Chapter 27

Exhausted from hours of greetings at the ball, Diem hides in a salon with stolen wine, reflecting that confronting House Hanoverre ended her “hapless puppet” strategy and seeded suspicion. Passing a nearby room, she eavesdrops as Iléana derides Diem as an unworthy half-breed and hints at removing her. Luther rejects Iléana’s jealousy, swears fealty to Diem, and warns that if House Hanoverre acts against the Queen, he will personally destroy them. Eleanor arrives mid-conversation and listens alongside Diem.

Back in the ballroom, Aemonn sweeps Diem into a dance. He admits his public intimacy is calculated to stop prying into her love life and to deter suitors, which softens their friction. When Aemonn probes what Luther did with the Umbros, Diem deflects and escapes into a dance with Taran.

While dancing, Taran jokes to ease Diem’s tension, then presses about her rumored betrothal. Diem slips and reveals she is secretly engaged to someone from her mortal past—Henri. Taran connects Luther’s protectiveness to this secret and warns Aemonn is dangerous, vowing to kill his brother if he threatens Diem. Taran leaves to find Luther as Diem withdraws from the floor.

Jean Hanoverre and cousins surround Diem, demanding she prove her magic, implying a magicless Crown endangers the realm and warrants universal Challenge. Diem tries to summon her power but, numbed by the night’s strain, cannot. Refusing to perform, she stands firm as Jean taunts and touches her scar.

Luther intervenes, seizing Jean’s wrist and compelling respect for the Queen. He bluffs that Diem’s magic shredded his strongest shields and could reduce weaker Descended to ash, and advises it’s unsafe to demonstrate in a crowded hall. Diem defers to her High General’s counsel, and Jean retreats with a threat to see her strength at the Challenging, cementing the coming confrontation.