“And… Keeper of the Laws—you hold that title now, too?” I choked out.
Taran’s muscles went taut under my hand as he came to the same realization that had just turned my stomach.
Aemonn nodded, his expression tightening into something unreadable. He had once accused Luther of being a murderer for holding that title. Was it more of his scheming, or could he be trusted to stay the executions of the half-mortal children, as Luther had secretly done?
I turned my ire back to Remis. “Your vengeance is short-sighted. In two days’ time, either I’ll be coronated or Luther will be King, and now you’ve made an enemy of us both. I thought you were a smarter man than that.”
Remis’s expression tightened. He exchanged a glance with Garath, who looked nauseatingly pleased.
“My brother is simply doing what he must to keep our family safe,” Garath said. He looked me over, lips pursed. “We’ve seen what happens to those closest to you. You can hardly expect us to watch our own loved ones meet the same fate.”
His vicious words speared straight at my heart, my shoulders twitching inward as his cruelty struck with ruthless precision. “Fuck you,” I whispered.
Garath’s smile grew wider. He put an arm on his brother’s and son’s backs and ushered them toward the door.
“This is wrong,” Eleanor shouted, storming up to her uncles and taking everyone in the room by surprise. “Diem is one of us now, and Luther has given his whole life to House Corbois. You two don’t care about our family at all—you only care about yourselves.”
Remis stared at her darkly, uncharacteristically quiet, while Garath chuckled. “Mind yourself, niece,” he chided. “The only reason you’re not scrubbing dishes in the kitchens is because of our generosity.”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms. “I’d rather scrub dishes for the rest of my life than live under your rules ever again.”
“Very well.” Garath arched a brow at his son. “Aemonn, have the guards remove Eleanor’s things from the palace at once. She can go live with the other Unhoused.”
Eleanor gasped, Aemonn stiffened, and Remis shook his head. He glared at me. “Do you see what you’ve done to our family? A thousand years of strength, and you’ve managed to tear us apart in weeks.”
I should have rejoiced. It was exactly what I’d set out to do—take down the Descended from within, starting with House Corbois. I’d cast a rift in the most powerful family in Lumnos that might never be sealed again.
But the only people I’d succeeded in hurting were the ones aligned with me.
Taran put an arm around Eleanor’s shoulders and pulled her close. “In two days, Diem will win the Challenging, and the two of you won’t ever have power again.”
Garath shrugged, unbothered by his son’s threat. “We’ll see.” He flashed me a smile. “So much can happen in two days.”
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
The others followed me in silence as I stalked through the palace to my chambers, where Teller and Lily were playing cards in the main parlor. They jumped to their feet at the sight of the four of us barreling in like a raging tornado.
Eleanor filled them in while Taran launched into a colorful tirade about the size of Aemonn’s genitals and what exactly he planned to do with them after my coronation.
Alixe took a step toward me. “This changes nothing for us, Your Majesty. We swore our oath to you, not Remis.”
I nodded in appreciation. “How bad is it? Can Aemonn really send you both away?”
“He can issue the orders, but we can delay leaving until the coronation.”
If there is a coronation, I thought glumly.
“But,” she sighed, “Aemonn might remove me as Vice General. If he does, I may not be able to keep the guards on your friends and family. They’re loyal to Luther, but they can’t disobey a direct order if they’re told to leave. Not without risking their own execution.”
“If Aemonn removes you, who would he choose as his second? Perhaps we can convince them to help us.”
“Iléana,” Alixe and Taran answered in unison.
I frowned. “That doesn’t make sense—Aemonn hates Iléana. He told me so himself.”
“Of course he did,” Taran spat, looking ready to put his fist through a stone wall. “Everything he says is a lie.”
“Aemonn and Iléana are very close,” Alixe explained with a sympathetic wince. “It was always a source of tension with Luther that the two of them were such good friends.”
I balked, instantly rethinking every conversation Aemonn and I had shared. “But… at the cousin’s dinner—”
“Aemonn invited her, did he tell you that?” Taran muttered. “He assigned the chairs so Luther had to sit beside her. They were working together to drive you two apart.”
Alixe nodded. The pity in her eyes made my cheeks burn hot for having been so gullible. Aemonn’s plotting had seemed selfish but harmless—I had never fathomed his closest ally was the woman who most wanted me dead.
And the doubt he had sown in me toward Luther… my cowering heart had needed a reason to justify running away, and I’d been all too willing to use Aemonn’s lies as an excuse.
A lump rose in my throat.
“We’ll resign from the Royal Guard, if we have to,” Taran said. “Even the Crown can’t force a Descended to serve against their will. The most Remis could do is banish us from House Corbois.”
“Like he just did to me,” Eleanor murmured, looking shellshocked and a little green. Lily took her hand and squeezed it.
“It’s only two days,” Alixe said emphatically. “Whatever their plans may be, we can survive them for that long.”
Two days.
My head began to throb.
Teller turned to me with a somber look. “Diem, you have to be coronated. If you aren’t—”
“I’m aware,” I snapped. He cocked his head, his eyes squinting in a way that I knew meant he was seeing more of me than I’d wanted to reveal. I turned back to Alixe and Taran. “Where is he?”
They shared a look, clearly knowing exactly who I meant.
“Lumnos City,” Alixe said after a long hesitation.
“Why?”
“For you,” Taran answered with a pointed stare. “To persuade the Houses not to Challenge you.”
I closed my eyes, forcing my legs to keep my body afloat as the world began to swirl around me.
“Diem,” Teller said again, his tone grave. “If you’re Challenged—”
“I said I’m aware,” I gritted out. “What about Eleanor?”
“I’ll have her things brought here,” Alixe said. “She can stay in your suite until the Challenging.”
“And if I lose the Challenging—that’s it? She’s really out of House Corbois?”
They all shared a heavy look.
“You can’t lose,” Teller insisted. “That’s all there is to it. You just have to win, or else—”
“I know!” I screamed. “By the Flames Teller, do you think I don’t spend every gods-damned second of every gods-damned day thinking about how many people will suffer if I fail, when failure is the only thing I seem to be capable of doing?”