Page 183 of Glow of the Everflame

His face fell, his anger crumbling to dust. “Queenie,” he murmured. He reached for me, but I slipped out of his grip and walked away.

ChapterThirty-Six

The final House Reception had arrived.

Today, I would meet the last of the Twenty Houses—House Ghislaine, a small family with few members but, due to its shrewd dealings in gold, a staggering amount of wealth. I had expected the end of the meetings to bring a sense of relief, or at least some gloomy finality to my situation, but instead, I was more anxious than ever.

“Last one,” Eleanor sang, beaming at me as we walked to the meeting room. “And what a perfect House to end on. House Ghislaine never feuds withanyone.”

“Which means I’ll likely end this one with an actual blade in my chest,” I grumbled.

She grinned and patted my hand. “I think you truly are safe today. House Ghislaine is too vulnerable as the bottom House to stir up any trouble.”

In truth, with the Challenging two days away, it made little difference whether this meeting went exceptionally well or exceptionally awful. The Twenty Houses had laid out their demands, and I’d laid out my offers. Neither side had budged. Now I could only wait for my fate to unfold.

“Are we sure it’s safe to leave Lily and Teller unguarded while we’re all here together?” I asked.

Behind me, Taran let out a wordless grunt. I threw him a questioning glance, but he refused to meet my eyes. We hadn’t spoken since our argument the night before, which had made his assignment to shadow me particularly awkward.

“They’ll be safe in your chambers,” she assured me. “And they’re hardly unguarded. Perthe is with them, and half the Royal Guard is lined up outside your suite.”

“And they all answer to Remis,” I muttered.

“Only for a few more days,” she said happily.

I didn’t answer.

Taran finally spoke up, his tone curt. “Remis won’t hurt them. He has nothing to gain from it, and he knows Luther would kill him if he tried.”

Eleanor nodded. “They’ll be fine. Luther’s just being overprotective because it’s Lily.”

“He’s being overprotective because it’sDiem.”

I looked back at Taran again, and he shot me a loaded stare.

As we walked into the meeting room for the final time, Remis, Garath, and Aemonn were huddled together in a corner and talking in hushed but animated whispers. Alixe was already seated. Something about her wasoff. Though she normally shared Luther’s unflappable demeanor, today her features were strained with alarm.

She shot to her feet at the sight of me. As I started toward her, Aemonn smoothly stepped into my path.

“Your Majesty,” he crooned, leaning in to press a kiss to my cheek. “Congratulations on your final House Reception. It’s certainly been aninterestingprocess.” He winked, his azure eyes glittering with subtext.

I looked across his shoulder to where Taran and Alixe were now whispering. Aemonn shifted to block my view.

“It’s been too long since we’ve had a chance to talk,” he said. “I have so missed our conversations.”

“I’ve been busy.” A lie—I’d been anythingbutbusy, spending most of my days sulking alone in my rooms, but I’d lost my patience for the flirtation that time with Aemonn always involved.

He tilted his head at the snip in my tone. “I was hoping I could steal you away for a quick—”

“Diem,” Eleanor hissed. She had joined Taran and Alixe and was frantically waving me over.

“Um, please excuse me. I need to...” My voice trailed off as I tried to push past him.

His hand clamped around my upper arm and jerked me back into place.

I stared at him in shock. My muscles twitched with the urge to react, and I had to bite down to keep my training at bay and not send him face-first into the stone floor.

“I wasn’t quite finished,” he said with sickly sweetness.

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