heart's fealty. His mouth opened, hoping to say more, hoping to declare the love that he has grown to have for her. But she saw it in his eyes, and he needn't the words to say it at all when Livia captured his lips in hers.

He could never deserve someone as good as Livia. But if she thought he was worth every risk, even at the risk of her own life, then perhaps he wasn't such a completely helpless fool after all.

FINIS

#an ember in the ashes #aeita #livia aquilla #marcus farrar #aeita fanfic

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7amaspayrollmanager · 4 years

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I just really thought about quin veturius and how hes set on defeating/killing his daughter. Which is sort of disturbing ngl. Logically keris was a person before she became this psychopath. Its really weird to think of her as a kid and does quin think about that? Or is he completely detached?

#no ones born evil #they become it and even tho thats common sense i find it really freaking hard to imagine her once loving someone #and being loved

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reviewsandrecaps · 7 years

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Recap: A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2)

Synopsis: Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Characters: Laia Can turn invisible; she doesn't know why. Escaped Blackcliff with Elias. She and Elias headed for Blackcliff to free her brother, Darin, from Kauf. Izzi and Keenan joined them along the way, and later Afya. Keenan and Laia end up traveling alone after Izzi dies and Afya and Elias leave. Laia grows closer to Keenan and gives him her mother's armlet. Keenan transforms into the Nightbringer and Laia realizes that he was using her to get to her mother's armlet. Because she was in possession of the armlet, a piece of the Star, a powerful Scholar weapon, the Nightbringer can't harm her. Laia succeeds in freeing Darin from Kauf, with help from Elias and Afya. She has feelings for Elias, but shit's complicated because he's dead. Elias Veturius Soul Catcher. The Commandant's son. After failing the last Trial, Elias escaped execution with Laia. The Commandant poisoned him with Nightweed before he made it out of Blackcliff. Nightweed doesn't have a cure. Elias promised to help Laia free her brother Darin from Kauf, and that's what he does. On the way, he keeps seeing the Soul Catcher in the Waiting Place, the place people go after they've died. The closer he gets to Kauf, the closer he gets to dying. He dies in the process of freeing Darin from Kauf. He tells Shaeva, the Soul Catcher, that he'll take her place as Soul Catcher if she brings him back to life. She does it. He saves Darin, but he's tied to the Waiting Place. Helene Aquillus Blood Shrike. Mater of Gens Aquilla. Elias's best friend at Blackcliff. Marcus makes Helene hunt Elias. When she fails to bring him in for execution, Marcus kills all of Helene's family except for her sister, Livia. Now, Marcus has tasked Helene with assassinating the Commandant. Avitas Harper Black Guard. Elias's half-brother. Avitas was spying on Helene for the Commandant, but now he's working with Helene. Keenan/Nightbringer The leader of the jinn. He wants to reunite the pieces of the Star – the Scholar weapon used to imprison the jinn – to release the jinn from where they're trapped in the Waiting Place. The pieces of the Star can't be taken; they have to be given freely. The Nightbringer has transformed again and again to retrieve the lost shards. He transformed into Keenan to get the piece of the Star that was in the armlet Laia's mother gave her. The Nightbringer is haunted by what he's done to retrieve the pieces of the Star. He can't hurt the people who have touched the shards. Shaeva/Soul Catcher The Nightbringer made Shaeva Soul Catcher as punishment. Izzi She was a slave in the Commandant's house. Laia helped her escape. Izzi was killed by Martial soldiers on the way to Kauf. Cook She was a spy for the Resistance. She was tasked with spying on the Commandant, but she was caught. The Commandant kept her as a slave, but she escaped. She helps Helene, and has offered to help Helene kill the Commandant. She has ties to Laia's parents, and cares about Laia, but we don't know what her connection is. Marcus Farrar Emperor. Sadistic asshole. Has a weird thing for Helene. He's engaged to her sister, Livia. Afya Zaldara of Tribe Nur. Gibran Afya's brother. Faris and Dex Black Guard. Friends with Helene and Elias from Blackcliff. Tas A Scholar slave boy who was in Kauf. He helped Elias while he was in Kauf. Elias helped him escape Kauf. Tas killed the Warden. Shaeva/Soul Catcher The Soul Catcher. She betrayed the Nightbringer, so he killed her and brought her back as Soul Catcher as punishment. Livia Aquillus Helene's youngest sister. Engaged to Marcus. Hannah Aquillus Helene's younger sister. Killed by Marcus. Pater Aquillus Helene's father. Killed by Marcus. Spiro Teluman Darin's friend and mentor. His family is infamous for their superior swords. Quin Veturius Elias' grandfather. He's been in hiding since Elias failed the last Trial. Helene wants to find Quin. She wants him to help her bring the Commandant down.

Terms: Augur Martial holy-men. There are fourteen. Immortals who can see the future and read minds. Blackcliff The Mask training school. Black Guard They ensure loyalty from the military. Blood Shrike Leader of the Black Guard, right hand of the Emperor, second most powerful man in the Empire. Illustrians Martial upper class. Gens Martial families. Kauf The worst Martial prison. Mask An elite soldier of the Martial Empire. Mater Matriarch of a Martial family, or Gens. Pater Patriarch of a Martial family, or Gens. Skiritae A group of rebel Scholars in Kauf. Star The Scholar weapon used to imprison the jinn. It was destroyed, its pieces spread across the land and picked up by Scholars, Martials, and Tribesmen. The Nightbringer wants to find all the pieces so he can release the jinn. He can't take the pieces back; they have to be given freely. Anyone who touches a piece of the Star is safe from the Nightbringer. He can't harm them. Zaldar/Zaldara Leader of a Tribe.

Recap: Laia and Elias find a girl in the catacombs. She says she needs silver. She's an efrit. She grabs Laia, but lets her go, screaming. She asks what Laia is. They hear soldiers coming. They run.

The Commandant finds them. There's an explosion and part of the tunnel collapses. They climb out into Serra. They see Scholars fighting Martials in the streets. The Scholars are revolting. They run down an alley. They don't have many options for leaving the city. Elias decides they'll go to one of his grandfather's storage buildings that's against the city walls. There's a door that leads out of the city. Elias goes into the storage building alone.

The Commandant attacks Elias. She says she gave Helene to the Black Guard for interrogation. The Commandant cuts Elias. Elias sees Laia, but she disappears. She throws sand into the Commandant's face. Elias knocks the Commandant out. They steal the Commandant's horse and get outside of the city. The Commandant always has a backup plan, so Elias is expecting soldiers to be waiting for them, but there are none. She let them escape.

Helene's interrogator, Avitas Harper, questions her about Elias, how he escaped, about Laia. She's tortured, but she doesn't tell Avitas anything. Marcus comes with Helene's father. Her father made some kind of arrangement with Marcus. Marcus releases Helene. He says he has a mission for her.

Elias and Laia head away from the city. Wraiths find them in the desert. They want silver. Elias and Laia fight them off. Elias notices the blade Laia's using, the scim Telluman made with Darin. Laia tells him the truth about everything. Elias says with what Darin knows about Martial steelcraft, he could bring down the Empire. They stop to take a break, and Elias collapses. He shows Laia the cut the Commandant gave him. Laia thinks the Commandant poisoned him. Laia knows what extract will help him, but doesn't have it. They decide to go to Raider's Roost.

Elias hallucinates. He sees his friend, Tristas, who died in the Third Trial. They're in the Waiting Place, a place for dead not ready to move on. The Soul Catcher comes and tells Elias he's dead, he just doesn't know it yet. Elias wakes up. A storm is coming. They find shelter before the storm hits. Laia tries to keep Elias talking, but he slips away again. He realizes the Commandant poisoned him with Nightweed. There's no cure.

Marcus orders Helene to hunt Elias down and execute him publicly. Helene agrees to do it because she doesn't have a choice. When Helene leaves Marcus, she hears the Commandant speaking to someone. They're talking about killing Cook. The Commandant wants to know why Laia is so important. The Commandant leaves, but the creature, the Nightbringer, catches Helene listening. He can sense her healing power. The Nightbringer says it will destroy her if she isn't careful. The Nightbringer has a similar power. He uses it to heal some of her injuries.

Laia and Elias are nearly at Raider's Roost. Elias loses consciousness, so Laia goes alone. She hears people talking about a bounty on her and Elias. She finds an apothecary and buys the extract. A Tribesman recognizes her and wants her to take him to Elias.

Elias wakes up tied up on the floor of the cave. Laia is trying to convince the Tribesmen not to kill Elias. Laia gives Elias some of the extract. He fights off the Tribesmen and Laia kills one. They get away, and Elias comes up with a plan to get to Kauf. He says they'll go to the Tribal lands. The Fall Gathering is beginning soon, during which every Tribe gathers in Nur. When it's over, the Tribes leave. Elias wants to find a Tribe that will shelter and hide them as they make their way to Kauf. Elias wants to use Afya Ara-Nur's favor. He tells Laia about the Nightweed.

Helene goes to the Black Guard barracks. She gives orders to bring her friends Faris and Dex onto the Black Guard. Avitas, her torturer and the Commandant's spy, is waiting for her in her quarters. Marcus assigned him to go with her to hunt Elias. Faris and Dex come. They agree to join her task force to hunt Elias. They get to work immediately.

They go to investigate a murdered Mask. As soon as they get there, Helene knows Elias wasn't responsible. She hears a voice whispering to her; it says “little singer.”

A few nights later, Helene hears the whisper again. Someone grabs her – a woman. The woman gives Helene a hint about how to find Elias's trail. The woman says she killed the Mask. She says if Helene hurts Laia, she'll kill her. Helene recognizes the woman. It's Cook.

Elias and Laia keep moving. Elias can tell someone is following them. A few weeks later, they stop a day away from Nur. Someone starts shooting arrows at Elias, tells Elias to let Laia go. It's Keenan. Izzi is with him. Keenan says he's going with Laia to Kauf. Izzi wants to go too. They head for Nur together.

Helene, Faris, and Dex find tracks leading from Elias's grandfather's storage building out into the desert. They think Elias fought the Commandant, but Helene can't figure out why she let him escape.

Helene goes to talk to the Commandant. She questions her about whether she saw Elias after he escaped his execution. The Commandant lies. She mentions that Marcus is going to marry one of Helene's sisters, Hannah. This is what her father traded.

Faris brings Helene a report that the horse Elias and Laia were riding was found near Raider's Roost. Helene realizes Elias is heading to Nur for the Fall Gathering.

They've run out of the extract Elias needs. There's a wind storm, but they get to Nur. Elias gets Laia, Izzi, and Keenan into an empty wagon. He goes to find an apothecary. On his way, he sees wanted posters for him and Laia. The Empire knows they're in Nur. He goes to the city's Martial stronghold and sees members of the Black Guard, recognizes Faris and Helene.

They get to Afya's Tribe. Elias asks Afya to escort them to Kauf, and once there, help them break Darin out. Afya agrees to do it, but she doesn't want her Tribe to be the only one to bear the burden. She brings Tribe Saif, Elias's foster family's Tribe, into the deal. Elias sees his foster mother, Mamie Rila, for the first time in years. He tells her about everything that's happened, the Trials, but not about the poison.

Helene finds and questions Mamie Rila. She realizes that Mamie has spoken to Elias. She lets her go, but has her followed. She's going to the storytellers' stage. Helene goes there. There are thousands of Tribesmen there. Mamie Rila takes the stage and tells Elias's story. The Tribesmen are getting riled up. Mamie is starting a riot.

A soldier kills a Tribesman and chaos erupts. Elias, Keenan, Laia, and Izzi use the panic to leave, heading for the caravans. Elias sees Helene being overtaken by the crowd and he goes to help her. He tells her he's not long for this world and that he misses her. When he leaves, she doesn't stop him.

Elias finds his way back to the others. They get into wagons and start moving. He sees some of his family's Tribe, Tribe Saif, surrounded by Martials. He wants to help them, but can't without being captured.

That night, Elias goes to the Waiting Place. The Soul Catcher says he won't live past Rathana, which is only two months away. He wakes up and starts forming a new plan. Getting to Kauf by Afya's wagons will take two months. The Empire's couriers make the same journey in two weeks. He decides to leave the others, go by horse alone. He tells Afya where to go once they get near Kauf. He says Darin should be there waiting for them by the time they get there. He leaves a letter for Laia, then he leaves.

Helene tells Dex to interrogate the captured members of Tribe Saif, including Mamie Rila. Helene spends days searching wagons for any sign of Elias, but she finds nothing. She takes the group of soldiers that are with her to a garrison to rest. The Commandant is there executing Scholars. Helene tries to stop her, but the Commandant ignores her. Later, a soldier brings Helene a message. Marcus is ordering her to go to Antium. The Illustrian Gens have declared war on each other.

The Soul Catcher finds Elias again near the Forest of Dusk. The Soul Catcher says the Waiting Place is in the Forest of Dusk. She takes him into the Forest, brings him to Tristas. She tells Elias he needs to help Tristas move on. Elias asks the Soul Catcher what she is. She was human once, but now she's damned. She's a jinn. Days pass and Elias is unsuccessful in helping Tristas. The Soul Catcher takes Elias to Kauf, warning him that he must be quick if he wants to succeed. He only has two weeks left.

Avitas and Helene reach Antium. The Commandant takes them to Marcus. Marcus says of ten Gens, four propose an Illustrian candidate to replace Marcus as Emperor. Five want their own Paters to take the throne. Marcus wants Helene to publicly execute them by the following morning.

Laia and the others find a family of Scholars on the run from the Empire. Afya says they can't help them. One of the women says the Commandant is killing everyone, even prisoners in their cells. She says Antium is next, and after that Kauf.

Avitas points out that one of the Gens on Marcus's list, Gens Sergia, is allied with the Black Guard. Avitas is worried the Guard will turn on them rather than killing the Pater they're allied with. Helene goes to speak with Sergius. She blackmails him until he orders the Guard to do her bidding.

Helene, along with the Black Guard, round up the traitors. They're executed the next morning. Marcus announces Elias will be executed by Rathana. If Helene doesn't find him by then, he'll start executing her family.

Laia is worried about the Commandant executing Darin in Kauf. They spot Martials. Laia convinces Afya to hide the Scholar family. The soldiers search the wagon where Laia is hiding with part of the Scholar family. The soldiers find where they're hidden, but don't see Laia. She's invisible. They start burning the wagons where the others are hiding, forcing Keenan, Izzi, and the others to come out. Still invisible, Laia gives Keenan a scim and cuts the ropes tying the others. They kill all of the Martials. Izzi and a few others die in the fight.

Elias disguises himself as a soldier to get into Kauf. He hears soldiers talking about the Commandant killing Scholars. They say she's coming to Kauf soon. He learns that Darin went into the interrogation cells and never came out. Elias is going to leave, but the Warden catches him.

Helene talks to Cain. Cain tells Helene that if she can survive what's coming, she'll be a force to be reckoned with. He says she has to be unmade so she can be remade. She thinks he means she'll have to kill Elias.

Afya arranges for the Scholars to be taken to the Free Lands. Afya tries to get her brother, Gibran, to return to the Tribal lands. Laia says Gibran and Afya should both return to their Tribe. She says Keenan can get her to Kauf. Afya and Gibran leave. Laia and Keenan move on.

The Warden is holding a Scholar child, pressing a knife into his neck. The Warden has Masks with him. The Warden threatens the child, and Elias lets the Masks take his weapons and the extract. The Warden orders the Masks to take Elias to the interrogation block.

Avitas gives Helene a letter from Dex. He says Mamie Rila let slip that Elias went north. Helene can't figure out why Elias would head north. She finds Cook. Cook says the Commandant is planning something big. The Resistance is working with the Commandant, but they don't know it's her. She tells Helene about Darin. She says Elias is breaking him out of Kauf for Laia.

The Warden tortures Elias until he tells him why he's using the extract. The Scholar boy takes care of Elias. He doesn't have a name, so Elias calls him Tas.

Laia and Keenan come upon Martial wagons filled with Scholars. Laia wants to free them, but she hasn't been able to disappear since Izzi died. She hears one of the prisoners talking about Darin. A Mask says he's dead. Keenan says as long as there's a chance Darin's alive, they have to keep moving.

Without the extract, Elias starts having seizures again. He goes to the Waiting Place, sees the Soul Catcher. The Waiting Place is packed with murdered Scholars. The Soul Catcher, Shaeva, says the Nightbringer is coming to retrieve the pieces of a broken weapon, to free the jinn. She sends Elias away, but before he goes he sees Izzi. When he wakes, he hears someone crying. Tas says the soldiers call the prisoner the Artist. He draws on the walls with his own blood. The Artist speaks in his nightmares. He says a name: Laia.

Helene goes to Kauf with Faris and Avitas. They go to the cave and find his scims. Helene leaves Faris to watch the cave. Avitas says he isn't the Commandant's spy anymore. The Commandant ordered him to kill her once she got close to capturing Elias. He's been misinforming the Commandant for weeks.

Helene and Avitas meet the Warden that night. The Warden acts like he doesn't know where Elias is. He asks about the girl Elias is traveling with. Helene says her name is Laia and that her brother is in Kauf. She thinks Elias is trying to free him. Helene realizes the Warden has Elias.

Keenan and Laia approach Elias's cave. Inside, they find Elias's pack and scims. Rathana is only a week away. Elias should've broken Darin out by now. Helene, Faris, and Avitas catch them there.

Elias wants to get to Darin. Tas offers to help him. He says the Scholars in the pit have a rebel movement, the Skiritae. Elias doesn't want anyone else to get hurt because of him. He goes to the Waiting Place. Izzi is there. He helps her move on.

Elias attacks the Mask guarding his cell and takes his keys. He gets into Darin's cell. Darin says the Warden has been questioning him about Laia, not about the weapons. He asks what Darin told the Warden about Laia. He says things that Elias remembers Keenan saying to Laia while they were traveling together. Elias realizes that Keenan is working with the Warden. Keenan told the Warden he was coming. Masks come into Darin's cell, and Elias can't fight them. The Warden comes for Elias.

Laia says something to Helene about the army they saw in the Argent Hills. It reminds Helene about what Cook said about the Commandant planning something big. The Commandant has been amassing an army. Helene thinks Marcus wants to attack the Tribal lands or Marinn. A soldier from Kauf brings Helene a message from the Warden. It says the Commandant will arrive that evening. He tells Helene where and when he's going to meet the Commandant.

Helene and Avitas eavesdrop on the Commandant's conversation with the Warden. They're talking about the Nightbringer. The Commandant asks for the Warden's help. The Warden says the Commandant is carrying out her own will, not the Nightbringer's. She's jeopardizing everything they've worked for. The Commandant says her army will march on Antium in three days. That's when she'll claim her throne. Helene realizes the Commandant plans to kill Marcus and declare herself Empress.

Laia tells Keenan she isn't going to leave Elias in Kauf. He shoots down all of her plans. He steals Kauf uniforms and says he found a way into the prison. She wants to use her invisibility power, but he discourages her. They agree to make their move at dawn.

Elias agrees to answer the Warden's questions about Laia if the Warden will answer one question. Elias tells him everything. When he's done, Elias says that someone is pulling the Warden's strings. He asks who it is. The Warden says Elias should've asked “what,” not “who.”

Keenan's plan feels wrong to Laia. She says she won't leave Elias. She gives Keenan her mother's armlet. She says he deserves to know he isn't alone, that he's loved. Keenan transforms into the Nightbringer. Laia grabs the Nightbringer, furious, and goes into his mind. She sees the Nightbringer transforming into a boy, Keenan, sees her father going to him. Laia's family welcomes Keenan. He's obsessed with the armlet. After Laia's mother gives the armlet to Laia, the Nightbringer thinks he's failed. He betrays Laia's family to the Commandant. She wonders why he wanted the armlet. She sees the Forest of Dusk. There's an explosion. The Star – the Scholar weapon used to imprison the jinn – shatters, its pieces spread across the land and picked up by Scholars, Martials, and Tribesmen. The Nightbringer can't take the pieces back; they have to be given freely. She sees the Nightbringer transforming again and again to retrieve the lost shards. She sees him finding her. She feels his regret. He's haunted by what he's done. The Nightbringer forces her from his mind, then leaves.

Shaeva tells Elias he doesn't have much time left. Elias asks why the Nightbringer is interested in Laia. She says Laia has something the Nightbringer wants. Shaeva shows him that Keenan is the Nightbringer. Shaeva says anyone who has had a piece of the Star is protected from the Nightbringer. The Nightbringer can't kill Laia or Elias. He remembers touching the armlet. Shaeva says if the Nightbringer releases the jinn, they will annihilate the Scholars then turn on the rest of humanity. Shaeva leaves and Elias sees Tristas. Elias apologizes. Tristas forgives him, and moves on from the Waiting Place. When he wakes up, Elias knows how he's going to get Darin out, but he can't do it alone. He asks Tas for help.

Later, the Warden tells Helene that the Commandant will attack with or without his help. Helene says she'll stop the Commandant. She tells the Warden to give her Elias. The Warden wants to study Helene's healing power. He says he'll release Elias if she lets him study her. She realizes that bringing Elias to Marcus isn't the only way to show the Emperor's strength. Crushing the coup would work just as well. She decides to leave Elias in Kauf. She believes he'll be able to get himself out. She leaves with Avitas.

Laia still wants to save Darin and Elias. She goes to Helene for help with the layout of the prison and supplies. Helene agrees to help.

Laia finds that without the Nightbringer around, she can make herself invisible. Afya finds Laia in Elias's cave. She wants to help.

The soldiers moved Darin to another cell. Tas tells Elias where he is. Tas carries messages back and forth between Elias and Laia for a few days. They make a plan, which they carry out on Rathana. Tas causes a distraction and brings Elias keys. Elias gets out and frees Darin. A Mask knocks Darin out and Elias has to carry him. Elias feels his body failing. They come to a dead end, a locked door Elias can't open. Elias has a seizure. He wakes up in the Waiting Place.

Helene and Avitas make it to Antium. They go to Marcus. He's in the throne room with the leaders of the Illustrian Gens. Helene's family is there. She tells Marcus of the Commandant's planned coup. The Commandant says Helene made up the story to protect her family and Elias. The Commandant says Elias is in Kauf and that he's probably dead by now because he was poisoned. Avitas says the Commandant must've poisoned Elias with Nightweed because she knew it would take him a long time to die. She knew Helene would hunt him, and with Helene out of the way there would be no one to stop the coup. Marcus says Helene was ordered to bring Elias by Rathana or there would be an execution. Helene's family is seized.

Afya and Laia head toward Kauf. Afya goes to the boathouse. Laia makes herself invisible and goes into Kauf, sets up supplies to start a fire to make a distraction so Elias and the others can get out. Laia gets to the place where Elias was supposed to meet her, but he isn't there. She hears the Warden saying Kauf is under attack from the inside. The door to the interrogation sector is padlocked. Laia hacks at the lock with one of Elias's scims. She gets the lock off and the door open. There's a wall of flame on the other side.

Elias tells Shaeva he needs more time. He asks her why she was so interested in him. She hoped he would take her place as Soul Catcher. He remembers her talking about how she was made Soul Catcher. The Nightcatcher killed her, then brought her back and chained her to the Waiting Place. She's alive. He tells her to make him her successor, bring him back. She agrees to do it. She makes him a Soul Catcher. He goes back to his body the moment he died. The door he couldn't unlock before is open. He picks up Darin and he and Tas leave.

Marcus kills Helene's mother and her sister, Hannah. Marcus allows Helene to speak with her father before he executes him. Her father says Helene has to stay powerful and that millions of Martials are going to rely on her to keep the darkness of war at bay. He gives her the family ring and names her Mater of Gens Aquilla. Marcus kills him. Marcus says he's going to marry Livia, then he sends everyone out. Marcus tells Helene he knew about the Commandant's coup. He says if she hadn't talked about the coup in front of everyone, he wouldn't have had to kill her family.

Elias comes out of the door Laia opened with Darin and Tas. They get out of Kauf and into the prison yard where the Scholars have been rounded up. Tas gives Laia keys and goes to warn the Skiratae. Laia tries to unlock the pen the Scholars are in. The Warden catches her.

Elias sees the Warden dragging Laia away. He sends Tas to distract the Warden. Elias unlocks the pens. The Scholar rebels start fighting. Tas kills the Warden. Elias tells Tas to get the Scholars to the boats. When Laia, Elias, and Darin get to the boats, they're packed with Scholars. They move away from the prison, safe for now. Elias tells Laia about what he's become.

Helene has been helping Marcus hold power. Cook offers to help Helene take down the Commandant. Helene tells Cook to come back the next day to talk. Helene reads a letter from Marcus. He wants her to kill the Commandant. He threatens Livia. Helene summons Avitas to start planning the Commandant's assassination. She says they need to find Quin Veturius, Elias's grandfather. Avitas tells Helene why the Commandant kept an eye on him at Blackcliff, why she got him on the Black Guard. He says it's about Elias and their father. He and Elias are half-brothers. Avitas suspects the Commandant kept an eye on him because it was his father's last request. He was willing to spy on Helene for the Commandant because he wanted to learn more about Elias. His mother, Renatia, told him his father was kind. He never fit the Blackcliff mold. Avitas hopes Helene can use what he told her against the Commandant.

Helene goes to see Livia. Livia says Marcus hasn't hurt her. She's seen him talking to himself. She's noticed he only loses control when he talks about hurting Helene.

Laia and the others make it through the Forest of Dusk with Elias's protection. Darin still hasn't woken up since he was knocked out at Kauf. Araj, the leader of the Skiratae, is leaving with the Scholars. Laia is staying in a cabin near the forest with Darin. Afya is returning to her Tribe. When everyone else is gone, Elias keeps Laia company. He kisses her. Darin wakes up.

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