Page 84 of Glow of the Everflame

I rose unsteadily with a thick swallow. Luther hadn’t mentioned this part in his preview. I searched for him, finding him standing near the podium wearing a troubled expression that did nothing to ease my nerves.

“Your Majesty?” Remis called out, stretching his hand further.

Slowly, I walked toward him and set my palm in his. My wrist throbbed at the reminder of our bonded bargain, its significance feeling far heavier after hearing the story of Ulther’s mate.

“What is this?” I asked. “I thought my part was complete.”

Garath stepped up to my other side. “Lighting the King’s pyre is the highest honor. As Ulther’s older brother, the task was mine to take, but...” He gave me a serpentine smile. “Consider it a gift, from me to my new Queen.”

Alarm bells blared in my head. The task sounded easy enough, but something in the smugness of his voice sent a chill skittering down my neck.

Perhaps he only wanted to put my black dress on display again to make a spectacle of my ignorance. If that was the case, I was determined to show him that it would take a lot more than that to break my spirit.

I pulled my shoulders back and beamed at him. “How very thoughtful,Uncle,” I crooned, taking a little too much pleasure in how his teeth clenched at the word. “I assure you, I’ll find a way to repay the favor.”

Remis led me down the steps to the arena floor, Garath and Luther following at our backs. We circled the pyre halfway until we were facing the royal box. I glanced around for a torch or some other bit of fire to cast the initial flame but found nothing. I frowned at Remis. “What am I to use to light the pyre?”

“Your magic, Your Majesty.”

I stiffened. “My magic?”

“There’s dry kindling all around the pyre. A spark of light should set it alight easily enough.”

My breathing sped up. “I don’t—I mean, I... can’t I use a normal flame?” I stammered.

“My son led me to believe you have both light and shadow magic,” Remis said, frowning.

“She does,” Luther cut in. His eyes flared wide with some attempt to convey a silent message, but my mind was too panicked to decipher it.

“Yes, my nephew simplyravedabout your magnificent power,” Garath purred, delighted at my distress. “He gave us quite a detailed description, but we’re all eager to witness such an impressive display for ourselves.”

I shot Luther a look of betrayal and watched as surprise, then doubt, flickered over his face. The strength of my magic was hardly a secret—I wouldn’t have inherited the Crown without it—but that moment in the dungeon had felt like something intimate, something that belonged only to us. I hadn’t even told Teller the details.

“Perhaps this is a mistake,” Luther said slowly. “If the crowd only sees her magic used for a small gesture, they may misunderstand and believe her weak.”

Garath shrugged. “Then she’ll just have to put on a show for them, won’t she?”

Luther started to protest, and Remis cut in. “Garath has a point. A significant display of power here would go a long way in preventing a Challenge, especially after—” He grimaced at my dress. “—this. If we can’t convince them to trust you, we can at least make them fear you.”

His ominous words called to mind the bloody lengths he and Garath had gone to defeat their brother’s enemies and show his strength before Ulther’s Challenging. I very much doubted they would be willing to do the same for me—but I wasn’t certain, and that alone was enough to unsettle me.

“Go on, Your Majesty,” Garath drawled. “Show us what you’re capable of.”

“I’m not as well-trained as the three of you,” I argued. “What if I hurt someone?”

“The arena has a magical barrier protecting the crowd,” Remis said. He gave me a wary once-over. “Perhaps the three of us should retire behind the shield. Just in case.”

He bowed and turned to the stairs, and Garath followed him with a final poisonous smile in my direction.

Luther reached to take my hand. I retreated a step, my heart still stinging from his disclosure.

His brow furrowed. “You can do this. Just do the same thing you did in the dungeon.”

“I don’t even know how I did it then.”

“You struggled to use your magic that night because you didn’twantto use it. You didn’t want to accept what you are. Once you embrace it instead of fighting it, the godhood will answer your call. There won’t be a single soul in Lumnos who would dare Challenge you then.”

His eyes burned into mine with such ferocity that my breath stilled in anticipation. He cautiously stepped closer, and this time, I didn’t pull away.

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