Page 152 of Heat of the Everflame

I blinked. “He’s not?”

He raked a hand through his hair, his eyes darting everywhere but at me. “He said he was going to bed. Asked me to, um, fill him in tomorrow.”

I stared at him, mouth ajar, as the air thickened with awkward tension.

“I’m sure he’s just resting,” Alixe said gently. “He was fighting hard to break the Centenaries’ control and get to you. It looked like it took a lot out of him.”

I wasn’t so convinced it was a lack of energy keeping him away.

I manufactured a painfully bright smile. “Right. It’s just us for dinner, then. Let’s eat.” I took a seat and the others followed, all of us stretching to load our plates with the generous spread.

I glanced at Zalaric as I filled my glass. “Tell me, what is the Queen like?”

“Unpredictable. I’ve seen her kill entire families for a small discrepancy, and I’ve seen her let severe crimes go because she was having a good hair day. With her, you never know what to expect, but it’s best never to find out.”

“Is that why you told her about us, because you feared her?”

Though Taran dug into his food like it was his only interest, I spied him watching Zalaric intently from the corner of his eyes.

“After you all returned to the inn this afternoon, a Centenary stopped me to chat. I pay a lot of money to avoid their attention, so I knew something wasn’t right. I suspected the Queen already knew you were in Umbros, and she was testing me to see where my loyalties would lie.”

“And now we know,” Taran grumbled.

“If I hadn’t told her, she would have taken it from my head anyway,” Zalaric snapped. “Then I’d be dead like my friend, instead of here helping you.”

“The Cardinal isn’t dead,” I said.

His eyes shot to me. “She isn’t?”

I smoothed the napkin in my lap to avoid their stares. “She wasn’t hurt as badly as it seemed. I told her to play dead, then I distracted Symond to get us out before they noticed.”

Alixe tilted her head. “Are you sure? When I saw you helping her, she looked nearly gone.”

“I’m sure.”

I pushed some food around on my plate, feeling guilty for lying after promising them honesty, but the truth... the truth was more than even I could handle. I needed time to think through what this new revelation meant for me before I could share it with anyone else.

“Thank you,” Zalaric said quietly. “I knew what you did with Symond was an act, but I didn’t realize why. Jemmina is a good person. I...weowe you a debt.”

“No, you don’t. My presence put her life at risk, so it was mine to protect. Besides... at leastyouknew I wasn’t really flirting.” I shot Taran a pointed look. He glowered and flicked a roasted beet at me.

“Do you have any idea why the Queen asked us to stay?” Alixe asked Zalaric.

He gazed off thoughtfully. “I have wondered if, perhaps, she is scared of Diem.”

I laughed, though no one joined me. “Scared of me?Why?”

“Because of the strength of your magic.”

“Mymagic? Did you feel hers?” I shook my head incredulously. “Surely not. At best, we’re equally matched.”

Zalaric’s eyebrows leapt. Alixe coughed on a sip of her drink. Taran rolled his eyes.

“Do you not remember the Challenging?” he asked. “You put thousands of people in a chokehold, Queenie. At the same time. Youturned day into night.”

“Those were tricks of light,” I argued.

“You shattered the arena barrier,” Alixe said. “That’s Forging magic—it’s supposed to be unbreakable, even by the Crowns.”

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