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My heart stopped. “A ball? To introduce me?” “Yes, but it’s nothing terribly unusual.” He waved his hand absently. “Music, dancing, uncomfortable clothes, vicious gossip. The standard fare.”
“Whatever you’re thinking, keep it to yourself,” I snapped. “I don’t want to hear it.” “You need to hear it.” “My love life is none of your concern.” “You are the Queen of Lumnos. Your love life is the entire realm’s concern.” My jaw clenched so tightly my teeth creaked in protest. “And you made it my concern when you—” “I didn’t kiss you,” I hissed, whirling to face him, “you kissed me. Maybe I didn’t push you off as quickly as I should have, but that—” “—wasn’t what I was going to say,” he said curtly. “You made it my business when you asked me to keep Aemonn silent about Henri.” My face
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“And who gets the strongest magic? They’ve spent centuries trying to breed the most powerful offspring, and it never worked the way they wanted it to. Look at Luther and Lily—they’re siblings, but he’s powerful and she isn’t. Maybe that’s not a coincidence. Maybe there’s a reason you and Luther got so much more magic than anyone else.”
“Last I saw him, your betrothed was stomping around calling himself King. I could see the plans already forming in his head.”
His hand curled into a fist, tugging at my hair—gently, but enough to pull a gasp from my lips and an arch from my back. He leaned into my ear. “If a kiss is the reward, my Queen, I’ll get on my knees for you whenever you want.”
His touch was the changing of the seasons, the dead, cold grey of winter thawing and giving way to the colorful hope of spring. The promise of something new, something exquisitely alive.
I shook my head. “I’m not so sure. Maybe there are some things love can’t survive.” “It can. If the love is true, there’s nothing it won’t endure.”
“You are my Queen, and I am your sword. Point me at your enemies, and watch them fall. Lead this world, Diem, and I will follow you—into war, into death, into the tundra of hell itself.”
“You are the fate my heart was spared for. As long as it beats, you will never fight alone.”
“I want every breath, every laugh, every tear. Every taste of your mouth, every inch of your skin. I want to kneel at your feet, soaked in the blood of your enemies, then worship your body until you scream my name.”
“Maybe we should invite Iléana to one of these sessions to spar with you,” he said. I mirrored his smug look. “Finally, an idea I can agree with.” He stepped around Alixe and came nose to nose with me, angling his head and grinning savagely in my face. “But then again, why would Iléana’s presence bother you, when you’re so happy with your mortal boy?”
I closed my eyes and let his words rush into me. Like a gentle wind blown on a glowing ember, the spirit inside me sparked and roared to life. I let it burn, cleansing away my doubt, my guilt, my fear. I would never be completely free of those things, but I could stop letting them rule me. I could give it my best and pray that was enough. Even if it wasn’t, at least I’d go to my grave knowing I gave it my all.
“You aren’t the most powerful, Jean,” a low voice cut in from behind me. “It’s my right to fight her.” I didn’t need to look to know who that voice belonged to. A firm hand clamped on my shoulder and forced me to turn. “You will choose me.”
Their magic cannot hurt each other because they love each other. He just has to make it look convincing.
“Burn, my Queen. Glow so bright, the darkness trembles.”
