Page 11 of Heat of the Everflame

My forced smile must have looked as miserable as it felt. Brecke’s smirk abruptly dropped away.

“You are still betrothed, aren’t you?” he asked.

Henri’s last words to me floated into my thoughts—the note he’d arranged for his father to deliver on the eve of my Challenging.

Good luck tomorrow. I’ll see you soon. Remember, whatever it may look like, we are on the same side.

I hadn’t understood at the time, but now...

“Brecke,” I said slowly, “did Henri know Vance’s plan was to capture me and keep me as a prisoner?”

He shifted his weight, looking deeply uncomfortable. “Vance and Cordellia planned the attack. The rest of us just do as we’re told. We may not like the plan, but we—”

“Did he know?”

Brecke didn’t respond. That was answer enough.

“Unbelievable,” I growled.

“Oh, come on,” he teased, “what’s a little hostage-taking between future spouses?”

My jaw clenched.

He chuckled nervously. “It‘ll make a great story for the wedding toast. I’ll tell it myself, I—”

“There’s not going to be a wedding,” I snapped.

He frowned. “Don’t say that. I know you’re upset, but you two can work through this.”

I glanced off into the darkness, wishing I could slip into the foliage and disappear. I couldn’t tell Brecke the real truth—that Henri and I had been done long before the attack. And deep down, I think we’d both known it, even if neither of us had been able to admit it to the other.

Henri had chosen the Guardians over me, and I had chosen Luther over him. Though I would always care for him, some gulfs were too deep, too broad, too laden with sharp objects to overcome.

Brecke let out a heavy sigh, scratching at the back of his neck. “The life of a Guardian isn’t an easy one, you know. None of us want to keep secrets from the people we care about, but sometimes we have no choice. Some Guardians don’t even tell their own spouses what we do to protect them.”

I recoiled. “Protect them?Do you have any idea what the Lumnos Descended demanded for the attack on the Benettearmory? Punishing the Guardians wasn’t nearly enough. They wanted me to round up their friends and family and execute them just to send a message. And that was over a few carts of stolen weapons. What do you think they’ll expect now that you’ve taken Coeurîle?” I gave a bitter, humorless laugh. “Your secrets aren’t protecting anyone. Once this war starts, it won’t matter who is and isn’t a Guardian. No mortal will be safe from the violence.”

Brecke’s face paled, though an angry fire burned behind his gaze. “All the more reason our work is necessary. Henri is doing this for your future. That boy loves you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Love requires honesty, Brecke.”

“Your mother keeps it from your father. She made it clear to all of us that he is never to be told. Do you really believe she does not love him?”

“My father isdead,” I shouted, my voice echoing across the moonlit clearing. “He’s dead because of me. Because I was not prepared to be Queen. That chance was stolen from me by her lies.” I leaned forward, pulling the chains on my arms taut. “And thanks to the Guardians, she wasn’t even there to comfort her children as they mourned his death. So don’t you dare lecture me on my mother’s love—or her secrets.”

His face softened with pity. Normally, the sight of it would only further provoke me, but with the flameroot muffling my temper and rendering thevoicesilent, I found my rising emotions quickly giving way to a terrible numbness. It took me back to all those years as a teenager, being reckless and picking fights just to feelsomethingthat might cut through the scarlet fog.

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” he murmured. “Apologies. It wasn’t my place.”

I slumped back against the tree trunk, tired and empty. “Whatisyour place? What are you doing for the Guardians?”

“I used my position as Master Bladesmith in the army to redirect weapons to the rebels when I could. Often my orders to produce and ship weapons to certain areas would reveal the army’s movements, and I would pass that information to the Guardians so they could intercept the shipment or clear their people out before reinforcements arrived.”

“Sounds like a useful position.”

“It was.”

“So why did you quit?”

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