The wedding ceremony was outside. Ember sat near the front and I, reluctantly sat beside him. Romina wasn't tall enough for her feet to reach the ground in her chair, so her legs swung the entire service as she excitedly watched her older sister marry into the Trapedz family.

During the service, I continually caught glances of the peculiar family. They continued to make strange gestures and at one point, they jumped out of their seats. No one seemed to think that their behavior was strange. I had only ever been to one wedding, and I was too young to remember it.

The row behind us was full of soldiers, dressed well, but ever at the ready. Ember was not playing games with Romina's safety. She would have a full battalion following her every move for the rest of her life. She seemed okay with it, but I couldn't imagine.

Iric sat to Romina's left. While he was at the palace, he took over her guard—it seemed that Ember's list of trusted individuals was small. I made a mental note to talk to Iric later. He branded himself as the one who called Ember on his mistakes, and I intended to take him up on that.

The air smelled of roses. The crowd was divided into two with an aisle down the middle. White roses littered the ground and bundles adorned every available space. It was beautiful.

I kept my eyes trained on the ground in front of me for most of the service, terrified that I would catch eyes with one of the southerners. I had no way of telling who people were unless I could hear their accent. Some, like, Vincent, may have not have an accent.

Everyone stood at some point, and I realized that Ukina and Becker were already gone. Ember seemed content to survey the area cautiously as everyone exited to walk into the castle. We stayed back until Romina complained to Ember. Then, we moved inside.

"Our table is near the front," Ember noted. "Not Ukina's table. Now she is a Trapedz and the Trapedz do not take kindly to humans. Nor other overlords." I nodded as we made our way to seats. We were at the edge of the room and Ember sat with his back to Ukina's table. He turned his chair slightly so he had a casual view of the entire room.

I sat next to him, turning my chair so I could look at others in the room. Ember frowned and turned my chair, so my back was to the room.

"I'd rather no one know how beautiful you are," he said lowly. "It would make my job much more difficult."

I nodded, still torn between being furious at him and finding his affection sweet. I landed on quietly annoyed.

Romina sat beside Ember on the other side, giving her a full gaze of the room. She was the furthest in the corner, which meant anyone would need to go through either Ember or Iric to get to her. Smart.

A soup was placed in front of us, and we began to eat. The conversation in the room was loud and boisterous, which made me grateful that our table was quieter. Romina chattered away about how beautiful the flowers were. She kept looking over at Ukina, who was engaged in discussion at the Trapedz table.

"Do you think I could say hi to Ukina?" Romina asked Ember. Ember tensed.

"Of course," he finally said. "Let's go."

They got up from the table and walked over to Ukina's table, where the Trapedz had frozen, as if shocked by Ember's and Romina's appearance.

"Iric," I said softly. "Can we talk about Em—"

"Naomi, I wasn't expecting to see you here." I whirled, heart pounding. Then I saw Nobel. I left out a controlled breath. "How are you?" he asked politely.

"Well," I replied. "And you?" I returned.

He nodded, smiling. "I caught sight of a woman from a table away and was intrigued by a beautiful lady hanging out with Ember," he joked. "A personal Slate is far more understandable." His eyes landed on my Oxblood dress. "Unless..."

"Just a Slate. An undercover one," I said before I realized that I may have shared too much. "Nothing intrigues men like mystery," I covered.

Nobel laughed. "Of course. Well, if Ember unties the leash from around your neck for a song, I would love to invite you to it."

I blinked, confused by his leash comment and realizing that I had no idea how to dance. I opened my mouth. "A leash would protect me from falling on my face. I will admit my upbringing excluded the finer...skills."

He smiled. "Well, perhaps I could teach you one day," he mused. I bit my lip and nodded, a bit shocked by his forwardness. He nodded and turned away.

Iric met my eyes. "What just happened?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"I am not sure."

Ember and Romina returned to their seats, and Ember's eyes locked onto mine. "What did he want?" he gritted out.

"A dance," I said simply. "I told him I can't dance."

Ember nodded slowly.

I evaluated his response. "I thought you two were on good grounds."

He nodded slowly. "We were. These past few days have revealed some less desirable traits," he said vaguely.

I nodded. "May I excuse myself for a few minutes?" I asked.

Ember nodded and gestured for a guard to accompany me. I tensed and rose, quickly healing Ember, who nodded his thanks. I turned and saw that Nobel was examining me. He met my eyes and nodded quickly.

I wove my way through several tables and exited to the washroom.

When I returned, I paused outside the dining room. My head was pounding. I shook it off as the guard pulled open the door.

In a flash, a man at a table in front of us stood and pulled a bow from under the table. A woman at a nearby table screamed and the man racked the bow quicker than I thought possible. He pulled back and the arrow burst into flame as his magestone lit Oxblood. He let go and the arrow flew forward.

Someone screamed.

The guard threw me backward where I hit the side of the closing door. He jumped in front of me and leapt at the man with the bow, knocking him down and into the table.

I looked up and saw someone standing at our table, a burning arrow in his back. The world froze. Not Ember. Not Ember.

I sprinted toward the table as several Slates ran forward. I shoved the crowd, some of whom were rushing to exit. Others were peeking to get a view of the dying man.

Not Ember. Not Ember.

A burning arrow was a death sentence. The wood would be strong enough to pierce someone but would quickly dissolve into ash. Those who didn't bleed out died from infection from within.

Not Ember. Not Ember. A crowd had formed, choking my view. I shoved someone hard, and they shoved me back. I didn't care. I eyed a chair and stepped on it, jumping on top of a table. I didn't care how I looked. I needed to see.

Ember was holding the man on the ground face down and several Slates had their hands on them.

"Back up!" Ember shouted. "Back up!"

No one moved. Ember lit a flame, and the crowd began backing up, still craning their necks.

"Let a man die in fuggin' peace!" the Slate who was leaning down next to him said.

My heart dropped. I glanced back and saw that several guards were tying up the man who had shot. A few guests were yelling slurs. He was a southerner, I realized.

I jumped off the table and lurched forward and fell on knees in front of the man. Ember met my eyes and looked relieved.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded.

The Slate flipped the man over. He had blood running out of his mouth and he stared at the ceiling with glassy eyes. My heart dropped when my eyes locked onto his big, brown eyes. His chin had grown sharper, and his hair was darker.

"Anthony?"