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

Chapter 28

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

“ T he market in the main hall is mostly overpriced junk to make an easy coin off casual travelers,” Zalaric explained as we walked. “The real show is hidden in the lower levels like these.”

We were on hour three of Zalaric’s grand tour of Umbros City, having already spent the morning wandering through the luxurious gowns of the cloth market, the fragrant aromas of the spice market, and, to my delight, the book market. They nearly had to physically restrain me from buying every book on mortal history—which, I was relieved to discover, were plentiful. I’d reluctantly sulked away with a silent vow to establish a mortal library back home and enlist Zalaric’s help to fill it.

Though all the markets had been filled with treasures of the most unexpected sort, strolling into the gem market was like stepping into a different world.

My eyes bulged at the opulence on display—rubies as large as my fist, platinum filigree resembling shimmering lace, and brightly colored stones emanating with their own internal light. I thought I’d seen the ultimate extravagance on the Descended at my Ascension Ball, but the baubles here put even the Twenty Houses to shame.

“Who can afford this?” I asked breathlessly.

“Royals, mostly,” Zalaric answered. “Many of the dealers here work directly with the Crowns.”

Alixe nodded. “King Ulther sent guards to pick up shipments here often. I heard he practically emptied the market out in preparation for his mating ceremony.”

Zalaric gave me a probing glance. “I’m sure your new Queen has her fair share of shiny objects.”

I absently touched my throat, thinking of the only jewelry I owned—the pendant Luther had given me at my Challenging. I’d opted not to wear it to my Rite of Coronation, aiming to look humble for my first meeting with the other Crowns. Though that had been a fortuitous choice—it surely would have been stolen or destroyed by the Guardians—I longed to return home and secure it back on my neck.

“She has what she needs,” I answered.

Alixe nudged my arm. “We could take a gift back to her, if you see anything she would like.”

I tried to wrap my head around any of the pieces belonging to me. Growing up, even if I could have afforded jewelry, wearing it would have only made me a target in the alleys of Mortal City.

But now I was Queen of a realm. And not just any realm—Lumnos, where beauty and extravagance were currency. Soaking myself in rare stones and precious metals was practically in the job description.

My eyes hooked on a stunning collar of black pearls studded with pale sapphires. I reached for it, then hesitated, flushing and feeling oddly unworthy.

“Try it on,” Zalaric urged. “I know the vendor, she won’t mind.” He lifted it from its black velvet pillow. “Come, there’s a mirror over here.”

The breath tore from my lungs as I spied my reflection. Staring back at me was a wholly unfamiliar face, courtesy of Zalaric’s illusions. The woman in the mirror was much older, refined, with a voluptuous figure and a stick-straight emerald bob. A smoke-hued gown that matched my eyes—my real eyes, not the navy ones he’d given her—draped over her curves and pooled at the floor.

I had to glance down at my body and my plain, rumpled clothes just to confirm I hadn’t actually transformed. Zalaric secured the collar at my neck, then took me by the waist and spun me around.

I looked over my shoulder and gasped. The rear of the necklace cascaded into a low point that dripped down my back. In the dim light of the caves, the pearls nearly disappeared against my gown’s dark fabric, making the scattered blue gemstones look like a cape of falling rain.

“It’s breathtaking,” I gushed. I moved and the strands swayed, setting off the fiery sparkle of the sapphires. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It was made for you,” Zalaric said. “Would you like me to negotiate the price on your behalf?”

His face lit up with the prospect of whatever enormous commission I was sure he would tack on—but that wasn’t what held me back.

“I—I can’t. I’m not...” I shook my head. “Whatever it costs, I’m sure I don’t have enough.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do,” Taran deadpanned over his shoulder from a nearby booth, where he was admiring golden arm cuffs that looked suspiciously similar to the ones Zalaric had worn yesterday.

“You can always charge it to House Corbois’s account,” Alixe offered.

Zalaric’s smile pulled tighter. “Indeed. The Lumnos royals keep an open tab in the markets at all times.”

A part of me deeply, deeply wanted to say yes. I’d never known the thrill of buying something impractical just because it was pretty. Perhaps it made me frivolous to want that, but why shouldn’t I? Didn’t everyone deserve to feel beautiful?

“No. I can’t.” I pulled the collar off before my resolve buckled. “I need to save my money for other things.”

Like a war.

Zalaric’s brows lifted. “Interesting. I’ve never heard a royal talk about saving money before.”

I tensed, remembering the part I was supposed to be playing. A real Corbois would have bought it without a second thought, wouldn’t they?

“She’s very frugal,” Alixe jumped in. “Always has been, ever since she was a little girl.”

I nodded vigorously.

Zalaric pursed his lips. He took the collar and stared at it, running a thumb over the sapphires, then looked up at me. “I don’t think I noticed until now, but your eyes are not quite blue, are they?”

“They were,” I rushed out. “Born brown—I mean blue. Lost the color in a childhood illness.”

He angled his head. “Interesting.”

I cringed at my mistake. I’d repeated the same excuse so many times, the words had become a reflex.

Alixe glanced in the mirror and let out a surprised laugh at her reflection. She wore the disguise of a large, burly man, shirtless and coated head to toe in intricate tattoos.

“How are you able to make us appear normal to each other, but different to everyone else?” she asked. “I’ve never seen that done before.”

“I bend the light around a shield so the illusion is only visible from the outside.”

“But it’s so crowded—how do you keep other people from walking into the sides of the shield?”

He waved a hand and, for a split second, the shield shimmered into view. It wrapped like a second skin around each of our bodies and skimmed the floor, so that anyone passing between us would walk over it like a carpet, rather than bumping into it.

Alixe looked impressed. “That’s very clever. Where did you train?”

“I didn’t. I’m self-taught.”

Taran dropped what he was holding with a loud clang . “ What? You have no training? At all?”

Zalaric bristled. “We half-mortals don’t get the luxury of attending your elite Descended academies. I was raised by a mortal, so I had to learn how to use my magic on my own.”

Raised by a mortal? My heart tripled in size as my fondness for him grew.

Taran blinked repeatedly. “But... your magic... yesterday, you... you were so...”

“So much better than you ? I guess your academies aren’t that elite after all.” Taran growled, and Zalaric’s amused expression took on a mischievous twinkle. “Don’t worry, I saved my best disguise for you.”

“Oh, no,” Alixe mumbled.

Taran stomped over to the mirror and let out a strangled, horrified noise.

“You made me a little girl!? ”

Standing across from Taran, his infuriated expression mirrored on her cherubic face, was an adorable child of about eight with golden ringlets and a petal pink dress, carrying a basket of daisies.

My hands clamped over my mouth, but not before a loud cackle burst out. I shot him an apologetic look, my shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

“Change it,” he hissed at Zalaric.

“I don’t think so. It fits you quite well. Although I might consider it—for a price.”

“Change it, or I swear to the Kindred, I’ll—”

“You should thank me. It’s a boon for haggling. The sellers will be much more likely to give a discount to a little girl.”

“Look at me,” Taran shouted. “I’m four feet tall! My head barely reaches above the tables!”

“At least that explains why the vendors have been smiling down at your crotch all day,” I teased.

He glared at me. “You’re supposed to be on my side, Queenie. This is how you repay me for rescuing you from the Guar—”

Alixe elbowed him hard in the ribs and gave him a wide-eyed look.

“What?” he snapped. His face blanched. “Oh.”

If Zalaric noticed Taran’s slip-up, he showed no sign. “I can’t change it here or someone might notice. You’ll have to live with it for now, Tristan.”

Taran’s jaw clenched. “That’s not my name.”

Zalaric frowned. “Tybold?”

“That’s a gods-damned gryvern name.”

“My apologies. I remember now. It’s Tulip.”

“That’s a fucking flower! ”

Alixe and I looked at each other, both of us pressing our lips tight to hold back laughter.

“One of us should probably break this up before there’s bloodshed,” I whispered to her. “But I’m enjoying it too much to intervene.”

“So am I. Even Aemonn doesn’t get him this worked up.”

“ Taran! T-A-R-A-N! It’s not that difficult! ”

Alixe jogged forward to grab his arm. “Cousin, look, I see some booths with armor. Maybe we can find something useful.”

As they walked away, I noticed Zalaric’s haughty veneer crack as a genuine smile warmed his features.

“Did I go too far?” he asked.

“Not at all. He’s usually the one teasing me, so you have my full support.”

“Perfect. Feel free to hire me any time you need revenge.”

“For a fee?” I joked, and he grinned.

“Of course. Though I might consider a discount if he always looks that handsome when he’s mad.”

My mouth hung open. Was Zalaric... flirting with Taran?

“Oh, actually, um, I’m not sure he’s interested in—” I stopped myself. I didn’t really know what Taran was interested in. I had made assumptions, but I’d never bothered to ask. That realization left me a little ashamed.

Zalaric held his elbow out. “Walk with me?”

I slipped my arm through his, and we began to stroll. “Thank you again for offering to do this.”

“Anything for my guests.”

“In that case... I have a request. I was hoping you might be willing to tell me about yourself.”

“Don’t you already know how Luther and I are acquainted?”

“I do. I’m not asking about him—I want to know about you. Your story. I so rarely get to meet people like you back in Lumnos. I’d love to know what your life has been like here—if you’re comfortable sharing.”

He eyed me with a hint of skepticism, then turned me toward a staircase that led to a walkway around the perimeter of the market where the crowds were thinner.

“I was born in Lumnos,” he began, “in Mortal City, in a neighborhood called Paradise Row. You’ve probably never even heard of it.”

I bit down hard and didn’t respond.

“For seven years, I lived in hiding while my mother worked in a tavern. It wasn’t the safest place, but she did the best she could, and we were happy enough—until one day, she didn’t come home. I never discovered why.”

I squeezed his arm. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Zalaric.”

His jaw flexed. “It was long ago. I barely remember her now.”

“You were so young. What did you do?”

“At first, I was too scared to leave. I’d never left our home before that day. Eventually I got hungry and left to wander the streets and beg. It didn’t take long for someone to see my eyes and hand me off to the Royal Guard to get the very large reward for turning in half-breeds.”

I scowled. “That’s awful. Those bounties are a vicious practice.”

“Don’t tell Luther that. They were his idea.”

I couldn’t hide my shock. “They were?”

Zalaric nodded. “Once he put the bounty in place, people stopped executing the half-mortals themselves and started delivering the children to him alive to collect it. That’s how he was able to save so many.”

I stared forward as my world reoriented. I’d long despised the Crown’s system of trading rewards for information, believing it immeasurably cruel for turning neighbor against neighbor. What if it had all been Luther’s way of ensuring he could intervene for those who deserved saving?

“Oh, Luther,” I murmured, my heart skipping several beats.

“If only I’d known then that I could trust him. When they took me to him, I thought I was going to be killed, so I tried to escape. One of the guards caught me and slashed my throat.” He lowered the high neck of his robes to reveal the scar across his neck. “Luther managed to stop the bleeding enough to get me here to Umbros. To Miss Margie.”

His eyes took on a faraway look as he smiled fondly. “She was a hell of a woman. Smart and resourceful. Fiery, too. She could reduce you to ash with just a few words, but only if you deserved it. And she was loving. Generous to a fault. She helped Luther find homes for the orphans she could, and the rest, she kept herself. She treated me like a son, and I loved her like a mother.”

“She sounds like a wonderful person.”

“She was. She was beautiful, too.” He gazed out over the market, his expression hardening. “She made a good living selling her body in the skin market, but she was a mortal. Her body aged, the money dried up, and we fell into poverty.” He sighed. “She never stopped taking in the orphans. Even when she had nothing to give them, she found a way.”

Zalaric and I walked in silence for a while, his sadness palpable in the air. I slipped my hand in his. He gave me a tight smile, his throat working.

“One day Margie got sick, and she couldn’t afford a healer. I begged her to ask for money from Luther or the families she’d placed children with. She refused, of course. She didn’t want to scare them off from working with her.” His voice turned pithy. “She told me ‘ Zal, money should never get in the way of doing the right thing .’”

“I get the sense you disagree,” I said gently.

“You can’t do the right thing if you’re dead.”

I couldn’t argue that.

His shoulders rolled back. “After she died, I decided I would never be poor again. I started as a pickpocket, keeping the gold and reselling whatever else I stole. Then I moved to the blood market—that’s what they call the fighting rings. I couldn’t afford to pay my tithe to the Queen, but fighters get their magic back while in the ring. It was the first time in my life I’d ever used it—that’s when I realized I was stronger than most.”

I laughed. “That’s putting it mildly. Other than Luther, no one I’ve met in Lumnos even comes close.”

“Except the Queen, of course.”

“Oh, um... right, yes. Except her, of course.”

His lips curved up. “And you.”

“I, uh... yes, I suppose.” I cleared my throat. “Is that where you taught yourself how to use magic—in those fights?”

“It is. You learn fast, when your survival depends on it. I started winning frequently there, then did some time of my own in the skin markets. By then I’d won the attention of the more powerful people in Umbros. They hired me for odd jobs, and over time, I earned a reputation for handling difficult tasks discreetly, for those willing to pay the right price. That’s what I still do today.”

“And the inn?” I asked.

“I own it, but the other Lumnos half-mortals run it and split the profits among themselves. It gives the younger ones a place to call home and the older ones a place to earn a living safely. I make sure none of them ever have to make the choices Margie and I were forced to make.”

I nudged his side. “I thought you said you weren’t generous.”

He shot me a good-natured glare. “Don’t tell anyone. You’ll ruin my reputation.”

“Don’t worry—I’m good at keeping secrets.” We shared a smile and continued walking. His remarkable openness was making me braver. “I noticed the children at the inn are very skilled for their age.”

“I make sure they all get the best education money can buy.” He beamed proudly. “Some of mine have even been invited to study in Sophos.”

My stomach turned. I knew the dark fate that awaited mortals invited to study there—would it be the same for the Lumnos half-mortals?

“That’s... nice, but I didn’t mean their education. I was referring to their magic. Luther said they’re better trained than the Descended children in Lumnos.”

He hummed indifferently. “Is that so?”

“I suspect they have a very good teacher. A very powerful one. One who could, let’s say, make quite an embarrassment of a certain ‘ handsome ’ Corbois cousin.”

Zalaric’s smirk gave him away.

I stopped and turned to face him. “Come to Lumnos and teach me. Name your fee, and I’ll pay it.”

“You’re a member of the royal family. Surely you have access to the best training in the realm.”

I didn’t answer at first, weighing my words. That same unexplainable instinct was cajoling me again, that prodding urge to push forward despite all good sense and reason.

“I did not have the typical Corbois upbringing.” I glanced around and dropped my voice low. “I, too, know what it’s like to have to work to survive.”

To my surprise, he didn’t react at all. His expression remained flat as he studied my face. “You’re a half-mortal, aren’t you?”

Alarm bells blared in my head. I couldn’t admit that—I couldn’t . The only way a half-mortal could so freely interact with the royal family was if they were immune from the laws, and the only person with immunity was the Crown. A man as smart as Zalaric would make the connection in a second.

But before I could deny it, a grin spread across his face. “I knew it! I knew as soon as I saw you. You have that same look that all the rest of us have.”

I glanced around nervously. “What look?”

“The look of someone trying to find a place in the world where they belong.”

I huffed and pulled him back into a slow stroll. “I refuse to confirm or deny.”

“You don’t have to, I know I’m right. I can always spot another one.” His lip hooked into a wicked smirk. “Which reminds me—where is the Prince today?”

It took every atom, every hair, every drop of blood, every last spark of resolve in my body to suppress my reaction.

My heart hammered furiously, a frightened bird in a tiny cage. This was Luther’s darkest, most closely guarded secret. Did Zalaric know? Had my mother told him? Had he told anyone else?

“He’s resting,” I said stiffly. “We had a long journey.”

My mind flashed back to this morning. Though we’d fallen asleep on separate sides, I’d woken up tangled in his embrace, his lips against my temple. He’d been drenched in sweat, skin flushed. The temptation to peel away his scarf and heavy clothes to cool him off was nearly insurmountable.

He’d been sleeping so soundly he didn’t even stir when I pried myself free. I sat at his side for longer than I wanted to admit, staring at him and wondering what he was so adamant to hide.

Alixe and Taran waved, so I led us back down the stairs and into the market. “You’ll come to Lumnos, then? Nothing would make me happier than emptying a Corbois coffer or two for you.”

“I think I need to know more about this mysterious new Queen first. Do you know her well?”

“No,” I blurted, a little too fast. “I’ve only met her once or twice.”

“Luther seems very fond of her.” Zalaric was watching me intently. “And he’s convinced she’s a friend to the half-mortals.”

“Then it must be true. He knows her best.” I glanced at him. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure, but I may charge you for it.”

“The scar on your neck—why did you keep it? Surely there are Fortos healers here who could have removed it.”

“I considered it, but I always remembered the Prince who saved my life. I told myself if he wasn’t ashamed of his, I shouldn’t be ashamed of mine. And besides...” He tipped his face to me with a knowing look. “I find scars quite sexy, don’t you?”

My cheeks heated. “Yes, I do.”