“So much for friendly intentions,” Ezo turned to glare at Kammon before he looked back at the Imperator. As much as he’d like to give Kammon a piece of his mind right now, he held it back. Kammon was tense beside him in ways Ezo hadn’t seen before.
Not when they’d gone into their first fight together, and not even when he found him in Tam’s Flat, hiding from him at the northern end of Distria.
“Kammon, it doesn’t have to become this,” Zera said. “We can forgive the trespasses of your partner for defending you when he didn’t understand the consequences. You know what you’re doing here, though.”
“He’s not War-Sworn. You have no right to him,” Ezo demanded. He didn’t know what Kammon’s history with Imperator Zera was, but she had no claim on him now.
The Imperator smiled at Ezo, but there was nothing warm in her demeanor. “Every elementalist that passes through these halls is ours to the last breath. Jacob knew that better than most. What was he teaching you?”
“Jacob taught him what it should mean to be an elementalist. Not the strings you attach to it here, Zera.”
“We aren’t the enemy, Kammon. You know what the enemy looks like.”
Kammon shook his head. “There is no such thing as an enemy you can see. That’s what your wars taught me. My enemies,” he sneered the word, “come out of the woodwork when I least expect it.”
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Ember landed on Ezo’s shoulder then, her claws pressed into his flesh like pinpricks of heat.
“Your effigy,” Zera gasped as she stared at the hawk on Ezo’s shoulder. Whatever else was happening, Ember’s reaction to Ezo shook her. Ezo reached his right hand up to Ember’s beak, lightly caressing her head with the back of his knuckles.
When he touched her, he felt a call from her, something cajoling him to act on Kammon’s behalf. And Ezo knew why. Kammon had spent years between the two Universities and then with the War-Sworn. Ezo couldn’t feel Kammon’s emotions, but he could tell his lover was hurting.
“She can be a bit cranky, but she can tell that I don’t mean to harm Kammon,” Ezo answered Zera’s unspoken question. “Perhaps she’d react fondly to you if she thought the same.”
Her eyes opened wider, and her fists clenched to white knuckles at her side. “You’re bonded to him.” It was an accusation, and she ignored Ezo completely as she took a step closer to Kammon. “Of all the choices you had-”
“Bonds aren’t made because you want to tie someone down,” Kammon cut her off. “Maybe if your concern had been about my health and not controlling me, you might have had a better chance.”
“Kammon, let’s get out of here.”
“Do you really think you can leave?” Zera demanded.
“Yes, we can,” Kammon answered.
Ezo stepped a little closer to Kammon, letting him know that no matter how he played it out, Ezo would follow his lead.
Imperator Zera changed tactics when she realized her threats wouldn’t work with Kammon. Her next words were pleading. “Kammon, don’t make us turn you into a war criminal.”
“You already did that when you sent me into the last battle,” Kammon countered. “I did as you asked for years. I took my oaths and fought your wars until I was soaked in ash and blood. It was only then that I learned to question. I can never make up for the deaths I caused, but I will never follow your orders again.”
“Not even with your bonded’s head on the line?”