Page 29 of Glow of the Everflame

Words wouldn’t come. My mouth was dry as cotton, my throat full of cinders.

“Luther didn’t tell you any of this?” Aemonn frowned. “He’s not a very dutiful advisor.”

“He’s not my advisor,” I choked out. “He’s just my...” I stopped. I didn’t really knowwhathe was to me.

“Diem, look at me.” Aemonn’s fingers curled under my chin, tilting it upward. My eyes met his, and he rewarded me with a heart-stopping smile that dulled the edge of my panic. “It’s nothing to worry about. I can help you through it.” His thumb traced a slow line on my jaw as his gaze dropped to my mouth.

Drunken adrenaline bloomed through my chest, overwhelming my senses, and for a minute it was all I could do to keep breathing. Then a different, slimier emotion sliced through my thoughts—guilt.

“I’m with someone,” I blurted out, jerking away from Aemonn. “Not married, but... Henri—we—it’s, um, very serious.” It felt like a lie as it left my lips.

Aemonn stilled, his head angling a fraction of an inch. “Is he... mortal?”

I nodded.

“Hmm.” His gaze narrowed. “And precisely how serious are things with thisHenri?”

I frantically tried to cobble together a response that didn’t give me away entirely. Aemonn took a step closer, a feral cat slinking toward the cornered mouse, and the words burst out before I could stop them.

“He asked me to marry him. I... I haven’t answered him yet.”

I winced.

I should not have revealed that.

Really,reallyshould not have revealed that.

Aemonn studied me shrewdly. He was still wearing that dazzling smile, but it no longer met his calculating eyes.

“Well then,” he said evenly, “Henri will have to join us at the ball. The Houses of Lumnos will beveryeager to meet him.”

“No!” I shook my head, my heart hammering. “He won’t be attending.”

“Diem, whatever lucky man you marry will become King Consort. If you are betrothed, or expect to be, and the other Houses find out you concealed that from them, the consequences for the Challenging would be catastrophic. Every House in Lumnos would rise against you.”

Oh gods. This was bad. So very bad.

“May I be honest with you?” Aemonn’s expression lightened, his features trading their sharpness for a look of pity I wasn’t sure I believed. “I’m sure this Henri must be a wonderful man. But relationships between mortals and Descended...” He grimaced. “Mortals die so quickly and so easily, and of course the children are forbidden, and—”

I bristled. “You do realizeIam the child of a mortal?”

“And if you were not the Crown, you would be put to death as a result. Is that the life you want for your offspring?”

I flinched at his words. I wasn’t even sure I wanted children, but the idea of a child of my blood being executed merely because of its father...

I staggered a few steps back. “I need to go. I need to talk to Luther.”

I had no idea why I’d said it. Luther was the very last person in the world I wanted to discuss Henri with, and I was already cringing at the lecture he would surely give me for ignoring his advice.

“Luther?” Aemonn gave an incredulous laugh. He smoothed a hand over his hair, careful not to disturb his perfectly coiffed appearance. “Yes, perhaps you should,” he said coldly. “He knows best what becomes of half-breed children.”

I tensed. “What do you mean?”

“Diem darling, Luther is the Keeper of the Laws. It’s his job to enforce King Ulther’s rules.”

I shook my head, beginning to understand but refusing to believe. “En... enforce them?”

His smile turned cruel at last. “Who do you think carries out the executions of all those children on behalf of the Crown?”

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