Page 104 of Spark of the Everflame

These days, I was short on both wisdom and courage, so instead I spent my time keeping to myself and volunteering for all the patient visits that would keep me far, far away from the healers’ center.

Though Maura had banned me from the palace, she’d allowed me to continue serving the Descended of Lumnos City, and I’d taken to those visits with a newfound eagerness. The Guardians had politely declined my help on any more missions, with Vance encouraging me to focus on keeping my eyes and ears open while visiting patients at the Descended’s homes.

So I did, and though I had yet to discover information of any real worth, it had allowed me to fall into an easy pattern of deluding myself into thinking I was useful without taking any kind of risks that might jeopardize the lives of everyone around me.

Henri, on the other hand, had all but disappeared. He had been recruited for a highly secretive mission that kept him away at planning meetings nearly every night, and though I put up a half-hearted protest, to be honest, I was quietly grateful for the distance.

I still had not answered his marriage proposal, nor was I any closer to knowing if I was ready to take that step. I hadn’t even told anyone about it except for Teller, who had merely raised his eyebrows and told me rather cryptically, “Whatever makes you happy.”

As autumn gave way to winter, and the jewel-toned leaves of the Lumnos forests curled, withered, and absorbed into the cold-hardened soil, the frosty air carried with it a sense that something was coming. It was a quiet, dangerous thing, like the crackle in the air that warned of a lightning bolt preparing to strike.

Thevoiceinside me could sense it, too. It no longer slumbered—itwaited. I slept and woke to the endless hum of it in my ear. It had become so constant a presence I could almost ignore it completely. Almost.

But there were times when it grew so loud, so insistent with its calls tofight, that it became nearly all-consuming. It had always risen to life when I felt threatened—now a rarity, thanks to my ban from the palace—but I’d also come to realize that its steady chanting grew louder and wilder the closer I came to the palace.

It became so loud, in fact, that as I stood outside a patient’s palatial mansion in the heart of Lumnos City and gazed up at the palace’s sparkling pinnacles nearby, I didn’t even hear the sound of my name being called from across the street.

“Diem! Di-em!Diem?”

I snapped from my trance. A group of blue-eyed teenage girls strolled toward me, dressed in what I could only describe as the kind of outfits one might see at a traveling circus. There were outrageously large sleeves made of sheer chiffon, wide-legged pants of smooth silk that trailed five feet behind them as they walked, and bare skin galore. And color—so much color.

In Mortal City, school-aged girls were obsessed with propriety, clothed from neck to toe in drab fabrics and muted tones. The purpose, allegedly, was to convey that they were practical and selfless, uninterested in attention—the makings of an ideal wife and mother-to-be. Even a too-brightly dyed ribbon might be enough to send the town whispering about a girl’s poor virtue.

One look at the girls in front of me would have the gossips of Mortal City tittering into an early grave.

“Diem!”

One of the girls pushed her way through the throng—a beaming, bubbly brunette clad in shades of lavender and mint whose dark waves cascaded all the way to her hips.

It took me a moment to make the connection that the perky girl jogging toward me—in beaded satin slippers, no less—was the same girl I’d watched nearly bleed out on the palace floor.

“Oh—Lily. Uh, hi.” I gave her a short, awkward wave.

Gasps and murmurs erupted from the group behind her. More than one of them scoffed at me in disdain. Lily flashed me a brilliant smile, though I noted the strain in her features as she tried not to wince.

I had almost certainly broken some sacred Descended etiquette rule, but that had become such a constant state in recent weeks that I’d lost all ability to feel bad about it.

“I was hoping I might see you around somewhere,” she chirped. “I’ve been meaning to thank you for everything you did for me that day at the palace.”

My eyes darted between her and the whispering gaggle at her back. “That’s kind of you to say, but it was nothing, really.”

“It wasn’t nothing. You saved my life—I owe you everything.”

“Your healing powers did all the real work. I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”

Lily frowned, the expression looking unnatural on her. “It’s strange how quickly it worked. All of my injuries were healed before you even left the palace.”

“Is that unusual?”

“Very unusual. Small cuts heal quickly, but it usually takes at least a day for bigger injuries. Sometimes even a week.” Her head tilted inquisitively. “Maybe one of the medicines you gave me sped up the healing process?”

It was my turn to frown. “Only the silverworm for pain and an herb mix to slow the bleeding.”

We both stared at each other with matching looks of confusion as voices rang out behind her.

“Can we go yet?”

“Seriously!”

---