Page 234 of Heat of the Everflame

His face went pale. Impressively, he held his ground. “No, Your Majesty, I don’t. But if I let you in, the Regent will execute me. At least here, I’ll die in battle with honor, not with my head on a traitor’s pike.”

My mind cycled through all the ways I could do it. Tie them up with Arboros vines. Push them back with Meros wind. Trap them behind a line of Ignios fire.

I could let loose to make a point. Leave them humiliated—or worse.

But as fierce as my temper was, it had nothing on the ruthlessness of Remis and the Fortos King. If I embarrassed them, they’d take out their wounded pride on these guards.

And as much as I shouldn’t care one bit whether these Descended lived or died…godsdamnit,I did.

My jaw clenched hard enough to snap.

“Where is the Regent?” I demanded.

The guard slumped with palpable relief. “A meeting in the reception rooms, Your Majesty.”

I spun on my heel, storming back down the hall with Alixe close behind. As we passed a clump of Emarion Army soldiers, they snickered at each other and grinned.

I flicked my wrist.

Light exploded around me. Glowing tendrils speared through the soldiers’ shields as easily as paper, looping around their ankles and tossing them on their backs. The cords pulled taut as I walked away, tugging them behind me in a shouting, struggling heap.

“Take this as a warning,” I shouted over my shoulder. “My mercy has its limits.”

I let them drag a little longer before a twitch of my fingers dissolved my magic to mist.

I raised an eyebrow at Alixe. “Too much?”

“Arguably, not enough,” she said. “Mercy isn’t a familiar concept here. They’re going to think Remis has something over you.”

I sighed. “He does. He’s right about the coronation. The Guardians attacked before it was complete.”

She glowered. “If you were any other Crown, it wouldn’t matter. The other realms have no Challenging, so the new Crown reigns from the moment they’re selected. The coronation is just a formality to renew the Forging sp—” Her eyes went wide. “That’swhy our magic kept coming back. The Forging spell enforces the borders. If the rituals aren’t done promptly, it begins to break down.”

“That would explain why it’s getting worse over time,” I agreed.

“At least this means they’ll have to complete your coronation soon.”

I smiled grimly. “Unless they plan to kill me and coronate my successor instead.”

Chapter

Forty-Seven

It was easy enough to spot the room where Remis was meeting—a pack of twenty Royal Guards lined the corridor on both sides.

And the white rose insignia on half their uniforms told me exactly who he was meeting with.

One stepped forward with a hand raised to stop me. This time, I had no interest in wasting my breath. I flung out a web of shadows that tangled around the guards and trapped them in place.

My magic pulsed outward with enough force to slam open the heavy wooden door. Inside, Remis was seated with Aemonn and Aemonn’s father, Garath. Across from them, Marthe, the elderly matriarch of House Hanoverre, sat with her grandchildren, Jean and Iléana.

“Look at this,” I crooned. “A meeting of my most loyal subjects.”

“Just when I didn’t think this day could get any worse,” Garath muttered.

Aemonn—and Aemonn alone—stood. “Your Majesty,” he said, nodding.

Iléana snorted, glancing smugly at her brother Jean. “She’s notreallyQueen, Aemonn. You can stop kissing her ass.”

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