POV: Lyra
Toby then groaned and said, "Lyra, I'm on your side. But he's your match. He should know. And besides, he might even love you more after I say this."
"I'm going to kill you for letting this slip, Toby!" I hissed, my skin flashing angry red.
"Yeah, I thought so. Sorry, Lyra." Toby said guiltily before looking at the confused Duke and Emperor as he started explaining, "Being the only one who can heal from plasma without bio-transfusion, Lyra always... shielded us from the blades. She'd... throw herself in front of those one or two Rogues if we don't manage to make them drop the weapons quickly enough. In this room, she'd shielded me," his eyes went around the room as he continued listing, "Tate, Juan, Sylvia, Zelena and Raden."
Orion's eyes pulled away from Toby when he was done. He looked at me and lifted my chin up gently to make my multifaceted eyes lock with his partially black ones as he asked in a low voice, "You did what?"
I shrugged and defended myself meekly, "We didn't have time. It was the safest way to keep the number of lives we have."
"What about your life?!" Orion asked in hushed anger.
I said softly, "Orion, I wasn't going to die. On the battlefield, I've always managed to get the blade out quickly. I've always healed."
Orion's eyes glistened despite his hardened expression as he sighed in frustration. He pressed me into his chest and kissed my hair as he uttered in a homicidal tone, "When we find out who's in charge, I'm going to shred him very slowly for making you do that."
Christian then asked, "Just out of curiosity, my Empress, how many times have you done it?"
I looked to the side from Orion's chest and said, "It doesn't really matter, Christian. It's in the pa—"
Juan then said, "Hale mentioned it was a hundred and two as of the last attack."
"Juan!" My eyes drilled into my sub-commander's as I exclaimed.
Orion held me tighter. His arms caged my body like he wanted to shield me from getting hurt. I returned my sights to him and said, "Orion, I'm all healed. I'm fine. Some of it wasn't even stabs, just minor scratches. In fact, some were so minor that I joined the battle again a minute later. The plan was always to stab them back with their own weapon after I got it."
Orion buried his face in my hair as he uttered, "It doesn't make it any less wrong. You shouldn't have to get hurt."
"Orion, I'm fine! Look at me! I'm fine!"
He let me part our bodies, and my heart ached at Orion's watered eyes. I cupped his cheeks and kissed his lips as I assured him, "Darling, everything turned out fine, okay? We have a lead now. Things are only going to get better from here. Let's just focus on the now, okay?"
He managed a small smile and kissed my forehead deeply before he uttered, "Okay."
I let out a sigh of relief, and Toby uttered the word 'control' in Raden's way with a cheeky smirk. I threw a sharp glare at Toby and Juan before declaring, "I'm not going to show you two any mercy at training tomorrow."
Juan scoffed, "When have you ever shown mercy at training, Lyra?"
Toby then spoke in mock ominousness, "Tate, I'd like you to terminate me now, please." Chuckles filled the room.
Tate smirked as he patted his Specialist on the shoulder. "No can do. I don't want to be the next one on the Empress's termination list."
Before I could say anything more, Orion lifted up my dainty hands and kissed my fingers sweetly before he said, "Easy now, star-heart. They were just enlightening us."
Christian added, "My Empress, the way you tried to keep that a secret is perplexing. I mean, it's a noble act. Scream it, talk about it, flaunt it for cosmos' sake! Why are you so reluctant to let us know about it?"
I rolled my eyes. "It was about keeping our friends alive, Christian. It was never about telling the galaxy. Besides, your cousin doesn't take stories of me getting hurt very well."
Orion kissed my temple as he uttered in his husky voice, "You haven't the faintest idea of how important you are to me, my love. Can you blame me for overreacting when you get hurt?"
I tried but failed to suppress a shy smile when the words he said and the tone he used touched my heart, making me give in as I uttered a soft, "No."
"Good that you know." Orion said. He returned his sights to the alliance and said, "Chief Dalloway will have the report prepared by the end of the day. Once he sends us the information that the rogue is now giving him, I'll forward them to the rest of you. Until then, I'm afraid we can't proceed further."
"T-Thank you, Your Eminence." Toby was the first to come out of the shock of being given a report that entities like the government only kept to themselves. Even allies had no right to demand such things, and now the Emperor was offering confidential information without any of them asking? Amazing!
After the rest thanked him, Orion shook his head slightly and said sincerely, "It's the least we can do after the sacrifices you've all made. Not just at that station but in every battle before that. Seeing that I have two very useless Defense Ministers," he threw Toby a smile before continuing, "I'll need all the help I can get from people who can actually help."
Zelena said, "It'll be an honor, Your Eminence." She then turned to her partner and squealed, "This is so exciting, I can't wait!" Zeke pressed back a smile and held her by her waist as he said, "Zel, we're in the presence of royalty. Let's keep it together, okay?"
Zelena narrowed her eyes and retorted, "Oh, please. It's not like the Emperor has been keeping it together whenever his eyes are on Lyra."
"Oh, cosmos." I muttered to myself as I buried my face in my hands in embarrassment. Orion smiled broadly as he gently took my hands into his to see my beautifully-blushed skin before kissing at the corner of my lip to affirm Zelena's remark.
Sylvia muttered to Lovelace, "Adorable, aren't they?"
Orion's eyes stayed on me as he answered Sylvia instead, "Yes, she is." I resorted to looking at the ground with flustered skin and a shy smile.