Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #1)

by Penn Cole

“You know Descended can’t use their magic while they’re outside of their home realm,” Teller said.

My Law of the Crown professor says sometimes the Forging magic itself will decide it’s time for the Crown to change hands, even if they’re young and healthy.”

“Prince Luther, the King’s nephew. He’s incredibly powerful, no matter how you measure it. He’s one of the only Lumnos Descended that can wield both light magic and shadow magic.”

Although our homeland of Lumnos, Realm of Light and Shadow, was one of the more mortal-friendly of the nine realms of Emarion,

Umbros was a haven of darkness and sin, tolerated by the other realms only for fear of its ruthless Queen.

Look at what they do to the half-mortal babies—even children aren’t sacred to them.”

They took and took, claiming everything of value for themselves, then demanded unquestioned gratitude from the very people they had stolen from.

I wanted to burn.

And I wondered how long I had until the fire in my soul burned me alive.

A gnarled tree, with leaves of flame, inset in a circlet of vines—the sacred Everflame, the Tree of Life and Death.

it almost seemed as if the magic that reigned over the realms was infused into nature itself.

a cautionary tale to discourage them from ever leaving their terremère, but I wondered if the real villain of the parable was shadowy, mysterious Umbros and its uncanny ability to pull Descended and mortals alike into its darkness, rarely to be seen again.

“You know how every realm has two kinds of magic? Light and shadow in Lumnos, stone and ice in Montios, sea and air in Meros, and so on.”

“Well, in the other realms, most Descended get one type of magic or the other. Only the very strongest get both. In Fortos, it works differently. The female Descended always get healing magic, while the male Descended get the power to kill—they can make your body decay right in front of their eyes.

“Merely knowing that powder exists is enough for the Crown to order your execution, girl. I don’t know what that mother of yours was up to down in Lumnos, but you need to stay far away from it.”

“Even the Descended don’t have those.”

Its smooth metal was the color of a storm-darkened sky—the telltale sign of Fortosian steel, one of the only substances that could pierce Descended skin.

“Albanon, you better hold on to this one.” He slapped a very nervous-looking Henri on the arm. “If you can.”

Guardians of the Everflame.”

godstone, a rare material that could only be made by the Kindred.

When the Kindred arrived in the mortal realm many millennia ago, each of the nine sibling deities brought a gryvern as their companion and guardian.

Only seven remained living, as the gryverns of Fortos and Montios had been killed by mortal rebels during the Blood War.

My confidence in my ability to take over this role without starting a war was fading with each passing second.

“They all talk like they hate ‘em, but most mortal men would pay every cent they’ve got to sleep with a Descended woman,”

Why should it be any less acceptable for women to sell the softness of theirs?

Don’t choose a mediocre life for a mediocre man. Go be exceptional. If he’s worth it, he won’t judge you. And if he’s really the one, he’ll come along for the ride.”

Sacred, ancient words flowed through me—the Rite of Endings, a forbidden prayer from the ancient mortal religion.

lightness of being

“She should have known better than to lay with the kind of creature that would kill their own young.”

Those small idiosyncrasies littering his body were signs of his life and character, a map of his soul that only those who truly knew him could read.

The one thing I couldn’t do was nothing.

“They descend from Lumnos’s mortal mate too, don’t they? They’re children of both worlds. They might have forgotten that, but we don’t have to.”

War is death and misery and sacrifice, my father had warned me. War is making choices that will haunt you for the rest of your days.

“No, really. I think he trusts you because you were mean to him. No one’s ever mean to him.” Her eyes twinkled. “I think he kind of liked it.”

I was happy to take whatever piece of herself she was willing to give.

“One day, Auralie showed up at my door with a beautiful baby girl in her arms.

The truth is that I just knew. There was never a decision to make. Whatever path she was on, that was where I belonged. By her side, and by yours. Any other option was unthinkable.”

We both froze in place as something ancient, something profound passed between us.

“If the death of innocents is a cost we’re willing to pay, then we don’t deserve to be powerful.”

“I am not afraid, Devourer of Crowns. Ravager of Realms. Herald of Vengeance.”

“Give him our gift, Daughter of the Forgotten. When the end has come, and the blood has spilled, give our gift to my faithful heir, and tell him this is my command.”

If you’re the way my fate finally catches up to me, I can’t fathom a more beautiful end.”

Claim me. I am your birthright and your destiny.

“Diem—you’re wearing the Crown. You’ve been selected. You are the new Queen of Lumnos.”