Spoilers ahead. Diem wakes as someone tries to force flameroot down her throat. She sees a woman standing over her who introduces herself as Cordellia. Diem is put in chains. She doesn’t know where she is. She assumes these people are Guardians, she sees that Vance is there. He tells them that Diem is untrustworthy, but she has helped them on occasion. She provided use the royal boat to go to Coeurile, allowing the attack tonight. They’re in Arboros, and Auralie is unavailable - she’s in a prison cell in Fortos awaiting execution. Diem agrees to work with the Guardians, partly so she can free her mom. They plan to trade Diem for Auralie - who has been leading the Guardians in Lumnos for ten years. Diem will need to be patient. But if she’s not in Lumnos, war could break out between the mortals and the Descended. Vance tells her it already has. Cordellia asks if Diem would like her brother extricated from Lumnos. No, she trusts her Corbois family to take care of him. A Guardian chains Diem to a tree, and she’s surprised to see the Queen of Arboros there. Why did they act like Lumnos was their only bargaining chip… unless Arboros won’t be alive much longer. The Guardians come to take Arboros away and Diem tries to stop them. As they pull Arboros from the tree, Diem strains against her chains. She pulls the tree out by its roots, even Arboros is stunned. But as Diem runs to free Arboros, she trips and one of the Guardians hits her in the head with a club. The Guardians chain Diem to a much bigger tree with many more chains, so escape is not possible. Soon, someone brings her stew and something to drink - it’s Brecke. He reveals that Henri did know about the attack. Henri was on the island. Other than Vance, the Lumnos Guardians didn’t stick around to avoid any suspicion. Brecke won’t tell Diem how the Guardians got to the island. The plan had been for Auralie to load a few explosions on one side of the island as a distraction so other Guardians could come in and blow up the temple. They were unsuccessful in their attempt to bring down the temple though they were able to crack the stone at the center. He asks if Diem knows anything about the stone. She does know, but she doesn’t tell him anything. Not even that it wasn’t their bomb that cracked the heartstone, but her blood. Diem is hesitant to trust Vance, but Brecke says that Cordellia is a good leader. If she thinks this is the way to save Auralie, there is merit in the idea. When Brecke leaves and Diem sniffs the food and drink she was given, she can smell that it was laced with flameroot. She pretends to eat it before dumping it out and hiding the evidence. She goes days without eating or drinking and she’s feeling weak but can almost feel her magic. Vance comes up and pulls her to her unsteady feet, she’s coming with him, but he won’t tell her where. After walking for a short time, she refuses to go with him until he tells her where - so he and his men do what they planned right there in the open. They cut her and put her blood in vials. She hears the voice for the first time since the explosion; it tells her to fight but she’s not ready. She doesn’t want to hurt the Guardians if she doesn’t have to, and she needs to be sure she can get away. Vance tells her that he’s going to use her blood for the gate to the palace that is keyed to royal blood. She begs him not to, there are children in the palace, but he doesn’t care. Then Cordellia comes into the clearing, and she doesn’t know what Vance is doing. Diem is her prisoner and this is her territory; Vance has no authority here. She commands the men to take Diem back to the tree and chain her up, walking off. Vance doesn’t listen and is still bleeding Diem when horns start to sound. There’s an attack coming. There’s a gryvern. Diem is elated. She can feel her bond with Sorae grow as the gryvern gets closer and once Sorae is in sight, Diem can see Luther on her back. But Cordellia has huge bolts with godstone in the tip. If they hit Sorae in the heart, it is one of the only things that will kill her. They only have two bolts, so they want Sorae to land before shooting. Guardians drag Diem back to the tree as her magic screams at her to fight, but she won’t yet. As a young Guardian tries to loop her chain to the tree, she warns him that Sorae is coming. He flees as do the others around him. Even Vance, though he hesitates and ends up losing an arm to Sorae’s dragonfyre. But the fire did not hurt Diem. Sorae lands and Luther dismounts, trying to fight his way to Diem. Because he is not the Crown, he has no power in Arboros. He could easily be overtaken or shot and killed. Then Cordellia loses the bolt right at Sorae. Sorae is about to be hit when Diem finally releases her magic. The bolt is destroyed but Diem is completely drained. She commands Sorae to take Luther and fly away, do not come back. Sorae follows the direct order, picking up Luther who absolutely does not want to go without Diem. Diem passes out just as the second bolt is released right at Sorae. Diem wakes up as she’s being force fed more flameroot. They have moved further inland to a heavier wooded area. Cordellia says that ten of the Guardians died and several more are injured because of Diem, but Diem yells back at her. She begged Cordellia to call off the attack and when she didn’t, Diem sent Sorae and Luther away. Diem didn’t get Guardians killed, Cordellia did. Cordellia tells her that Sorae and Luther were not hit by the second bolt. She asks if Luther will be back and when Diem says yes, they start to pack up camp to move. Diem begs Cordellia to let her return to Lumnos. Vance has her blood and will use it to infiltrate the palace and kill everyone inside, even the innocents. Cordellia asks if Diem still considers herself a Guardian. Diem admits that she doesn’t like the way that mortals have been treated and agrees with the Guardians mission to free them from Descended control, but that not all Descended should be sentenced to death. Some of them are good, even helping the mortals, and they deserve the chance to live. Cordellia is not as prejudiced against them as others; she has had Descended help her in the past. Cordellia says that Vance is healing but won’t be going anywhere for some time. The Lumnos palace is safe for now, but she will think on Diem’s request. They move the next morning, and Diem is chained up somewhere new. She has the same guards for the evening shift; she discovers that they gossip if they think she’s sleeping. She learns that the Guardians still hold Coeurile, the Emarion army has it surrounded by warships but they haven’t moved to attack, and that a Descended came down from the Montios mountains claiming to hate his own people - he has proved his loyalty to the Guardians somehow, and that the Guardians in Meros are keeping the army busy by setting up blockades and blowing up the docks at the port. But tonight is different. Just as the guard says something about two false queens, Brecke comes towards Diem with a young Guardian, Herkin, to take over the watch early. He and Herkin take Diem to bathe and on the way, Brecke knocks Herkin out and unchains Diem. They sneak their way toward the coast where they find Cordellia waiting in a boat. Fortos refused to trade Auralie for Diem and Vance plans to leave for Lumnos the next day. What Diem said earlier about there being good Descended struck a chord with Cordellia. They’re letting Diem go back to Lumnos, but she will have to make her own way. Brecke will be leaving the camp anyway, as an ex-Emarion soldier they never really accepted him here. They’ll make it look like Brecke helped Diem escape, if the Guardians knew the truth, they would mutiny. Cordellia does force Diem to drink more flameroot juice, but gives her a boat, some weapons, and food and water. She tells Diem that Coeurile is too valuable to trade for Auralie, so Diem will have to find a way to free her mother herself. Diem begins to sail away but she doesn’t get far before the winds push her back to the shore and the waves capsize her boat. After coming out of the water dripping wet, Diem has just enough time to hide before Guardians find her boat. Diem follows one back to camp as they alert Mother Cordellia that Brecke and Diem did not take the boat after all. Her plan is to try to steal a horse. But someone is guarding the horses. She pivots and heads toward the infirmary to try to find a weapon. She finds a cloak and then a short sword on someone’s bedroll that she grabs that on her way past. That’s when she hears Cordellia speaking to someone in a tent. She recognizes the man’s voice - it’s Luther. Just as Diem turns around to find him, someone grabs her from behind and covers her mouth with his hand. She fights back until he whispers in her ear. It’s Taran! Taran drags Diem a little distance away and explains that Luther walked in and got himself caught, hoping that the Guardians would chain him up next to Diem. Then they could find a way out with the help of Taran and Alixe (who is in the woods). Diem remembers that she saw some explosives while she was looking for a weapon. They can cause a distraction and grab Luther before escaping. They’ll need fire to light the explosives. Diem walks near the bonfire - where Luther is surrounded by Guardians - to grab a lit branch. Luther sees her and distracts the Guardians while she grabs the stick, then makes a quick walk to the explosives. She’s spotted on the way. She grabs two explosives, lighting one and throwing it into the woods. She rushes toward Luther, who is being dragged away by several Guardians. Diem is stopped by Cordellia who spots the second, already lit explosive that Diem is carrying. Diem throws it. As the bomb detonates, Diem frees Luther. Alixe makes her way over and Diem risks her life to save Luther, killing a mortal in the process. The place is chaos. Taran throws three unlit bombs toward the center of the camp, right into the bonfire. They flee the Guardian camp, running as fast as they can for as long as they can, with mortals behind them for much of that time. They find a massive tree with a hole in the center big enough to hide them all. They shelter there. None of them are badly hurt. Luther apologizes for not telling Diem about her mother going to the island, he wanted to give Auralie a chance to tell Diem herself. Diem’s not mad, she has things to tell him too. Namely that she worked with the Guardians several times, even after she got the Crown. They agree that as soon as they get back to Lumnos, they’ll tell the other all their secrets. When the mortals do not come near the tree, they decide to stay there for the night and rest. Alixe takes first watch and Diem follows her out of the tree. She compliments Alixe’s fighting and they have a quick conversation. Alixe has an idea to incorporate mortals of Lumnos into the Royal Guard. It would give mortals more job options, they would have more control over their people, and it would be good for the Descended to see mortals in places of authority. It will be an uphill climb but one that Alixe is willing to make. When Diem turns to go to the tree, she finds Luther waiting for her. She’s turning blue, still wet from when the boat capsized, and she realizes she’s wet from the blood of the man she killed too. She begins to have a panic attack, but Luther calms her. The war is here. People are going to die, some by her command and some by her very hand. She should mourn them but do not let them drown her. He takes her into the hollow tree and takes off her wet clothes, dressing her in his own clothes while he wraps himself in Taran’s cloak. He speaks to Alixe outside as Diem falls asleep, he lies next to her when he comes back inside. Diem and Luther wake up alone in the tree and have their talk. Luther explains that he met Auralie when she became the palace’s healer. He had been tracking Guardian movements by then, so he recognized her as a Guardian, but also as one of the best healers and so he did nothing. Once, he rescued a half-mortal girl who was alive but badly injured by her Descended father. Luther took her to Auralie. She figured out what he was doing and said she wanted to help. They began to work together, and as he trusted her more, he gave her more leeway in the palace. She used that to spy on him and his family, and she discovered that he was half-mortal himself when she overheard him arguing with his father. She blackmailed Luther into helping her with her Guardian activities. And he didn’t mind helping her much, he agrees with a lot of what the Guardians did under her lead. It’s only now, under Vance, that things are more violent. At the thought of Vance, Diem remembers the blood he took and tells Luther. Those locks only work with blood that is freely given, so Vance will not be able to get in anyway. She asks if Luther knew what would happen on Coeurile, but he didn’t. She reveals that she helped the Guardians though she didn’t know what they were doing. But he already knew. And he supported her anyway. The four of them decide to recuperate another day at the tree before continuing on and Diem shows them how she lived as a mortal. Collecting bird eggs, foraging for berries and mushrooms, collecting herbs that can be used for healing, whittling a spear, spearing a fish, starting a fire. They don’t know how to do any of it. She explains that they did these things to keep the healer’s center open and pay the Crown’s taxes. The mortals give so much just to pay those taxes and keep the Descended living lavishly. At the fire that evening, Diem tells them what she learned at the Guardians camp. None of them knew that the Guardians hold Coeurile, nor did they hear anything about the Arboros Queen. Most people believe Diem is resting in her palace now. They explain that Fortos has sent soldiers to each realm, but Luther and Alixe believe Remis is up to something. He won’t share his actions with them and refuses to give up his title until he hears it from Diem directly. Aemonn, although not helpful has not hindered them either. Diem feels magic coming from Luther and is startled. None of them should have magic outside of Lumnos, only the Crown’s magic crosses the realm’s lines. But both Alixe and Taran have felt flickers of their magic too. Taran didn’t tell Luther about it though, since Luther was following the compass and searching for Diem like a madman at the time. He and Alixe wander off, and Diem asks Luther what Taran meant. He used the compass to find his heart’s desire - Diem. She tells him she feels the same way. They soon realize they’re surrounded by Guardians with godstone spears. Vance leads them. Guardians have Taran surrounded, but Alixe is nowhere in sight. Vance exposes Diem’s Guardian activity, which Taran didn’t know about, and he looks betrayed. Vance needs Diem alive but tells his men to kill Luther and Taran. Taran gets stabbed by two godstone spears, one in his side and the other in his shoulder. An invisible arm wraps around Diem and hauls her away. It’s Alixe, she doesn’t know how long her magic will last. They need to get Diem to safety. Luther and Taran will find their own way. Diem takes some convincing but finally goes with Alixe and they make it across the Ignios border. She assures Diem that the mortals will not follow them here. They wait for Luther and Taran. Diem has heard that some small godstone wounds will heal slowly if the toxin does not get into the blood, but she’s never heard of someone surviving if it does. Finally, Luther comes - hauling Taran with him. They get across the border where Diem can look at Taran’s wounds. They’re already blackening but she treats them like she would any other. In Arboros, the Guardians followed them to the border. When one tries to cross, the Ignios border burns him to nothing. Luther keeps watch that night while the other two watch Taran and keep him warm. The next day, they need water in the Ignios desert. Luther remembers that when mortals were allowed to live in Ignios, their city was not far from the border. If they can get to the old city, perhaps there is a water source nearby. None of them are prepared for the walk across the desert. They don’t make it by nightfall and Taran’s infection is getting worse. Diem takes first watch. They find the city the next morning and an oasis at the center. They also find clothes and weapons from the mortals that had fled so quickly they left their things behind. And the skeletons of those who didn’t. Diem rinses Taran’s wounds out. The wound on his side is doing okay, it’s even scabbing, but the one on his shoulder smells and is starting to leak pus. Taran asks if Diem really worked with the Guardians and she admitted that she did. Luther reveals that he did too - for longer than Diem and without any guilt. He storms off and Taran follows him. Alixe tells Diem that she still follows her. She still believes in Diem. Then they hear wingbeats. It cannot be Sorae, meaning it must be the Ignios gryvern. He carries the Ignios King and two armed Descended women who search the city. The King knows that there are three people who do not belong in his realm. Diem remembers her coronation. She could tell foreign Descended were in Lumnos, but not where, so she doesn’t think the King knows where they are. His realm only recognizes three foreigners, it doesn’t recognize Diem. It almost recognizes her as part of the realm but not quite. She’s other. Is she a pretender or something else? Ignios asks his gryvern Tybold where the intruders are but the gryvern doesn’t know. The King shares in his bond that they aren’t there to hurt anyone, but the King doesn’t care. He calls Tybold worthless and punches him in the jaw, he wears spiked rings meant to damage the now bleeding gryvern. Tybold is bound to the Ignios King and cannot go against a direct order, but the gryvern clearly hates him. Diem is incensed and mutters something under her breath, something that the gryvern hears. His eyes swivel toward Diem. But Tybold doesn’t turn her in. The Ignios King starts setting buildings on fire and then Tybold indicates that the interlopers may have run to the dunes. The King decides to come back the next day. Now, with several buildings on fire, Diem is worried that the men got caught in one of the blazing buildings. Alixe finds them in a hidden cellar, safe and not on fire. They can’t stay in the city, but Diem has a plan. They will continue along the coast to Umbros. They cannot go back to Arboros, and they can’t stay in Ignios. In Umbros, they will get a boat from the docks and head toward Lumnos. Diem takes the early watch that night. When she wakes Alixe, she says she’s heading to sleep, but she sneaks out of the city. She causes a loud clanging noise and turns back to see Alixe and Luther running for the underground shelter where Taran sleeps and continues to get worse. She heads into the dunes. She returns near dawn with food and herbs to a furious Luther (and Alixe and Taran). She went into Arboros to get what she needed to make a poultice for Taran’s wounds. Luther is so angry that he scares her and storms off by himself. Diem asks an icy Alixe to cook the meat while she takes care of Taran. She crushes the herbs into a paste. She accidentally cuts her hand and drips blood into the paste. She removes what she can. They don’t have much time before they need to leave for Umbros. They make their way toward Umbros along the coast where the sand is easier to walk on. Everyone is freezing, but Diem is burning up. She’s so hot that she’s removing clothes. She checks Taran’s wounds and is happy to see they have remarkably improved. More improved than they should be. As Diem packs his wound again, she burns him with her touch. They continue to walk while she maintains that she is fine, and they see several guards. They’ll have to pass them and they’re nowhere near the ring road, where travelers are supposed to stay. They decide to take their chances with the guards since Taran’s magic is back, though no one knows how long that will last. Diem orders Alixe (quietly where Luther can’t hear) that if things go wrong, she is to flee with Taran to Umbros and find him a healer. They walk right up to the guards and say they’re just passing through from Arboros where they were hunting a mortal. When a guard gets too close to Diem, Luther pulls her close and calls her his mate. He says it to protect her, but she likes the way it sounds. It doesn’t scare her at all. The guards let them through but tell them not to go into the dunes and to stay on the coast. They walk away and can finally see Umbros’ border. But Diem is burning up. When water splashes on her, it bubbles in her skin. Her magic returns, telling her to burn. She strips off her cloak and weapons, walking into the sea and telling Luther to stay away. Luther doesn’t listen. He believes unwaveringly that her magic will not hurt him and she trusts him. In fact, he looks more pained being away from her than next to her flames as she burns. The Ignios guards have definitely noticed her and lit a huge pillar of fire. Luther carries Diem out of the water, they all know they have to go but they’re too late. They hear wings. Diem commands Alixe to leave with Taran and begs Luther to go with them, but he refuses. Alixe and Taran run. When the King gets there, he wonders how she is commanding the fire, but Luther insists that she is just shielding from his guards’ attacks. She has a small well of magic that has returned, but she can’t do much. She is forced to make an actual shield when the King tells his guards to attack, Diem shields both her and Luther for as long as she can before her magic dries up again. The King changes tactics and attacks her himself. Diem blocks Luther with her body, absorbing the fire without taking any damage. They fight the guards with blades, getting small cuts, then Diem takes the magic she just accrued and throws up a wall. They run for Umbros, but the King intercepts them. He tells the others to focus on Luther. The King blinds Diem and Luther with fire and then there’s a Fortosian dagger flying right at Luther’s heart. Diem throws herself in front of Luther and the dagger imbeds itself in her chest. Luther lays her on the sand. She’s having trouble talking but she tells her one word - magic. His magic is back; she can feel it. He kills all the guards and then turns on the king. The king has given Tybold instructions to kill Luther if he is killed and Tybold cannot go against a direct command. When Luther overpowers the King, the gryvern screeches a warning and Diem tells Luther to stop. The gryvern flies the King away. Luther kneels next to Diem, and she tells him to attack her. He does haltingly, trusting her. She absorbs his attack and her wound starts to close. She’s very weak and still badly injured, but alive by the time Taran and Alixe make their way back to them. Taran carries Diem over the border as Alixe helps Luther walk. Umbros’ capital is underground and full of all kinds of people: mortals and Descended of every realm, allowed to do magic if they pay tithes to the Queen. Luther and Diem need to find one of Luther’s contacts and he tells Taran and Alixe to meet them later. As they walk through the market, Diem can hear Luther talking to himself. He explains that his contact, the Jaguar, can arrange passage back to Lumnos and since he doesn’t know Diem, would not be able to give her identity up if questioned by the Centenaries. The Centenaries are the one hundred Umbros Descended allowed to live. Power is shared among Descended and to keep Umbros’ power strong, the Queen kills any but the most powerful hundred Descended of her realm. Luther follows little etchings of a cat down passageways until they come to an inn where they are told no one called the Jaguar stays. But a very powerful Lumnos man comes out of the back of the house and tells the Lumnos woman at the desk to put them in room ten. Suite ten is dark and shadowy, but the Lumnos woman has two blue eyed children come in and brighten it up with flowers made of light. One of the children is very powerful already and she hasn’t even matured. Luther talks to both kids and pays them to make more flowers. He says he’s going to give one to the queen and if they ever want to come back to Lumnos, bring a flower like this so the queen will know them. They are delighted at the prospect, but the woman says not to get their hopes up. They’d be killed if they went back. That’s when Diem realizes that these children are some of the children that Luther saved. Once they’re alone to settle in, she tries to get close to Luther, but he walks away. He’s hiding something. She tells him that she has hidden things for her whole life, she believed it was the only way to survive. But she’s realizing that these lies are tearing them apart. All of them. She doesn’t want any more lies among those that she trusts. He’s very conflicted and she doesn’t understand why, he says he’s going to speak to the Jaguar. But he realizes when he reaches the door that they’ve been locked inside by a shield. Luther asks her if Diem can go through it, absorb it like she did the other magic. She reaches in and it’s so strong it’s intoxicating. She is able to the shield. But she wonders if they should leave the room. Maybe they are locked inside for a reason. He counters that maybe the reason is that the Jaguar is opportunistic and wants to turn them in to the Umbros Queen. Diem doesn’t think that’s so terrible either. She kind of wants to speak to the Queen who did not seem surprised when the bloodstone cracked. Luther insists they need to leave right away and get back to Lumnos as soon as they can. There’s something he hasn’t told her. Just then a man walks through a hidden door in the bookshelf. He couldn’t be seen coming into their room, but he wants to know who broke his shield and who took his power, and if he can learn the skill. He introduces himself. His name is Zalaric Hanoverre - a half-mortal that Luther saved from his father. Luther can’t believe he uses his father’s last name. Luther speaks to Zalaric while Diem stays in the other room, so he doesn’t get a good look at her. He makes the same offer to Zalaric that he and the children could return to Lumnos if they wanted, they would be welcomed by the Queen. All Luther would ask is for their loyalty to her. He tells Zalaric they need passage out of Umbros, right away and without the Umbros Queen knowing. Zalaric will do what he can. Diem wakes up later to a note saying that Luther went to get the others. He returns just as she’s getting out of the bath. Her wound is healing well and she asks about his, he insists he’s fine. They’re finally alone and she kisses him. He pushes her against the wall and moves her to the counter. He won’t let her touch him; he won’t let her remove his shirt. When she’s done, he turns to leave but she commands him to stop. If he doesn’t want her, he doesn’t need to do this. He’s irate. Of course he desires her, so she asks why he won’t let her touch him. She holds his hand, kisses him, and he allows those. She pushes him onto the bed and he allows that. But when she tries to lift his sweater, he stops her. He pushes her hand away and leaves the room, ignoring a command from his queen to stop. He may desire her more than anything, but you don’t always get what you want. There must be something Luther knows causing him to act like this. She joins her friends. They heard other people in the city talking about their magic returning. Diem decides to come clean completely. She says everything she knows about her mother, how the Umbros Queen gave her a prophecy, what Ulther said before he died, about the Guardians and Coeurile. She apologizes for not trusting them earlier. If she had, Taran may not have been injured. Luther insists that she not blame herself. He asks about the Umbros’ Queen’s prophecy, and Diem tells them everything she remembers. She wanted to speak to the Queen about the prophecy, but Luther still insists they leave. He asks about what Ulther said and she tells Luther about the weird voice telling her to give her loyal servant the gift, Luther thinks it was Lumnos speaking. They get into another argument and Diem decides to promote Alixe to High General. Diem wants Luther with her still but in a different way. She can’t trust him to follow her orders because he’s too busy protecting her. Diem’s job is to protect her people. Their job is to serve her. He’s angry, but he still insists they go back to Lumnos right away. He makes Diem promise that she will leave for Lumnos. Diem takes Taran to check out his wounds. One of his wounds is healing nicely, the other only has a small amount of the black infection still visible. It looks like Taran really is favored by Lumnos. He says maybe he will ask for a mate next. Zalaric comes in through the secret door. He’s never seen someone survive a godstone wound, but it looks like Taran is going to get lucky. He explains that he found them a boat to Lumnos that won’t be checked by the Centenaries, but it can’t leave till the following night. Luther is willing to pay whatever it takes to leave immediately, but there’s no way that’s going to happen. It’s tomorrow or find your own boat. As he leaves, Zalaric offers to take Diem on a tour of the city (for a fee) and she accepts. Alixe and Taran decide to go with them, but Luther very grumpily says no. There’s something he needs to do in the city before his magic leaves him again and he won’t say what it is. He gets back much later, and Diem has fallen asleep by the fire waiting for him. He picks her up and takes her to her bed. He tells her he went to a Lumnos temple to pray for peace, and he apologizes for the way he has been acting. Knowing she’s in danger brings out a darkness in him that he’s not familiar with. She asks him to stay and promises not to touch him if he does. He lays down with her, and she puts her hand out. She doesn’t push, but she offers it, and she falls asleep with her hand like that. She’s pretty sure he took it as she fell asleep. They wake up entangled and Luther is flushed and sweating, but she respects his boundary and leaves him alone, wondering what he’s hiding. The others leave Luther behind to tour the city, Zalaric is able to create a shield around their bodies that changes their appearance only to anyone outside the boundary of the shield. It’s very impressive and proof that he is not only very powerful but well trained. He trained himself. Diem realizes that Zalaric is flirting with Taran. Diem asks Zalaric for his story. He lived in the slums of the Lumnos mortal city with his mom until he was seven and his mother didn’t come home. He lived homeless for some time, until someone turned him in for being half-mortal and Luther found him. People used to just murder half-mortals on the street themselves, when Luther instituted the reward for exposing them, people would turn the half-mortals in instead. It allowed him to find and evacuate more children. But Zalaric didn’t know that Luther could be trusted and tried to run away. One of the guards cut his throat, giving him the scar that he still has, but Luther was able to save him and get him to Umbros. He was too old to get a new family, so he was kept by Miss Margie - who Luther would bring the kids to. She would find the children families or keep them if she couldn’t. Miss Margie sold her body for money until she couldn’t anymore, then they were very poor for a while. Then she got sick and died. Zalaric picked pockets, then fought in the cage fights where he learned to use both his body and his magic, sold his body when necessary, then he started selling his services to highest bidder. He has plenty of money now. He owns the inn, but other half-mortals run it and keep the money, it’s a place for the children to be kept safe. Diem asks him to come to Lumnos and train her in magic. He guesses that she is also half-mortal though she doesn’t confirm his suspicions. Zalaric takes them to a market where a mortal man who claims to have glass jars of dragonfyre from most (not all) of the gryvern. He even claims to have one last orb of Rymari’s dragonfyre, the Montios gryvern who died. Something tells Diem to keep this one. Her inside voice says rise, which she unthinkingly says out loud. The flames burn brighter and the glass gets too hot to handle. She grabs the still too hot jar, but she isn’t burned. The vendor offers to wrap it and when she declines, he says not to draw unwanted attention to either of them. He grabs her arm and all of the jars burn bright. She has to tell them to calm down, that she is safe, before the fires return to normal. She pays and leaves before the Centenaries show up. They drop Diem off at the inn before the rest of them continue. Zalaric wants to show Alixe something in the metal market. Inside, Luther is dozing and Diem lifts his head to hold it in her lap. Whatever he is hiding is bothering her, but she shoves her intuition way back down in order to trust his judgement. He wakes up and shows her the Umbros newspaper he was reading. It has moving pictures inside. Lumnos doesn’t have anything like a newspaper at all, let alone anything like this. There’s a story about how the Guardians have taken Coeurile, surprisingly honest, and another about how a contingent of seventy Descended marched on the Guardians in Montios and none returned. He asks if she’s ever been to Montios and she has, but just over the border. She’d never been to Ignios or Umbros until this trip. And she’s still never been to Sophos. He tells her she should go, even if it’s just over the border like Montios. Call it a hunch. There’s a picture of the powerful Descended there who is working with the Guardians. It is the man from her and Luther’s vision. The one who said to help him or die. She should feel good that mortals are working with Descended and vice versa, but this does not feel good. They walk with Zalaric on their way to meet his contact. His contact will avoid the Centenaries completely, but he doesn’t know how. If he knew, he wouldn’t be able to hide it from the Umbros Queen next time he pays his tithes to her. This is their last chance to turn back. He can’t guarantee their safety, and he can’t save them if his contact turns bad. He wouldn’t turn them over if he thought they’d be in danger, but he can’t guarantee their safety. Her voice tells her to look, and Diem looks in his head. She knows what he’s hiding, and she thinks he knows that she knows, but they continue on. They go through a tiny hidden tunnel and on the other side is a Fortos soldier. Diem wonders if she knows Auralie, if that’s how she and Zalaric met (Luther was introduced to Zalaric through Auralie). Zalaric introduces her as the Cardinal. Luther says goodbye to Zalaric, and Zalaric thanks him for all the children he saved. If he really wants to thank Luther, then help the Lumnos Queen should she ever ask for it. Diem wonders why he isn’t fighting for her himself and he looks at her sharply as if he heard her, but she’d only said that in her head. The others get on the boat, but Diem whispers goodbye to Zalaric. She asks if the others would be safe if they left without her, but Zalaric tells her it’s already too late. Diem hears a voice from behind her. It’s Symond, the Umbros Queen’s most powerful Centenary. He’s got four or five more behind him. Diem intends to fight as they invade her thoughts, but they force everyone else to put blades to their own throat - Zalaric and the Cardinal included. She agrees to speak with the Queen if they let her friends go, and Symond agrees that they won’t be injured if they behave, but they’ll all be coming to meet the Queen. Diem asks that he let the Cardinal and Zalaric go, since they didn’t know who she was. The Cardinal insists they’ve never met before. Since they’re not friends, Symond makes the Cardinal, Jemmina, kill herself. Diem and Luther drop next to the woman as the others try to protect Zalaric. Symond reveals that Zalaric already made a deal for his own life. He betrayed them all, Taran in particular. Diem tells them not to blame Zalaric, she’s at fault and Luther realizes that she knew this would happen. They all start to argue but Diem focuses on the woman. She’s still alive, barely, and Alixe alone of her friends comes to assist Diem. She subtly hides Diem from view and Diem heals the woman. Diem tells her to continue to play dead and Jemmina complies, Diem stands to speak to Symond. He is hot for her, he’s made no secret of that, so she prays for Luther’s forgiveness as she flirts back. He leads them to the Queen of Umbros. Symond leaves them alone for a moment and Taran immediately starts to fight Zalaric. Diem turns her attention to Luther. He knows her flirting with Symond was fake, but he believes that she lied to him about leaving. Maybe worked with Zalaric to see the Umbros Queen. Before Diem can tell him the truth, the Queen arrives on the back of her gryvern with a bunch of Centenaries. Taran, Luther, and Alixe form a wall in front of Diem. Taran pulls Zalaric behind them as well. The Queen invites Diem to call her by her name, Yrselle. In her mind, she warns Diem not to challenge her. Yrselle cannot leave a challenge untested in front of her Centenaries. She tells Diem that Auralie is still imprisoned but not executed. In order for the Crowns to execute anyone, they need a vote of six. Of the nine, Arboros and Montios have not answered, Remis has refused to answer until Diem returns to Lumnos (an unexpected boon from Remis), and Yrselle voted no. She wants Diem to stay a few days; they have a lot to talk about. Luther is vehemently against this, the Queen says she understands his concerns, but this is more important. She knows both of Diem’s parents. Knows more about them than they probably know themselves. Diem agrees to stay in exchange for Yrselle’s continued vote to not kill her mother. Yrselle puts them up in the palace, with Zalaric acting as their official envoy, and retroactively makes their illegal, clandestine visit officials. She even gives the Corbois cousins their magic back and assures them that the Centenaries will not invade their thoughts anymore. She doesn’t say that she won’t though. They have a private dinner that evening that Luther does not attend. At dinner, Zalaric explains that a Centenary had come to visit him. If he hadn’t told them about Diem, they would have taken the information by force and then killed him. Diem takes this chance to tell him that Jemmina is still alive. There’s every chance the Queen already knew that Diem was there though. He wonders if Yrselle might want an alliance with Diem. Diem says that doesn’t make any sense. They’re matched in power, if Yrselle doesn’t have more. But Zalaric doesn’t think that’s true, the cousins agree with him. She’s done things they’ve never seen before, even broken Forging magic that isn’t supposed to be able to be broken. Zalaric can feel a strong person’s magic when they are in the same room. Later, as Diem walks Zalaric to the hallway, she reiterates that he is welcome in Lumnos. That she wants him in Lumnos. And she’s not the only one. He asks her how she knew that he’d betrayed them. He knows what it feels like to have someone in your mind, everyone in Umbros does, and at one point it almost felt like she may have been there. She has no answer and he quickly changes the subject. once everyone else leaves (except Taran, who has passed out in her room), Diem takes some food to Luther’s room. She knocks on the door several times, loudly, but he doesn’t answer. She tests the handle and it’s locked. When Diem wakes Taran up, he’s talking to Zalaric in his dream. She tells him that Zalaric didn’t have a choice but to betray them, don’t blame him. They also discuss Aemonn. When their father hurt him, Taran would ask the older Aemonn to protect him since Aemonn already had magic. But Aemonn would insist that they had to show their father they could be strong and resist. Now he sits at their father’s side like none of it ever happened. Diem says that he does not have to forgive anyone, but Aemonn was also a child when that happened. People react very strangely to trauma. Taran thinks about that. When they prepare to leave the room, Luther is outside. He needs to talk to Diem and she couldn’t agree more, but Symond shows up to say that the Queen wants her for lunch and she won’t wait. On the way, Symond has Diem change into one of Yrselle’s dresses because her clothes are gross. Symond says that Yrselle thinks Diem is valuable for some reason, but she doesn’t think the same of Diem’s friends. When Diem arrives to lunch, Yrselle dismisses all of the Centenaries around her. She tells Diem to show her crown. When Diem does, Yrselle marvels at it. Diem asks rapid fire questions. How did Yrselle know Diem was there. Zalaric didn’t tell, but he will have to learn the hard way the price of his deceit. Diem wonders if he will be safe when they leave. Yrselle explains that the Forging magic goes through every single thing in the realm. The plants, the stones, the creatures. She has learned to use it to her advantage. Did Yrselle know what would happen at the Coronation, was she was the woman who gave the prophecy to Diem, why did she vote not to kill Auralie? Yrselle does not give away all her secrets, but she says she was the woman who gave the prophecy. And she voted not to kill Auralie because Auralie has a role to play in what’s coming. The vote of six is a new rule, one that Umbros does not agree with. It used to be that the Crowns worked as one, you had to have all nine in agreement. In order to free her mother, Diem now needs six votes, but she doesn’t need any votes to question her. Yrselle asks her own questions. Does Diem want to create a new Emarion, what is she willing to do for that dream? Could she kill for it, lose the people she loves for it? Could she lose them all? She’s willing to set her own soul on fire for it. Great! Yrselle takes Diem to her private library and gives her a small key. Inside the library are stained glass murals. One of the Kindred, one of the Blood War, and one of the Everflame tree with a redheaded man seated at its base. Not even Centenaries are allowed here. Yrselle points out books on mortals, on Descended, and even on the Kindred. A good education is the most powerful of weapons. Diem wants to get back to Luther, but she may as well stay in the library for now - Yrselle had the others go to a bathhouse. Diem reads all about the mortals, but even here the names of their gods have been burned out of record. She pauses next to the locked section of Kindred records. She should look here too. She finds a map, possibly the originally drawn realm lines including a line that has been erased going through the middle of Montios. Then she finds Montios’ diary. She speaks of her youngest sibling; how worrisome he is. The damage and turmoil he saw in their home did not scare him as much as it did the others. As much as it should have. He talks almost like he admires it. Montios falls in love and speaks of how she would do anything to spend forever with her love. What she didn’t know is that the Kindred would not make their spouses immortal but give up their immortality. Soon, Lumnos was pregnant as was Fortos’ wife, but the last pages of the diary have been ripped out. Diem locks up and heads back to her room to prepare for dinner, accompanied by Symond, who needs to gather two Centenaries that one of Diem’s associates requested a visit from. The two Centenary women come out of Luther’s room. Diem can see him naked on the bed, and she goes to her own room devastated. At dinner, she is dressed provocatively and they all notice. They also notice the Crown she has not put away. It looks different than it did before. She tells Luther what she saw and at first, he stays to deny anything happened but then he stops himself. She asks what has happened to him, to them. She goes to get drunk with Taran as unwanted tears slip down her cheeks. Yrselle comes in with her retinue. The beginning of the dinner goes fairly well, though one of the Centenaries from Luther’s room is near Diem and she names her Hagface. The room is too loud; everything has been too loud for Diem. She tells Taran and Alixe to milk the Centenaries for information. They go about it in different ways. Alixe asks pertinent questions, Taran gets drunk. Through Alixe’s questions, we learn that since all the Centenaries are at dinner, they hire Lumnos Descended to create the illusions of them in the city. They wipe the memories from the Descended who help them. They’ve even done it to Zalaric. Zalaric doesn’t like this revelation. Hagface tells them they can do more than just that. They can make a person do anything. Forget or implant memories, turn their memories painful or pleasurable, drive people apart. Yrselle becomes frenzied and grabs Diem’s hand. Once a mind is broken, death is the only way to fix it. Diem needs to understand that. Yrselle doesn’t believe she does, but she will. They bring out drinks for everyone, but Diem stops her people from drinking when she recognizes the scent of flameroot. Taran has already downed his glass. They bring out a different drink, this one everybody drinks from. It’s a drink that opens their bodies and their minds. It’s also an aphrodisiac. Diem realizes when she shields her own mind that she has been hearing the thoughts of the other people. That is why it is so ungodly loud. Hagface wants to play mirrors. A game in which they must answer questions truthfully. If the Centenaries find a lie, they drink. If they play, Yrselle will answer Diem’s questions the next day. Diem, Taran, and Alixe agree, Luther doesn’t want to but is goaded into it. Finally, Yrselle tells Zalaric that he must play. Diem whispers to him to find a way out of it and he hears her, but he has no choice but to play. The first question - who should wear Lumnos’ Crown. Zalaric says him, Luther says Diem, Diem says Luther, and Taran also says Diem since Luther didn’t want it. All true. Alixe says Diem but really thinks that Luther or even she would do better. It stings, but Diem doesn’t disagree. Next question - who do they want in their bed. Luther says she know who she is and the Centenaries chime in that they all know. Diem’s is someone who desires her and wants her there as well, Symond volunteers. Alixe volunteers to entertain as many as want to come but when Taran says the same, it’s a lie. Just the men, lie. He can’t pick just one, lie. He’s saved by Diem, so he doesn’t have to say Zalaric’s name. When Zalaric is asked, he says he’d rather be alone, but that is also a lie. Diem suggests he’s waiting for someone who wants him enough to fight for him, that’s not Zalaric’s truth either. Yrselle asks if Zalaric could only save one person from the burning palace, would it be Diem or herself. A loaded question, he’d save himself. That’s the truth and Yrselle laughs. Alixe and Taran both answer Diem over Luther because they take their oaths seriously. Symond comments that he isn’t scared of Taran but Diem retorts that he should be. The Umbros Descended are soft and war is coming. Hagface says they won’t be fighting in any war, but Yrselle changes the subject. Who would Diem choose to save? Diem would save them all or die trying. It’s the truth, Zalaric looks at her wonderingly. Why would she ever die trying to save him? They all declare that Diem has won the game and as a prize, Yrselle will answer her question about the war. Kindred blood cannot be wiped out except by another Kindred. If a Sophos man and a Lumnos woman have a child, the strongest parent in magic will claim the child’s magic as well. They will be born with that magic and none of the other. The Blood War was fought because the Crowns believed nothing could defeat Kindred blood - they were fools. They lost thousands of people and still almost lost. These new Crowns have learned nothing from their mistakes. As for the coming war, no one will be able to avoid it. The dinner moves to another room where a bunch of drugs are rolled out, and people start doing whatever hedonistic thing they prefer. Drusila, a Centenary bonded to a Meros Descended, shows off her mating bond on her wrist. Taran wants a mating bond, he’s quite a romantic, but he gets upset when Zalaric is asked if he would want one and responds only if he found someone worth it. Diem approaches Taran and reminds him that they’re leaving the next day - he may never see Zalaric again. Taran is too drunk to take much notice. Yrselle approaches Diem again. She tells Diem to keep the key to the library. Diem appreciates how the Umbros Queen treats the mortals in her realm and Yrselle explains that her successor may not be as welcoming to them. When a Crown nears the end of their life, they know who their successor will be. Yrselle is dying. She doesn’t know when. But her successor will be Diem’s biggest adversary. They may even kill her. Yrselle does not tell Diem who it is. Yrselle says the Kindred aren’t dead. Only their corporeal bodies died. Diem prepares to leave to go to her room, but Alixe stops her. Diem had asked Alixe earlier if something was wrong with Luther. At the bathhouse, he’d left because he was tired. But Luther doesn’t get tired. And if he is, he doesn’t tell anyone. Alixe thinks Diem was right, something is very wrong with him. Diem goes to her room and writes questions down for her meeting with Yrselle the next day. She paces, wavering, until she finally goes to Luther’s room. When he answers, she asks if she can speak to him. The room is in complete disarray, as is Luther. It’s as if he’s given up. She tells him that she needs to clear the air between them, and he agrees they need to talk. She thought at first he was embarrassed by the compass, or mad at her about Ignios, or that his feelings for her had changed. He insists none of that is true, but he does need to tell her something. She interrupts; she needs to get this out. She’s choosing to trust him. After the Challenging, when she thought he had betrayed her, but he was really trying to protect her, she swore she would trust him always. He is the first person to really see her, to make her feel excited for the future, to give her hope. So, if he doesn’t feel that way about her anymore, then he needs to tell her. She reaches up to kiss him and brushes his hip with her hand. He collapses from the pain, and her hand now has his blood on it. He is lying on the floor when she removes his shirt and finally sees what he’s been hiding. He was hit in Arboros by a godstone weapon, and the infection has spread from his hip up to his chest. Suddenly everything that he’s said and how he’s acted makes sense to her. And she knows what she must do. She calls Sorae and tells her to come quickly. Luther explains that he was hit after Taran, but his wound was deeper and the infection had already spread to his chest by the time they got to Ignios’ mortal city. He almost told her, but he knew he was dying. Once she knew too, he would never see her happy again and he couldn’t deal with that. Diem runs to Taran’s room. He’s next door with Zalaric, naked. Zalaric offers to find Alixe as Diem takes Taran to Luther’s room. Luther makes Taran promise to take care of Diem, but Diem tells Taran to shut up. If Luther wants her protected, he will have to live to do it himself. Taran agrees and says that Luther knows he hates Lumnos. Without Luther, there’s no one else there for him. He will leave the whole realm behind, so he better live. Alixe comes in and Diem asks how long it will take Sorae to arrive. A few hours. Can she fly them all back. Alixe says yes, she’s flown four before though it will take longer. But Diem wants to know if Sorae can handle five. She turns to Zalaric. It is not safe for him to stay in Umbros. Yrselle has not forgiven him for his deceit. She asks him to return to Lumnos, he agrees to think about it. He will help them prepare for now. They all pack their things. Diem makes a poultice for Luther. Taran and Zalaric pack Luther’s things, finding a goodbye letter for everyone he loves. Taran finds the compass and frowns at what it points to before passing it to Diem. Give it to Luther, it calms him knowing he can always find Diem. They’re still a few hours from Sorae’s arrival, but they need a place for her to land. They decide that Yrselle’s private dining chamber will be best. Diem knows that Yrselle’s gryvern will see them leaving no matter what they do. Maybe she should stay while the others get Luther to Maura. But Luther says the only thing that will bring him any happiness is Diem next to him, so she will go. Zalaric decides he will come too. Once there, he will not hide who he is. By the time they reach the balcony, Sorae is an hour out. They all hide and barricade the door. Diem thinks about Drusila’s mating bond and has the sudden urge to ask Luther to mate her before it’s too late. But she talks herself out of it. Yrselle’s gryvern makes it to the balcony before Sorae does and Diem comes out to avoid the others getting caught. She speaks to the gryvern and convinces her that she doesn’t want to hurt Yrselle. The gryvern is willing to let Diem go to keep Yrselle safe, but Sorae comes closer, realizes the other gryvern is near Diem, and screams a battle cry in her worry. So much for stealth! As the Umbros gryvern flies off, Diem yells to keep Yrselle away. Diem and Zalaric hold the Centenaries at the door as Sorae arrives and Taran and Alixe load Luther onto Sorae’s back. Zalaric’s mind is invaded and Diem gets him onto Sorae as well, they need to get him out of range of the Centenaries before his mind is broken. Diem sends Sorae off with the other four, staying behind to hold the Centenaries off. The Centenaries break in, followed by Yrselle. She cannot let Diem go; the lives of her people are on the line. Stay and Yrselle can tell Diem who, what, she truly is. Soon, he will be too strong even for Diem to beat him. Diem says she will be back in a few days - but that’s too long to wait. The Centenaries try to break through Diem’s shield, but they need Yrselle’s help. Yrselle is able to bring Diem to her knees but then Diem opens her mind up instead of fighting against them, and she absorbs the Queen’s power. She uses a shield of ice to ward off the gryvern’s dragonfyre. And then Diem throws herself off the balcony. Sorae catches Diem in her claws as Luther screams about how dumb that was and Taran helps pull Diem to Sorae’s back. They’re flying away as fast as they can, which is not fast since Sorae is carrying five people, when they hear the Umbros gryvern behind them. Alixe and Zalaric bend the light and hide Sorae. The Umbros gryvern spits dragonfyre at random until they spot Sorae’s claws and know where to aim. Diem shields them with a shield of ice and Luther asks if she’s ever been to Meros. Not to the port, but to the ground itself. He tells her to use Meros’ wind. He’s realized that she can use all the Kindred’s gifts. She uses wind to help Sorae fly and destabilize Yselle. Both she and her gryvern fall. Diem doesn’t think she’s dead but maybe learned her lesson. As soon as Diem relaxes, the gryvern hits her from the side. Taran and Luther, who have been secured together with two belts, are knocked from Sorae and the belts are tangled in her talons. Alixe has fallen. Sorae flies for Alixe, getting Diem just close enough that she can slow Alixe and they’re able to catch her. Alixe is shaken but climbs back up. Yrselle fights a different way. She forces Taran to choke Luther, still dangling from Sorae’s claw, as both Zalaric and Alixe try to throw themselves off of Sorae’s back. Diem is trying to keep them all alive when Sorae tips slightly too far and the dragonfyre jar falls from Diem’s bag and smashes open. Just as Diem thinks she’s going to have to choose who to save, Yrselle and her gryvern are covered in lavender dragonfyre and plummets to the ground. Yrselle’s hold is broken and the others are able to disentangle Luther and Taran. They fly home. When they reach Lumnos, there are Emarion soldiers everywhere (far more than when Alixe left), Sorae is exhausted, and Luther is unconscious. Sorae takes them right to Diem’s room where they put Luther on the bed. Diem sends Alixe to get Maura with Sorae. Teller and Lily come in, so relieved to see Diem but devastated to see Luther. Diem sets all of them to a job, Taran and Zalaric included. She looks at Luther with Fortos healing magic. The infection is everywhere and as quickly as she heals his organs, the infection destroys them again. But his heart is not affected. It is surrounded by a wall of infection, but his heart is untouched. Maura arrives and sets to work doing everything she can to save him. Eleanor comes in. When Lily and Teller return, they’re accompanied by a loud Remis and Avana. At first, Diem doesn’t let them in, but Lily asks that they be allowed to stay. As they wait, Diem heals wounds on Taran from dragonfyre. Finally, Maura tells Diem privately that nothing is working. She’s done everything she can and prepares to go back to mortal city. She hands Diem a sleeping drought. If given enough, it will allow Luther to slip peacefully away to death. People start to leave the room to clean up but Teller gets closer to Diem. She tells him that she knows their mother is imprisoned. She reveals a few things that she knows about Auralie. Things that she didn’t tell Teller. He gets very angry. She’s just as bad as Auralie, always keeping secrets. He storms from the room but Lily comforts Diem. He will forgive her. Lily talks about how happy Diem made Luther and Diem can’t stay any longer. She goes to his room and collect his book of children. On her way, Diem passes Aemonn. She tells him that he could be better than he chooses to be, he could be a great man - she can see it in him. That Taran was almost on that bed dying. Does he never want to have a relationship with his brother? They shouldn’t be angry at each other when there is someone else much more deserving of their anger. In a bid to regain some of her admiration, he tells her he hasn’t killed any of the half-mortal children while she was gone. He insisted on halting the executions. She brings up the child Henri saw him kill in the streets, but Aemonn insists it was an accident. He didn’t see the boy! When she points out that he didn’t try to save the boy either, Aemonn tells her that she has no idea the pressure he receives from Garath to be perfect and not show weakness. But he’s not a bad person. Diem challenges him to prove it. She will give him a second chance. One of the ways he can prove himself is to protect Zalaric. She lets herself into Luther’s room, cutting her hand to do it. Luther’s locks have been keyed to her blood. Diem sees his statue of Lumnos and she makes an offering. Whatever Lumnos wants from her she will give if Lumnos will just save Luther. Magic, tears, blood. She cuts her hand and offers it to the statue, looking up to see the statue crying tears of blood. Lily comes to the door frantic, and Diem runs to her room to see Luther seizing. He barely has a pulse. She lays next to him and prepares to give him the drink that will take him peacefully to death but feels something cold at her hip. The compass. When she opens it, it points to Luther, but then beyond him. The vial from Arboros that can heal any illness not sent by the gods themselves. She rushes to the desk, opening the wound in her hand again, and pours it down Luther’s throat. She saves a few drops to put in his wound, shaking the bottle so hard her blood spatters on him. She uses her fingers to scrape the inside of the bottle and places them directly on his wound. She lies next to him to wait. She wakes up to people whispering about her and assumes that Luther died, but then she hears his voice. Not only is he awake, he’s made amazing progress. He’s healing. Once it’s only her friends, she tells all of her secrets to them. Teller can barely look at her when she’s done. After hours of celebration and relief, she and Luther are left alone. He tells her what he wanted to months ago. He loves her. And he heard all the things she said to him while he was sick. That she was worried she’d never get the chance to tell him that she loves him. She tells him now. He already knew, but he likes to hear it. He kisses her and he’d like to do much more, but she stops him. He isn’t healed yet and she won’t heal him until the toxin is completely gone from his body. So, he needs to do this the old-fashioned way and strenuous activity is not allowed. They discuss Auralie and the need to get her released from prison before another Crown votes to execute her. Diem thanks Sorae and talks about the gryverns from Umbros and Ignios. Sorae gets sad about Tybold. They once loved each other and were torn apart by the Kindred. Diem swears to fix that. She changes into something to sleep in, and the Umbros Queen’s key falls out of her pocket. She throws it in her wardrobe. That offer is probably no longer good. The next day, it’s back to work. Diem leaves Lily in charge of Luther and meets with Eleanor. Eleanor has slowly been gaining allies for Diem, especially within the Corbois younger cousins. And some of the other Houses are sympathetic too. They blame House Hanoverre for what happened at the Challenging, including House Ghislaine. But Eleanor is worried that if Diem goes to Fortos and frees her mother that those Houses will no longer be sympathetic. The Guardians have caused a lot of destruction for the Descended. Afterward, Alixe speaks to Diem about her idea she mentioned in Umbros. After Diem’s father died and Diem exploded at their house, Alixe had noticed black stone. She believes that it’s godstone, created by Diem’s magic somehow. Godstone could only be created by the Kindred, so supply has dried up. Alixe didn’t think Diem would want to make more godstone weapons, so she has the idea to create shields instead. They would be impervious to both magic and godstone weapons. Diem wants to see the stone that Alixe has stored in the armory for now. But when they get to the armory, there is a line of soldiers guarding it. Soldiers with orders from Remis not to let Diem through. The Fortos King claims that Diem has not yet been coronated, and the Regent says that until she is, she is not Queen. Diem decides to see Remis herself; he’s in a meeting upstairs. On her way out, she can hear the soldiers giggling to themselves. She makes a show of force to remind them who she is. But she also tells Alixe that Fortos is right, Montios did not finish the ritual. Alixe realizes that is the reason the Forging magic is acting up and why they could use their magic in the road. Either the Crowns will need to coronate Diem by the next Forging Day to restore the Forging magic, or they will need to kill her and coronate someone else. Remis is having a meeting with Garath, Aemonn, and House Hanoverre about Zalaric. Turns out, Jean is his father and Marthe does not like the insinuations being made that Jean would mess around with mortals. After some posturing and insults, Remis advises Marthe to rein Ileana in and they choose to leave. Garath rounds on Diem and Diem almost ruins him. She has him in a magic chokehold until he turns blue, then she lets him go. Aemonn escorts him out and Alixe leaves to warn Zalaric. Remis warns Diem that Garath is very powerful and not an enemy she wants. He also insists that everything he has done is to prevent civil war. After the attack on Coeurile, the Hanoverres wanted to exterminate all the mortals. Remis brought in the army to help protect them. He doesn’t want to see the mortals killed. Not because he’s some paragon of virtue, but because they’re cheap labor. They both acknowledge that Diem could force him out of his position, even kill him, but it would lead to more bloodshed. So, Diem agrees to allow him to stay as acting Regent on two conditions. 1) Make Alixe High General. She’s an all-around better choice than Aemonn. 2) Suspend the progeny laws. She tells him that she is only doing this for Luther, so he doesn’t have to fight his own father. Remis points out that he is not either one of their enemy, they’d know that if they could just hold their tempers for once. Diem finds Taran and Alixe trying to hold Luther back after hearing what Garath did. She places her memory in Taran’s mind so he can see his father choking himself but then gets ready for an errand. She needs to see Henri. They need closure and he needs to be warned that things with the army may get worse if she breaks Auralie out. After she sees him, Diem and Luther will go to Fortos. Sorae takes her down to the mortal city where the Emarion soldiers want to bring her in, she has to sneak into the city. She hears mortals talking about how she has abandoned them, how the army is making people disappear. She gets to Henri’s house where she sees him with another woman. Lana, who tells Diem she’s sorry. She wishes things had started differently, but Diem cannot have Henri. Diem wishes her well and asks to speak to Henri alone. It all comes out. How he thinks she has abandoned the mortals. How she is with Luther. How he was supposed to be her best friend but wasn’t there during the Challenging when she thought she would die. Or when her father died. She tells him what really happened in Arboros. How she was kidnapped and Vance chased her into Ignios and nearly killed her. She finds out that Henri knew where her mother was this whole time. And that he got with Lana before the Challenging. He makes excuses. Diem was never around. She never really loved him… was never in love with him. She wishes Henri and Lana the best, truly, but gives him a word of advice. Vance is not a good man. She is going to get Auralie. Lastly, she hopes that when war comes, they will be fighting in the same side. She leaves his house and goes to the center of town. She tells the mortals not to bow to her. Not yet. She was raised mortal. She has not forgotten where she came from. Mortal blood runs in her veins. So does Descended blood. And while she went to the palace believing that she would hate them all, she found good people there too. And she wants to bring them all together in peace. She’s not sure if she will get it done, but she’s sure going to try. The Emarion soldiers approach her. They have orders to bring her in to be questioned. Go ahead and try. She uses her magic to make them give up their weapons and when they attack her with their magic, including Fortos’ death magic, she absorbs it all. It doesn’t hurt her. Sorae lands and she mounts, telling the soldiers that she is not afraid of them, nor is she afraid of the Crowns. But if one more mortal in her realm mysteriously goes missing, the soldiers will pay. As she flies away, the mortals bow to her. When Diem returns, her rooms are empty. Perthe tells her that the others left with Remis, but Teller is in his room. She meets with Teller and tells him she needs to go to Fortos to get their mother. He’s scared for her, maybe she should leave their mom, but she assures him the other Crowns can’t hurt her. She shows him her magic from all the realms and explains that when attacked, she absorbs the other magic. She’s going to bring Auralie back to the palace then they can figure out where to hide her. As they talk, she feels pain. Sorae is being attacked. Ordering Perthe to stay with Teller, she runs to Sorae. She can see through Sorae’s eyes that Sorae is pinned down. The guards assure Diem that Sorae is only being restrained, they have order to keep Diem inside. Alixe’s orders. She throws the soldiers against the wall and keeps running. She meets a bunch of Fortos soldiers and they have godstone weapons. Luther comes in from the side door. He knows what’s happening with Sorae, he was loading their bags when Remis stopped him. Diem raises her hands and lets her magic fly, terrified that Luther will be hurt by these godstone weapons. She somehow makes the godstone weapons disappear. That’s impossible. Mortals have always been told that the Descended destroyed most of the godstone weapons, but they had really been stored away because they can’t be destroyed. Until now. The Fortos soldiers attack but she and Luther have finally reached each other and they shield. Aemonn told Remis what Diem planned, Diem had let it slip when she met him in the hallway as Luther was dying. Remis is trying to stop her from going. They push their shield outward, pushing the soldiers away, and run to Sorae. Outside, Taran screams at Remis as Zalaric tries to hold him back. Alixe stands next to Remis, and Eleanor and Lily cry in the corner. Remis says that he is the Crown until Diem is coronated, Sorae will serve him or be detained. Diem yells at Aemonn that once again he has proved who he is and left everyone wanting, he will never be more than a pawn to his father. Luther fights Alixe, leaving her bleeding on the ground, injuring her but not fatally. He starts to cut Sorae’s muzzle off. Remis tells Diem that if the Crowns can’t kill her, they will come for the people that she loves. If she insists on going to Fortos, she should stay gone. She is impetuous and does not think. As soon as her muzzle is off, Sorae prepares to breathe her dragonfyre and Diem tells everyone to run. She protects Luther and Alixe with her ice shield as the others back away. When Sorae is done, Luther and Diem jump on her back as the Fortos soldiers run into the courtyard. She yells at Taran to protect Zalaric as they leave. The Hanoverres will be coming for him. They fly to Fortos and Luther asks about Henri. He hates her, it’s fine. They both know it’s not fine. But she remembers what Henri said about her being unwilling or unavailable to be the person he wanted to be with, to give him what he wanted for his future. She tells Luther that she loves him, but she’s not sure if she will ever want to get married or be mated. He knew that already. He never thought he’d have that either. It’s more than he thought possible to be able to choose who he gets to be with. He loves Diem for who she is and anything she’s able to give is enough. She can feel it when they enter Fortos and they fly directly to the King’s training grounds. She demands to see the King, who comes out soon after. She is uninvited and can speak in front of his men; they don’t need a private conversation. If he wants all her soldiers to hear about the heartstone, then that’s fine. He decides a private conversation is preferred and she has Sorae wait for them while in the air. She doesn’t trust these soldiers after what happened in Lumnos. The King takes her to a room in the barracks with godstone doors. He makes Luther wait in the hallway. She tells him she knew nothing about the attack on Coeurile, inviting him to have an Umbros Descended question her, but there are no Umbros Descended in the Emarion army. The Queen forbids them from joining. Diem had no idea that was allowed. She has the right to question a prisoner, but the King refuses to allow it. He probes her godhood, even having a small amount of his own magic absorbed when he does a tiny little attack. He leaves the room, insisting that Diem will not see her mother. But Diem throws her magic out, making every soldier in the hallway fall against the wall hard. The King himself leaves a dent in the godstone door. He tells her to come with him. He leads Diem and Luther to a nondescript building with another set of godstone doors. There are only Fortos soldiers here, and only men. Fortos doesn’t think women are up to the challenge of ruling. Diem yearns to show him exactly what a woman can do. When they reach the doors to the prisoner’s cells, it is keyed to the King’s blood. Only blood willingly given will unlock a blood lock. As he tells her that only men are strong enough to lead, she uses his own magic on him to make his nose bleed. At first, he thinks it’s his own soldiers but Diem steps through his shield, shattering it, and uses the healing magic to make him feel better. He nearly attacks her, but Luther steps in to protect her. He is stronger than the King of Fortos. Diem tells them to stop being so emotional. Fortos invites her to go through the door first, but Diem isn’t a fool. They’re at a standoff until Luther asks if he’s scared and Fortos enters. Fortos tells them that there has never been a successful escape from this prison. And if there were, all around them is flatland. They would be seen trying to escape. Diem looks into one of the prisoner cells and sees a Descended man huddled in the corner. His food is moldy as his cot, and his soiled clothes are hanging off his emaciated body. Diem demands to know why the prisoners are being treated like this, Fortos retorts that he’s only mandated to keep them alive. It’s so quiet, she realizes all the Descended are dosed heavily with flameroot. As they reach the human cells, Diem feels Luther lose his magic. He’s had it this whole time since the Forging magic isn’t working properly. Inside the human area, she sees cells of emaciated, shivering bodies in the freezing cells. That’s when she notices that there are children in these cells. Fortos claims they were found in rebel camps and are treated the same as the adult rebels. But he allows the families to stay together. She is raging at Fortos and nearly unable to keep her magic in check when she hears her mother’s voice behind her. Her mother has been tortured. Luther rages at Fortos while Diem discretely heals her mother from the worst of her wounds. Auralie believes Andrei’s death is a lie told by Fortos, Diem has to confirm that it’s true. He died because of Diem, who has had few allies. Auralie insists the Guardians would help her, but she’s wrong. As soon as they realized she was a Descended, that was all they saw. When Auralie tells Diem a little about her birth father, Diem notices the King trying to listen. She demands to speak to her mother in private and after some arguing, the King agrees that they can speak in a different cell. As he opens the door, he notices that Auralie’s knee is no longer broken. Diem insists that of course her mother is still injured. He wants to know why he can’t see Diem’s shield; she blames it on how powerful she is. As he’s distracted, another mortal woman slips out of the cell and tries to kill Fortos. He withers her body to a husk. Then he makes all the mortals feel pain. He tells Diem that he is allowed to kill them and he is more than willing to do it. He escorts them to a prison cell with a godstone door. Diem goes inside the godstone cell, knowing that her magic will be stuck inside with her, but trusting that Luther will be in the hallway with the King. She speaks briefly to Auralie and then hears a messenger speak to Fortos. He had two letters come in - one from the Arboros Queen and one from the Regent of Lumnos. The King says to bring them right away. Diem decides they cannot wait any longer, they have to escape now. The King of Fortos has no intention of letting Diem out, she will die with her mother for treason. And Diem can hear him killing Luther with his magic. He will only let Luther live if Diem gives him details about the Guardians. Auralie will not let her give Fortos any information to save Luther. After all, he’s just a Descended. She blocks Diem with her own body until Diem uses Umbros magic to make Auralie move. Diem’s magic doesn’t affect the godstone door, but the voice tells her to fight. She uses her other magic that only seems to come when she most needs it - like when she destroyed the godstone weapons in Lumnos. This time it melts the door away. She pushes Fortos back and heals Luther quickly. Most of his organs were failing but he wakes up at her ministrations. Her mother tries to sneak out behind Fortos. He prepares to kill her. Diem sends Luther after her mom while she fights Fortos. She creates a shadow sword. She wants him to go into a cell until his soldiers find him, but he refuses. They fight and he is strong. When his soldiers come with the messages, she uses wind to push Fortos to the corner. He hits his head on the wall, and she shrouds them both with shadows. She plants thoughts in the soldiers’ heads that Fortos must be in his office. He knows what she can do… she’s an abomination. She bests him and has him on the floor when Luther comes back carrying a struggling Auralie. Fortos agrees to let them leave since Diem beat him in combat. But as he stands, Fortos pulls Diem forward and prepares to snap her neck. She plunges a small shadow dagger into the artery in his thigh. A killing blow. He falls to the floor and Diem’s head begins to hurt. Fortos speaks to her, not with his own voice but with an ancient, powerful one. It says he is about to do what he’s never done before. He reminds Diem to remember what his sister said but beware his brother. Then the Kindred Fortos, who has never chosen a Queen before, makes her the Crown of Fortos, as well as Lumnos. There’s a big tunnel through the roof of the prison now, created when she received the Fortos Crown. Auralie won’t leave without the other mortals. Diem can’t just let them go unless they were caught on Fortos or Lumnos land, not without the vote of six Crowns. The last time a Fortos King broke from the law, he was killed and quartered by his own men. They like their rules. Auralie says if they can get the mortals to the border, she can take them to safety. But Diem came all this way to save her mother and Auralie’s family needs her. Auralie responds that a few more days won’t hurt. This makes Diem angry. They’ll get the mortals to the border but someone else can lead them from there, Auralie is coming with Diem. Diem tells the mortals that they’re going to have to trust her and Luther, and other Descended that Diem will arrange to help them. She will free them, but she wants something from them too. She is going to fight for a fair future where mortals and Descended are treated the same. She will fight the Descended for that future, but she will fight the Guardians too, if necessary. There are Guardians who want Descended dead just because they are Descended. Regardless of who they are as a person. Once the Descended are gone, those people will turn on anyone else who is different too. Before the Kindred came, the mortals were at war with each other and if they allow it, that will happen again. Diem will not force anyone to fight for her; she only asks that they consider it. They open the bars and heal the injured. They conjure water and food. One of the women, Runa, asks if Diem really thinks this future is possible. Diem isn’t sure, but she is going to try anyway. Diem turns to Luther. They’re both worried about what they’ll face leaving the prison. Someone should have come for them after seeing the light from the Fortos Crown. She unlocks Luther’s magic and tells him to stay with the mortals in the hallway for now. She goes back to the Descended she saw in the cell. She speaks to him; he was caught helping mortals escape from Faunos. He tells her they broke his legs and healed them so he couldn’t walk. She walks into his room and forces her magic to heal them correctly. She’s been using her magic heavily and she ignores the emptiness she is beginning to feel. She’s asks the man, Enness, to get the mortals to safety and protect them with his magic. He tells her he doesn’t have his magic, they gave him flameroot. She uses her silvery gift to help wash the flameroot away. He laughs - he hasn’t had his magic or walked in decades. She asks if there are other Descended there that they can trust to help them. She will take as many as she can. She and Enness break out and restore anyone who Enness says isn’t violent. She has them all wait as she creates vines through the tunnel in the ceiling and climbs to the roof. Sorae screams and distracts the soldiers waiting outside. There are way more soldiers waiting than when they went in. They know the King is dead and an heir has been given the Crown. They’re pretty sure that Diem killed him and they aren’t pleased. Diem sets up a big shadow barrier so everyone in the prison can run behind it to escape without being seen, and she proceeds to fight the Fortos soldiers. When the Fortos High General realizes that she is absorbing their magic to give herself energy (she’s dangerously low), he calls the mortals in the army in to fight her instead. At first, they won’t, but then the High General starts killing mortals. A mortal for every minute that Diem isn’t dead. She reveals that she is the new Queen of Fortos, but that does no good. They insist that Fortos would never give a woman the Crown. She uses her Umbros magic to force the High General’s dagger to his own throat, but her power is gone. She hears Sorae shriek and Luther yells to put out her arm. He grabs her and flies her away. She sees that the High General is dead, still holding the dagger that he cut his own throat with. Once they get the escapees to safety, Sorae firing on anyone who pursues them, they turn toward Lumnos. Luther has barely any energy left, Diem has none - her power is completely used up for now. Auralie is hostile to Diem, refusing to allow him to sit behind Diem and insisting that he call Diem by her title and not her name. Diem suggests they stop to rest, but they could easily be found and decide to keep going. Luther tries to talk contingency plans but is cut down by mother and daughter alike. When they get near Lumnos City, the place is crawling with soldiers. Diem is desperate to fulfill her promise to her brother, but she can’t get close to him. They try to make it to her balcony and Teller comes out with Taran and Perthe after hearing the clamor. She has Luther deploy his shields, but he can only hold them for two minutes, maybe three. When Diem is grazed with an arrow, Sorae changes course. Diem makes her go back. Even after seeing the palace teeming with soldiers, Luther’s drained magic, Remis yelling at the soldiers - clearly not in charge of them, Alixe mouthing for her to go, and Luther and even Auralie suggesting they leave, she has Sorae go back. And Sorae gets hit with a godstone bolt. It won’t kill her, but it could have. Even so, Diem goes back a third time. This time to silently beg her brother for forgiveness and show him their mother’s face, so he knows that Diem tried, before she leaves. He’s screaming not to leave him from the balcony. They head to Montios. They land just over the border. Diem’s wounds from the fight with Fortos are healing slowly and it may take several days for her magic to be back at full strength, but Sorae is healing quickly and doesn’t seem to mind the cold. Auralie tries to get Diem to go to a Guardian camp nearby. When Diem asks what about Luther, Auralie basically says they can leave him to his fate. He’s only a Descended Prince. She seems to forget that her own daughter is Descended as well. Luther asks Diem how she’s dealing with today; she’s struggling with the idea that she killed two Descended, no matter what they deserved, as well as betraying her brother. Luther watches the whole night, allowing Diem and Auralie to sleep and heal. In the morning they find a cave so Luther can also rest, and Diem leaves them to find some food and water. She quickly finds a stream with animals, then goes in search of some Montios Descended she can goad into a fight to absorb their magic. She finds no one. There is a swath of trees that calls to her. She wonders if the Guardians are in there and almost follows her instincts to go in. Something in her demands that she claim it. But she decides not to enter without telling the others. She asks Sorae if she loved Lumnos and she did - she followed her to this world out of loyalty but was betrayed when the Kindred placed their children’s safety over the happiness of their gryvern and bound the gryverns to servitude. Diem asks if there were any Kindred that she didn’t like, and Sorae can’t say. Her throat closes up when she tries. Diem asks the name of each Kindred and is told no, so who? They think of Rymari, who Diem says saved them from Umbros. Sorae takes her to where Rymari died and Diem gives her thanks. They hear something behind them and Sorae gets skittish, but they see no one. Then they see Luther’s magic shoot into the sky and Diem jumps on Sorae’s back, assuming he and Auralie are in danger. They’re not, but they’re arguing and furious and worried about Diem. Luther woke up the second her magic was too far away for him to feel. Auralie and Luther fight over who is more loyal. Auralie says she and Diem are family and Luther is nothing. Diem corrects her. He is her most trusted advisor, and Diem doesn’t miss the disappointment in Luther’s eyes. She nearly tells her mother the truth about her and Luther, but there’s movement outside of the cave. Fortos soldiers who have come from Lumnos. They’re to bring her back to Lumnos per the Regent’s orders. Diem agrees to go with them if they leave Luther alone and even sends Sorae back to Lumnos to listen to Remis. As soon as they have Diem in shackles at her wrists and ankles, they reveal that they will be executing Auralie before they leave. Before they can enter the cave, purple stone covers the opening. Several Montios Descended come out, including a seven-year-old girl who serves as their spokesperson. They will be taking Diem and her companions. As they are trespassing on Montios land, their Crown will decide their fates. The Fortos soldiers refuse to leave. They have orders to take Diem and they won’t be stopped. They accuse her of being involved in the Coeurile attack, but she has not been charged so are subject to Montios’ judgement. The soldiers concede but demand to take Auralie, who is a Guardian leader. The girl isn’t sure how to respond; she doesn’t want them to take Auralie but can’t think of an argument. Luther points out that the soldiers brought unsanctioned godstone weapons into Montios, a crime punishable by death. Perhaps they should all go to Montios to be tried. The soldiers decide to leave alone, but don’t take off Diem’s shackles. The girl says they can’t remove them now; Diem will have to walk to the palace in the chains. The girl shows Luther and Auralie to a room they can wait in, but they can’t follow Diem into the palace. Luther doesn’t think they mean any harm to them or to Diem. Auralie whispers for Diem to get information for the Guardians while she’s inside. Diem is disgusted and won’t be doing that. She leaves her mother and Luther behind. The girl, Maybell, goes to fetch her father to remove Diem’s shackles. The older woman accompanying them speaks to Diem now. She takes Diem to a council room and explains. She is Councilor Hepta, elder of the Crown Council. Montios rules by council, each councilor is elected by their region, and each has an equal vote. The Crown is also on the council, and any ties revert to their vote. Their King told them much about Diem. Maybell’s dad, Nector, removes Diem’s shackles and she learns that Nector has taken a vow of silence. They tell Diem that they try to live peacefully in Montios, but she is confused - they kicked the mortals out. Hepta says the mortals did not handle the mountains well and were dying. They tried to help them, but the mortals did not trust the council. Diem asks if mortals were in the council or were they allowed to vote for council members. She is not given an answer. Montios has always turned a blind eye to the mortals who live in the Forgotten Land, as they did for the Guardians there. When they ask, Diem reveals that she did work with the Guardians until she could not conscientiously follow them any longer - she does not disagree with their goals only how they go about them. Even admitting that is treason. She also reveals that she killed the Fortos King, though she tried to avoid it. She asks about the Forgotten Land and is told that the Montios Descended have always avoided it. Any who enter there do not return. It grew worse recently, people on the Ring Road were found tortured and killed with a ten-pointed star carved into their skin. They’ve asked Sophos to look into the symbol but have no answer yet. And the violence with the Guardians and their strong Descended compatriot has gotten worse. An entire village in Meros was decimated, their adults Descended killed and the children missing. Then Diem learns that Umbros was also attacked, the day that was supposed to be her last in the city. If they had stayed, they could’ve ended up killed. Umbros also looked the other way toward the mortals and the Guardians, so the Guardians had left them alone. Montios could be next. Diem is confused - why are they telling her this and where is the King? Hepta looks at her questioning. Doesn’t she know? She is their Crown now. Diem knows deep down that it’s true. She feels the same pull here as she does in Lumnos, and now in Fortos too. She asks when the King died and is told that he died on Coeurile, though the council hasn’t told the other Crowns yet. The King said Diem would be different and encouraged the council to trust the Kindred’s decision. This is why her Crown changed after Coeurile. The Guardians didn’t know enough to notice, but she wonders if the Umbros Queen knew. She enters the Forging magic, breaking the bonds on Luther’s magic and searching for the Descended man with the Guardians. She feels something other and seeks it out, finding him in the Forgotten Lands. He shouldn’t be able to see her, but he can, and he reaches out to grab her wrist. He tells her to come find him so they can fulfill their destinies and grabs her throat. Before he flings her away, he warns her that he will kill her if she spies on him again. His eyes are gray like hers. He flings her away, and she is returned to her body and hits the ground. On her throat is a ten-pointed star. She has to go now, explaining that he’s here and wants her to find him. Hepta asks that they speak as a council but there is no time! What Diem needs is magic. She explains to Hepta what she needs - to absorb magic from as many of them as possible so she can find the man before it’s too late. Every Montios Descended pours as much of their magic as possible into Diem, and she’s still not filled. She agrees to stay a day to let their magic regenerate and then she takes Auralie and Luther to find the mystery Descended man. The council gives Diem a letter from the King. It asks her to take care of the Montios people and passes a message from Montios herself. “Eleven must fall for one to rise. Share the gift to pay the cost. A dying star will rekindle the spark. What is forgotten is not lost. Remember my sister’s words. Beware my brother’s wrath.” The same as what Fortos had said before she claimed his Crown. She thinks that the brother they’re referring to must be Umbros, who has plenty of reasons to be mad at this point. Luther and Auralie continue to fight on the way to the Forgotten Land until Diem tells them to get their shit together. They are the two most important people to her, learn to work together or go back to Montios. Auralie insists that no matter what Diem has been told, her father is definitely dead. She stabbed him in the heart with a godstone dagger. No one survives that. There’s a gryvern flying above them, but the Montios gryvern is dead and Sorae is in chains. Luther suggests that maybe another Crown is trying to track down the Descended as well. When they get to the Forgotten Land, it feels weird. As Diem’s godhood celebrates and refills itself quickly, Luther’s is draining. Diem reaches into the Forging magic, but this area seems closed off from the rest of Montios. Either way, she forces it to stop leeching Luther’s magic. They look over a hill, hiding while they spy. There are Guardians here, Auralie says they’re from all over and they have all criticized her. They preferred more aggressive stance, like Vance - who is also here giving a pep talk. Then they see the man. He’s not shielding so Diem takes her chance. She makes a bow and arrow from her shadows and shoots just as Auralie says no. The arrow is absorbed into the man. Diem is stunned and barely hears Luther telling them they need to run. The man comes closer to them, calling Auralie by name. The man is Diem’s father. Not dead after all. Both woman go into a shocked stillness so Luther grabs them and runs. He puts Auralie on her horse and Diem on his, riding back toward Montios. Guardians are waiting for them at the pass, so he changes course and heads toward Sophos, stopping just before the border. Diem is stunned. She tried to kill her father. When he reasons with her, she didn’t kill him, she retorts that it doesn’t change that she will have to at some point. She needs the truth from her mother. He leaves the two of them alone. Auralie explains that she worked in the Emarion Army for years before Diem was born. As a healer, and a spy. She would spy primarily on the Guardians but slowly began to agree with him and spied for them instead. Then the Fortos King gave her an assignment. He smuggled her onto Coeurile during a Forging Rite - she would stay for a year until the next Forging Rite when he would smuggle her out. He suspected a Crown was working with the Guardians, so no one but the two of them were to know. He left Auralie with a godstone dagger. She explored the island and found a small door in the ground. She heard a voice answer when she called out, it was Diem’s father Ophiucae. He told her he was a Descended who was being punished for helping the Guardians, left there to die but was living off of rats. The door was godstone, but the hinges were iron and rusted, Auralie was able to break them. But he was chained with godstone chains she could not break. He was unlike any Descended that Auralie had ever met. He was also charming and Auralie was lonely and without contraceptive. She was soon pregnant. Ophiucae was ecstatic, claiming he had dreamed of a child. But he also became paranoid and protective as the pregnancy went on. He would make Auralie swear on Diem’s life that she would come back any time she left his prison cell. Once he threw her against the wall and she left, swearing not to return. But the stress made her go into labor early and she was scared of doing that alone. She went back to Ophiucae when she gave birth, and he seemed back to normal. She left Diem sleeping one day to get some fresh air, but something made her turn back around. He had the godstone dagger poised above Diem’s heart. Auralie was able to get Diem and the dagger away from him. He said he needed Diem’s blood to break his chains. When he reached for Diem, Auralie stabbed him in the chest and never went back to the cellar. When the Fortos King came to collect her, she claimed she was already pregnant when she got to the island. Diem clarifies that her father wanted her blood. Yes, he wanted to pour it on some rock that he claimed would break a curse. The heartstone. Diem explains what happened during her coronation and they both realize that when the stone broke and there was a huge tremor before the explosions, that must have been Ophiucae breaking free. He was there the whole time. Diem asks how Auralie could have put her and Teller in danger by being a Guardian, but Auralie claims that Diem chose not to know. She accepted Auralie’s easy answers even when they didn’t make sense, choosing to believe what her mother said because she didn’t want to know the truth. She claims that she takes responsibility for her actions and so must Diem, but I disagree - she isn’t taking responsibility for shit. Diem seems to agree with me, she tells her mother that her real mistake was trusting too much, and she storms away. She asks Luther to distract her and they’re in the middle of distracting each other when Auralie interrupts them and threatens Luther with a dagger. She believes that Luther is using Diem to get to the throne. Diem yells that she is in love with him. He has been there for her through everything. And if Auralie can’t accept that, then she doesn’t have to be a part of their life together, but Luther is her future. Auralie retorts that they are family and family comes before everything. It didn’t come before everything when Auralie chose the Guardians over her family. Teller and Diem needed her; they lost their father in that time. Diem nearly died. Luther was with them through everything. He has won her trust and her loyalty. Auralie relents. Maybe she was too hasty with her judgements. They agree to try to get along and to no longer keep secrets from each other. They spend that evening sharing their secrets, even Luther reveals the truth about his mother and what he did as High General. Diem wants to go to Sophos to claim its magic, but also because the Sophos Crown is in charge of the ceremonies and rituals. She needs to convince them to coronate her officially. Auralie is concerned that they’ll arrest Diem instead. Auralie wonders if Diem should just kill the five other Crowns and become their Queen too, but Diem wants as little death as possible. Besides, there are six Crowns remaining. Auralie tells them that the Arboros Queen has been working with the Guardians. She snuck them to and from Coeurile for the attack and they allowed Diem to see her as a decoy. She’s also half-mortal and very close to her mortal father. Could she be Diem’s first ally? They head toward Sophos but before they make it to the border, Auralie joins the Guardians in Montios. She can’t go to Sophos. Auralie gives Luther and Diem her blessing before she leaves them. Luther has won her over. Diem and Luther continue alone, and Diem finally steps across the border to Sophos to claim the magic of the last realm. She spends the whole first day screaming. She is first overwhelmed by the electrical spark of Sophos which sends her into convulsions, then the unending knowledge of Sophos. She only remembers what she knew before, but her memories are clearer than they’ve ever been and most of the memories that stuck with her are bad. But eventually, they’re able to walk to Sophos City. They see mortal buildings that have been preserved from before the Kindred arrived. She tells Luther about what she read in Montios’ diary and asks who the youngest Kindred was. He tells her Fortos was the youngest brother, but Montios was the youngest sibling. That doesn’t make sense… Montios referred to them as her younger brother. They visit the ruins of a mortal temple; they see another rendition of the Everflame tree with the red-haired man. This is where the Sophos Crown finds them. Their name is Doriel and they also do not abide by titles. They invite Diem to chat. Diem asks if they’ve heard anything about a Descended imprisoned on Coeurile or about the ten-pointed star Montios asked them to research. Doriel says no for both, but Diem can tell they’re lying. She tells them a truncated version of what has happened to her, starting with Coeurile and ending with her arriving in Sophos. She wants to be coronated. The mortals will allow them access to the Kindred temple on her mother’s orders. Auralie is willing to arrange that, and Diem is willing to kill her sire, if they’re both pardoned. Firstly, Doriel doesn’t know why she thinks they would need her to kill her dad. She’s strong, but not as strong as the whole Emarion army. Diem reveals her special skill of absorbing magic, which Doriel tests, and tells them that her dad can do the same thing. She may be the only person who can kill him, and that’s only if he doesn’t get any stronger. Doriel reminds Diem that she needs six votes to get either her or her mother pardoned. She has three. If she can count on Doriel and Arboros, she would only need one more. Doriel seems close to Meros, she asks Doriel to work on the Meros King. Doriel needs a few days for research and asks Diem to stay two days. Ophiucae is stationed less than a day away from Sophos Coty. They’re well aware of the risk and they need the time anyway. They give Diem access to their library, put Diem in a suite, and ask a mortal boy, Stuart, to show them around. Stuart’s mom is a mortal allowed to study and work in Sophos for ten years, he and his father accompanied her. They’re hoping a permanent offer comes soon. They’re originally from Meros, but they wouldn’t be able to return there since everyone there thinks they’re dead. Diem gets distracted by a strong aura before she can ask why everyone in Meros thinks Stuart and his family are dead. They’re getting closer to the aura. Stuart takes them to a greenhouse where his mother works. They find Teller there. He has accepted the offer to study in Sophos. Perthe is with him. Teller is furious at Diem. When he learns that Auralie is safe, he rails at Diem about her secrets and refuses to speak to her until she forces him into a private room to have it out. She’s sorry that she didn’t come home with their mom, but she really tried. That’s not what he’s mad about. He found out that Sophos invited him to study here, and Diem didn’t even tell him. That was his dream. Diem apologizes but explains why she did it. The mortals in Sophos get experimented on. Teller wants to know who she got this information from. He laughs when she tells him Henri. How would Henri or the Guardians know what happens in Sophos, it’s nearly impossible for mortals to get in. The mortals get paid so well in Sophos that they send money home to their families. So much money that bandits would wait on the roads, so the mortals started faking their own deaths so that only those closest to them knew the truth. And yes, there are experiments but the mortals that are used volunteer for them and are paid so well that their families are taken out of squalor for generations. That is a systemic problem and a choice mortals shouldn’t have to make, but that also doesn’t make the Sophos Descended murderers. Diem is told that Remis got the offer for Teller through his relationship with Doriel, it was never a threat to Diem. Teller chose to come to Sophos so that Lily can move on with someone she can spend her life with. She didn’t want him to, but he had to make the hard choice for her. He asks Diem what happened in Fortos and she sits him down to give him all the details of what has happened. But Teller notices that something in Diem’s throat is glowing. It’s the ten-pointed star, and Diem hasn’t seen it glow so brightly since she was close to Ophiucae. He’s coming. Diem tells Perthe and Teller to hide and not take any chances. There’s no time to explain, but her father is coming. She finds a horse and rides until she sees mortals marching toward them. She meets Luther and Doriel. Doriel can see Diem’s mark now and wonders if she’s working with Ophiucae to take over this realm, but Diem insists there is not time for this! She’s trying to help Doriel save as many people as possible. Then they see Ophiucae riding a gryvern that is unfamiliar to Luther and Doriel. Doriel gasps. The legends of the lost realm are true! Doriel and their guards, plus Luther and Diem, throw up their shields but Ophiucae absorbs them. Doriel explains that her people are not fighters. All the fighters they have were sent to Umbros. And they don’t even have weapons; all the shipments have been delayed by the rebels. But they agree to mount their gryvern Vexes and try to lure Ophiucae away so that the others can get rid of the mortals. They leave Diem in charge. Diem tries to fight the mortals without killing them, using all of her magic but trying to disguise it. She does a terrible job. Soon, Doriel is thrown from Vexes and caught by Ophiucae’s gryvern, who puts a talon in their stomach as he unleashes dragonfyre on their city. Luther goes to track down Vance and get the Sword of Corbois back (he lost trying to rescue Diem from the Guardians) while Stuart gets all the godstone weapons he can from the armory. They are historical artifacts from the Kindred. Stuart gives Diem a sword. When Ophiucae comes close on his gryvern unleashing dragonfyre, Diem shields Luther from the dragonfyre but allows it to hit her. It doesn’t injure her and she manages to get a godstone sword into the gryvern’s belly. He lets go of Doriel and Diem heals Doriel as the gryvern leaves. Doriel asks if Ophiucae can use all the realms’ magic too, but Diem isn’t sure - she hasn’t seen him do so. Stuart is trying to find a Meros and Faunos Descended to ride with Doriel. If they get back on Vexes, the Meros wind can slow Ophiucae while speeding Doriel up, and Faunos can distract the gryvern. Doriel agrees to ride again. Other Descended are coming out to fight now, and Diem goes to use her Meros water to put out the fires. Only the old mortal structures are burning, the Descended built from stone. As she puts out fires, her father’s gryvern lands, knocking Diem to the ground and putting a talon to her throat. Ophiucae did now want to be attacked when he told Diem to seek him out. He gets off his gryvern Xipherus and releases Diem. She tells him this city is under her protection, and she demands that he leave, but he wants revenge. Anger doesn’t even start to describe what he feels. He was imprisoned and left to feed off vermin. They thought they could forget him but now he’s back, and he’s ready to wreak vengeance. A gryvern plows into him, Doriel with her two Descended. They fly away as fast as they can, Ophiucae follows them. Their plan is working and he’s lured away from the mortals that he has shielded. The shields drop and suddenly the mortals are vulnerable. Diem orders them to leave while ordering the Descended to let them, using her Umbros power. She can’t save them all though. She can’t find Luther and she starts to panic, but suddenly he’s back. He asks where Diem got her sword. She finally looks at the sword Stuart brought her. It’s the same sword she wields in their visions. A sword the Kindred used. Luther explains he left to get Vance, who was trying to break into a school to kill Descended children who couldn’t defend themselves. Vance can’t believe that Diem has the star mark, a mark of protection, and she lets it slip that she is Ophiucae’s daughter. Vance is delighted. That is going to make it so much easier to recruit the rest of the Guardians! Diem asks what he thinks will happen when the Descended are killed. Is Ophiucae going to allow the mortals to rule themselves? Diem tells Vance to leave - and to leave Ophiucae. She uses her Umbros power. It won’t last more than a few days, but maybe he will see reason by then. As Vance flees, she makes sure he gets out of the city. They see a gryvern returning. It’s Vexes, who falls from exhaustion. Doriel is still alive as is the Meros woman, but the Faunos man was killed. Diem can see Ophiucae coming too. She steps out and sets a shield behind her. She again tells Ophiucae that the city is under her protection. She sent the mortals back to Montios. He screams that it is not Montios. Suddenly, Diem realizes that the feeling of cold emptiness she’s been feeling is his power. She steps into it and allows herself not to feel afraid. She could lose herself in it, but Luther reminds her of what she has to live for with a little flutter of his own magic. Ophiucae notices and marks Luther. It is fear for Luther that makes Diem ask that Ophiucae leave. She will fight him if she must, but she would prefer not to. He warns her. She attacked him twice. Once more and he will remove his protection of her. Then he leaves. Doriel thanks Diem for protecting their city, but then again - they don’t know yet that Diem let the mortals go. Diem apologizes. She saw Descended from all realms fight for Sophos today, and their mortal neighbors fought too when they realized that the rebels wouldn’t kill them. It’s rare for mortals and Descended to work with each other, she misjudged this realm. Doriel misjudged Diem too. They say they will send a message to the other Crowns. Not about the rebels and Ophiucae, but about Diem’s coronation. And they will vote in favor of Diem and Auralie’s pardon and ask Meros to do so as well. The ritual will be in two days. Doriel guesses that Fortos and Montios Kings won’t be in attendance - but their Queen will. She wonders if Diem’s absorption magic stole those crowns, but Luther reveals that each of those Kindred spoke to Diem in one way or another. The crowns were given outright. Doriel has recalled their soldiers from Umbros in case they’re attacked again, and Diem agrees to stay until the soldiers return. But she needs information from Doriel. What is this “lost realm” Doriel mentioned. Doriel reveals that this information was passed on Crown to Crown with instructions from Sophos himself that no one else should know it. There were ten Kindred - thus the ten-pointed star which was the emblem of the tenth sibling. There was a big sacrifice made by the Kindred to protect their children the Descended. Doriel thinks that sacrifice was the life of their brother who never took a mortal lover. The ten realms were restructured, and his realm was given to Montios. The temple rebuilt, although there is still a ten-pointed star where his place originally was. They tried to kill his gryvern, but it fled and hid. His name was Omnos. His realm was the Forgotten Lands. They didn’t believe that Omnos had any children, but clearly they were wrong. Ophiucae must be his descendent, as is Diem. Doriel doesn’t know how Ophiucae was imprisoned, the only evidence of it at all is a map indicating a door on Coeurile that must never be opened. The map is dated just after the Blood War so Ophiucae would have been imprisoned around then. Montios and Umbros were alive then, but they’re both very reclusive and refused to speak about it. They’re also the two Crowns who called Diem the Daughter of the Forgotten. Doriel doesn’t know why or how he was imprisoned, but they probably hoped his line would die off on Coeurile where he had no magic. Doriel didn’t think there was any reason to tell the other Crowns since no one is supposed to go to the island except during Rites. Diem is forced to return her godstone sword to the vault. She goes with the healers to see those wounded by godstone. She makes the poultice, but the Sophos healers look down on it. They have better luck with a different concoction. Diem looks back with her now perfectly clear memory of healing Taran and remembers that she cut her hand and dripped blood into the poultice. That her blood got into Luther’s wound too. Before the healers notice, she drops her blood in the poultice she made for them and mixes it in. She insists they at least try it for the first night before switching to their other remedies. Luther asks if Diem wants to go to the dinner with Doriel they’ve been invited to, but she really doesn’t. He takes her into the city. Their things were already taken to Teller’s room. Teller is very against ever returning to Lumnos, saying it is better for Lily, while Diem tries to convince him otherwise. Finally, Luther tells her to stop bugging Teller. If Teller is not man enough to love Lily unconditionally and refuse to be parted from her, then he’s right. He doesn’t deserve her. Teller rolls his eyes and leaves. Luther knows Diem is mad at him and when she says she’s mad that he left her in the fight, he asks to see her memory. She shows how scared she was when he was gone, how she flared her power to call him like he has done for her. He shows her his memory too. Being awed at her use of magic and fighting. How angry it made him when she chose to shield him and fight the gryvern herself, how scared to know she was at risk. How she was taking command, even of Doriel, when he saw Vance sneaking toward a school for young children. He knew there was nothing he could do for Diem and that they would both rather he save these children. Inside he found Vance with his dagger to a mortal teacher’s throat while she stood in front of her students. Luther distracted him and tried to lure Vance outside, but when the shield dropped, the teacher punched him and grabbed Luther’s sword. Luther didn’t do much but make sure the teacher was okay. When he saw Diem’s light, he brought Vance with him, even knowing that Diem would let him go. He has Diem stand in front of the mirror to look at the woman he loves. Where a scared girl once stood, a strong capable woman stands now. She’s beginning to see the woman Luther describes. He takes her to the library where he has planned a surprise. She thinks it’s some deviant sexual acts, but it’s actually access to library records. With her new Sophos power, she can look at a page and recall it later from memory so she can just browse these books now to retain as much as she can. He shows her an area that is for Crowns only and its door looks like a huge Everflame tree with gemstones all over. When she touches it, the gems flare with light and her godhood tells her to bring back the balance. He brought blankets and food and tea to help her stay awake. She’s overcome with love for him and she knows without a doubt that she would have no problem being with him forever. With pledging her life to him and vice versa. Not only would she have no problem, she wants to marry him and be his mate. They do the deviant activities as well and then she gets down to the books. They get an extra day in the library. When the day of the coronation comes, Diem is eager to be coronated and claim Lumnos from Remis. Then maybe she and Luther can start moving forward as a family. Luther is absolutely stunned. So stunned that his hand slips and he cuts his own chest. She heals him just as Descended come in. It’s time to leave. Luther is supposed to stay behind but he comes with her to the dock where Sophos is waiting. He says he will stay at the dock until Diem returns. As they leave, Diem sees him put his hand to his heart. Then he looks at the hand questioningly. Once they’re on the way, Doriel broaches the subject of a bonded bargain and brings out a dagger. It is identical to the one Diem found in Andrei’s chest, except metal instead of wood. She asks when Doriel was last in Lumnos, but it’s been years. There were Sophos Descended in Lumnos at the time though. Diem will need to investigate that. Doriel swears to do anything they can to get Meros to vote in Auralie and Diem’s favor, and the same for the other Crowns. Diem swears she didn’t know anything about the attack on Coeurile or Sophos and that she will kill Ophiucae. Luther thinks he’s beyond redemption and Diem thinks he may be right. Faunos, Ignios, Meros (whose name is Obaneryn), Sophos, and Diem are all present though only Doriel and Diem know that she represents Fortos and Montios as well as Lumnos. The other Crowns are getting antsy. When Arboros finally arrives, Diem decides to make her case for a pardon. Diem tells what she knows. Sophos reiterates that Diem did not know about the Coeurile attack and helped Sophos stand against Ophiucae. They skirt around Omnos, saying that Ophiucae and Diem have a rare gift allowing them to absorb the magic of others. In the end, Sophos and Meros vote for Diem, but Arboros votes against her. The Queen is trying to distance herself from Diem. Yrselle arrives. She says that Diem does not deserve her vote. She could have told Diem about her father, herself, about Omnos. She tried to force Diem’s hand and now there will be much more death that could have been avoided. It’s Yrselle who points out that Diem’s Crown holds three realms. Believing that Yrselle votes no, Doriel has another option. Doriel has been told that Diem allowed the rebels to go free. They need to protect their people and have made a new plan. They will renew the Forging spell, then arrest Diem. They can’t imprison her in Fortos, but they can in the cell that held her father on Coeurile. And if they manage to kill Ophiucae before she does, her bargain will be ended, and she will lose her magic. Two gryverns rise in the air - Vexes from Sophos and the gryvern from Meros who unleash dragonfyre on the mortals. Sophos plans to kill Ophiucae with the Emarion army, whose High General has agreed to lead, and then they can take out the rebels and regain Coeurile. They know how to defeat Ophiucae after success in Sophos, but Diem calls Doriel an idiot. Ophiucae only left because she told him Sophos was under her protection. Yrselle points out that she hasn’t actually cast her vote. Diem doesn’t deserve her vote, but she’s going to get it anyway. Yrselle says take the rosebane, use her key, and remember what she said about the heir. She tries to cast her vote, but Ignios kills her with a godstone dagger he smuggled onto the island. Umbros isn’t quite dead yet, she grabs Ignios wrist and digs her nails in. He shakes her off. Ignios just wanted to stop Diem from getting a sixth vote, so he took out the vote he found most annoying. He kills Yrselle. Umbros’ obelisk fire goes out but then reignites almost immediately as Diem gains a fourth crown. Diem will definitely have the vote now. Diem taps her wrist where Ignios’ skin was broken by Yrselle’s nails, which were decorated with godstone. She’s about to get a fifth Crown. Before Ignios can panic too much, Sophos has a proposition. They found instructions about how to change the rules on Coeurile using the heartstone. They can change it so anyone who steps foot on or flies over Coeurile without a crown will die. The rebels on the island now will have until sundown to leave. Sundown is less than an hour away, there are Fortos ships that can ferry them off the island and directly into a jail cell. Arboros makes eye contact with Diem and nods that any who get to her port will get safety in Arboros. They need a unanimous vote to change the heartstone, which Diem will not give. Sophos has her guards bring out Teller. She will if she values her brother’s life. Diem has no choice and agrees, as do the other Crowns. Sophos makes their changes but adds something. No one is allowed on the island without a Crown, and Diem is not allowed off. Sophos apologizes. They really do appreciate what Diem did for their realm and as soon as Ophiucae is dealt with and Diem loses her magic, they will come and release Diem. Doriel wants Diem to go to the cell, but Diem begs them no. Doriel relents. They do take her dagger though. And they’ll be keeping Teller to make sure Diem takes part in the rituals going forward. The spell is complete and blood dripped on the stone. Diem runs to warn the Guardians, telling them to get off the island, but the sun is going down quickly. That’s when she spots three people coming toward her. Luther, Perthe, and Teller. She runs to them and begs them to leave, to leave her behind. Diem’s panic has caused Sorae to break her chains and come flying. Diem orders her to take the others off the island and get away. If Sorae touches down or flies over, she will also die. Sorae grabs Teller in her talon, he grabs Perthe. But Luther can’t get a hold. He’s going to be left behind. At the last minute, Teller lets Perthe go and grabs Luther instead. Diem mourns him. Then she feels someone stab her with a godstone dagger. Ignios was going to die anyway, he decided to take Diem with him.