Page 122 of Only Flames Remain

“My son, we have been deep in discussions about what to do regarding the human girl.”

My lip raised in a sneer. “She isn’t a human, and she isn’t merely a girl. She is my mate. My fated. She will be spoken of with the respect she is due.”

“My apolog—” King Mavros was reduced to coughing once more, blood and spittle coating the muslin cloth when he removed it from his face.

His condition worsened by the day. We wouldn’t be able to hide it for much longer.

“The truce we have with Myros right now is fragile, at best.” It was Emrys who spoke, his gaze serious as he leveled it on me. “We cannot incite a war over this.”

“I’m afraid that is exactly what we need to do.” The unfamiliar voice sounded from across the room, taking the words right out of my mouth.

Noor and Enora were standing beneath the arched frame of the darkened doorway opposite me, their faces masked in shadow. They stepped forward into the light, and there was something…off about Noor’s appearance. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

“What in the seven hells do you think you are doing bursting into a war council meeting?” Emrys growled. He stood from his chair; his hand clenched into a fist on top of the marble table.

“What I have to say…you will want to hear.” Noor’s voice was soft as she narrowed her wrinkled eyes at my brother.

King Mavros raised his hand to signal the guards to remove them.

I stood, my chair screeching back against the marble floor. “Wait—” I held up a hand of my own. “Let us hear what they have come to say. It is obviously of great import.”

King Mavros’s face grew crimson with fury. “You do not sit in this seat yet. Do not think you can disrespect me and not be punished the same as everyone else!”

My gaze was pleading as I met my father’s. “This is Enora, Aveline’s closest friend. They grew up together. She knows Myros better than anyone else in Gothryn. She could provide valuable insight.”

I could tell by the now relaxed posture of Emrys that he agreed with me, for once, despite his outburst. That was a godsdamned miracle.

“Fine.” King Mavros spoke through his gritted teeth. “And why, pray tell, do you think we need to incite an all-out war over this human female?”

I lurched forward, but Emrys caught me, his arm around my neck to hold me back.

“Sit down, you insolent little urchin.” King Mavros spat the words so angrily spittle flew from his face to coat his cheeks.

“What did I say about Aveline being afforded the respect she deserves?” I roared.

“Sorin, you need to calm down.” It was Emrys’s voice at my back, quickly joined by Ren to pull me back into my seat.

“This…this has to be the bond,” Rensford said as they managed to bend my legs and pin me to the chair. “This isn’t like you. You aren’t thinking clearly.”

My gaze turned sharply toward him. “I am thinking clearly, Brother. The bond is primal. All-consuming. Not a soul at this table has ever experienced it, and therefore, cannot speak to it.”

Noor waited patiently at the doorway with Enora, their faces drawn with concern.

I turned back toward them, my gaze desperate and pleading. “What do you know?”

Enora and Noor exchanged a wary glance.

One moment, Noor was an older, plump woman. Her hair was gray; her face creased with the wrinkles of time. In the next, she was a woman much younger, rivaling Enora in youthful appearance. Her hair was ivory blonde, tightly wound in a braid crown around her head. Her eyes were a piercing blue; her waist taught beneath a corset.

“Mage! It’s a glamour!” my father’s hand, Grenville, shouted.

I fixed him with a deadpan stare. “She is fae.”

It was true. I had known Noor all my life. She had always resided at the castle for as long as I could remember. I had no knowledge of her true age—and I never imagined her magic included shapeshifting or glamouring. She was the library historian and the castle gossip, always sticking her nose into everyone’s business. She knew everything about everyone.

Grenville’s face burned crimson as he buried it beneath the collar of his shirt, flinching back from the attention he had drawn toward himself.

“What is the meaning of this?” I asked, rising to stand once more.