CHAPTER 10
605 Words
(Ember’s POV)
I wake to quiet.
Not peaceful quiet.
The kind that presses against your ears until you’re aware of every breath you take.
The chamber is dim, lit by runes etched into the walls—still glowing, but softer now, like they’re watching me instead of restraining me.
I shift slightly.
A sharp ache ripples through my chest.
“Don’t move.”
Magnus’s voice.
Close.
Too close.
I turn my head. He’s sitting beside the stone platform, elbows on his knees, eyes locked on me like I might vanish if he looks away for even a second.
“How long was I out?” I ask.
“Long enough for the snow to slow,” he replies.
I frown. “The storm?”
“It’s weakening.”
That feels… important. I don’t know why.
I push myself upright slowly. Magnus stands instantly, hands hovering near me but not touching.
“How do you feel?” he asks.
I test the air.
The walls.
My own heartbeat.
“I feel… heavier,” I admit. “Like something settled inside me.”
His jaw tightens. “That’s not unusual after an awakening surge.”
“Awakening,” I repeat quietly. “So it’s real. I wasn’t imagining it.”
“No,” he says. “You weren’t.”
I look up at him. “You knew this would happen.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“No.”
Anger flares—but it’s dull, tired, smothered by confusion.
“Why?” I ask.
Magnus exhales slowly. “Because once you know what you are, the world stops letting you be anything else.”
I don’t answer.
He steps back. Gives me space.
“There’s a Council meeting,” he says after a moment. “They demanded it after the flare.”
“Council?” My stomach twists. “They’re talking about me.”
“They’re talking around you,” he corrects. “I won’t let them decide anything without me.”
“That’s not comforting.”
A corner of his mouth lifts grimly. “It wasn’t meant to be.”
I swing my legs off the platform. The stone is cold beneath my bare feet.
“Do they know who I am?” I ask.
Magnus hesitates.
“They know what you might become.”
That’s worse.
Before I can respond, the chamber door opens.
Nora steps in, eyes sharp, expression tight.
“They’re ready,” she says. Then her gaze softens when it lands on me. “How’s our lightning strike?”
I manage a weak smile. “Still breathing.”
“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”
She turns to Magnus. “The Council wants her present.”
My heart skips. “What?”
Magnus’s voice hardens. “Absolutely not.”
“They’re insisting.”
“I don’t care.”
Nora sighs. “Magnus—”
“She’s not a symbol. She’s not a weapon.
She’s not a prophecy they get to debate like livestock.”
Silence stretches.
Then Nora looks at me. “Ember… what do you want?”
Every instinct screams to hide.
But hiding hasn’t saved me so far.
“I want to hear what they’re saying about me,” I say quietly. “Even if it hurts.”
Magnus’s eyes snap to mine. “Ember—”
“I won’t speak,” I add quickly. “I’ll just listen.”
He studies me for a long moment.
Then, reluctantly, he nods.
“Stay beside me,” he says. “The entire time.”
“I will.”
And somehow… I know that promise matters.
- Writer
