More so because he was under a League death sentence.
As soon as they entered the throne room, Kindel cast her gaze around the enormous, gilded walls that were decorated with thousands of formal portraits of Bastien’s ancestors. “Uh … is it just me or was this too easy?”
Bastien let out an evil laugh. “Day’s not over, love. League will order me arrested as soon as this is reported, and Neville will report it immediately.”
“Then why are we here?” Cin asked, wide-eyed. “Shouldn’t we be fortifying our positions? Arming ourselves? Running?”
Bastien headed to the computer nearest him. “So that I can send this over the official network.…” He played the file he’d videoed of his brother’s outburst that showed Quin was alive and that Barnabas had been the one to orchestrate the murders of their family. “Once the Overseer sees that, she’ll open a formal inquiry. I should be absolved and my Ravin status removed. But only if Neville is dead.”
They heard shots fired.
Ember and her sisters drew their blasters.
Bastien didn’t.
“What was that?” Brand asked after a few minutes when no one came to arrest them.
“Neville being the idiot. So we no longer have to worry about him testifying.”
A few minutes later, a guard came and verified that indeed, Neville had fought against them and had been shot and killed.
“Does this mean we’re good?” Ember asked hopefully.
“We’re good,” Bastien lied. He still had doubts, but he wasn’t about to let her know that. Not until he had his son’s future secured, and Xander’s.
And most of all, Ember’s.
One thing was certain. He’d either won a throne today.
Or ended his life.
Yeah, his father had been right. He was forever a reckless gambler with one foot in the grave. But as he looked to Ember, he knew that she was his one anchor in life. And that whenever those suicidal tendencies kicked in, she was the only force in the universe capable of pulling him back from it.
She was and would always be his lifeline.
EPILOGUE
In full emperor’s robes, Bastien entered the throne room with Ember by his side. This was the day they’d been waiting for and dreading.
Kyr Zemin, the League prime commander, stood there, waiting with his crew and the Overseer.
Ember’s hand trembled in his, but she showed no other sign of her nervousness.
And Bastien showed no emotions whatsoever as he met Alia’s cold gaze.
“Well?” he prompted.
“You kept your word,” Alia said with a light note in her voice. “I will give you that.”
Bastien didn’t find any humor in her words. “And how do you find now, Overseer?”
“Everything you said has been proven. I’ve ordered Prime Commander Zemin to remove your name as a Ravin. You’re free, Emperor. Congratulations.”
Congratulations? Was she fucking kidding, after everything they’d put him through?
He wanted to bury the axe in her skull.
But he caught himself and, as he’d promised Ember, he inclined his respectfully head to the Overseer, even though it galled him through and through. “Thank you, my lady.”
Kyr stepped forward. “Now that you’ve been exonerated of killing your family, I’m here to accept your loyalty oath to The League and the United Systems.”
Yeah, right.
Bastien sucked his breath in sharply. “Mmm … sorry, Kyr. ’Fraid I can’t do that, punkin.”
His jaw went slack and the scar around his eyepatch turned whiter. “Pardon?”
Bastien moved to shield Ember with his body and pulled his blaster on Kyr. “Consider yourself arrested by order of the Alliance.”
Kyr’s one eye flared. He lunged at Bastien, but Bastien caught him and countered the strike. It took him several minutes, but he finally subdued the prime commander and cuffed him.
“This war ends. Today. I’ve buried enough people I love. I’m not burying any more.”
Kyr laughed. “You’ve no idea what you’re doing, Cabarro. You’ve just made the worst mistake of your life.”
“No. I just ended a war that never should have started.” He shoved Kyr into the hands of his guards. “Take him to lockup while I call Nykyrian Quiakides to let him know we have Kyr waiting for him.”
Alia went pale. “What of me?”
“That’s for the Alliance to decide.… I hope your son has more mercy on you than you had on him when he stood before your judgement.” Bastien jerked his chin at his captain. “Take her.”
Ember didn’t breathe until they were gone. “I can’t believe that worked.”
“I told you it would. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a call to make.”
Ember bit her lip as she watched her gorgeous husband head for his war room. She still couldn’t believe the last few weeks. So much had happened that it all seemed like a dream most days.
“Al?dara?”
She turned at the hesitant sound of her secretary’s voice. “Yes?”