Heat of the Everflame (The Kindred’s Curse Saga #3)

Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

I awoke with a groan and a headache from hell.

My eyelids flickered open to a star-flecked midnight sky. The drooping eye of the pale crescent moon gazed down at me with bland curiosity, leaving me with the feeling she was distinctly unimpressed.

I reached to rub at the sore spot near my temple, but my arm could barely move. In fact, almost none of me could move.

The Guardians had chained me up again, this time in a broad, grassy meadow with a single tree at its center. The trunk was massive, at least three times the width of the tree I’d nearly uprooted before, with tangled roots as thick as my thigh. A pair of shackles had been added to my ankles, and several heavy new chains were latched to each set of cuffs with barely enough slack to allow me to sit up.

Even with my Descended strength, there would be no escaping this.

Though there wasn’t a soul in sight—including the Arboros Queen, I realized with sinking dread—I knew from the faint hum of voices and the smoky scent of a campfire that the Guardians weren’t far away, and I was all but certain the wall of trees circling the clearing concealed archers ready to take me down if I somehow managed to get free.

I managed to gingerly press a hand to the wound on my head and sucked in air as soreness lanced across my scalp. It hurt like mad, but the ache was dull and widespread, the swelling only mild. It felt like it had been healing for days rather than hours.

It seemed the flameroot hadn’t stopped my swift Descended healing. If I could avoid their godstone weapons, I might actually make it out of this place alive.

The sound of footsteps stole my attention. On the far side of the meadow, the lean form of a man emerged from the shadows.

My muscles tensed as his lanky silhouette sauntered closer. As my eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight, a gasp burst from my lips.

“Brecke?” I called out.

A cautious smile peeked through the overgrown mess of his beard. “You know, when I told Henri Albanon to make sure he held on to you, this wasn’t the method I had in mind.”

I choked out a laugh, the warmth in his tone having an unexpected impact. I hadn’t realized how much I needed to know there was at least one person here who wasn’t itching to kill me at the first opportunity.

He crouched in front of me and set down a tray with a bowl of stew and a mug full of steaming liquid. His hair had grown out, no longer shorn in the tight military style now that he’d abandoned his post as a bladesmith in the Emarion Army. It added a roughshod gravitas to his deceivingly youthful features.

His eyes rose to my Crown, its bright glow curiously unaffected by the flameroot. “Your situation has much changed since I last saw you, Diem Bellator.”

I smiled grimly and jostled the chains binding my arms. “In more ways than one.”

“I should have taken you up on the offer to test you for Descended skin when I met you in Fortos.”

“I didn’t know, Brecke. I swear it.”

“I know.” He sat on the patch of soil beside me. “I spoke to Henri just before the attack. He told me Auralie lied to you.”

I stiffened. “Henri was on the island?”

Brecke nodded. “He asked me to keep an eye on you once the attack began.”

Guilt weighed on my chest. I hadn’t given Henri much more than a passing thought since regaining consciousness. My thoughts had been focused on my mother—and on Luther.

“Did he...” I swallowed. “Is—is he...?”

“Alive and well.” Brecke gave me a bright smile, misreading my inner turmoil as mere concern. “He and the other Lumnos Guardians rushed home to avoid provoking suspicion. Only Vance stayed behind.”

I let out a long, relieved sigh. Though my complicated feelings for Henri had become painful in a way I was still coming to terms with, he was my oldest friend. His life would always be precious to me—even if, soon, he might not want me in it ever again.

Brecke’s grin widened. “I hear you two are getting married. A Descended Queen marrying a Guardian—that wedding will have one hell of a guest list.” He nudged my leg with his knee. “Think I’ll make the cut? I’m not above begging.”

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 Benette armory? 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 Coeur?le?” 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 is dead ,” 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 the voice silent, 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 feel something that 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. “What is your 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?”

He raised an eyebrow. “How did you know I quit?”

“Oh, the King of Fortos might have mentioned to me that you disappeared with a large shipment of weapons—right after I told him you were a ‘ good family friend. ’”

Brecke sucked in air between his teeth. “Oh. That’s bad.”

I gave him a wry smile. “I’m sure he and my mother are having a nice long chat about it in her prison cell as we speak.”

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

A long silence passed in the darkness as my heart strained against its own set of shackles. It was hard to reconcile my simmering anger at my mother with my desperate fear that I might not be able to free her before the Descended took their revenge.

“I have to save her, Brecke,” I whispered. I looked at him, my expression pleading. “I have to get her out of Fortos, and I have to get back to Lumnos before the Descended there go after the mortals. Help me. Please .”

“I wish I could, Diem, but it’s not my call. Now that I’m a wanted man in Fortos, the Arboros cell has been kind enough to take me in, but I have no authority here. You’ll have to trust in—”

“Cordellia and Vance,” I finished glumly. “Vance made it very clear he’s willing to sacrifice anyone to hurt the Descended. If my mother’s life depends on him, she’s as good as dead.”

“I’ll admit, Vance’s methods are... controversial. But Dell is a thoughtful leader, and a damn smart one. If she thinks this is the way to save Auralie, give her a chance.”

I hung my head, staring at the mass of thick chains leashing me in place while the people I loved were miles away, danger closing in on them from every side.

“Can you at least tell me what happened on the island?” I asked.

“When your mother went to Coeur?le, she was only able to smuggle in a few bombs. The plan was for her to place one on the north shore of the island as a diversion to attract the army boats so we could load in from Arboros in the south, then set off the rest at the Kindred’s Temple. We were able to get a small group of Guardians in just before the attack to help light the fuses, but—”

“How did you manage that?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not? I’m a Guardian, aren’t I?” I raised my shackled wrists. “I’m cooperating.”

Brecke threw me a sympathetic wince, but he didn’t offer more.

I thought back to the morning of the attack, when Luther and I had departed from the canal beneath the palace. I hadn’t mustered the courage to admit to him that I had given the Guardians access to the boat, but I had made him swear that he thoroughly checked it before we left.

But Luther had helped my mother spy on the late King—a mission for the Guardians, I now realized—and he’d helped her get to Coeur?le. He’d admitted to me before that he knew about the Guardians. Perhaps he’d even known my mother’s role among them.

Was it possible he was helping the Guardians, too? Gods... had he known about the attack, too?

A part of me wanted it to be true, if only because it might mean that he had avoided the violence, leaving him alive and safe.

But I knew Luther too well now. In my heart, I knew he wouldn’t condone such an attack—and he would never put me in harm’s way.

My chest squeezed painfully.

“Fine,” I muttered. “Continue.”

“We’d hoped the bombs might bring down the Temple, but we underestimated the strength of the godstone. The explosions didn’t even make a crack. Plan B was to take the stone at the center, but the Descended must have secured it in some way. It wouldn’t move, and it burned us when we tried to touch it. So we went with Plan C—commandeer the entire Temple. I wasn’t sure we’d really be able to do it, but the Descended can’t use their magic on the island, and they’re not used to relying on weapons alone. With our explosives and our godstone weapons, we had the upper hand.”

I shot him a hard look. “That won’t last forever. The Crowns will stop at nothing to take it back.”

His answering stare was grim. “I know. But if we can hold it long enough for their Forging spell to break down, they may get desperate enough to make a deal. And if we can figure out how to get that rock out of the Temple, we’ll have leverage even if they take back the island. They seem to care a great deal about protecting that stone, whatever it is.” He studied me carefully. “Do you know anything about it?”

I swallowed. The heartstone —the source of the Forging magic.

This is our most precious secret, the Sophos Crown had said, the truth that each of us guards with our lives. For if the heartstone is destroyed, so too shall our realms crumble and fall.

Controlling the heartstone could indeed be the key to changing the tides in the coming war—but I had learned my lesson about entrusting the Guardians with dangerous information.

“No,” I lied, covering my deceit with an irritated smirk. “The Crowns were just about to tell me all their dirty little secrets when a bomb interrupted us.”

Brecke gave a halfhearted laugh and shrugged. “Ah, well. It was damaged in the attack—the initial explosion split a crack right through it. We’ve planted a ring of bombs around it so we can threaten to blow it to pieces if they try to take back the island by force.”

What he didn’t know was that the Guardians’ bombs hadn’t cracked the heartstone. It was the drops of my blood that had spilled onto its surface during the Rite of Coronation, sending a bolt of lightning into the stone, a tremor rolling through the earth, and a look of pure fear striking across the faces of the Descended Crowns.

What would the Guardians do with me if they knew that?

“Were you there during the attack?” I asked.

“Only for part of it.”

“Did you see...” I paused to steady myself as my heart thundered in my chest. “Was there a Descended man there with long, dark hair and a scar down his face?”

Brecke frowned. “Was he one of the army soldiers?”

“No, he was my—”

I stopped short. I didn’t even really know what Luther was to me yet. I only knew that if he was gone, it would destroy me.

“He was waiting for me at the Lumnos port,” I said. “He would have run in to find me once the fighting began.”

Brecke shook his head. “After the explosions, it was chaos. There was smoke everywhere, it was impossible to see much. You were knocked out by the initial blast, and then your mother ran right into the midst of it and dragged you out. She told me if I didn’t get you off the island, she’d have my ass, and I know better than to ignore a threat from Auralie Bellator. I took you to Vance, and he and I got on a boat back to Arboros.”

I leaned back against the tree, the rough bark biting into my skin through the tattered remains of my thin silk gown. My eyes rose to the midnight moon watching over me in her silent, secret way. Was Luther out there somewhere, staring at her too, wondering where I was?

The thought of it was a balm on my soul. If he was out there, he would keep my brother safe, and he would do everything he could to save my mother, if only because he knew how much it would mean to me. And if the Twenty Houses did try to take their revenge on the mortals of Lumnos, I had faith Luther would put his own life on the line to stop them, just as I would.

I might be without any true allies in this Guardian camp, but I wasn’t alone in this war. That knowledge filled me with a quiet strength that I clung to as fiercely as I could.

“I’ll visit again when I can.” Brecke rose, nudging the forgotten tray of food with the toe of his boot. “You should eat.”

My stomach growled its agreement. I hadn’t eaten since the morning of the coronation—which, for all I knew, could have been a day ago or a week ago.

Could Descended die of hunger, or would my healing abilities keep me alive indefinitely? I added that question to the painfully long list of things I should know about my own body—but didn’t, thanks to my mother.

Brecke turned to walk away, and I called out to him. “The Arboros Queen... did the Guardians kill her?”

He glanced at me over his shoulder, his expression unusually solemn. “Forget you saw her here, Diem. Forget everything you see here.”

Without another word, he turned and walked away.

His answer hardly eased my concerns, but my stomach rumbled again and drew my attention back to the tray of food. I picked up the bowl of stew and raised it to my nose, inhaling deeply.

I stilled.

Buried deep beneath the delicious aromas of roasted meat and fragrant vegetables lay a faint trace of a too-familiar smell.

Citrus and smoke.

A small sip of the gravy and a whiff of the tea confirmed my suspicions. The Guardians had drugged it all with flameroot, intending to keep me weakened and powerless indefinitely.

I mimed eating for a few minutes, mindful of spying eyes in the surrounding forest. As I moved to place the dishes back on the tray, I pretended to clumsily drop the bowl and mug, then quickly concealed the spilled food with fallen leaves.

For the first time, a genuine smile spread across my face. Let them believe I was accepting their tainted food without complaint. Soon the flameroot would wear off, and my magic would return.

And when it did, there would be hell to pay.