Page 234 of Glow of the Everflame

I whipped around at the harsh snap of a masculine voice. The Crowns of Fortos, Arboros, and Faunos were standing behind me.

“I told you to stay on the path.” The Fortos King stormed over and grabbed my arm, swatting the crushed red petals from my hand and dragging me back to the trail. “Those flowers can’t be harvested without the permission of all nine Crowns.”

“I wasn’tharvestinganything,” I said archly. “I thought I heard voices, so I was investigating.”

“And you thought the flowers were speaking to you?” the Faunos Queen said with a laugh. “Perhaps you belong in Arboros rather than Lumnos.”

The Arboros Queen’s face turned thoughtful. She walked forward to kneel at a clump of wildflowers and graze her fingertips along their fluffy petals. “I would love to talk to these pretties. I imagine they’ve seen such fascinating things.”

“The plants speak to you?” I asked.

“Not in the way a human speaks. But every living thing has a story to tell, for those with the power to listen.”

The Faunos Queen murmured an agreement, and despite their earlier arguing, the two women shared a knowing look.

“Do the shadows not speak to you, Lumnos?” the Arboros Queen asked. “Does the light not have its own truth?”

The Fortos King pushed me forward. “I don’t have time for this. Let’s get to the Temple so I can return to my realm.”

I reluctantly obeyed. His ire radiated from him for the rest of the walk, leaving me stewing in its heat at his side.

I chewed on my lip. I needed to fix this and restart our interaction on the right foot. His army would be critical in defusing the war.

“Thank you for the gift you sent for my ball,” I chirped with forced enthusiasm. “It was a very fine blade.”

He grunted, his attention never leaving the Temple that loomed nearby.

“The craftmanship was quite impressive. Was it made by Brecke Holdern, by any chance?”

His gaze cut sharply to me. “How do you know him?”

“He’s a good family friend. He worked with my mother in the army.”

He swiveled to block my path. “Impossible. Brecke didn’t enlist until after your mother left.”

A sinking feeling pooled in my gut. Brecke had lied. But if he hadn’t met my mother in the army...

“My mistake,” I mumbled. “I... I must be misremembering.”

“Brecke disappeared from Fortos earlier this week, along with a very important stash of weapons.” His gaze narrowed as he leaned close. “I don’t supposeyouknow anything about that.”

“Obviously not.” I forced a haughty tone into my voice to mask my panic. There was only one reason for a mortal soldier to vanish with an arsenal of Descended weapons.

So much for restarting on the right foot.

The Arboros Queen slid a shoulder between the two of us, placing a delicate hand on the King’s chest. “Fortos, making accusations is not how we welcome a new Crown. The poor woman hasn’t even been coronated yet.”

His garnet eyes sparked with malice. “If she’s fraternizing with Guardians...”

“It sounds like you’ve beenfraternizingwith him, too. Shall we condemn you both?” He shot her a glare that would have decimated a lesser person. She pressed harder, forcing him to yield a step. “Let’s finish the Rite. Then we can discuss the matter with cooler heads.”

He held his fighting stance a moment longer, his eyes drilling into me in warning, then turned and stalked away.

“Thank you,” I breathed. “I had really hoped to get through this without any dramatics or fighting.”

The other two Queens shared a look and burst into laughter. “It’s a meeting of the Crowns, lamb. Dramatics and fighting are what we do best.”

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