The tent flap hadn't even closed behind the last guard before Aiden's knees went.
He caught the center pole. Missed. Hit the ground on one knee, teeth locked, a sound coming out of him that wasn't quite a groan and wasn't quite anything else.
The fractures under his skin pulsed white — visible through his shirt at the collar, at the wrists. Two breach sealings in four hours and a council vote that had carved something out of his chest he hadn't named yet.
"Everyone out."
The Empress didn't raise her voice. She never did. But the two aides near the supply table were gone before Aiden could lift his head.
She crouched in front of him. Red eyes level with his. Her amber hair was still pinned from the council, a few strands loose at her jaw.
"Can you stand?"
"Yes."
He couldn't. She knew that. She took his arm anyway and helped him to the low cot against the far wall, and he didn't argue because arguing required breath and he didn't have any to spare.
