Page 110 of Only Flames Remain

The room fell silent as they waited for my response.

“I’m…I’m not sure where her magic originates.”

Emrys threw his head back with a laugh, and it took every last molecule of strength to retain my composure in front of the king. If we were anywhere else, I would have laid Emrys flat on his back and taught him a lesson about respect.

I was tired of his insolence.

“Why, what marvelous news, Sorin!” Queen Odessa clapped, drawing our attention back toward the throne. “Two women in one week. You are quite like your father in that regard, it appears.”

I shook my head. “You misunderstand. I have come to discuss the alliance with Ravenscar. I intend to claim Aveline. Publicly. As my mate.”

Odessa sat back against the throne with a laugh. “Have you spoken with her about that?”

It was King Mavros who spoke next, his voice as close to anger as his weak body could manage. “I have gone to great trouble to secure this alliance for us, Sorin. You are not thinking like a king.” He coughed, choking on the spittle that rose from the back of his throat to pool in his mouth.

“I am sorry to interrupt this enthralling conversation, but I fear our news is more dire than the current status of Sorin’s love life.” Emrys interrupted all the same, a smug smile painted across his impudent little mouth.

“The alliance with Ravenscar is of little importance to you? Have I taught you nothing?” King Mavros’s voice boomed throughout the throne room, a second wind having apparently found him.

I could see out of the corner of my eye that Emrys shrank back.

Arrogant little prick.

“What is it, then?” I asked Emrys, turning my hostile gaze on him. “What is it that is more important than the alliance?”

Emrys’s next words sent us all fleeing from the throne room to convene with the council.

He grasped his hands behind his back, his chin squared as he ignored me and addressed only our father.

“A Myrosian spy has been spotted in Southgate. He is accompanied by a contingent of men that have certainly not been granted clemency to set foot on Gothryn soil.”

“A spy? You’re sure?” Mavros was standing before the throne now, his gaze swiveling between us.

Emrys nodded. “I am sure, Father. Not merely any spy. One that we sent on our own accord, but appears to have returned with a swath of Veytari soldiers from King Faris’s own army at his back.”

I barely heard Emrys’s last words as I turned from the throne.

We needed to get to Southgate. Now.

We didn’t have time to convene a war council. This was the move we had been waiting for from Myros. Their retaliation.

Emrys’s words were barely audible at my back. “Our spy, Vash, has returned to Gothryn, and it appears his loyalties have changed.”

CHAPTER 32

Aveline

In a mere matter of weeks, Sorin had managed to get under my skin so thoroughly he eclipsed all thought and sense of reason. Was this what it meant to have a mating bond? You lost all common sense?

I shook my head, trying in earnest to dispel all thoughts of Sorin Blackwater from my mind.

I failed miserably.

I returned to my room to find Quinnick was gone, I hadn't seen him all morning. That fox was all too good at opening doors and disappearing when I needed him most. It felt as if I hadn’t seen him in days. But I couldn’t be worried about keeping tabs on him right now.

I should find Enora.

She had been the one to plant this idea in Sorin’s mind. Maybe this was all some mistake—some cosmic joke.