Ghost in the Surge chapters 25 & 26
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Chapter 25
She lowered her face and cried, and Martin’s arm closed around her shoulders.
Chapter 25 summary: Ark is obviously still fighting the undead with all of the other military folk. However, after a while, they start to be drawn towards the pyramid... but then they go still. And then they collapse. Claudia watches as the rift begins to close, and she worries for those who had gone through, but have yet to come out.
A figure falls out from the rift, and Kylon launches himself to catch her. They land roughly, but they're still alive, so that's good. However, the second that they're on the ground... here comes motherfucking Corbould, who is still somehow around even after all of that. Like read the goddamned room. The emperor orders Caina be arrested while they sort all of this out. Caina is only in shock following Corvalis's death, and clings to Martin for emotional support.
Chapter 26
“The world was almost destroyed yesterday,” said Alexius. “It would seem Caina Amalas saved it.”
“That may be true,” said Aeolus, “but it has no bearing on the governance of the Empire.”
The last time I checked, the empire was in the world.
“The barren girl who grew up, became a nightfighter...”
Why is her barren-ness a trait that's considered? He doesn't describe her by her hair color or the color of her skin either, but those are equally as useless traits here.
She bowed her head for a moment, and then told him.
Chapter 26 summary: We finally see the emperor for the first time in 9 books. His name is Alexius, but that's not important. He listens first to Corbould, and then the other circlemaster, before listening to all of Caina's friends, including Kylon.
Finally, he summons the surge to him. She says that she normally only meets people in the temple, but since it was destroyed... this is fine. She warns him that killing Caina will result in a bloody civil war, and that the empire will eventually fall. Tensions would rise and trust would be betrayed. He takes it into consideration.
And then he has a sit-down talk with Caina. He knows what actually happened, despite what Corbould or the circlemaster have to say. He also talks about Halfdan for a bit. He says that Halfdan had a winery, and he'd been there once. But the owner sold the then-prince and princess out, but the son had warned them and they got away. Years later, after Alexius had become emperor (and his sister had died), he went back to thank Halfdan for his help, and made him a ghost.
He then says that his hands are rather tied, politically. So he presents a couple of options to Caina, and tells her she must choose one. Death, since he can see it in her eyes how fucking exhausted she is with the death of her father-figure and then her lover. She can go live with Kylon and work for him. She can go live in another country but still work for the ghosts. She can fake her own death and leave everything she's known behind and start over with a small amount of money Alexius would give her. The chapter ends with her saying she'd chosen, but not what it is.