Page 307 of Heat of the Everflame

“You said you’d only be gone a few minutes. It’s been half the afternoon.”

I shrugged. “I lost track of time at the stream.”

“You’re lying,” Luther ground out.

My mother nodded sharply. “Indeed, she is.”

I had to admit, I was enjoying the sight of them working together, even if it was to lecture me. “I took a short flight to get a look at our surroundings. I didn’t think you’d even notice I was gone.”

“You think I wouldn’t notice your aura disappearing, like you’d died at my side?” Luther snarled, his voice rising. “You think that wouldn’t pull me out of the deepest sleep and reach for you in a panic to make sure you’re alright?”

My pathetic heart swooned a little.

I walked forward and laid a hand on his arm. His muscles were fully taut, solid as steel beneath his skin. “I’m sorry I worried you,” I said gently. “I felt your magic come back, and I knew it wouldn’t stay long, so I had to act quickly.”

He eased slightly at my touch, though his scowl was still fierce. “You should have told me first.”

My mother looked between us, anger slowly turning into suspicion. “Why are you apologizing tohim?You took off and ran, Diem. I was terrified.”

“I wonder where she picked up her habit of disappearing on the people who love her with no explanation,” Luther said flatly.

My mother whirled on him. My mouth popped open as she jabbed her finger into his chest. “You stay out of this. You have no authority over what she does. She is aQueen.”

He squared his shoulders to her, towering over her tiny form. “A Queen whose Crown you do not even recognize.”

So much for them working together.

“She is my daughter,” my mother hissed.

“And she is my—” He stopped himself abruptly, his roar echoing off the stone. His jaw clenched and unclenched. “At least I have sworn her my oath. You and your rebels would die before you did the same.”

I cocked my head and shot her a look. He had a point.

She bristled. “What I think of her Crown is irrelevant. She and I are family. You are just her subject.”

“He isnotjust my subject,” I said, a bit too quickly. A bit too intensely. “He is my...” I shifted my weight, swallowing thickly. “...my closest advisor. It is his duty to speak his mind to me freely.”

I stole a glance at Luther. His expression slammed down behind the icy, unbothered veneer of the Prince, but not before I caught a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.

My stomach twisted with regret. I wasn’t ashamed of him, or of us, and I hated that he might think I was. Avoiding a fight with my mother wasn’t worth it if it came at his expense.

Luther had told me that I wasenough. He deserved to know that he was, too.

I drew in a long breath. “Mother, there’s something I—”

Sorae’s low rumble cut me off. The hair along her spine prickled. She turned to face a line of wild vegetation nearby, her wings puffing out to shield us behind them.

Luther nudged my mother into the back of the cave. He tried to do the same to me, but I resisted, craning my neck to see what had caught her notice.

Snow cascaded off the leafless branches of the shrubs as they jostled with movement. Sorae’s growl deepened, vibrating through the stone at my feet. Luther and I shared a somber glance.

“Who’s there?” I called out uneasily.

A group draped in dark cloaks, their hoods pulled low to conceal their faces, stepped forward into the open. Luther and I dipped beneath Sorae’s wing to stand at her shoulder.

“Show yourself,” I demanded.

The man at the center raised his chin. Red eyes gleamed from beneath his hood as he raised a crossbow loaded with a godstone-tipped arrow. “Hello again, Your Majesty.”

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