Page 139 of Glow of the Everflame

“You saw it at the funeral,” I protested. “My dress, and my skin—”

“Petty parlor tricks,” someone hissed near my shoulder.

“A trick of the sun,” another called out from my side.

Jean gave an exaggerated pout. “See what I mean? I told them it can’t possibly be true. You’re the Crown. Of course you have magic.”

“I do.”

“Because if you didn’t...” A whirlpool of shadows churned in his navy eyes. “A Crown without magic would make our realm vulnerable. It would put a target on us all. If the mortal filth didn’t attack, the other realms surely would.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered in a slow circle around me. I kept my face fixed ahead in a brazen—and perhaps foolish—signal that I considered him no threat.

“And in that unfortunate case,” he continued as he walked, “every House would be duty-bound to Challenge that Crown. It would be our responsibility to safeguard our people.”

I lifted my eyes to the ceiling and tried not to lose myself in fantasies of dragging House Hanoverre to the dungeonen masse.

“It’s a good thing, then, that your Queen has no such issue,” I drawled.

“Prove it,” a voice behind me sneered.

“Prove it,” another repeated.

“Prove it.”

“Prove it.”

The Hanoverres echoed the statement until it was nearly a chant, a hushed drumbeat that had Jean’s arrogance growing with every strike.

“You know how it is with rumors,” he said. “Eliminate them early, or they take on a life of their own.”

I shifted into his walking path, forcing him to a halt. “Perhaps I didn’t make it clear enough earlier to your family how willing I am toeliminateanyone who spreads lies about me.”

He shrugged, unmoved by my threat. “Then prove it’s a lie. Surely someone as powerful as a Crown should have no trouble giving us a display.”

“I don’t have to prove myself to anyone.”

“What are you afraid of, Diem?” he asked with mock innocence. “It’s just a little magic.”

I bit my tongue and said nothing.

“Come on,” he pushed. “Show us what you can do.”

He circled around me again, now no longer looking at me but at his kin. “Show us.”

“Show us,” another person echoed.

“Show us.”

“Show us.”

Nerves crept along my back as they penned me in, hungry wolves stalking a stray lamb.

I could do this. I could use my magic. I’d used it earlier tonight—I think. I wasn’t sure how, or what I’d actually accomplished, but I’d given in to thevoice. I just had to do it again.

I burrowed down into my soul as I searched for the godhood.

Come on, I pleaded.Come out and play.

---