Page 105 of Spark of the Everflame

“Come on Princess, it’s too cold out here.”

Lily gave me an exasperated smile and twisted to address her friends. “You ladies go on ahead, I’ll catch up in a minute.”

A svelte redhead tossed a mess of curls over her shoulder. “It’s the palace, Your Highness—they won’t let us in without you.”

“Just flirt with the guards like you always do, Roxie,” Lily answered.

The girl scowled as her friends giggled and bit their lips. The redhead turned in a huff, and the group continued on down the road, throwing me a few dubious looks before they finally disappeared around a corner.

“So why are you in Lumnos City?” Lily paused, then stiffened, her eyes going wide. “Not that you don’t belong here—I mean, of course you do. Anyone is welcome here—you don’t need a reason, I just—”

I raised a hand to put her out of her misery. “It’s alright, I understand. I just finished seeing a patient.”

“Oh. Right.” Her gaze drifted to the surrounding houses. “Which House was it? Maybe I know them. If they’re ill, I should send flowers, or perhaps a note, or—”

“I can’t say. Vow of confidentiality and all.” The words felt like poison on my tongue.

“Right, yes, of course. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t even have asked.”

She looked so mortified I couldn’t resist a reassuring smile. “How are your cousins, the ones who were also hurt that day?”

Her expression brightened. “Oh, they’re wonderful! All better now, thanks to you and your friends.” She reached out to touch my arm, then hesitated. “Teller always told me you were a gifted healer, but I didn’t quite understand until I saw you work. I was terribly frightened that day, but you were so kind to me and so easy to trust.”

I didn’t know what to say—thanking her seemed like a slap in the face, all things considered.

“My brother thinks so, too,” she added with the hint of a smile.

My eyes snapped up. “What?”

“He was impressed with you. That’s not an easy thing to do, you know. Luther doesn’t give out compliments very often. I mean, he does to me, of course, because I’m his sister, but to everyone else, he’s a bit... well, he’s notmean, really, he’s just very—”

“Compliments?” I cocked my head. “What kind of compliments?”

“Oh! Um, he said you were very impressive. And interesting. He kept asking me what I knew about you and what Teller had told me. And I think he went into Mortal City to find you, maybe. A few times, actually, but I suppose you weren’t there, because he—”

“What did you tell him?” I asked, my brows pulling together. If Luther was investigating me that deeply, I very much doubted it had anything to do with him beingimpressed.

She shrugged. “I said Teller always speaks very highly of you. He really admires you. Teller and I always talk about how fortunate we are to have older siblings that set a good example for us.”

The knife in my heart twisted a little deeper.

“He’s a good man, you know.” She looked at me expectantly, her eyes round and full of hope.

I gave her a weak smile. “I know. I’m lucky to have him, too. Teller’s a great brother to me.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean Teller. I mean, yes, he’s a good man—a great man—one of the best I know.” She laughed nervously, running her hands repeatedly through her hair as her cheeks blushed a soft pink. “He’s so kind, and really smart, and he doesn’t ever—um, never mind. I meant my brother. Luther. Um,PrinceLuther, I mean.He’sa good man.”

It took every last drop of self-control in my body to keep my face from reacting. “I’m sure he is.”

“I know he wasn’t very nice to you that day at the palace. It’s just that he was worried about me, and he felt so guilty about the children getting hurt. If someone he cares for is in danger, he goes a little...” She held her hands up like claws, then bared her teeth and growled.

I swallowed. “I thought Elric caused the accident.”

“He did. He didn’t mean to, of course—Elric is a nice guy too, by the way—but you knew that, right? Elric said he talked to you. He said you were also really nice, and—”

“Then why did Luther feel guilty?” I was probably violating another volume of royal etiquette rules by interrupting Lily every time her stream of consciousness took flight, but I had a feeling if I didn’t, we might be here until spring.

“Yes, right—Luther’s the High General of the Royal Guard, so he’s in charge of keeping everyone in the palace safe. If anyone gets hurt, he takes it personally, even if it’s their own fault.” Lily rolled her eyes. “One time, a couple of our cousins were playing and fell down some stairs. I don’t think Luther slept for a week. He kept stomping around and brooding.” She ground her jaw in an impressively spot-on impression of her brother, then covered her mouth and giggled. “He assigned guards to shadow every child in the palace for months until Uncle Ulther—um,KingUlther, I mean—told him to stop. Thank the Blessed Kindred for that!”

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