Chapter 7

Aemonn leads Diem through the palace gardens, teasing about her closeness to Luther and Eleanor before asking if she will claim House Corbois. He steers her out of Luther’s sight and invites her to choose him as escort to the Ascension Ball, her formal debut as Crown.

When Aemonn explains the timing—two or three days after the King’s funeral—Diem panics at the prospect of being publicly presented and dancing. Aemonn presses about her marital status, and Diem blurts that she is with Henri, a mortal who has proposed. Aemonn warns that concealing a betrothal would provoke all Houses during the Challenging and urges that Henri attend.

Aemonn disparages mortal-Descended unions, citing mortality and forbidden children. Diem bristles, but he pivots to a cold revelation: Luther, as Keeper of the Laws, enforces King Ulther’s edicts by executing half-breed children. The image of Luther killing infants and terrified older children ignites Diem’s rage.

Determined to act, Diem storms toward the palace. Sorae dives to ground, ready to kill at Diem’s command, but Diem restrains her, recognizing the difference between loyalty and forced obedience. Fixating on Luther’s alleged murders, Diem rejects unleashing Sorae and instead vows to kill Luther herself.