Page 130 of Spark of the Everflame

He walked to the other edge of the bed and sat at the King’s side, laying a palm on his uncle’s chest and staring at him with a troubled look I couldn’t quite understand.

“Were you close?” I asked.

“That is... a difficult question to answer.”

His jaw locked up as his usual stony mask slammed into place across his features. Any other day, I might have given up, muttering beneath my breath at his rude method of ending conversations he disliked.

But today, the armor he wore seemed crafted of glass rather than steel. If I looked long enough, deep enough, focused my stare not on the illusory indifference he projected but the truth hiding in the shadows beneath...

I laid my hand on top of his where it rested over the King’s chest.

“Tell me,” I urged.

His fingers spread just enough to let mine fall between them, curled just enough that it might be less a touch than an embrace.

“My father and uncle were quite close,” he started slowly. “When Ulther became King, my father devoted himself to his reign. I was even named in Ulther’s honor. But then things... changed.” A crease carved into his brow. “My uncle took me under his wing from a very young age. He became more of a father to me than the man who sired me. That drove a wedge into our family, but it never kept Ulther away. He might have been the only person in the realm who had nothing to gain from me, and yet he showed me more kindness than any person ever has.”

Though his stoic veneer held firm, a heart-wrenching loneliness threaded through his voice. How isolating it must be, I realized, to be the heir, to always wonder if any relationship was genuine or simply someone positioning themselves for future gain.

“But?” I prodded.

“But... we did not always agree.”

I waited for him to continue, but this time, his words ran dry, tangled up in that turbulent, too-heavy expression. His thumb brushed across my hand, though his eyes were so distant, I wondered if he even realized he was doing it.

“When he dies, the Crown passes to you?” I asked.

His gaze rose to mine, a bit of the darkness clearing from his features. “It’s impossible to know.”

“But everyone thinks it’s you, don’t they? It goes to the most powerful, and you’re the most powerful?”

“Our power is not easily measurable.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m a powerless, insignificant mortal Luther, you can spare me the false modesty.”

He laughed again, his fingers tightening on mine. “Yes, it’s expected to pass to me.”

It wasn’t hard to imagine Luther stepping into his uncle’s opulent shoes. He already carried himself with the authority of a monarch, his imposing presence demanding obedience before he ever uttered a word. And he was certainly terrifying in his anger, when crossed. I couldn’t imagine many would be bold enough—or foolish enough—to risk provoking his wrath.

Present company excluded, of course.

But there was also kindness in him, loathe as I was to admit it. He’d never punished me for my defiance, and he treated the healers with more respect than any Descended ever had. He’d even offered to send assistance to the needy families of Mortal City—an offer I had rejected out of petty spite, I remembered with a flush of shame.

“And what kind of king do you intend to be?” I asked him. “A king like Ulther?”

His head tilted slightly. “Do you think him a bad king?”

I bit down hard on my tongue. Probably best not to launch into a tirade about the horrors of King Ulther’s policies to the man who’d just called him a father figure.

I shrugged. “I’m a powerless, insignificant mortal, remember? What do I know of the world of kings?”

“Tell me,” he said, echoing my earlier nudge.

His fingers knotted into mine, and this time, there was no question it was intentional.

“Be honest,” he said.

My sigh bordered on a groan. This was aterribleidea, the kind that very likely could get me killed. But there was such an honest interest in his eyes, a willingness to listen that felt born of true curiosity rather than accusation. And would I ever again have the ear of the future King of Lumnos?

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