Page 49 of Heat of the Everflame

The thought of Luther and my mother working so closely provoked a web of conflicting emotions. I couldn’t resist a pang of jealousy that he knew a side of her I’d never seen. And what had she thought of him? What would she think of my decision to give him my heart?

“As I began to trust her, I gave her freedom to move around the palace unescorted. That turned out to be a mistake. She took advantage and spied on the family—including me. When I found out and confronted her, she told me she had overheard me admit I was a half-mortal in an argument with my father. She threatened to tell everyone the truth and have me executed if I got in her way.”

I swallowed hard. It was difficult to imagine the mother I knew spying on patients and threatening something so vicious. Then again, I was beginning to see that “the mother I knew” had only ever been half of the story.

“Wouldn’t King Ulther have pardoned you?” I asked.

His eyes wandered as his expression turned pensive. “Perhaps. I wonder, sometimes, if he knew the truth. If that wasn’t the very reason he made me Keeper of the Laws...” He went silent for a moment, then shook his head. “It didn’t matter. Even if he had, the Twenty Houses would have demanded someone else be put in charge of the half-mortal executions. I couldn’t risk that.”

He hesitated again. “And, to be honest, I didn’t entirely object to what your mother was doing. Under her leadership, the Guardians weren’t violent. They stole food from the palace we could afford to replace. They intercepted shipments of silks to the wealthiest houses, then ruined them to make a point. When a mortal was accused of frivolous charges, they often snuck them out of Lumnos before they could be caught. I couldn’t take issue with any of those acts.”

My heart wrenched. That was what I’d hoped for when I joined the Guardians, not Vance’s quest for violence. I wished so badly I could have joined under my mother’s leadership. Had she kept it from me to protect me because she knew I was Descended—or because she didn’t trust me?

Luther let out a long sigh. “I had been fighting in secret for so long, trying to use what influence I had to make a difference. Taran and Alixe knew some of it, but I kept them at a distance to protect them if I was caught. When I saw what your mother was doing, and how she wasn’t afraid to put herself at risk...”

“You weren’t alone anymore,” I finished.

He nodded. “So I gave in to her demands. Sometimes she would tell me what she was up to, other times she wouldn’t, like when she got your brother into the Descended school.”

“Did she ever mention me?”

“Only once. She said if I came anywhere near you, if I even looked into you or had you followed, she would have me destroyed. There were times when I knew her threats werebluster, but on this, I believed her. She took protecting you very seriously.”

“And you never wondered why?”

He hesitated, shoulders tensing. “It’s not... uncommon that Descended men and mortal women...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That is, as the presumed heir, sometimes... I found that some women... not thatyouwould ever, of course, but...”

I grinned. “You thought she was worried we might sleep together if we met?”

Faint color rose to his cheeks. Luther Corbois, the mighty and terrifying Prince of Lumnos, wasblushing. Overme.

“Gods forbid that ever happen,” I said, my smile growing as I snaked my arms around him and pressed my chest to his.

He grunted, then leaned in and kissed the curve of my neck. “You laugh now, but I might be a dead man when we get her out of that prison.”

If we get her out, I thought, my smile fading. Saving my mother from the wrath of the Crowns was a mountain even Luther Corbois might not be able to climb.

“How did you get her to the island?” I asked.

“The King was too sick to attend the Forging Day ritual, so the Crowns asked me to bring a vial of his blood. Your mother found out and demanded to come with me. She claimed there was a rare medicine only available on the island, and she wanted time to harvest a large supply. I hadn’t yet learned about flameroot, or I would have said no. She believed the King would die soon and planned to return at my coronation. I warned her there was no guarantee that would happen, but she was willing to take that risk.”

“So you had no idea what she and the Guardians planned to do?”

A shadow of hurt built in his eyes. “Many people were killed that day.Youcould have been killed. I would never contribute to that.”

I dipped my chin to hide my face and the shame it would reveal. The weight of this secret had been burying me alive for so long. Though I was anxious to be free of it, I feared what it might cost me.

“I did,” I said softly.

“You did what?”

I leaned away, feeling undeserving of his embrace. “I contributed. I helped them.”

A long, unbearable silence stretched on.

“You knew they were going to attack?”

“No, but...” I took a deep breath and forced myself to look at him. “I was a Guardian, Luther. I helped them gather information. They used it for the armory attack and—”

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