Ep 3 Heat of the Everflame: Chapter 22-31 + Luther’s + Taran’s Bonus POV

Summary

Fantasy Fangirls Podcast – Episode 3 Summary: "Heat of the Everflame: Chapter 22-31 + Luther’s + Taran’s Bonus POV"

Release Date: August 11, 2025

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I. Episode Overview

In Episode 3 of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast, sisters Nicole and Lexi delve deep into chapters 22 through 31 of "Heat of the Everflame" by Penn Cole, along with bonus perspectives from Luther and Taran. This episode is packed with intense plot developments, character dynamics, and intricate world-building elements that propel the Kindred's Curse Saga forward.

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II. Chapter Summaries (22-31 + Bonus POVs)

Chapter 22-24: Entering Umbros and Initial Conflicts

Nicole begins by summarizing how the crew, rain-soaked and weary, infiltrates Umbros with a singular objective: enter and exit swiftly. Luther's connection at the inn leads them to Zelrick, the Jaguar, who has a pivotal role in their mission. A tense encounter unfolds as DM uses her magic to break free from a shield, revealing hidden layers between Luther and DM.

Nicole (06:38): "Chapter 22 rain soaked and exhausted, our crew stumbles into Umbros with one goal in mind. Get in and get out."

Chapter 25-27: Tensions Rise and Secrets Unveiled

As the crew navigates Umbros, internal tensions surface. DM grapples with her feelings towards Luther, leading to a complicated interaction that hints at deeper emotional stakes. Luther's loyalty is tested as DM divulges her secrets, causing friction within the group.

Lexi (07:19): "Inside the room, things are strained between our two lovebirds."

Chapter 28-31: Betrayals and Critical Decisions

The summary reaches a climax as Zelrick's true intentions come to light, revealing his betrayal. The centenaries of Umbros close in, forcing DM to make heart-wrenching decisions to protect her friends. The chapter concludes with the crew facing imminent danger, setting the stage for intense confrontations.

Nicole (12:06): "Back in their Luther is a sleepy boy and back to not being a total ass for now. And shows DM something quite a newspaper with a colorless silvery man front and center."

Bonus Perspectives: Luther and Taran

The bonus POVs provide deeper insights into Luther's internal struggles and Taran's personal battles. Luther confronts his mortality and the burden of secrets he's been keeping, while Taran deals with his anxiety and desire for genuine connection.

Luther (97:52): "My loyal prince, you have not yet begun to know all the ways you can serve the woman you love."

III. Key Insights and Theories

Foreshadowing Luther’s Fate

Nicole and Lexi discuss the mounting evidence that suggests Luther's impending demise due to his worsening godstone wound. They speculate on how this will impact his relationship with DM and the broader narrative.

Lexi (36:34): "I'm still leaning no, but you just don't know."

DM’s Expanding Powers

The hosts highlight DM's growing magical abilities, particularly her ability to absorb and manipulate magic beyond the known capabilities of Lumnos descended. This development hints at significant power shifts and potential alliances or conflicts in future chapters.

Nicole (36:07): "DM absorbs magic in her presence. She can trace power back to its owner and potentially tap into their magic source."

Zelrick’s Complex Loyalty

Zelrick's betrayal is dissected, revealing his internal conflict between his loyalty to Luther and the survival of the half-mortal children he protects. This adds layers to his character and raises questions about future alliances.

Lexi (132:14): "He was really stuck between a rock and a hard place."

IV. Lore Exploration: Umbros

In the Sophos Library segment, Lexi takes listeners on an in-depth exploration of Umbros—the realm of mind and secret. This section covers the intricate magic systems, the formidable centenaries, and the societal structure of Umbros.

Umbros Magic and Centenaries

Umbros is depicted as a dark, secretive realm where mind magic reigns supreme. The centenaries, a select group of 100 immensely powerful descended, enforce Queen Yers Yersel’s rule with their ability to read and control minds.

Lexi (156:46): "The centenaries are her small but formidable personal army."

Cultural Melting Pot

The capital of Umbros, Ambrose, is described as a bustling underground city where mortals and descended coexist, engaging in trade and various clandestine activities. This setting serves as a hub for many of the plot's developments.

Lexi (162:35): "Ambrose is the only place where mortals and descended from all realms are welcome without restriction."

V. Character Analysis

DM's Struggle with Leadership and Secrets

DM is portrayed as a leader torn between her duty to protect her friends and her growing personal powers. Her internal conflict is exacerbated by Luther’s secrecy and the looming threat from the Umbros centenaries.

Nicole (79:42): "Diem shares that her mother, Aurelie, is the leader of the guardians."

Luther’s Emotional Turmoil

Luther's character is explored in-depth, revealing his fear of loss, his protective instincts towards DM, and his desperate attempts to keep his secrets hidden. His actions reflect a man on the brink, struggling with impending death and unresolved emotions.

Taryn (141:21): "She's voting to break the chains between them."

Zelrick’s Dual Loyalty

Zelrick is analyzed as a complex character whose loyalty to Luther and the half-mortal children is tested by external pressures from the Umbros queen. His eventual betrayal is seen as a result of being cornered with no other options.

Nicole (131:57): "He was really stuck between a rock and a hard place."

VI. Conclusion

Episode 3 of Fantasy Fangirls offers a compelling deep dive into the escalating tensions and intricate relationships within "Heat of the Everflame." Nicole and Lexi effectively unpack the complex narrative, providing listeners with rich insights and provoking thoughtful speculation for future developments. The exploration of Umbros adds depth to the world-building, while character analyses reveal the profound emotional stakes at play.

Listeners are left eagerly anticipating the next episode, which promises further unraveling of the plot and deeper exploration of the magical lore within the Kindred's Curse Saga.

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Notable Quotes:

• Nicole (06:38): "Chapter 22 rain soaked and exhausted, our crew stumbles into Umbros with one goal in mind. Get in and get out."

• Lexi (36:34): "I'm still leaning no, but you just don't know."

• Nicole (36:07): "DM absorbs magic in her presence. She can trace power back to its owner and potentially tap into their magic source."

• Luther (97:52): "My loyal prince, you have not yet begun to know all the ways you can serve the woman you love."

• Lexi (156:46): "The centenaries are her small but formidable personal army."

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Upcoming:

Stay tuned for next Monday’s episode, where Nicole and Lexi will cover Chapters 32 through 41, focusing on the enigmatic Umbros Queen and unraveling more secrets within the "Heat of the Everflame." Don’t miss their Sophos Library segment on Umbros’ deeper magical intricacies!

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For more information, event details, and to join the Fantasy Fan Club, visit FantasyFangirls.com.

Transcript

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[Nicole]

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[Taryn]

Can I make my site firmer?

[Lexi]

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[Lexi]

We live in a digital world and because of that, websites are essential for everyone who runs a business. Whether you're just starting out or scaling your business. Squarespace gives you everything you need to claim your domain, showcase your offerings with a professional website and grow your brand.

[Nicole]

Squarespace gives you everything you need to offer services and get paid all in one place. From consultations to events and experiences. Showcase your offerings with a customizable website designed to attract clients and grow your business. Get paid on time with professional on brand invoices and online payments. Plus streamline your workflow with built in appointment scheduling and email marketing tools.

[Lexi]

Oh yes, one of my favorite features is Squarespace's email campaigns. They give you all the tools you need to engage clients, promote your services and grow your business in one place. You know our Fantasy Fangirls newsletter?

[Nicole]

Yep.

[Lexi]

It is brought to you by Squarespace's email campaigns. It makes building out pretty emails and campaigns so much easier and I just love it coming from a former email marketer.

[Nicole]

Head over to squarespace.com FFG for a free trial and when you're ready to Launch, use code FFG to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

[Taryn]

Foreign.

[Nicole]

Welcome to the Fantasy Fangirls Podcast where two sisters dive deep into beloved Fantasy Lore, character themed series and more.

[Lexi]

I'm Lexi, older sister and Fantasy Lore Nerd.

[Nicole]

And I'm Nicole, younger sister and romantic at heart.

[Lexi]

And today is episode three for Heat of the Everflame by Pen Cole where we are covering chapters 22 through 31 plus Luther's bonus chapter that you can find in the hardcover of Heat of the Everflame and Taryn's bonus chapter that was available for pre order for Heat of the Everflame. Before we begin this heat episode 3, please listen closely to our spoiler warning because all of these episodes include spoilers for all of Book three of the Kindred's Curse saga, Heat of the Everflame. Yes, that includes the ending.

[Nicole]

So if you don't know why DM suddenly has all these voices rolling around in her head, then please go finish the series. We will be here when you're done.

[Lexi]

Next, we of Fantasy Fangirls are adults who say adult things about adult books. In other words, friends, this podcast is.

[Taryn]

Definitely rated R today. Finally, friends, our time has come. Or should I say DM has come because we have a finger bang scene. So please be mindful of those little listening ears, especially today.

[Lexi]

Additionally, we are so excited to see you at upcoming live events this weekend. We will be featured guests at Enchanticon in St. Louis, Missouri August 15th through 17th. We are going to do a Shrek deep Dive for our live show. Yes, that recording will be available on the podcast later on.

[Nicole]

We will be at the Everflame Ball several weeks later along with Pen Cole for the first ever Kindred's Curse Saga Ball on August 30th in Castle Rock, Colorado.

[Lexi]

We are interviewing Rebecca Ross, author of Divine Rivals and wild reverends, on September 5th in Denver, Colorado.

[Nicole]

Then we will also be back at the Dragon Gauntlet in Boyne City, Michigan September 12th through 13th.

[Lexi]

Then Romanasy Bookcon in Orlando, Florida October 23rd through 25th where we are interviewing Rebecca Yarros again at Disney world and on March 6th through 8th in Dallas, Texas. We're so excited to be podcast partners at Dreamers and Readers Festival.

[Nicole]

Check out our website or the links below for more information to all of these events. Plus discount codes for some of them as well.

[Lexi]

Last thing before we jump into this Heat of The Everflame Episode 3 if you love Fantasy Fangirls and want more events, more content, more community and so much more, please check out Fantasy Fan Club.

[Nicole]

We have three membership tiers that you can join. Number one, the Descended, which includes access to our Boppin Discord live Q&As from Lexi and myself, a book club, exclusive author interviews, community events like Trivia and Jeopardy and spelling bees.

[Taryn]

Dear God help us.

[Nicole]

Promo codes for live events, clothes plus exclusive designs and 20% off all Fantasy Fangirls merch. That is for $6 a month. Or you can join the Royal Family which includes everything from the Descended level plus early access to ad free episodes, our full episode outlines and special voting privileges. That is for $10 a month. And last but not least, we have the Crowns Council which includes everything from the previous two tiers plus more behind the scenes content, a welcome gift, giveaways, a private discord channel, and your name shouted out on the pod. That is for $25 a month.

[Lexi]

Also, Crowns council found out two days early and the rest of Fan club found out one day early what our next deep dive is going to be, which is Quicksilver. Join the Fan Club party@Fantasy Fangirls.com Fan Club. The link is also in the show Notes and really and truly thank you as always for supporting us as we've turned Fantasy Fangirls into our livelihood. It is all because of you and we appreciate you so so much.

[Nicole]

And now it is time to venture into the Rocky Canyon of Umbros realm of Mind and sou Secret.

[Lexi]

To start off every episode, Nicole does us the honor of summarizing this stretch of chapters. So gather round as we consult with our royal advisors to discuss what happens in chapters 22 through 31, plus the bonus chapters of Heat of the Everflame.

[Nicole]

Chapter 22 rain soaked and exhausted, our crew stumbles into Umbros with one goal in mind. Get in and get out. And thank the gods Luther has a feline connection here at the inn. Luther asks for the jaguar, but there's.

[Taryn]

No one here by that name.

[Nicole]

Oh wait, who's that who just walked in? Looks like he's got a room for just the two of you. Chapter 23 Walking through the inn's long hallways, Luther and D.M. find themselves in front of a nondescript door and the suite behind it is dark as fuck. Not at all sketchy. Two young children with hella strong magic are here to light up the room with their badass light and shadow flowers. Inside the room, things are strained between our two lovebirds.

[Taryn]

Between the secrets, the lies, the godstone.

[Nicole]

Wound that Luther is definitely, definitely still hiding from everyone. But there is no time to dwell on that.

[Taryn]

There's a boat ride to Book.

[Nicole]

Or there would be if there wasn't a shield locking them into the room.

[Taryn]

Oh no.

[Nicole]

Chapter 24 Ramming her shoulder into the shield, DM tries to break through, but when that doesn't work, she gives over to her magic, letting it gulp down the powerful shield like fine wine. After breaking her out of her magical shield drinking trance, Luther is about to tell DM some very important information. But no. Someone, AKA the Jaguar who chose that.

[Taryn]

Very moment to burst through the door.

[Nicole]

Screaming about how his magic has been stolen. After a heated conversation, they finally convince the Jaguar, aka Zelrick, to help get them home. Chapter 25 Some time later, DM wakes up with only a vague note for comfort.

[Taryn]

Doesn't feel good to be on the other side of it now, does it?

[Nicole]

Diem? After taking a bath, Diem leaves the washroom, only to run face first into Luther's chest.

[Taryn]

Oh no, she's only in a towel. Whatever will they do?

[Nicole]

Luther's got an idea and finger bang, finger bang fingerty bang. I said let me touch you, damn it.

[Taryn]

Bang.

[Nicole]

But oh God, I missed that.

[Taryn]

But it's been so many episodes since I've done the bang song. I'm so happy.

[Nicole]

But the moment is ruined when DM tries to get Luther to go a little further. Luther again all but says fucking mating vows to DM and then just walks the fuck away, leaving DM and my jaw on the floor. Chapter 26 Luther his most loyal, the most obedient man, disobeyed his queen and the world ended. Not really, but it might as well have for dm. Pissed off and horny, DM comes up with a plan. If she spills all of her secrets to her friends, then she might as well have the right to be pissed off at Luther for keeping his own. DM takes a deep breath and word vomits. To everything. And I mean everything. Prophecies, mother problems, and more. But that leads to more drama and Luther being demoted. Congrats to Alix, the new High General on her promotion, though. Sorry it happened during a team meeting.

[Taryn]

Awkward.

[Nicole]

Chapter 27 after that awkward exchange busies, Dean busies herself with checking Taryn's wounds, but not much has changed since the last check, but at least things aren't getting worse. Sadly, there's no time to tease Taran and his hopeless romanticness because Zellerick comes in bearing news he can get the crew out of Umbros, but not until tomorrow night. With all of this newfound free time, DM decides to use it to her advantage, planning a sightseeing trip of the city with the whole crew. Well, except Luther. Smash Cut Luther's POV at the Healers.

[Taryn]

Luther is finally having someone look at.

[Nicole]

His wounds, but it's not looking good. Even with using the strong poultice that he's been watching DM make, his wounds are too far gone to cure. Needing to atone for breaking DM's heart and pissing off some God in the godstone to department, Luther heads to the Lumnos shrine. Letting his feelings out at the situation with Diem, Luther finds himself face to.

[Taryn]

Face with Mother Lumnos herself.

[Nicole]

Well, kind of. She's talking through a very young man, a la ventriloquist Vibes. She tells him to serve Diem in every way a man can. And well, let's just say I can.

[Taryn]

Think of a few ways that he can serve her. Back to the countertops.

[Nicole]

Chapter 28 Waking Up Bright and early, the crew minus Luther take a tour of the city from Zellaric.

[Taryn]

From the cloth market to the spa.

[Nicole]

They take in the craziness that is Umbro City. And thankfully they don't need to worry about being recognized. Thanks to Zell and his incredible powerful illusions. Stall after stall, DM is in awe of the amazing wares around her. If only she had an unlimited amount of money to buy anything she wants. Oh wait. After pissing Taran off again, Zellerik gives DM the tldr of how he ended up in Umbros. And during their bonding session, DM accidentally reveals that she is too a half mortal. Okay, maybe Zel put the clues together and figured it out. But still, the secret is out. Chapter 29 after catching up to Taran and Alix, the group continues weaving their way through the endless vendors.

[Taryn]

But wait, what's this?

[Nicole]

A stall of small little flames in glass jars. Wait, those aren't just any flames.

[Taryn]

They're Gryvern flames.

[Nicole]

Feeling instantly connected to the small purple montiose flame, Diem buys the little guy and that's it. Right?

[Taryn]

Right. Wrong.

[Nicole]

The flames are reacting to dm almost like they want to protect her.

[Taryn]

But that's not possible, right?

[Nicole]

And on that note, maybe they need to get back into the inn. Back in their Luther is a sleepy boy and back to not being a total ass for now. And shows DM something quite a newspaper with a colorless silvery man front and center.

[Taryn]

Dad.

[Nicole]

Taran's POV Back at the markets, Taran can't keep himself from I fucking Zellerick. But maybe things aren't as one sided as Taryn thinks. After getting to know each other a little bit, Zellerick has a better idea. Let's really get to know each other. Taran by showing him the skin market. But it doesn't go quite as smoothly as he hoped. Right before the two can bang bang, bangity bang. Zellerik opens his mouth and like a cold bucket of water, things cool down really fucking quick. Chasing Zell through the skin market, Taryn opens up. He doesn't want to Just be another client of Zellaryx. Okay, Zal, your turn. Okay, maybe, just maybe, Zaleric will come to lumnose doll. Chapter 30 on their little sneaky trip to the docks, Zalerick drops some information that would have been good to know before. Like now, the centenaries are stationed at all places in the canals open to the sea, so basically, it's impossible for them to get out undetected. But Zellaryck's contact knows a way around this, so just trust him. But something feels very wrong. And DM's magic agrees. Tapping into her magic, DM can see Zellerick's betrayal, but she doesn't say shit. Bad DM bad. Chapter 31 having put their blind trust in Zellaryak, the rest of the crew quickly realizes their mistake, surrounded by the centenaries who are forcing the group to hold their own weapons against their necks with their mind magic. So DM has two surrender or kill the centenaries and all of her friends die. Picking option number one, DM makes a deal. She'll go quietly, but they can't hurt her friends. In true Fae fashion, Simon gladly agrees and takes this literally and then kills Zaleric's contact. They're not friends, right? But it's a good thing that DM has her healing magic tapping into her flirting skills. DM draws the attention away from her family, and they're off to meet the Queen. The wonderful Queenie of Umbros. Da da da da da da da da da da.

[Lexi]

All right, friends, it is time to reach for our forging magic and unravel key insights, character analysis, lore, foreshadowing theories, and oh, so much more. Part 2 of Heat of the Everflame opens with our weary crew making their way into Umbros realm of mind and secret. And as they enter Umbros, Luther, Elix and Taran only have one goal. Get in and out before they get caught. They want to stay under the radar of the Umbros Queen, which is kind of next to impossible in this realm, and sail back to Lumnos as soon as possible. Then there's dm, who believes this is actually a great opportunity to talk to the Umbrose queen. Like we discussed last episode, DM knows that the Emperor's queen has answers DM is desperately seeking. And she wants to learn more about who she is, how the Emperor's queen knows so much much about her and what happened at the rite of coronation. Disaster on the island. Luther's plan is to find his contact here who can arrange Passage for them to get a boat back to Lumnos. But they need to keep it quiet that DM is here, even to Luther's contact, because the centenaries will find out. And the emperor's queen can do a lot worse than, you know, just killing them outright. She can do all sorts of not so fun things to their minds and memories, as Taryn so helpfully pointed out last episode. But let's talk about those centenaries, because remember that the two types of magic for Umbro's descended are to read and or control minds. The centenaries are the hundred Umbros descended that make up the queen's small but formidable personal army. And they act as enforcers in the realm, keeping all the inhabitants in line and paying their dues. This includes what's coming in and out of the ports, including people. So in order to get through undetected, our group needs to find someone who does not know who DM is. So when, not if, the centenaries inevitably learn about this, they won't know it's another crown in this realm. They'll think they're just smuggling, you know, Lumnos people versus the Lumnose crown. And luckily, Luther knows just the person. So step one, Luther and DM find his umbra's contact, and they'll meet Taran and Alix by the fighting pits. And remember, friends, DM was recently stabbed in the chest. While Luther's magic absolutely kept her from dying, she's still badly injured. I am curious about why they're splitting up with Taran and Alix. I'm guessing it's to not be noticed as a big group of Luminos descended and draw too much attention to themselves.

[Nicole]

That's my guess as well. I also think Luther wants it is his contact with the jaguar. And I think that he feels like if he brings too many people, it could show the weaknesses. It could show that they have.

[Lexi]

Show their hands.

[Nicole]

Show their hand. Exactly.

[Lexi]

Yeah. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah. And then I suppose that they are meeting over by the fighting pits, because everybody kind of knows where those are. Like, it's an easy.

[Nicole]

I'll call it landmark. That's my guess.

[Lexi]

So what if this is my little crack theory here? Alix and Taran are at the fighting pits to see who they can potentially scout for allyship and, like, recruiting people. Not now, but, you know, maybe eventually. I don't know. Anyway, I think it's just a landmark.

[Nicole]

That sounds like my Luther's forthright thinking, you all.

[Lexi]

Nicole and I, this episode I. It's going to be a rough one for Luther.

[Taryn]

We thought the boat was bad. This might. This might tear us apart. I don't know how our sisterhood is gonna survive this episode. I wore my courvois shirt today. Just. I knew you were going to wear that shirt too. I knew you were going to to defend your boy. I just need to defend my man.

[Nicole]

The high cavernous city of Umbros may be fascinating to DM and us alike, but my goodness, the noises are staggering. Walking through the central hall, voices fill DM's head, pushing into her from all sides. Some whispering, some shouting, some sneering, some cooing, and everything in between. This would be a lot.

[Taryn]

I be so overstimulated it's not even funny.

[Nicole]

While it may take Luther just a little bit to realize what's happening to Diem as she, you know, answers his thoughts out loud, it will take DM until a dinner with the Umbros palace to fully realize what she is experiencing here. Even though she hears multiple thoughts in this scene that sounds different than a normal voice. They sound like whispers or quieted hushed tones. I want to highlight here specifically ones from Luther about needing to get DM out of the market because there's too many people that need saving and her heart's too big to leave them behind.

[Taryn]

And I mean, I will admit he's.

[Nicole]

Not wrong, but I hate to point this out. She will, I'm gonna say, leave them behind. That's not really the right wording. She has to leave. But there's an attack from Ophi.

[Taryn]

Are they all dead now?

[Lexi]

I still have questions about this attack, mostly because I refuse to believe it's as bad as the Emperor's queen makes it out to be. Even though that's probably wishful thinking on my part. I realize that I acknowledge it. But thinking about how this city is inside Mountain, which again, how flipping cool is that. I could see this seeming very trapped for all of his occupants. But there are a lot of tunnels and nooks and crannies in this place too. It's very secretive, right? So I'm still hopeful. A lot of people found safety.

[Nicole]

I think that's lovely optimistic thinking.

[Lexi]

I tell you what, what I'm asking Pen next is I just want to know if the children at the Second Chance in survives.

[Nicole]

Well, I mean, and yourself literally says, like, tell Zellary he needs to find a new staff for his inn.

[Taryn]

I take that as they're all dead.

[Lexi]

I take that as her rubbing salt in the wound. And maybe she's not being entirely honest.

[Nicole]

This show is sponsored by Better Help. In a previous professional life, I spent a lot of time in the personal development space and honestly the noise sometimes just felt so loud. From cold plunges to 4am Morning routines, there's so much advice coming at you from all angles. But how do you know what advice works best for you and your situations? Using trusted resources and talking to live therapists can get you personalized recommendations and help you break through the noise.

[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

Squarespace gives you everything you need to offer services and get paid all in one place. From consultations to events and experiences. Showcase your offerings with a customizable website designed to attract clients and grow your business. Get paid on time with professional on brand invoices and online payments. Plus streamline your workflow with built in appointment scheduling and email marketing tools.

[Lexi]

Oh yes, one of my favorite features is Squarespace's email campaigns. They give you all the tools you need to engage clients, promote your services and grow your business in one place. You know our Fantasy Fangirls newsletter?

[Nicole]

Yep.

[Lexi]

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Can I make my site softer?

[Taryn]

Can I make my site firmer?

[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

I love how this scene is written though. If you have been following FFG for a while, you know. You know I have a thing about italics and mind speaking, noting when it is used for mind speaking in other, you know, mind to mind fantasy book moments but more importantly when it is not used.

[Taryn]

Cough Cough.

[Nicole]

Looking at you fucking traitor.

[Taryn]

Cough Cough.

[Nicole]

I will never forget that moment. But here it is notable because all of Diem's thoughts that she's hearing from other people, they are written as if they're normal dialogue despite the fact that they sound strange, almost like that hushed whisper even though they're yards away, but they're written with quotations around it and no italics. I love this because I feel like even the grammar of the book is written from DMs POV she believes she's hearing them speak like normal, and therefore it is written like normal. Whereas later it will switch to two italics.

[Taryn]

It's brilliant.

[Lexi]

I absolutely agree. I love it so much. And then I do also love how sometimes, you know, she thinks something to herself, sometimes in italics, other times not. And others seem to hear it because she accidentally speaks to them. We also have to remember DM is still feeling the effects of Flame Route. Her magic is beginning to come back. Absolutely. But she's still got the magic nullifier in her system after that big dose Cordelia made her take before her Robo escape. Coupled with being badly injured. That's why this Umparos magic she now has doesn't seem all consuming. It's annoying and overstimulating. Like she has two young toddlers. Yes, absolutely. But not nearly the same brute force of power like she'll experience in Sophos. Which will be the only time she gets new magic. Specifically in this book where she doesn't have flame root in her system and she's in good health. I will say I'm a little surprised DM never experiences the same kind of combusting power that happened in Igneous that emerges as the flame root slowly starts fading away. But maybe that's because the umbra's magic is that different from igneous. And it's kind of like that constant feed of minds and all of that versus like pew fire power. That's my very professional way of reasoning that. Using the cats carved in the rock as his guide, Luther takes DM through the complex Umbros pathways as they finally reach the Second Chance Inn. This inn is the headquarters of Luther's Umbros contact the Jaguar. Luther does not know his real name. They've never officially met, at least as far as he knows. And they've kept each of their identities a secret all these years to protect themselves in case their work is ever compromised.

[Nicole]

Whenever Aurelie came in, she is the one who worked with Zellary, AKA the Jaguar. So she has met him multiple times. She's almost like the go between between the two of them.

[Lexi]

She's the one who introduced the two of them as well.

[Nicole]

You are right.

[Lexi]

Yes, yes, yes. So Luther tells DM that he and the Jaguar connected through DM's mom while helping smuggle out half mortal children out of Lunatic Knows. But as we will soon learn, the Jaguar is named Zelric Hanover and he is actually one of those half mortal children Luther saved from Lumnos. We even saw his name, Ink Low, when Luther showed DM the journal. I love the good foreshadowing, full circle moments. Celeric is the son of Jean Hanover, AKA the house that claims the only mortal blood in their entire house is from Lumnos's mortal lava. We don't like Jean Hanover but again Luther does not know the identity of the jaguar he yet. These two have a transactional working relationship only Luther wants to use the jaguars shady connections to get DM out of the realm as fast as possible. So here they are at the Second Chance in side note.

[Nicole]

I love that it's called the Second Chance.

[Taryn]

Me too.

[Nicole]

Like it's just such a little, a little nod to the half mortals who are getting that second chance at life because of Zaleric and Luther and Arlie. Which reminds me actually I really want a Zelrick and Arlie scene in Burn. I want to see them reuniting, seeing each other again because I want to see how differently she treats Zaleric versus how she treated Luther when she first saw him again. Not met him but saw him again. I also just want Arlie meaning everyone in Diem and Teller's new found family. I just feel like that's either going to be really good or terrible.

[Taryn]

And I can't wait.

[Nicole]

As Luther and DM go into the inn and go up to a woman behind the check in counter, Luther asks to see the jaguar and the woman is like who the fuck is that? I don't know what you're talking about. Do you think she's lying and covering for Zal or is he truly that good at protecting his identity and he just doesn't tell them what his code name is?

[Lexi]

I definitely think she knows because she seems in on the, you know, take them to sweet 10 and then doesn't she lock the door behind them?

[Nicole]

Yeah, yeah, okay, good point, good point.

[Taryn]

I think she knows.

[Nicole]

Regardless, someone coming in and asking for the very mysterious code name is it's.

[Taryn]

Not going to fly with Celeric or this woman. So I am not going to fault Luther too much right now.

[Nicole]

He is not being as discreet as he normally is. He's a little stressed.

[Taryn]

He's got a one track mind at the moment.

[Nicole]

But I do love that this gives an opportunity for Zell to say like, there's no jaguar here. And DM says in italics in her mind, liar. And both Luther and the man we will know as Zal look over to her instantly.

[Taryn]

It's so good.

[Lexi]

I feel like in that moment is kind of when Zal takes them more seriously. I agree and I really wonder what in the world he thinks of her. He's familiar with Umbro's magic, and he's not quite recognizing it yet, but he will absolutely pick up on it very soon. And he will ask her eventually about this. Not this particular moment, but later on.

[Nicole]

Yeah, well, he could feel her when she walked into the city. He knows there's something very other about this woman. And if he didn't put two and two, he did. He put two and two together, that she's the queen.

[Lexi]

Obviously not quite yet, but not quite yet.

[Taryn]

It's Taryn's queenie that gives it away.

[Lexi]

I think that was more like the nail in the coffin.

[Nicole]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

Yeah.

[Nicole]

But the fact that she's seeing two Lumnos descended, or what he thinks is two Luminos descended side by side, one feels way more powerful than the other. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out which one's the crown.

[Lexi]

Well, hold on, because Luther does not have his power right now, so he does not even have his aura. Aura. So what they think is that Zaleric thinks that this aura is actually. Yeah, Luther's. Because he does say he felt Luther's aura come in, and so he's like, you could easily take down that shield. So he does think initially that it is Luther because he's asking Luther to teach him and stuff like that. Yeah, but Zaleric's not the only one who can feel DM's power, thinking that it's Luther's initially. When DM meets the Jaguar for the first time, she can. Can feel the power rolling off of him. DM notes that the wave of power that brushes her skin feels similar to Luther's, meaning his magic is immensely powerful. And Luther will note that the jaguar is the most powerful Lumnos descended he's ever felt, with the exception of the late King Arthur. And obviously dm, who is in her own category, and she's very unique. It's like Luther's beginning to be like, yeah, honey, I don't know if you are Lumnos. You might be a different kind of.

[Taryn]

Gift from the Kindred.

[Lexi]

But the fact that the jaguar, Zelaric is this powerful, powerful, That's a huge deal. And I love how he's sizing Luther up, which DM has never seen another Lumno citizen to do, because Luther is generally too powerful to be sized up. But now it seems like he's met his match. Now, I do think there is a line at some point that Luther is more powerful than Zellary, So they're not like equally matched, but he's a second. And the fact that there is even a second is a big deal here. This is now two half mortals. Being the most powerful Lumnos descended. Then we'll soon have the young half mortal girl who does a beautiful light and shadow flower. She only recently came into her power because she's still young and look how powerful she is too. I am absolutely convinced half mortals are generally more powerful. And I have to wonder, maybe it's a Luminos thing, since she was the most sympathetic to the mortals when she was alive. But then we also do have the Arboros queen who's a half mortal too. So I take that back. I am gonna go with all half mortals because this is what the Kindred wanted. For their people to live in harmony together. I think that this is also going to come to light and burn. And the mortals throughout Omarion will be crucial allies to Diem. They represent both people and they're more powerful. Like that's a win win for them, right?

[Taryn]

Yes, but oh.

[Nicole]

Zalek remembers this figure standing before him from long, long ago. So using an actual code by sharing that they have rooms that are fit for a prince. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. It's time to go to room 10. A room with no number and very little lighting. Not at all ominous.

[Taryn]

The Jaguar knee to get them into.

[Nicole]

One of the more discreet rooms, the most discreet room, so he can then sneak in through the, you know, bookshelf in the wall and talk to them without the people in the inn piecing together that he himself is the Jaguar Zell, already proving that he is ready to play chess while everyone else is playing checkers. I love you, Luther. You're a little distracted right now. You're playing checkers. I love you, my guy.

[Lexi]

How many times should we count for Nicole to say Luther's a little distracted.

[Taryn]

Or something like that? It's gonna increase as I go through the episode.

[Lexi]

I am just so sorry in advance for what I say about l don't.

[Taryn]

Believe the sorrys coming out of your mouth.

[Lexi]

Overall, I love the intro we get to Zellaric from the way he moves with cat like grays and how he's slender but with lots of muscles. He has dark skin that looks freshly oiled and ice pale blue eyes. Ah, he's so handsome and sexy. Especially to our boy Taryn in this fancy suite 10 room. Luther's like, fuck this. I'm gonna go talk to the Jaguar and work out plans for passage on a boat. So he heads Toward the door and smacks right into an invisible wall several feet from the door. Well, shit, there's a shield here. Turns out the jaguar has locked them in here. DM pushes against the shield, and rings of pale blue light radiate from her palm where it touches the Shield. Knowing how DMs magic works differently than anyone else's, and having seen her absorb magic multiple times before, Luther urges Diem to break the shield. As many el Luther gets in this first half of the book, I do love how he is encouraging DM to explore her magical abilities because he understands how different and unique he is. He's the only one at this point who really is comprehending what she is capable of. Reaching out with her magic, DM feels her aura brush against the shield, noting it's strong as iron and delicately woven to blend in seamlessly. It thrums with slightly older energy than the little girl, but not the kind of ancient power DM can feel from older descended. Meaning whoever created the shield is strong and well trained and in their prime.

[Taryn]

Huh?

[Lexi]

Like the jaguar giving herself over to the godhood, DMs magic springs to life, curling over her skin and coating it in that same tingling frozen heat, which is what we keep seeing every time she uses her unique powers. As DM gets closer to the shield, the sensation of her magic increases, coursing through and injecting her with raw energy. You all my magic loving heart is just. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited right now. At this point, DM is lost to her magic. It has full control, savoring the power and gulping it down like a fine wine. Ah, this is so crazy. Previously, we've only seen DM absorb oncoming magic from attacks. As Luther says, it's always been a reflex. But this is DM taking the initiative. Her more actively reaching out and taking the magic. This should not be possible. As her magic surges, not only do her wounds heal, but voices rise up in her head. Head. Not the voice of the godhood that she's familiar with, but words, thoughts, and feelings of other people. I'm assuming in the inn and in surrounding areas. This makes sense in the coolest way. She is absorbing raw energy, which gives her own magic a boost. A boost with her healing abilities. A boost in magic strength that is not affected by the Flame Root. She's literally recharging herself right now by absorbing the shield because she's been low battery with, you know, the Flame Root and injuries. But DM is still lost in her power, frozen in place. Her Body captive to her godhood as it soaks up every last drop of power from the shield. But her godhood doesn't stop there. When the shield is gone, it follows the trail back to the shield's owner, wanting to bleed them dry too.

[Taryn]

Holy shit.

[Lexi]

Friends, this feels like a way bigger deal than we get on the page. DM doesn't just absorb magic in her presence presence. She can trace power back to its owner and potentially tap into their magic source. Was this an Omnos thing, to be able to steal magic like this? Omnos does mean all. So did Zush, does he have all the Kindred's magic because he stole his siblings magic? Or did he just innately already have all of that?

[Nicole]

So we will later see Ophiuchai do this during the Stilfos battle, where there's a shield around the city and he literally drips his hand down off of his gryvern and absorbs it, just like. Just like DM is doing here. So I love this foreshadowing. I'm leaning towards this being a Kindred thing, but I want to hear all the options before I make my final decision.

[Lexi]

I'm still kind of figuring out too, because I can't help but think about how, when descended offer a prayer to the Kindred, they give a bit of their magic, never to have it again. So it sounds like when someone offers their magic magic, the Kindred absorb it in their own way now as deities, even past their death. Right, so is this like the reverse? Instead of someone offering her their magic for her to take, it's her reaching through and taking their magic. And it also calls into question, how far can this go? Could she potentially reach within someone and drain their magic from within? If we haven't seen this with Ophiuchai yet with the battle, but he does do it with the shield. I'm kind of leaning no, but you just don't know. So another question that I have here is when Diem and Ophiuchai inevitably face each other again on the battlefield, can they do this to each other's magic too? We know that he can absorb her arrow because when she fires it to tries to kill him and he absorbs it, but can they trust trace that magic back to each other and then potentially drain one another? Or are they both immune from their magic being stolen from the other because they have the exact same abilities?

[Nicole]

I don't think they're immune from their magic being stolen from the other, but I don't think it would be a permanent like if Dm stole all the magic from Ophiuchai and basically made him powerless. Like, I'm thinking about spoilers end of Avatar the Last Airbender. Like where you're able to just basically like take all the magic away from someone. 1. I don't think that DM can do that with Ophi. That is permanent. If she's able to do that temporarily, sure. But I also like, it would be a way for her to take someone off the battlefield without killing them. So I could see that being a tactic that DM uses.

[Lexi]

Yeah, yeah. Or does he even have a well that can be dried up where she can just absorb all of his magic? That. That's the whole thing. Oh, my God.

[Nicole]

Anyway, bring so questions.

[Lexi]

So many questions.

[Nicole]

Anyway, we're going to be giving Luther quite a few L's this episode, so.

[Taryn]

I am going to pull out the.

[Nicole]

Moments that make me happy where he gets W's while I can. Because while DM shatters the shield, Luther immediately, like, he's freaked out because he's like, dm, dm. And she's just so lost to the magic. She finds it so sweet. And when she finally shatters the shield, she. She brings her into him and hugs.

[Taryn]

Her tight because he's like, oh my God. What the just happened? I was so nervous.

[Nicole]

But then DM notices the room is awash in a silvery glow from her.

[Taryn]

Quote illuminated moonlight skin moon watch. You cannot seriously look me in the eye and say that moons don't mean anything after every moon watch I've pulled. Are you still willing to die on that hill? I never said I was willing to.

[Lexi]

Die on that hill. I am still needing to be more convinced that there is.

[Taryn]

Oh, my God.

[Nicole]

Anyway, the plan may be to get them out of Umbros and back to Lumnose as soon as possible. But something won't stop nipping at DM's heels. She is so close in proximity to the queen of Umbros, A queen who has been giving her strange riddles since day one. She knew about her mother. She knew about her father. She knew about the flame root. Back in the alley, she was spitting prophecy at her. She called her Daughter of the Forgotten.

[Taryn]

And Diem wants to know what the fuck that means.

[Nicole]

Then, at the rite of coronation, Ambrose was noticeably not surprised by the chaos that DM reigned in down. So much so, in fact, that she seemed to be expecting it. At the end of the day, Luther told DM to trust her gut. Right?

[Taryn]

Right.

[Nicole]

Why shouldn't she go see the queen who appears to have all the answers. And especially if a war is coming and the Umbros queen would know something that could maybe possibly help Diem. And Diem has been gone for weeks. So what's just, you know, a few more days? But there's only one problem.

[Lexi]

Luther. Luther's a problem here. He will not hear of any delays. Oh boy. I really do apologize. I am sincere in my sorries for the L's Luther is about to get.

[Taryn]

I don't believe you.

[Lexi]

Nothing DM says can change his mind from a no. No matter how hard she persists. She is trying to validate his feelings and understand his urgency. Yet she also feels strongly about her instincts, which he told her to trust in the first place. This is like the situation where she is using I statements and trying very hard to come at this with like, this is how I feel and this is how your behavior is impacting me. And he's not reciprocating that good communication. DM is trying so hard to communicate with Luther and help one another see eye to eye and work through this reasonably. And he just keeps repeating no harsher and harsher, refusing to even acknowledge where DM is coming from and what she wants. L number one for you, sir. Then he shouts at DM when she's asking him to explain himself when she is offering other solutions. I know this is from the Godstone temper. We know this from Luther's bonus chapter. This is not the Luther we know and love. But this sure would be good for your girl to know. And everything these two have been through, how far they've come with their communication. And now he is just shouting at her another L. But Luther's not done. And apparently neither am I. He purposefully uses DM's good heart against her for this argument. Twisting the knife about DM being gone you all. Nicole is literally hiding behind her hands in her chair like all sunk low right now. I am sorry. But he really does deserve the capital.

[Taryn]

L. This is bad.

[Lexi]

So he asks her if she even cares to see her brother or if she even cares about the safety of the half mortals and Lumnos. Like I get that that is an actual serious concern the longer they are away from Lumnos. Especially not knowing what horrors Aemond might be unleashing on the half mortal children as keeper of the law. But this is cruel to bring up in such an unfair way and make DM actually flinch. Capital L number three for you, Luther. Luther. The only redeeming moment Luther has in this exchange is when he insists they don't have enough time. They need to return to Lumnos. And he says he needs to tell DM something. Yes, you absolutely need to tell her why you need to go home and why you're being such a dick to her. Like, in this moment, he's like, okay, I am in a bad situation. I need to tell her. Of course. Luther is desperate to get home. He's extremely wounded from the godstone, and death is coming, coming for him. He wants to get back to Lumnose, not even necessarily to get properly treated, because he knows he's a goner by this point. And he does want to see his sister and get his affairs in order before he dies. But more importantly, he needs to get DM back into power and Lumnose before he is gone. He can't die on her before they get back home safely. He just can't. And the clock is ticking for him. The moment DM will eventually find out about Luther's fatal injury, she will make it her mission to get back as soon as possible. Much to the Umbros queen and her realm's misfortune. But Luther is terrified of telling Diem for all the reasons we've been discussing these past few episodes. He fears she will break when she finds out, and he can't share this horrible reality with her and make her world go upside down. But now he is backed into a corner. In order to get back to Lumnos, he needs to tell her what is going on with him. And then Zeller walks in before. Before Luther can. Then once, when Luther has the opportunity again, he will refuse to tell dm. So preemptive L, number four for you there, Luther. I'm sorry, Luther, but I'm also not because you're pissing me off through this stretch of chapters.

[Taryn]

Listen, if Hannah Montana has taught me anything, it's that nobody's perfect. And Luther, yes, you deserve all of those Ls, but I still love you.

[Lexi]

I just really struggle with the way that he turns. Turns her love for her family and the half mortals around on her that.

[Nicole]

All of the other elves. I can be like, okay, like, he's stressed. I understand. He wants to get back all of that. That is the one where I'm like.

[Taryn]

Whoa, bro, that was too far.

[Lexi]

Anyway, back to Zellary, one of my favorite new characters in this story. Like I said earlier, the code name of the Jaguar suits him so well. He is elegant and he is powerful. He's beauty and he's grace. Using his magic as part of his attire with his gown of living Shadows. And we do learn the story behind Zellaric and Luther. Because while Luther does not remember this Lumnos half descendant in his prime, Zelleric certainly remembers Luther as the descended prince who saved his life and ensured he got to Ambrose. I'm not going to fault Luther here for not initially remembering he has has a quality problem of helping too many children. But as soon as he has that reminder, Zeller story clicks. He had asked about what had happened to the gravely injured boy, hoping to make sure that he survived in Umbros. But he never learned. And it's like, oh, now he does have that sense of closure. And it's like, oh my gosh, we've been working together. That's awesome. As a busy parent, I've accepted that I can't control how long I sleep, but I can control how well I sleep. And since getting my Lisa mattress, even a quick nap feels like luxury. When sleep is hard to come by, having having that level of comfort truly matters. It's one of the few things on my day that's just for me, and I just love curling up late at night or even just for a quick little cat nap.

[Nicole]

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[Taryn]

Oh my goodness.

[Nicole]

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[Taryn]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

One of the biggest challenges to my confidence is acne. We've all dealt with it at some point or another. You're enjoying your life, you're feeling good, and then boom. Acne swoops in to throw it all off. That's where Panoxyl is here to help.

[Nicole]

As a trusted brand for the past 50 years, Panoxyl is recommended from those we trust, most dermatologists and healthcare professionals. Panoxyl is the number one dermatologist recommended benzoyl peroxide brand in the US. Penoxyl is on a mission to to help you feel your best self starting with your skin. With a range of products to choose from, Panoxyl is here to educate you on how to clear your acne to help build confidence through your skin care journey. I also want to say my husband used to have really bad acne and he used Panoxyl and it literally has cleared it up. This is amazing stuff.

[Lexi]

I just got my Panoxyl a few days ago and I'm so excited to keep using it. It's such a great feeling to know that quickly applying panoxyl kills 99% of acne causing bacteria in in just 15 seconds I already feel like myself again, tackling each day with just a bit more confidence.

[Nicole]

Go to panoxal.com that's p a n o x y l.com to find out more information, which products are right for you and where you can buy in store or visit the Penoxyl store on Amazon. Panoxyl the Acne Authority we here at FFG love getting our nails done. It just does so much to help our confidence as we go throughout the day. But man oh man it can be expensive and we're busy bees. Finding the time to squeeze in a nail appointment is not always easy. That's why we love doing ours at home. And no one helps me bring the salon quality experience home with me. Better than Olive and June.

[Lexi]

Olive and June gives you everything you need in one box. You get salon grade tools designed just for you and your DIY mani pedi dreams. And best of all, this polish doesn't chip like other cheap polishes and lasts up to 10 days. It provides a plump gel like finish and there's no lamp needed. Huzzah. And with Olive and June's affordable prices it breaks down to just $2amanicure.

[Nicole]

So a few years ago my sister in law got me both the mani system and the petty system. And I love Olive and June. I have been talking about them for years. They are my favorite nail polish. It lasts so long, there's so many different colors and also there's all these little extra goodies like cuticle cream, cream or nail repair and I just I.

[Taryn]

I love Olive and June. I'm so Happy they're here.

[Lexi]

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[Lexi]

Hey.

[Sleep Number]

Russell just launched a fitness app and he needed to get the word out to busy professionals looking to stay fit. So I turned to acast.

[Lexi]

I used their Smart recommendations feature to.

[Taryn]

Easily find shows that talk about health and fitness.

[Lexi]

Booking sponsorships through their platform was a.

[Sleep Number]

Breeze, and just like that, my app was in their ears during their morning run. Sounds like a smart move, Russell. How's business looking now? Sweat is pouring and so are the installs. Spread the word about your business with podcast ads on Acast. Start today at go.acast.com advertise.

[Nicole]

Jumping ahead a little bit, let's talk about Zellaryk and this amazing man as he is introduced into our story. I agree with you. He's one of my favorite characters. Zelrick was born in Lumnos's mortal city, specifically on Paradise Row where DM used to work as a healer, which.

[Lexi]

Ah yes, remember how Eleanor told us about how Jean Hanover, who is Zellaric's father, loves to frequent the mortal women on Paradise Row? Well, that makes sense now. Zell's mother was one of them.

[Nicole]

For seven years he lived in hiding while his mother worked in a tavern. And he literally never went outside, although they were happy together given their circumstances. But one day his mother never came home and he never discovered why. At first he was too scared to leave the tavern, but eventually he got hungry and left to wander the streets to beg. But it didn't take long for someone to notice his eyes and hand him off to the royal guard claiming a very large reward for turning in a half mortal. But before diem can go off on her sheer hatred for the bounty reward words and they're terrible. This turns out they were actually a good ish thing. Or at least as good as they could be in the circumstances. Bounties were put in place by Luther as a way for people to stop killing the half mortal children themselves and instead bring them to him and the royal guard for money in exchange. This allowed him to save many many more half mortal children.

[Lexi]

Back in Spark of the Everflame, DM and the other mortals expressed how much they hate hated this tactic because it made neighbors turn against one another. But now with this context we learn it saved half mortal lives. Of course that never would have crossed DM or the other mortals minds. And on the flip side, Luther may have saved lives and does he know the consequences of mortals seeming to turn on one another? I do believe this was the best solution in a terrible situation. And it's so interesting that we've now seen both sides of it and and both just want the best, but they just have no ability to see eye to eye with one another.

[Nicole]

Well it goes back to the theme of the entire deep dive which is neither side is right, neither side is wrong. And I love it. When Zaleric was caught, he was taken to Luther, but he definitely did not trust this prince. He thought he was going to be led to his own execution of course. So instead of allowing himself to be taken to his death, Zaleric attempted to escape. But one of the guards caught him him and slashed his throat. Thankfully Luther was able to step in, stop the bleeding enough to get Zaleric to Umbros where he was cared for by one Ms. Margie, who Luther and Orlie took many half mortal children to Zellary, decided not to get his scar healed away, so he still bears the cut as an homage to the scarred prince who saved him, which.

[Lexi]

Aww. Luther inspired another young boy wronged for being a half mortal to keep his scar too.

[Taryn]

Too.

[Lexi]

That's big. And I just love it so much.

[Nicole]

Zalaric lived with Margie for a while and she was smart, she was resourceful and she helped Luther and Aurelie find many homes for orphans. And she also took care of some of them herself, raising them like her own children. However, the mortal Margie was incredibly poor and it never sat right with Zellaryk. So once Margie did pass, Zellaryck decided that he would never want to be poor again, and he started pickpockets pocketing. From there, he moved onto the fighting rings where he was able to start practicing with his magic because they were allowed to have magic in there. Then he moved to the skin markets where he became a hot commodity and a regular at the Umbros palace before finally building up his reputation for handling difficult tasks secretly.

[Lexi]

He established this Second Chance Inn as a safe haven for the half mortal children he and Luther smuggle here. I do love the part where, where Luther is walking down the in halls and he's looking at each of the children's faces as if searching for something. I bet it's recognition. He's seeing these children he helped and trying to, you know, identify who each of them are. Zel doesn't want any of these children to know poverty like he did. And he wants all of these half mortal children, and now some grown adults of Lumnos to have their second chance. This is their inn and their home and they are safe here. But I love how Luther is inviting all of the half mortals back home now that the Lumnos queen is a friend to them and will change the life laws, including Zaleric. Luther authors him quite the pitch to not only come back to Lumnos, but to pledge his loyalty to the new queen. Ah, I think Zaleric is going to be quite the big player in our little crew once we get to Burn of the Everflame. And he will absolutely end up living in Lumnos. What if he has another in? That's called the Third Chance.

[Taryn]

Actually, that's really morbid.

[Lexi]

Of all the other people at the Second Chance anyway, with these other half mortals who I refuse to believe die from Ophiuchai's attack. Despite what the Humbros Queen says. I keep telling myself she's just riling DM up and trying to make her feel extra guilty. That is my headcanon. But anyway, we're still on a mission to get back to Lumnos right now. And when I say we, I mean Luther, not dm, because he and Zal create a plan here and Luther purposely does not include DM in this plan plan. After all, she is pretending not to be the queen and Luther has the highest authority in this room. Right, so he kind of steamrolls her in that way. No, I'm not going to give you a lowercase L here, Luther. I won't. You're already hurting too much from the previous Ls and your Godstone wound. Now let's talk about this plan to get our crew out of here. Luther is traveling with sensitive cargo and needs a ship, any ship, to take them out of Ambrose the sea evening. And obviously without the centenaries notice. But Sal explains. Buddy, that's impossible. The Queen will find out because she knows everything that happens in the city. But once again it's better that she not know what the sensitive cargo is. After all, she will care about this cargo now while we know Sal will end up betraying them. There is a line that Simon says where it's like, oh, I don't think I forgot about your original plan. So I really do think that Zal, in this moment moment is planning to help them. And I don't think it is until he is caught by the centenaries and essentially backed into a corner that he feels like he has to give them up. So I do believe that he is loyal right now.

[Nicole]

I agree. I agree completely because.

[Taryn]

Or else that's a bad look for Sal. So yes, yes.

[Lexi]

Anyway, as it'll turn out, Zal will be able to secure them passage without a centenary checkpoint point. But his contact cannot leave until tomorrow night, which DMs like, great, let's rest and eat good food and relax for a bit after the hell we've been through. And Luther's like, no.

[Nicole]

Several hours later, DM wakes up in the inn room alone with nothing but a note from Luther on her bedside table that states he's gone to find the others and please don't leave.

[Taryn]

I love that he knows his girl so well because the police is underwind twice.

[Nicole]

So in the meantime, DM decides to take advantage of having a bathing room and takes her first bath in weeks.

[Taryn]

She has been a prisoner of the guardians, she has walked across the sand.

[Nicole]

In Guineos, all of that.

[Taryn]

This would be the best bath of her life.

[Lexi]

Oh my God, can you imagine how stinky.

[Taryn]

I don't want to because Luther smells.

[Nicole]

Like wood musk anyway. Hearing voices in the main room, DM gets out of the water and wrapping herself in a towel, she heads into the other room, running smack dab into Luther's chest. And he doesn't even attempt to hide his wandering gaze. Oh no. Luther is enjoying every single second as he can soak in the sight of a very exposed. Only wearing a towel, Diem. But Diem can tell that something's off with Luther, more so than it has been previously. As they stand there drinking each other in, his hand grips tighter on her hip like she's being dragged away from him and he's desperate to hold on to her. Ah, this breaks my heart because she is he's being dragged towards death and she's being dragged away from him. But finally, just as he looks like he may may be stepping away, a desperate urgent takes over DM and she closes the distance between them, pulling him into a feverish kiss.

[Taryn]

Here we go. Oh my God. Whatever was holding Luther back snaps and.

[Nicole]

He pins her up against a wall with his hands working their ways up her thighs, slipping under her towel until it falls away completely. This makes Luther set her on the countertop and then pull away for a better view. Yeah, remember when he was on like when I get a night to look at you, looking will be the least of what I do. Well right now with her bared in front of him, all he can think of is quote, I could look at you forever and it would not nearly and it wouldn't nearly be long enough.

[Taryn]

So I'm just kicking my feet, screaming. But right now, Luther, We've waited almost 1300 pages for you to get your hands on her.

[Nicole]

It's time to do more. Then look. His hands drift up her leg, up her inner thigh as it nearly brushes her and DM's eyes flitter close. But no. No Diem. Bellator. Luther wants you to look at him, open your knees wider and finishing with.

[Taryn]

A that's my girl. I am not breathing. I am not well. Good God, sir, I'm not okay.

[Nicole]

And you know who likes this kind of control? Diem. Which shocks her. She's always treated sex as the same way she's treated a fight. Never retreat, never surrender. She's been dominating with all of her partners and her partners have been happily.

[Lexi]

Submissive, as we saw in the spark bangity bang with Henry.

[Taryn]

Not Luther, though.

[Nicole]

Despite being so committed and obedient while serving his queen, he has no intention to submit to her in the bedroom. And Diem likes it a lot.

[Taryn]

So with an eyes on me Bellator, Luther does more then look. Finally Pencole. Damn. Do you know how to write a finger?

[Nicole]

Bangity bang. Sing. In moments, Luther works her into a frenzy. Her magic is slipping into a silvery shimmer that surrounds them both. But while DM is loving this, she also wants to give back to her boo. However, Luther doesn't let her touch him, instead distracting Diem with plunging deeper, doing.

[Taryn]

That little trick with the fingers if.

[Nicole]

You will, and DM shatters completely, magic pouring from her glowing cords, bringing him closer to her body, which Luther, taking a moment to look at his woman, he says, quote, perfect. You are so perfect.

[Taryn]

Oh, Luther, I love you. While Luther is giving DM quite the counter experience, there are.

[Nicole]

There is absolutely something off about his demeanor. His eyes have a touch of discomforting darkness at the edges. And as DM tells him she wants him, all of him, he looks incredibly sad because she can't have all of him because he's dying. He's being literally ripped away from her. And as she moves to try and touch him, Luther jerks away. Oh, boy.

[Lexi]

To address Luther's POV through this finger bang, the bang and why he won't let DM touch him, we have to pull some insights we get from Luther in his bonus chapter in the hardcover of Heat. The night Luther was wounded in Arboros, he swore to himself that he would stop pursuing DM unless he healed. He didn't want to cause her more emotional distress and grief. After everything terrible that has happened with her father Henry and her mother, he's been forcing distance between them because he does not want to be another loved one she has to lose. He wants her to not care enough about him so she will be able to move on from his loss. And I do get his reasoning here. It makes sense for Luther to have this extreme way of thinking as his own attempt to help DM with his inevitable death. It's something that does happen with people, and it breaks my heart because it's during this time that love and connection is more important than ever.

[Nicole]

Well, and she pushed him him away. She sank so deeply into herself when her father died. And he knows right now she needs to be building an army. She needs to be building her found family. She needs people on her side. And if he dies, she is going to retreat back into her inward self. And who knows what would happen if that was the case. That's one of the reasons where I'm like, okay, yes, the Ls above. With the exception of the bringing up the Amen and all of that stuff, I'm taking that one off the table because that was not okay. But those moments where I'm like, okay, I understand why he's not telling her.

[Lexi]

And yet he is going to die no matter what.

[Nicole]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Lexi]

So it's not about her going into this grief that she can't get out of if he dies. It's not about if he dies, it's when he dies. And he does not want her to care enough about him so that she won't do that. Which brings us to this moment where Luther King caved He couldn't keep denying himself in DM when he was so turned on by her after she got out of the bath. But then she looks at him with so much trust and she gives herself over to him completely. Where something more than desire and love burns brightly between the two of them. And it scares him because he did not mean for this finger banging bang to happen. In fact, he's been trying to put distance between them so DM doesn't think this way. So there's a twofold to why Luther is pulling away from DM or right now, physically and emotionally. Number one, what I was just saying, he let himself slip and reconnect with DM on an intimate level. And he's swinging back in the opposite direction to push her away again. Better for her to be sad now and not as in love with him than to be in love with him and lose him so soon. And number two, he is very wounded and taking his shirt off or exploring his body will reveal his secret that he has been working so hard to hide. So to avoid any repercussion with touching him, he cuts her off. He can't risk Diem finding out about his wound. He can't risk her mourning his death too much.

[Nicole]

Earlier in this chapter stretch, as DM starts to tell Luther that she's wanting to tell Alix and Taryn about everything, she admits how it's going to hurt 10 times worse because they lied to them not sharing the information. And this is quite awkward because as Luther says, quote, withholding information is not lying. And he says this very defensively. I don't know, buddy. When you are definitely withholding some very important information. Especially as DM asks him about like, hey, what was that you were wanting to tell me earlier? And he was like, it's nothing. I just misspoke. Luther's definitely lying to her and it hurts DM so deeply.

[Lexi]

L. I'm giving him another L. Yeah, he's lying.

[Nicole]

I think that's an L. I again, I get what, why he's so steadfast and he's like tripling down on his idea. But I also think that this is very much him being stubborn and not wanting to adapt to the situation. Yes, exactly.

[Lexi]

So naturally, DM began spiraling. Poor girl is getting such mixed feelings from the man she finally learned to trust wholeheartedly. That was like the whole thing in Glow. He seems to desire her and want to touch her, please her, and. But then he wants nothing in return. And it's not in like a selfless way, but like In a really weird and stiff way where he is actually pushing her away. My mind would have come to the same conclusion she does. And my heart just hurts for her as she's trying to navigate these emotions and get her mental footing to even be able to respond to Luther. Poor DM is horrified to come to the possible conclusion that Luther is indeed just serving her because she is queen.

[Nicole]

Luther is is aghast to hear these doubts from DM about how she feels about him. I do not blame DM for going this way. I love you, Luther. I love you a whole darn lot.

[Taryn]

This is a really bad episode for.

[Nicole]

You, but I 100% get how DM is falling to this conclusion. She feels rejected. She's standing in a towel. She doesn't understand. She's vulnerable. He has been so open about serving her, so of course her mind is going to go to this darker place when she is in this vulnerable state. Especially when he suddenly, out of nowhere, starts pushing her away.

[Lexi]

This is literally what his goal has been by distancing himself from her. He does not want her to get so attached to him. And the way to do that is to draw back and get disattached first. No wonder she fucking thinks this. He made her think this in the first first place, and then he's all pissed off that she's thinking of this way about him.

[Taryn]

Yeah, that's not great. Okay, yeah, I get it. Luther wants to set this record straight, though. Nicole wants to set this record straight. I need something good from Luther. This chapter. Stretch, please, God. And yes, you guessed it. I am basically gonna quote this entire thing, and you can't stop me, Lexi.

[Nicole]

First, he storms across the room, pinning DM against the wall, enclosing a hand around her neck while pressing his hips into hers.

[Taryn]

Watson, I could see how this looks bad, but I don't think so. I think this is just passion.

[Nicole]

He says, quote does this feel like I do not desire you? I did not know what it was to need until I met you. One look from you, just the fucking sound of your. Your voice, and my cock gets hard. One touch of your skin and I can barely think beyond dragging you into the nearest bed. Every second I am not inside you is another wasted moment of my miserable life. He continues, quote There is no place in all existence I would rather be than between your legs. And there is no part of you that I do not long to consume with my eyes, with my hands, with my mouth.

[Taryn]

I'm not done. Quote it is not just my body that craves you.

[Nicole]

Dm, it is. Is my heart. My scarred ruin. Scrap of a soul. Your smiles, your affection. The way you look at me, the way you see me. That is my lifeblood. I would sooner wither without food or water, sink into the sea until my lungs burst, abandon my magic and let my godhood burn me alive from within, than endure one more day without you in it. It's in this moment that Luther's magic starts pouring out of him. It's like this godhood is. Is. Is called forward. Because remember, he didn't have his magic before this. It's called forward from this emotion that he's stirring up within him. And lastly, he said, quote, desire. Desire is a pathetic word for what I feel for you. I require you. I am sustained by you. You are the flame that fuels my fire. Don't you dare question that, not for a second. I don't care how many L's you give this man. In this episode, Lexi, this moment where he. He whips out a speech like, this.

[Taryn]

Is a moment where I would just turn all the L's over. I would put the piece of paper face down and I would just leap into his arms.

[Lexi]

I think the speech makes it all that much worse.

[Taryn]

What he is giving. What are you talking about?

[Lexi]

He is giving DM the most mixed signals of all time. He can't push her away and make sure she knows he loves her and desires her with every fiery of his being. He's giving her emotional whiplash. And I get that. He is trying to ensure that she knows his true feelings, like no matter what his actions are doing. But I'm sorry, actions speak louder than words.

[Nicole]

I totally see where you're coming from. And yeah, I think there could be an element of that. The way I look at this is there's almost two parts of him right now that are trying to come to the surface. It's the godstone part of him, the one that's angry and has the temper and is trying to push her away and plan and. And set it up for DM to not fall fucking apart like she did with her father. And then there's this other side of him that has loved dm, who feels this divine call towards her that is coming out in this moment where he almost can't stand the idea of the other side winning. So it's like he's. He's trying. It's. It's. I think it's a tennis match within himself that he doesn't know which one's going to win.

[Lexi]

And no matter what this is a shitty situation. I promise. I love Luther as a whole. However, everything about Luther in this stretch is why I struggle with the first half of this book. Yeah, I have a hard time identifying the romance in this scene, even with all of these swoon worthy lines, because he is being so dishonest about his secret and getting upset at DM for not understanding the context that he is purposefully leaving out.

[Nicole]

Okay, I 100% see that. And, and I agree with that. I think that there is. There is a lot of me that really does struggle with Luther during the first half of this book, especially with the choices that he makes in Umbros. I think the reason that I hear the desire speech and I get all like giddy, kick my feet up in the air is because one of the things I love about romance is when the intensity is just turned up to a level 10. And that is how I felt like this scene. However. However, you bring up some really good points. He is wanting DM to feel a certain way. And then he does get mad at her when she feels that way. With Luther's heart laid bare before dm, she attempts to shoot her shot. Basically act on the words that he's saying. So creeping closer to him, patiently testing this man who desires her so deeply, she touches his hands very innocently and then lifts her own up to his face and then to his neck. And as her hands get more exploratory, shadows fill the room from Luther snuffing out any light. And DM understands if they are going to have this moment together, these are his terms. When I first read this for the first time, I remember being heartbroken for Luther because it felt like it was entirely shame about his scar. He has been traumatized the way way, specifically a previous sexual partner, Ileana, spoke to him around his scar. So it made full sense to me that he was like, I just for that, for that abusive trauma that he has experienced. He made the room dark. And that was. Which is one of the reasons that DM doesn't question the darkness. But like we always do, let's put ourselves in Luther's pov because we know in hindsight it's about the godstone and the black veins. And he does. He doesn't want DM to see the creeping veins going up his body. He's right now covered from almost head to toe. He has a scarf around his neck. He's. He's not wearing gloves yet, but he's not far off. So him being caught up in this moment, he wants to act on These ceilings towards DM so badly. And it's almost like in his mind, he's like, okay, maybe we can just do it this way. Maybe we can just do it this way. But as her touch moves from massaging the muscles of his shoulder, shoulders, to the front of his sweater, AKA closer to the wound, he stiffens and then rips her hands away, returning the light into the room. I don't think that this is because it, you know, hurt. DM touching, lifting the fabric, or at least it didn't fully come from there. It's more like he's noticing in the moment just how reckless it would be for him to let her see that and how literally everything they have right now would be shattered in an instant. So he reached commits to his decision to push her away.

[Lexi]

DMs begging him for answers. And all he says is, quote, because life is cruel and we don't always get what we want. This would be another fantastic moment to share what is going on instead of leaving your girl literally naked and alone. We know why Luther is walking out on DM right now. We've been talking a lot about it. He's at a crossroads. He either has to truly distance himself from her or tell her that he is with wounded, which he was about to do earlier, but now he's changed his mind and decided that this is the best route to truly distance himself from her.

[Nicole]

I think it's because he knows they're going home soon. So he's like, if I can just wait a little longer. If I can just. It's almost like he's edging himself on telling her the secret because he knows if they just wait a little bit. If they just wait a little bit.

[Lexi]

He's got an end date in mind already that he is determined to see through. Yes, he shared his feelings with her, so that should be good enough, right? She'll always know how much he cares. But DM's not free of the L's either, because like we were discussing last episode, she reverts back to her queenly command when things aren't going her way. Dm, the woman, the lover, the friend, can't get Luther to stay and talk to her, then fine, the Lumnos queen will command him to stay. Maybe that's a small font. Lowercase L. More so because this is her fallback and the only way left to try to get him to feel face her.

[Nicole]

I think the first one is a lowercase L because she says that she, your queen, commands you to stop. And he stops. Yes, but then the second one where she's like. Like, Luther, don't you dare walk away from me. Don't you dare.

[Taryn]

Your queen commands you to stay.

[Nicole]

And then he leaves and she's all pissed off. That's an uppercase L, in my opinion. Because she has now found this control. She's now found this green light control system that works 99% of the time, and she doesn't really have a problem whipping it out when she feels like she. She's not being followed.

[Lexi]

I agree. I will agree with that. Yes. But if she's getting an L for commanding him to. As he's walking out, he gets an L for walking out.

[Taryn]

I agree.

[Nicole]

I do agree.

[Lexi]

Okay.

[Taryn]

Like, they both. Both. Everybody gets Ls. It's so hard to understand.

[Nicole]

Not from a literary standpoint, but from a.

[Taryn]

God damn it, I wish you would just fucking talk to each other.

[Nicole]

Other standpoint?

[Taryn]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

We know and love these characters. We've been with them through two books already. And now we're at this point, good.

[Nicole]

At talking to dm.

[Lexi]

Exactly. And now we're reading this first half of the book and it's like, what.

[Taryn]

The hell is going on here, everybody?

[Lexi]

And again, it makes sense in hindsight, and we're still allowed to be mad about it.

[Nicole]

Yeah, I think that's a great point.

[Taryn]

Enough is enough, Lexi.

[Nicole]

You hear that?

[Taryn]

Enough is enough. All of these secrets, they're just driving a wedge between our sister ship and this tight knit bond that we've been building for so long now.

[Nicole]

So, team, it is time to call a meeting. And it's time to clear the air.

[Taryn]

Between the arguing, the secrets, the elves, the crumbling distrust.

[Nicole]

It's just not working anymore. They'll never make it back to Lumnos safely if they can't figure their shit out. This division especially is noticeable between Luther and Diem, both of which, while yes, are trying to protect the other, they. They are just adding more fuel to the fire, causing a rift between them to grow even larger. And the crew is noticing. So DM knows that it's time to clear the air with the whole crew. Also, she wants to lead by example and be a good queen. If she shares her secrets and everything she knows, it's kind of the hopes that Luther will follow her lead and.

[Taryn]

Stop acting so darn stupid.

[Lexi]

Drawing in a long breath, Diem word vomits out all her secrets. Her mother, Aurelie, is the leader of the guardians. Aurelie met DM's birth father while on a mission for the Amarian army.

[Nicole]

We Will later learn that this was the mission to Kuril because the King of Fortos thought some sneaky shit was going down on it. So he sent Arlie to be the sneaky spy. And that's where she met Ophi, who DM knows is alive and exists from the Orb of Answering last Book.

[Lexi]

But that is all that DM knows right now. That her birth father is alive and he knows that. That she exists.

[Nicole]

Correct.

[Lexi]

Oh, and back to or DMs planning to break her out of prison.

[Nicole]

Yep.

[Lexi]

DM also goes on to reveal that the Empress Queen told her last foraging day to stop taking the flame route that was suppressing her magic. And during the Ascension Ball, she released the centenaries magic to stop the Guardians attack. So they probably read everyone's minds, which.

[Taryn]

Could be really really really bad should.

[Nicole]

They run into the Queen since she basically has a fuck ton of dirt on them.

[Lexi]

I think this is also when Alix and Taran find out there was going to be a Guardian attack. And DM hasn't mentioned it until now. I realize that Alix being the Vice General of the Royal Guard, like that might be something that she would have known before, but that was the whole point that DM and Luther kept it hush hush so that nobody else would find out and then want to kill the Guardians. Correct. So lots of information coming out right now. And then DM drops the big bomb. She's still working with the Guardians.

[Taryn]

Next to that, she wants to work.

[Lexi]

With them to wage war against the Crowns to restore what was taken from the mortals. But only the Guardians that aren't trying to kill the descendant. And Julie wants to work with the descendant who aren't trying to kill the mortals. And DM wants to bring home all the half mortals. So in her mind she's like I'm not picking this up side. But she's still trying to figure out how the heck the war part is going to fit into all of this. Again, it just goes back to us thinking like how dm, she has to be building up an army. She has to be recruiting allies and all this kind of stuff. And theoretically she understands why. But when push comes to shove, it's going to be really hard for her to lead that army. Let's not forget that Luther and Diem are also both having visions about each other. The war, some glowing man, AKA her biophile father that she does not know that is him yet. Oh, and to top all of it off, there's a prophecy, some of which the Emperor's Queen gave her quote when forgotten blood on Hearthstone falls, then shall the chains be broke. Life for life, old debt requires or eternal be his yoke.

[Nicole]

So we're halfway there on this here prophecy. DM's forgotten blood has fallen on the Hearthstone. And while it was off page, the chains have been broken. Broken. Ophiuchai is free.

[Lexi]

But that's not all, because then there's what ulther said to DM2. Quote. They told me your blood would shatter our stone and lay waste to our borders. How was that, Nicole?

[Taryn]

Was that terrible? Well.

[Lexi]

Oh, the prophecy is coming true again.

[Nicole]

We are seeing this in real time.

[Taryn]

I don't know about shatter this stone.

[Lexi]

Well, I understand that's what happened. The Heartstone has a huge crack down the middle when it's supposed to be indestructible. So it might be semantics there.

[Nicole]

Fair, Fair. I. I did wonder. I was like, have we not seen the shattering of the stone yet? And the shattering is going to happen next book and the forging magic will be like gone gone. Like right now there's remnants of it still left. It's dying off, obviously. But if the Hearthstone is shattered, I think I feel like the forging magic would shatter with it.

[Lexi]

Like, because it wouldn't be able to work whatsoever.

[Nicole]

Exactly.

[Lexi]

There's also this line from Ulther quote, Devourer of Crowns, Ravender of Realms, Herald of Vengeance.

[Taryn]

So Devourer of Crowns, is this referring.

[Nicole]

To her just like picking up crowns like their Pokemon cards?

[Lexi]

That's how I understand it. And the Devourer feels very steel magic.

[Taryn]

Y.

[Lexi]

Not literally, but has those same words, vibes. You know what I mean?

[Nicole]

Word vibes. Absolutely. Then we've got Ravenger of Realms. We are seeing this in real time because as she is in each of the realms, they are basically falling in on themselves. But maybe this could also reference how things need to be destroyed in order to get better. Like the realms need to be ravaged in order to rise up again in balance.

[Lexi]

So Ravenger means a violently destructive effect. So I think this is in relation to her being the cause of the realm's borders and clear cut rules of magic breaking.

[Nicole]

Okay. And then last but not least, we have Herald of Vengeance, which basically means Bringer of Vengeance. I wanted to get as specific as possible, so I looked up the exact definition of vengeance. Vengeance is the act of killing, injuring or harming someone because they have harmed you. So I actually wonder if. If this Bringer of Vengeance is actually referring to her taking vengeance out on Ophi. Oh, so like she is. She is bringing the act of injuring or harming. Because I don't think she's going to kill him. Someone who has harmed her, but, like, who has harmed the realm.

[Lexi]

Possibly that. I was also thinking, she is the cause of Ophiuchai now taking out his vengeance. She was the herald who accidentally fled, freed him from his prison and set off this chain of reaction as he gets his vengeance.

[Nicole]

I like. I think that makes sense.

[Lexi]

Yeah, but we're still not done. How is DM only now sitting down to parse through this prophecy?

[Taryn]

She's been busy. She had so much time when she.

[Lexi]

Was imprisoned in our burrows.

[Taryn]

I'm not saying this is where her.

[Lexi]

Mind was, but she had the time for a few weeks anyway. Ulther had spoken to DM in an angel, ancient feminine voice. Lumnose, is that you? Yes. Yes, it is. Lumnos. And this is what she said through Ulther, quote, give him our gift, daughter of the forgotten. When the end has come and the blood has spilled, give our gift to my faithful heir and tell him this is my command. I am convinced that the faithful heir is Luther. It almost seems too obvious. It does seem too obvious. But the fact that DMs like, well, whoever this faithful heir is, he can wait his turn. Turn not thinking it's Luther whatsoever, which makes me think it is immediately Luther. And Luther knows that it's him too, based on his contextual clues in this moment. And then during his bonus chapter when he's yelling at Mother Lumnos.

[Nicole]

Now, unlike Diem, the faithful heir comment makes Luther completely spiral.

[Lexi]

He's pale, he's deep in thought. He is confused right now because he knows that he is dying. And he thinks that this means DM has to die first for him to then be king. And he's like, my death has to mean something here. Like, what the heck?

[Nicole]

Because he knows that the faithful heir is definitely him. Or he at least most likely will be him. But if that's the case, like you're saying, that would mean that DM has to die in order for him to take the crown. Now, so much of this will also depend on what the fuck this guy gift is. So, doing a word search, here are some bigger connections of the word gift. Like, I didn't connect anyone that was like, oh, the gift. Like, these are the big gift moments. There is Taryn in this scene wondering if the crown is the gift. This seems like the most obvious choice because DM also immediately says, more like a curse. Like a Kindred's curse. So it would be DM giving the gift of the crown to Luther. Especially with the faithful heir. Comment. There was also the pendant that Luther gave DM as a gift last book. So it could be her giving it back to him. I don't think that's it. Now there is a library, which is a quote gift from the Old Gods. Especially considering that there's some Everflame magic there. This Give him our gift could be in reference to the Ever Flame within the library. So it's like Give him our Ever Flame gift. Actually, I'm gonna go back because it does say give him our gift.

[Lexi]

What if it's the heart stone, but it's getting shattered?

[Taryn]

That's a pretty shitty gift. We don't.

[Lexi]

I. But that's only if it hasn't been shattered yet.

[Taryn]

True.

[Nicole]

I'll also throw out. What if this our gift is not just the Kindred's gift? What if it is the old Gift Gods and the Kindred?

[Taryn]

Or what if it.

[Nicole]

What if the Kindred, the Kindred's God. Excuse me, and the Old Gods are the same and Give him our gift refers to actually just this, like, united entity. I don't know how that would work.

[Lexi]

I don't know either.

[Nicole]

I don't know where my brain was.

[Taryn]

Going when I did this.

[Lexi]

I'm personally pretty firmly in the camp. Yes, very firmly in the camp that. That the plural is the Kindred siblings. Give him our gift. That is from the Kindred siblings. Could the gift be some kind of magical spell or magical resolution that can be enacted after the end has come? Well, now, like, again, like, I was spiraling and thinking maybe it's connected to the Heartstone. Because I struggle to think that the gift is a sword. Like, especially the one that DM's going to use that used to belong to a Kindred. It's this gift for after all the shit has gone down. Down. So I think whatever this gift is, it will help create peace across the world. And again, that's kind of why I tie it back to like maybe like a magical spell or something along those lines. I think there's a lot more nuances in there, but overarching. It makes me also think things are not really looking good for dm. Like, seriously though, I'm now starting to convince myself that she's actually going to die by the end of this series or something will happen. Where does it ultimately result in that? But that's what is supposed to happen.

[Nicole]

I think that there's going to be. Because you know how they said, like the Kindred die But they don't die like everyone else. So I could see it being DM dies, but she doesn't die.

[Taryn]

Maybe she becomes the fucking moon, I don't know.

[Nicole]

But then she comes back because I don't see her and Luther not getting that happy ending in some way. I'm gonna throw out one more gift option that I actually think that this is my top contender right now. What if her heart is the gift? Give him our gift and it's like her ability to love him. It's them being mates together. The gift is her saying, I want a forever with you. Because especially if she dies when the quote, when the end has come and the blood has been spilt, because that's definitely giving DM dies energy. Then Luther will become king. And then she comes back and she's almost like she's ruling with him. That is romance romantasy, because that feels very like of the romantasy genre to me. But I don't know because that could get ambiguous really fast. So I don't.

[Taryn]

I say with full confidence that I have no confidence whatsoever. Oh, goodness.

[Lexi]

But why talk about important things like prophecies and what this means for the world and our characters when we. We have drama? Luther is irate that DM is so insistent on staying here in Umbros to talk to the queen. He thinks it's a death sentence for dm. Plus he has personal reasons to get them all back to Lumnos safely. And as the argument escalates, Luther lets it all out about his fury at elix for following DM's orders to abandon her queen. I talked about that last episode, so I won't rehash it here, but while I'm on my L streak, I'm going to give Diem another one here, here. Because she is shrugging off the horror show that was igneous as if it was nothing. She literally almost died in Luther's arms and is waving off his emotional trauma from it. She even knows that she's lying when she's like, oh, it wasn't so bad. Because she is so set in her ways of saving as many of them as she could and sending Alix and Taryn away probably did save their lives. And she's sticking to that mindset. She is a martyr in her own way. Very much much so. She doesn't want others dying on her behalf. She will happily be the one to die to take that wound there. So if she has to pretend like her fatal wound wasn't so bad, then she thinks it's worth it to be able to simply, you know, move on. And that enables her to do it again and again and again. Oh, my goodness. What foreshadowing for when she will be a mess when Luther almost dies and she has this need to cling to him afterward to ensure he's still alive. That's what he's doing right now, where he's like, you almost died in my arms. That was not just a. Oh, there were some mistakes made and. But we're all okay. He is genuinely traumatized, and she is lying to make sure it's not seem so bad. And she is brushing off his emotions because she doesn't act like they matter.

[Nicole]

Literally, when they're walking through Umbro, someone, like, nudges them and she bumps into Luther and she, like, almost doubles over because she's not okay. She was saying when she's walking through, she's like, at least I'm not coughing up blood anymore. Like, this, I think, is DM just. Again, she is so focused that her way is the right way. And she doesn't mind lying if that means getting what she wants. Or pulling, like we mentioned earlier, the Queen card if it means getting to the outcome that she wants it to be in.

[Lexi]

But then if other people do something similar.

[Taryn]

Pissed.

[Lexi]

She gets furious. Yeah. Which again, rightly so. Everybody gets so many L's in this episode.

[Taryn]

The only person who doesn't is Alix, because Alix is fabulous.

[Lexi]

Poor Elix through all of this. Somebody go buy that woman a beer.

[Taryn]

My goodness gracious. She has to put up with all their shit here.

[Nicole]

At the end of the day, the only person who gets a W this episode. Alix was following DM's orders as Queen.

[Taryn]

Because she was doing her job. And with Luther.

[Nicole]

Authors quote, the High General of the Royal Guard is entitled to overrule the crown if necessary to save their life.

[Taryn]

Okay, first of all, I think that's a smart rule.

[Nicole]

He also says earlier that the Royal Guard's job is to protect the crown. The crown's job is to protect the realm. And DMs like, that's something I'm changing.

[Taryn]

And I'm like, girl, you need someone to protect you. Oh, my God.

[Nicole]

Anyway, this statement about the Royal Guard is, you know, able to overrule the crown. That really does not sit well with dm. She doesn't want to to put anything or anyone over her own life, literally anything. And if she's willing to risk her life, she believes that that that is a decision that only she has the ability to make not the High General. And with Luther, that's clearly not how he's willing to roll. So, ergo, sorry, Lou, you cannot be High General. You're out.

[Taryn]

Oh, the silence that answers that statement.

[Nicole]

Y however, this is something that DM has been thinking about for quite a while, right after the Challenging. This is in DM's bonus chapter from Glow of the Everflame that we covered in the last episode. The thought of Elix being born for the role of High General felt kind of out of the blue, but it made a lot of sense to dm. DM would trust Elix to protect the mortals just as much as the Descended. She also trusts Elix to admit, adjust and grow with the changes that DM is wanting to implement in the realm. And more importantly, she trusts Alix to follow her orders. More so than Alix's own. You know, orders that she puts on herself. But now, also here in the team meeting, DM admits that she trusts Alix not to lose focus like Luther can. And it's not even necessarily that he loses focus. His focus is crystal clear. But it's just on Diem not being the High General. And she needs a High General who can accept her choices, even if it means sacrificing herself. But also, side note, Luther saying, quote, fine, good, it was inevitable. This cuts me because, yeah, he's referring to when he dies, Alix would have taken over as High General anyway.

[Taryn]

Oh, Luther, this is bad.

[Lexi]

Just as awkward as this situation is, is Alix is honored to receive this title of High General of the Royal Guard. Previously she was Vice General, which I assume is the High General's right hand. I shall soon say to DM she respects DM all the more for seeing this about Luther. It's not in a way of like, oh yes, now I have his job. It is that he has crystal clear focus with DM as his queen. But it's in the wrong place for a High General. He does not see DM as the leader Lumnos leader. He sees her as everyone's salvation. And when she says everyone, I assume she means all of Amarian. Especially as he's putting together that DM is not strictly a Lumnos descended, but from the Kindred themselves. So Leakes understands why DM needed to change High Generals. Luther was a fantastic High General under King Ulther's reign, but he has very different priorities now with DM as his queen. And I do love this form Elites. Remember what we learned about her back and glow with how she's Just as ambitious as Amen. But she focuses on earning her way to the top versus relying on political sway. And she has indeed earned this, both as a strategic military leader and as an advisor DM can truly trust with this job. And leaks has proven that she has a capacity to evolve and to forgive and to have an open mind, which is exactly what you DM looks for in her advisors here.

[Nicole]

Well, and I also just can't help but keep going back to Alix, thinking we should have mortals, yes, the. You know, the guard. We should bring them up to a seat at the table. And she's not afraid to piss people off in order to make it happen. I love Luther. Again. I love Luther. I think that this was one of the smartest things DM could have done as a ruler. And as she says, says it's not that she doesn't want Luther. She wants him at her side in a different way. AKA as a king consort.

[Lexi]

Exactly. Exactly. Yes.

[Nicole]

And as Perrin says, you now get to focus on just keeping DM alive.

[Taryn]

Rather than the queen alive. And he says that's a 247 job. And he's not wrong.

[Nicole]

In the Heat of the Everflames Hardcover edition, We get a bonus scene from Luther's POV right after this team meeting.

[Taryn]

And honestly, honestly, I'm so grateful for it, because, man, do we need this.

[Nicole]

Extra insight on Luther and how he's. How he is doing mentally, physically, spiritually. His chapter opens up at an Ambrose doctor's office where Luther is wishing for any kind of treatment. He's at the doctor, but he gets some pretty grim news.

[Taryn]

If the wound was caught early, then maybe it could have been treated. Wow.

[Lexi]

If only he had such an opportunity to have a personal healer to treat him immediately after it happened.

[Taryn]

He didn't know.

[Nicole]

I want you to, for a moment. If he had actually told DM what had happened, how do you think she would be right now?

[Lexi]

She would have worked to get him the same treatment that Taryn got. She would have put the stuff on both of them that had her blood, and now he'd be healed by now.

[Taryn]

I meant more mentally. Anyway, Luther's wound is over a week.

[Nicole]

Old, and the blackened godstone veins have spread over much of his body, despite him putting on the same poultice that Taryn put on his wounds. We will learn later in the Umbros palace that his wound was a lot deeper than Taryn's, So hence this grim diagnosis. Sorry, buddy. It's too late. But the doc does say something interesting. God Stone normally Takes a month to get this bad if yours is moving this fast. You pissed off the gods something fierce.

[Taryn]

This got me thinking.

[Nicole]

Why did it spread so fast? Yes, it was deeper. Yes, it was infected because he was walking through igneous and there was sand getting into it. And he got in the ocean when.

[Taryn]

He wasn't supposed to.

[Nicole]

And his just general stress levels aren't very good. But did he piss off a God?

[Lexi]

I think so. I wonder if Mother Lumnos is actually upset with him too, for not telling D DM about his wound.

[Taryn]

Oh my God.

[Lexi]

So the worse that his wound gets, the sooner he will be forced to tell DM and the Kindred know that her blood works. So they're probably up there in the conference room just pulling their hair out and making it worse for him. So he has to tell her so he can be healed.

[Taryn]

Okay, two things. One, I've never seen you this angry at a fictional character. And we've come covered a certain character in Acotar and Henry, and I've never.

[Nicole]

Seen you this angry.

[Taryn]

But don't you dare. Don't you dare finish whatever sentence you were about to say. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it at all. And second, I don't think they're pissed at him for not telling her. There's only one way to find out though. If the gods are willing to heed this, you know, godstone wound.

[Lexi]

Time to go pray at the temple before the statue of blessed Mother Lydia Luminos Luther speaks to her. He is on his last desperate thread, barely hanging on as he knows he is going to die and leave DM with enemies throughout the realm and unkept promises. Oh, Luther. See, I do feel for him here.

[Taryn]

I feel for him overall.

[Lexi]

I'm just saying I feel for him. But it's a situation of his own making. His magic may still be working, literally. His shadows are beckoning him to go back to DM, but no WISPs of magic will conjure as he tries to give an offering to Lumnos that seems maybe notable. Like his godhood wants to use its magic for diem. But then it's not using it for luminous.

[Nicole]

Anyway, maybe they're pissed at him for not telling DM and they're punishing him by not giving him access to his magic.

[Lexi]

I know you're being sarcastic right now, but that is actually what I probably do think Luther needs clarification from Grandmama Lumna, because she's really making him question his beliefs right now. Which is something that has never happened. He wants Lumnos to tell him that getting DM back to Lumnos is enough, that DM can do the rest without him, that the prophecy is not about the gift being the crown, that he is not the heir, and that DM seems to have to die for him to become king. Quote Please tell me my death will do her some good. Oh, Luther. This bonus chapter, like you were saying, is so necessary to be able to see things more from his perspective throughout this stretch. If we did not have this mention about the Godstone temper, he would have gotten a lot more L's.

[Nicole]

He would have gotten a lot more L's.

[Taryn]

But we do.

[Nicole]

And we know better. Lexi.

[Taryn]

But surprise.

[Nicole]

Even though a young man stands behind Luther, a voice comes out of him that sounds feminine and powerful and ancient.

[Taryn]

Hello, Mama Loom. Thank God. Because Luther needs you bad.

[Nicole]

Through this man, Lumnos puts her hand on Luther's head and begins answering his questions.

[Taryn]

Specifically. What should I fucking do?

[Nicole]

She says, quote My loyal prince, you have not yet begun to know all the ways you can serve the woman you love. The coming days will not be easy. An ancient wrong must be made right, and all must pay its price. Okay, so I definitely think Ophiuchai is the. The ancient wrong that must be made right. Right.

[Lexi]

Omnos being the sacrifice from his kindred siblings is what I assume. Because again, just assuming that they are not the exact same person because Ophiuchai was put in his prison during the Blood War. That was separate from what the Kindred did to Omnos. So I think that this ancient wrong might be Omnos being the sacrifice for his kindred siblings siblings. But also they didn't sacrifice him or think they did. If he is indeed Ophiuchi because they wanted to. The Sophos Crown will say, quote, There are references to the Kindred making a great personal sacrifice to protect the mortals after the foraging. And goes on to explain that Omnos was the only Kindred who did not take a mate and give up his immortality like the others. The Sophos Crown thinks maybe the Kindred sacrificed Omnos because they were afraid of what what he might do to the world once his older siblings were gone. So would that be considered an ancient wrong that must be righted?

[Nicole]

So with all of that said, this ancient wrong that must be made right could be a decision that was made anciently ago that must be made right?

[Lexi]

Possibly. Or something weird with the foraging. An Ancient wrong with the Foraging spell that must be made right.

[Nicole]

What if it's Just the foraging in general. What if it is them wanting to. I mean, we've. We've speculated this before. Blast the forging into smithereens and unite. It's exactly what Matthia said. Rise as one instead of being all. Or maybe this is also the. I'll call it the wrong of chopping down the ever flame that must be made right. There's also the second part, though. That's all must pay its price. I personally don't think this means death. Instead more paying the price. Price? Like meaning life as they know it as the price. But then Luther goes on to ask Lumnos if DM will survive this price that must be paid. He is hung up, especially on that part of the prophecy. After she just told everybody and Luther.

[Taryn]

It's a good question.

[Nicole]

I've got the same one. Mother Lumno says, quote, your heart must guide you now. The fate of this world depends on her choices and on yours.

[Taryn]

Not really an answer, my girl, but it still gives me hope. This kind of sounds like how Ambrose.

[Nicole]

Meaning yourself, will talk to DM later with how yourself brings up how things are going to play out a certain way. But when DM leaves Ambrose early, everything changed and the future was no longer clear, as yourself says at the end of this book, because of a choice diem made.

[Lexi]

I. Yes, absolutely. Also with Lumnos here ending it on Luther's choices too. What if DM does die and it's up to Luther to save her? I mean, that's kind of already happened, but I mean, like, in a grander, bigger way, possibly.

[Nicole]

I always get so hesitant in fantasy novels when a main character dies like this and then is brought back to life. And I feel like it has to be done in a way that really makes sense for the story. I do think that it's being set up up so that it does make sense in the story. There's definitely some books that we've read.

[Taryn]

That maybe don't have that.

[Nicole]

And I definitely think that this, I think, could be done really, really well. Still makes me nervous though. But then there's this last thing that Mama Lumnos says, quote, serve the gray eyed queen Luther Corbois in life and in death, in every way you can. I swear to God, Mother Lumnos, if Luther dies in birth, I'm.

[Taryn]

I.

[Nicole]

You will not see me on this.

[Taryn]

Podcast for two to three business days. I will be so mad.

[Lexi]

I think this is a nod to them becoming mates. They serve each other. They are partners together in this life and in death.

[Taryn]

Oh, I like that so much better.

[Lexi]

The next morning, Zaleric gives dm, Elix and Taryn a tour of Umbro City, since they have time to spare before their departure that evening. But they can't just be walking around all willy nilly with their actual faces out forever, everyone to see. They are attempting to keep DM a secret after all. So Zaleric casts illusions to conceal their identities, but only conceal their identities to those around them, and they themselves can see each other as normal. Zellary does this by bending the light around a shield so the illusion is only visible from the outside. The shield is wrapped around them like a second skin, but it skims the floor between them so people can just walk right on over it. Oh, and let's not forget that he has no formal training. This is all, all self taught. How freaking cool. I really hope that DM has some time to train with Zal and Burn. And I will also say, I think a big reason why he is so creative with his magic is because he is self taught. He was not taught the same, I'll call them, limitations and boundaries that Luther and Taran and all of them have learned themselves. Because in Lumnos, it's very much like offense, offense, offense. And then Elites is rather unique with how she can do her illusions. So I think that the way that Zeller has had to learn all of this on his own, he's scrappy. He learned really creative ways because he was not taught the textbook standard way of doing his magic. And I just love that so much for him, even under not so great circumstances of him having to learn. Anyway, what are each of our group's disguises? DM looks older, refined, and with a voluptuous figure and a stick, straight emerald, bob and navy and eyes. Alix is a large, burly man, shirtless. Hey. Oh. And coated head to toe in intricate tattoos. I love this so much, but I love Taryns even more. And I think we all can agree on that, right? Taryn is a little girl of about eight with golden ringlets and a petal pink dress, carrying a basket of daisies. This is just so cute how this is Celeric's way of flirting. And oh my goodness, we need this.

[Taryn]

Comic relief so badly in this part. Well, I love.

[Nicole]

In Taran's bonus chapter, he asks Zeller.

[Taryn]

He'S like, why the fuck did you make me a little girl, bro?

[Nicole]

And Zellaryc's like, because you're extra cute when you're mad. And like you're saying it's his way.

[Taryn]

Of flirting because it gets Taryn irate. It's so funny.

[Nicole]

After touring the cloth market, the book.

[Taryn]

Market, and my personal favorite, the spice market Spice watch, they venture into the.

[Nicole]

Gem market and holy shit. Shit, it's beautiful.

[Taryn]

But it's also really expensive.

[Nicole]

With only royals being able to afford the opulence that is on display. But something catches DM's eye. A collar of black pearls studded with pale sapphires with the back cascading into nearly a gemstone cape as it drips down her back.

[Taryn]

Oh my God. Fuck, that's gorgeous.

[Nicole]

But while DM is slowly getting used to the fancy dresses provided to her by Eleanor in the palace, Alice, the idea of just dropping money on something like this, something she does not need, something that, you know, she would be buying for the sake of just beauty, for no other reason, it's inconceivable to her, having grown up as a mortal. Money was never something she had extra of. It was something that constantly needed to be saved, spent with logic and practicality in mind. Again, this is going back to that us versus them theme of this deep dive. Taryn and the leaks tell dm, buy it. Like, why not? You have enough, you have more than enough to purchase this necklace. But because they've always had that more than enough money, they know this necklace would not even put a dent in their coffers. But that is not even something DM can compute most of all because she believes she needs to save money. Something, as Elric points out, royals never talk about. But DM knows this war is about to be beyond expensive, and she wants to make sure her resources are spent on the many people, many, many of the realm and not her wanting something pretty. That's just not practical.

[Lexi]

Another vendor catches DM's attention and oh, this is about to get interesting. It happens when a flash of light flares up as DM passes, causing her to practically knock over a table of large glass jars with fires of various colors in them. The closer DM comes to these fires, the brighter they burn.

[Nicole]

First question.

[Lexi]

Do you think this flash of light was simply a coincidence? Because I wonder if it was a Kindred intervention, again, to ensure DM is nudged to this dragon fire. Or am I misinterpreting that? And the flash of light is actually the dragon fire itself getting her attention before she passes by them.

[Nicole]

I think I always assumed it was the Dragon Fire, but I love the idea that the Kindred in their conference room, they're watching. The Kindred are working overtime in this conference room.

[Taryn]

It is nine o' clock on a Friday night. They want to get home to their family. They are so done working.

[Nicole]

I love that idea.

[Taryn]

I'm gonna go with yes.

[Nicole]

I think that is a yes.

[Taryn]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

Just because I read this line a few times and, like, I understand, like, the flash of light as from, like, one of the, you know, luminos magic lights that just, like, light up the city. And I thought there was kind of like a big flare of that and it shocked her, and then she stumbled into the other dragon fire. Anyway, because, yes, dragon fire. According to the mortal vendor, these tiny fires inside the jars are from eight of the crown's gryverns. All but the Fortos gryvern, who perished in the Blood war. And the last jar of his red fire was sold a few years ago. So that's why there's various colors here. Because remember that each gryvern has dragon fire that is the color of that realm. So Sarai, for instance, is blue. My next question. Question. How in the world did this man get any of this dragon fire? I almost made this. A phone, a pen. And then I was like, I bet she will just come back saying, that is none of our business.

[Taryn]

Like, I do wonder that, though, did.

[Nicole]

He, like, take a little jar and go up to each, like, go up to Sarai and be like, breathe into this really quick.

[Lexi]

Thank you. So that's another question is because he is a mortal. Like, how does one get this dragon fire? Especially because once when a gryvern dies, you cannot get more. So I'm assuming his ancestors collected this dragon fire directly from the creatures. And also, how in the world did they get this from the umbrous queen? I have so many questions.

[Taryn]

I bet they died getting this and he's just not profiting off of their sacrifices.

[Lexi]

We'll call it Salaric might consider these colorful fire jars a scam, but DM's intuition is telling her other otherwise and no, not her new Umbros magic. Though I love, love, love, love all the subtle Easter eggs of her being able to sense emotions with Pen's POV descriptions that were not there before. DMs godhood is drawn to these fires. And they certainly seem drawn to her too, Especially toward the little lavender flyer, the smallest and the loneliest flame of the lot. Aww. It belonged to the Montios Gryvren that died during the Blood War. It was the Monteos gryvern that was injured in the fight with the igneous gryvern Tybalt. And that is how she was weakened enough for the rebels to take her down. And now it never stops snowing in the place that she died. DM will go here quite soon, actually, and it'll be how the Monteos descended. Know DM is the crown because she is able to step into the circle of the Gryvern's dying place. And only the crown is capable of doing that in this moment here, DM commands the dragonfire to rush eyes. And to her surprise, it does. Flaming much larger than before and blazing with purple light. As if in answer to her, DM decides to buy this lavender flame. She feels such a kinship and a connection with it. While in the moment it might make first time readers go like, what is going on? But it's also like that. Like, okay, I know she's other. And it's like playing into that. In hindsight though, we know that this is the first really big clue that DM is now the Montios crown too. In the explosion of her Rite of Coronation, sadly, the elderly Monteos king was killed. We already know her crown looks different than before, but we haven't really seen her Monteos magic, except for maybe a hint here or there. I was like, trying to think back on our previous coverage, and I know that we've seen, you know, Arboros and Faunos and maybe some mirrors, but I don't know if we've seen Monteos. But now we have this moment with the late Monteos Gryvern dragon fire. Something within it is still the spirit of the Gryvern, seeking to be near its crown and protect it. I want to point out that DM has no problem buying this instead of the jewelry. She will end up paying far more than the requested thousand gold marks, which in and of itself is absolutely outrageous. Earlier, she did not want to buy the jewelry for herself because it was too impractical. But this, it is practical. It's a calling to her, a gut instinct. Instinct that is of a higher power than her.

[Nicole]

I love that she shoves more than a thousand gold marks into his hands because she's like, he's immortal. I did nothing to earn this gold. I would so much rather have him have it. And I'm just like, ah, I love dm.

[Lexi]

And I also love that in Luther's bonus chapter, he does something similar with the Healer, where he's like, give this to the mortals who need this.

[Nicole]

Next time, reaching out, DM grabs the jar of lavender flames, despite the vendor's.

[Taryn]

Protest that no, you'll burn yourself.

[Nicole]

When DM grabs the jar, though, the Glass is cool to the touch and warm, soothing tingles spread up her arms, almost like her magic recharging.

[Lexi]

I think this is more so the same description she felt with Sarai's fire. It's a nod that the deadly fire is comforting and warm and definitely not hurtful to its crown.

[Nicole]

Interesting. I wondered, because I wondered if it's the same thing as if someone is using their magic on her.

[Lexi]

That was not the impression I got when Sarai's fire was over her.

[Nicole]

Okay, that's fair.

[Lexi]

Yeah.

[Taryn]

The vendor is confused, to say the least, about how this is possible.

[Nicole]

But for some more coin, he's happy to keep quiet and wrap the flames up for her. But DM clutches this jar to her chest, already feeling protective over it like it's one of her own, because she's the queen of monteos. When the merchant reaches out for the jar and seizes DM's wrist, she freezes. And so does every jar of every fire.

[Taryn]

Oh, my God.

[Nicole]

I can see this so vividly. Suddenly, the flames all grow in size, both in brightness and heat, and they start shaking, leaving the market half illuminated in a rainbow of light in seconds.

[Taryn]

That's gonna draw some attention to this dude, and we don't want that.

[Nicole]

As DM grows more and more consumers confused, the concerned jars begin to vibrate, the glasses clinking as they rattle, and the purple flames thrashing against the glass again, as if it's trying to protect dm.

[Taryn]

Alarm, Alarm, alarm.

[Nicole]

We know that Dragonfire protects the crown at whatever cost. Diem isn't the crown of all the realms yet. Maybe yet. We're not really sure. So how are they all reacting to her when she does not command them all?

[Lexi]

All?

[Nicole]

Or is this just because they all recognize her as their own next crown, but because of the quote, as if protecting me comment? I definitely don't think this is her just using igneous magic. So I think we can go ahead and cross that off.

[Lexi]

Definitely. This isn't igneous fire. I think it is definitely the pull toward her because she's the next crown. Yeah, I mean, just like how Sarai knew she would be the next crown before DM was. And same again. Same thing goes with Tibal, too. Yeah, I can just picture Sir Rise Blue Dragon Fire being so sad left behind.

[Taryn]

Like, what about me?

[Lexi]

It also makes me think this lavender dragon fire is trying to find his home. Like, trying to reach out and connect with its crown for the first time. And it's so sweet.

[Nicole]

The second DM tells the jars to stop and calm down, the flames immediately fall silent, returning to their original state.

[Lexi]

If Zaleric wasn't suspicious of her hurt before, he absolutely is now. I also wonder if this incident is what got the centenaries attention too.

[Nicole]

I had a feeling it was earlier, before he said we need to go tomorrow because my I thought that he pushed it out with his contact because of the centenaries needing to know.

[Lexi]

Oh, see, I think that he was not planning on telling the centenaries until. Until they literally cornered him and he's like, I pay them a lot of money not to bother me. And then they come up and they bother him and he's like, oh. And also I do think too like the Emperor's queen just knows what's going on already just within her realm. And so that's where, oh I think.

[Nicole]

Herself new DM was here long before the centenaries told her. Yes. Yeah, we get another bonus chapter this episode, this time from Terence. POV this episode never fucking ends. After Dan leaves the market and Alix goes off to look into her secret project, that leaves Taryn and Zellaryk alone at last. And yes, it's every bit as delicious and flirty as you'd expect it to be. And as much as I want to go beat by beat through them at the brothel, or pushing each other's buttons with nicknames or talking about their own vices, this chapter really sticks stands out to me for one major reason. It is the first time we get to be in Taryn's head and it's not really the sunshine and rainbows and butterflies that we know him to be in. You know, especially from Glow, you really start to see how much Taryn struggles with alcoholism. We see him wait for Zellaryk's disappointment or the look that Taryn is so used to receiving from others. The moment he mentions that his vice is drinking. And he also mentions how DM is the one person who hasn't looked at him that way and how he's just waiting for the day that she finally does.

[Lexi]

She's the only one who treats him like he's worth something and not just the cousin for a wild night of partying. And the way he thinks about how he knows that DM's wrong but he wishes she was right. Just oh my goodness, my heart.

[Nicole]

I know. We also see how drinking is that deep coping mechanism for Taran with anxiety. And how when Zaleric touches the Taryn's back for the first time as they're being guided through Umbros, it is the first time that urge to drink eases for Taryn. Oh my God, I love him so much. We also see how growing up under Gareth has affected Taryn's inner monologue and actions. Despite our happy, fun side character, we see how Taryn's self worth is low, and I mean extremely low. Believing himself to be so much of a fuck up for anyone to love or care for him. Wanting to give them something else to look at rather than his actions or the drinking or, you know, the, I'll say, the rustled look at him. He mentions how he's more gruff than other people and how that makes him much less of a hot commodity. There's this moment when Zellary leaves Taran in a room at the brothel, which we'll get into in a moment after Taran stops Zal from moving lower, which, you know what I mean. All because he believes, believes that Zell might be playing him. Adjusting all of Zaleric's actions in order to make Taran feel good so that he can play him for money. And Tarin so desperately wants to be loved and feel that real love, so he actually pulls Zari away from him and that doesn't really end up well from Taryn's pov.

[Lexi]

In this bonus chapter, we also see glimpses of Zaric's own hurt and pain that he hides very well. These two go about it in very different ways, but these two men are both more similar than they may seem at first. Zeller is a loner and has assured the world and himself that this is what he prefers. But he does also have a very good heart and he cares for his people tremendously. He also doesn't like to be judged or rejected because in his own way he is seeking acceptance and self worth too.

[Nicole]

At the brothel, when Taran is alone in the room and after Zaleric leaves, Taran cups his hands over his mouth and screams into them, quote, I don't want to be your client and I don't want to be someone else who leaves you behind. Again, just that little nudge into what Zellary, I'll call it core wound is at his heart. He's not expecting Zeller to hear these words out of his mouth. He is covering them and screaming into them. He just wants to get the true words out. And I've never read anything like this. And I couldn't help but wonder how many times has Taryn done this in his life? How many times has he cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled about Gareth or Amon or himself and his situations like Taryn oh, my God, I love you. I just want to give you a hug. But we also see how much Taryn craves love in this stretch and how he falls in love with Zellary after Zellary compliments Taryn calling him a diamond. I love that moment when where it's all one word and it's, oh, fuck.

[Taryn]

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. I'm in love. I'm in love.

[Nicole]

It's so funny. In the midst of some real dark shit, Zaleric wonders how Taran isn't already.

[Taryn]

Mated and Taryn basically blacks out in that moment.

[Nicole]

It's so sweet.

[Lexi]

Taryn also has a history of falling in love with every person who falls into bed with him. But Zaleric is different, and he already recognizes this, and he doesn't want to fall for his own usual patterns.

[Nicole]

And of course, at the very end, when Zellaryck finds Taryn and says that maybe, just maybe, he'll go to Lumnos and visit Taran, Taran has a gut feeling that the moment him and Zellaryc spend a night together, that will be it for him.

[Taryn]

Mating bond. Mating bond. Alert.

[Nicole]

Alert.

[Taryn]

Alert. That.

[Nicole]

Okay, I will say this because neither of us had read Taryn's bonus chapter prior to this episode of the Deep Dive. I. I think this solidified to me that there is not going to be an incomplete mating bond between these two.

[Lexi]

I agree.

[Nicole]

Yep. Yep. Now, this did solidify another thing for me. We know how in Burn there are several more POVs that we're getting. We know that we're getting Luther DM, but there's apparently two more that we don't know. I think that Taran is absolutely one of them.

[Lexi]

I think that Orly is going to be another one.

[Nicole]

Wait, question here. Do you think that hers is going to be in her normal third person or first person like all the other ones?

[Lexi]

I'm leaning toward it still being in third person. I don't know how that would translate with the format and consistency, but it would almost be weird if it wasn't in its usual third person.

[Nicole]

See, I think for that reason, that's why I'm leaning away from orally being a pov.

[Lexi]

The only reason that I am not jumping up and down that yes, absolutely, it's going to be Taryn is. Is because his POV is so different from the others. And when you do read this, it is like that, like different kind of grammar even. And all it's very, very much in his head, and it's wonderful. And I also don't See how this would translate into the actual. But this is a perfect bonus chapter.

[Nicole]

I agree.

[Lexi]

And I feel like I might be a little jarred by getting his POV in this same kind of way writing style if it was directly in the book.

[Nicole]

Okay, I. I could definitely see that because we. As we should mention, there is a trigger warning at the top of his bonus chapter where it says, please be mindful as you're reading this, there are some really dark themes. It would have to be at the very beginning of that book, like how we're used to with books like Fourth Wing, for instance, where there's like a trigger warning.

[Lexi]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Nicole]

I still think it's going to be Taran. Maybe that's a bet we'll get to.

[Lexi]

Before we get to burn that evening. It's time to. Time to sneak on out of the realm. Let's go to the port. I love how everything that goes in and out of Umbros is off the books. Miros is where all the official trade happens and Umbros is the black market, especially, you know, with the ports and all that. Then there's Fortos with its military port that deals mostly with weapons and soldiers. To access the port of Umbros, you have to go through a tangle of underground passages that twist and turn in the black rock, always under dark darkness. I love this so much. Since there are centenary stations at every place the canal opens up to the sacred sea, they can read your minds and make sure all tariffs are paid and no one outwits them as they sail in and out. But remember, our crew is not technically trying to outwit the centenaries. They're just trying to avoid them entirely by going a hidden way out that Zal's contact has. And not even Zalaric knows his hidden dock, because if he did, the next time he has to report to the centenaries to pay his tariffs, no matter what, they'll be able to read his mind and learn about this hidden passageway. So Zellaryck is ensuring he knows as little as possible so he himself is not compromised and gets in too much trouble. This does mean that no matter what the queen will learn of them being here. But they think Zal doesn't know DM is queen, which is the primary goal. So step two, leave emperors with Zal's contact, who does not know who they are, are through the hidden passage to avoid the centenaries following Zaleric.

[Nicole]

DM notices his mannerisms are off. He's not acting the same as he was before. He's previously had an air of haughtiness that like feline grace, but now he's resigned, almost sad looking. And the voice picks up on this too, telling DM to look. Hello, Godhood. It's nice to see ya.

[Lexi]

And even moments before this Lutheran asks Stiam if she has any more hunches, he is subtly asking her if she's using her umparos magic to sense a trap they might be heading into.

[Taryn]

Yep.

[Nicole]

Zaleric's mind appears to diem as a thin wall of mist, just like it had with Luther's earlier in their in bedroom. But unlike with Luther, DM does decide to look.

[Taryn]

Pause.

[Nicole]

Would you have looked with Luther that way back when?

[Taryn]

Probably.

[Lexi]

If he was acting the way that he is, yes. I would have been like, you know what?

[Taryn]

If you're not gonna talk to me, then fine. With Luther, the urge to look felt more like an invasion of privacy against the man she trusts wholeheartedly.

[Lexi]

He broke that trust with her, though.

[Nicole]

I agree.

[Taryn]

So I would have. I. I think I would have looked as. Yeah, see, I would have looked as well, because that would have been too tempting.

[Nicole]

But with Zaleric, he's not yet earned.

[Taryn]

That same amount of trust that Luther has.

[Nicole]

And he's acting mighty fishy as well. The haze parts like a curtain drawn back from a window, revealing an infinite library of images. Oh, I love this. That feel wholly foreign and yet intimately familiar all at once. And a wave of thoughts and emotions overwhelm dm. But one stands out to her. A secret buried in a deep layer of sorrow and regret. I think you're right. I think he was stopped after the Dragonfire incident because I think he would have been acting like this during their walk of the town. So I think you're right.

[Lexi]

I agree. I think that he was stopped by them after he and Taryn left the skin market.

[Nicole]

Yep. I agree.

[Lexi]

And. And yeah, because they had been kind of trying to find him. Yeah. At that point. And while it'll be a little while before this is revealed to the reader, DM does learn in this moment when she looks in his mind, what's going on with Zellary. After the rest of the group returned to the inn earlier, a centenary stop. Zaleric to chat, which in and of itself was a big red flag for Zal. He pays a lot of money to avoid their attention. So he knew something wasn't right when he got their attention. And they're like, hey, we don't really care about that money. We gotta take talk to you. He suspected the Queen Already knew that our crew was in the realm and that she was testing him to see where his loyalties lie. So he told them what they planned on and the where and what all that that was going to happen. So exactly. We do believe that Queen yourself felt DM enter. She knew that they were in her realm. She can tap into that foraging magic. She has such powerful Umbros magic. Once we get to next episode, she's gonna be like, I don't understand why people try. I tell them and they still try.

[Taryn]

To sneak back yourself.

[Lexi]

And so I do think that she already knew. And so no matter what, they were going to get after them. But maybe it was a dragon fire, I don't know. Now I'm thinking maybe that didn't have anything to do with it. So Zellary felt cornered and he told them what they planned on and the where and when it was going to happen. In exchange for him sharing this, his role was supposed to stay secret. And he was paid for his cooperation. So he did not want his new friends to know that he ratted them out. He kind of was like, I like them.

[Taryn]

I don't want them to know that I did this.

[Nicole]

He was really stuck between a rock and a hard place. Which is why I am not going to give Zellerik an L Lower or capital. The queen would have been able to tell the moment DM came into the realm. Like we're saying based on power alone. If Zellaric had lied, the centenaries would have picked up on it instantly. And that would have been bad. Like really, really bad bad. They all would have been caught. And who knows what would have happened to Zellary, let alone all the half mortals he cares for at the inn.

[Lexi]

Exactly. This is so much bigger than him. And he does of course look out for himself. But by looking out for himself, he is also looking out for so many other people. There are so many people who rely on him. And even with the prince and the queen and all of them coming in, he willing to help out a business partner.

[Nicole]

Yeah, but he's also Luther his life.

[Lexi]

Exactly. Literally. And so that's why this sadness is coming from. He doesn't want to do it, but he got caught.

[Nicole]

Well, and he's definitely put two and two together that this is the queen that he's being welcomed back into the realm for. Like, I don't think that was an unreliable narrator moment when DM noticed that he wants to be called home to his term or he's ready to go home.

[Lexi]

Oh, I think that was her Using her Umbros magic right there. Yes.

[Nicole]

And he also doesn't know this yet, but he owes Arlie a lot. And he's going to put two and two together when he hears her last name is Bellator, that this is Arlie's daughter. And it's like he. He is stuck in the worst position possible. Which is why Zaleric, you do not get an L for this betrayal. Even though Taran will want to beat.

[Taryn]

The shit out of you very soon.

[Lexi]

Yes, indeed. And also I do think that when he does learn about DM being Aurelie's daughter, even though he would have done the exact same thing, it still is like an extra gut punch. It's like even more betray Luther. But I also betrayed Orly.

[Nicole]

Oh, that sucks.

[Taryn]

I can't wait for him and Orly.

[Nicole]

To see each other and burn.

[Taryn]

I need that. I need it.

[Nicole]

Dm in this split second, sees that conflict and the difficult decision that Zellaric was forced to make. So she turned tries to skirt around his betrayal, knowing that if she immediately rats him out to the group saying.

[Taryn]

We'Ve been compromised, there's a non zero chance that Luther would just murder Selaric right off the bat and they would still get caught.

[Nicole]

So what if only Diem stays back, the others leave an escape and Diem.

[Taryn]

Shockingly sacrifices herself in order for the others lives to be spared. Ahem. DM4 Luther 3 I will say it's.

[Lexi]

Mighty convenient for her to be able to talk to the Umbros queen just like she's been wanting to, as Luther will point out.

[Taryn]

Yeah, but it goes back to what.

[Nicole]

We were saying earlier. DM right now I feel like is rationalizing this, saying that she's saving all their lives, but she's also getting what she wants as DM and asks Zaleric if the others will be safe if they leave without her.

[Taryn]

He's got some bad news.

[Nicole]

I love that she whispers it to him. She's like, okay, if they all leave, you and I can just sneak away.

[Taryn]

Like Luther wouldn't fucking notice. But Zellary's got some bad news.

[Nicole]

It's too late girl. They're coming.

[Lexi]

Like Luther would not literally jump into the water and swim.

[Taryn]

He would not get on the boat until she was there. And also like.

[Lexi]

And earlier she's like, oh man, like, like I guess I deserve that mistrust.

[Taryn]

But it still hurt.

[Lexi]

And it's like, yes, this is why.

[Taryn]

To be fair, he also deserves some mistrust. Right now they are just not communicating. They need some Therapy and some communication tactics.

[Lexi]

Oh my God. I just. Yeah. Our least favorite umpurst descended is back.

[Taryn]

I don't know. Right now at least we can all.

[Lexi]

Rally behind not liking Simon.

[Nicole]

That's real.

[Taryn]

That's real. We can agree on that.

[Lexi]

The walking slime ball asshat Simon. He is the umprose Queen's chief centenary. And we have had the displeasure of meeting him at the Ascension Ball. And Glow. And he is here with a simple request. Dm. Her Majesty the Queen of Umbros would like a word with you.

[Taryn]

And as long as DMs like that's what I wanted.

[Lexi]

And as long as DMs friends behave and come along, they won't be hurt. Simon being the sleepball, here he is, claws his way into DM's mind. And so do the other centenaries, where they learn all sorts of goodies about our crew and get the quick download on what they've all been up to. As well as DM and Luther's private affairs and Luther's secret, which they delightfully hold over his head. Dm, of course, is not going to go down without a fight. Fight.

[Taryn]

Fight, you say?

[Lexi]

Ah, the voice is back, baby. She does the same thing. Thing she previously did to Simon when he was weaseling his way through her thoughts and memories at the Ascension Ball. She uses her special icy flame power and pushes him out.

[Taryn]

Haha.

[Lexi]

Simon, get out of her head. And she releases her light magic, creating glowing whips that are ready to attack the centenaries. She might be one descended against 15 or so, but she is a crown among other things we don't really know about yet.

[Taryn]

But hold your horses there, dm. If you fight back, it looks like your friends are gonna die. How badly did you want to pull out the coconuts again?

[Lexi]

I almost did.

[Nicole]

Luther Elites, Taran, Zellaric and the Cardinal.

[Taryn]

Who again, is just an innocent bystander trying to get them out of the city.

[Nicole]

They are all holding their own knives to their necks with a single thought from just one of the centenaries. One of the 15 centenaries. They are all dead. So if DM wants to fight right.

[Taryn]

Back, she better be really fucking fast with her magic. And I want to just pause because.

[Nicole]

This cannot be overstated. How op this type of magic is. We have seen just one centenary make 200 people turn around from the Ascension Ball last book, but damn if this isn't Diem's neon sign.

[Taryn]

Holy shit.

[Nicole]

This type of magic could turn the tides in a war. Now, it's not the Best you know, scenario. Because if you make them believe they don't want to attack, it'll eventually wear off. And DM would never make people slit their own throats. But still, I can't wait to see how DM is going to adapt this type of magic if she does. Next book to make it a DM ified magic. Right now, Luther doesn't give a flying.

[Taryn]

Fuck about him holding his own knife to his throat.

[Nicole]

He is right.

[Taryn]

Ready to sacrifice himself and his family, apparently so that DM could save herself.

[Nicole]

And run away before more centenaries come.

[Taryn]

In case you're wondering about the Count, we are now tied. Luther is at 4.

[Nicole]

DM is at 4.

[Taryn]

I love you, Luther, but maybe think of another way before sacrificing your entire family like that. Anyway, not wanting to do that, DM agrees that she will go with the.

[Nicole]

Sentinel Marys to the Queen if they promise that her friends won't be hurt.

[Lexi]

You know who's not a friend here?

[Taryn]

Jamina.

[Lexi]

Apparently Nicole and I today.

[Taryn]

Who makes it very clear she just met this group.

[Lexi]

The poor cardinal Jamina, who, fun fact, is a Fortress descendant. Though that is completely irrelevant to this part here. Simon makes her take her own knife and plunge it into her throat.

[Taryn]

Well, damn.

[Lexi]

After all, Simon only promised not to hurt DM's friends. Why bother killing this person, you ask? Well, for one, Simon is punishing the Cardinal for trying to avoid the centenaries with her hidden passageway. You just don't do that. You're not supposed to. Even if DM was not involved here, that would be bad for her if she got caught. But more importantly, I believe Simon is sending a message to DM that he's not afraid to hurt someone. And to show what his magic is capable of, and to establish his dominance, so to speak. All to help make DM and company go along with them so the same does not happen to them when the.

[Nicole]

Centenaries out Zelrick to the others for betraying them. Not to DM because she already knew. But this is to Luther, to Taryn, to Elixe. It is not surprising that Luther and Taran specifically are livid at their companion.

[Lexi]

Especially with Taryn's bonus chapter context. He really likes Zelrick and was worried about getting too close to him.

[Nicole]

Well, there's literally a moment where he's talking to Zellary and he's like, you seem. They mentioned trustworthiness and he catches himself. He's like, you seem trustworthy. You seem trustworthy. And. And Zellary kind of smiles. So it's like they did gain that trust there. And now this isn't looking so good for Zellary.

[Lexi]

At first I wondered if Taran rejecting, you know, no strings attached, bangity bang did lead to Zell spilling the beans about their plants. But again, based on everything that we've already said, we do think that he was backed into a corner and did not feel like he had any other choice. And then there's Luther, who has been working with the Jaguar for years, doing very illegal things by smuggling half mortal children out of Lumnose and having a safe place for them here in Umpros. Now he's been betrayed by that person he has had to trust for all this time. And it's the man who has said he owes him a life debt for saving his life as a boy. And this is how he repays him.

[Nicole]

So they start to take up arms against Zellerick, and Dion steps into his defense. It is not surprising then that Luther puts two and two together, realizing that Diem knew about Zellaric's betrayal and that the centenaries were coming for them. Oh, dear. Okay, let's back up a bit. During the team meeting earlier this episode, DM makes a promise to Luther. Promise. She vows to him that we will go home. Home, and I will not do any tricks.

[Lexi]

And she's mad that he thinks that she will pull something.

[Taryn]

Oh, God. Well, they're not going home. And TM's definitely got some tricks. Now, she might not have known in.

[Lexi]

The moment that she was going to do something like this, but yes, this is something that she did end up keeping from Luther when she found out.

[Nicole]

I love that she thinks when she realizes this, when Luther's all pissed about her next chapter, she's like, oh, I did promise that I should probably keep the promise keeping the Luther. And it's like, I don't know if.

[Taryn]

He'S actually the best role model right now.

[Nicole]

Luther is desperate to get home.

[Taryn]

Have we mentioned that?

[Nicole]

And to hear that DM went back on this promise that meant so much to him. Oh, it's.

[Taryn]

It's rough.

[Lexi]

Oh, it's rough.

[Nicole]

As he says when they get to the palace, she knew about this, you know, whole thing. She promised him no tricks, no empress, queen. And she knew and did nothing. That is where it really hurts him. It's not that she found out, it's that she did nothing. She didn't, you know, go into Luther's mind and tell him what's going on.

[Lexi]

But in her defense, she's still like, I shouldn't be able to do this. And like, so in her mind she's like, she would not even be able to go into Luther's mind.

[Taryn]

She.

[Nicole]

True, fair.

[Taryn]

She did just look into Zelrick's mind though.

[Lexi]

True. But like, for instance, in the next few chapters that we'll talk about next episode, she's like really freaked out that she knew this from Zelrick without him having to say anything to her. And so I don't think it would have even been fallible to her to then use that same magic with Luther because she's still a little bit in denial that she can use that magic because again, she's not supposed to be able to.

[Nicole]

Well, and Luther doesn't know that this is how she found out. So next chapter he literally starts wondering, did she and Zelrick go behind my back and plan this all because she wanted to see the umbros queen and DMs kind of been. DM gets what DM wants and it sucks.

[Taryn]

But I also don't blame Luther for drawing this conclusion.

[Nicole]

Just like I don't blame DM for drawing the conclusion earlier about him wanting to serve her only a certain way.

[Lexi]

Yeah. Oh but oh my gosh, the trust between them is crumbling before our very eyes as they both go back on their promises and break each other's stress. Like, oh, I just got to reach.

[Taryn]

Their peaches and shake them. We love this book, we promise.

[Lexi]

But you know that dying cardinal with a throat knife injury? Let's see if DM can heal her. With Alixa's help to spread her coat and keep DM a little hidden, DM releases her God godhood and lets the cold hot sensation ripple over her body, concentrating at her palms. A soft glow pools beneath her touch, then becomes a blinding pulse and fades away. I love how DM thinks that the centenaries are not noticing this. Like later on Simon will be like, of course we knew that she was back alive. Like really think we didn't notice?

[Taryn]

Well, because immediately there was another mind for them to read through what previously they're there wasn't. So. Oh God.

[Lexi]

Like I bet they just get such a kick out of people just continually thinking that they can outwit them because oh I would. This is just fun for us at this point.

[Taryn]

Anyway, the cardinal lives and just used.

[Lexi]

Her Fortos magic again. This is a very similar description to how she healed Lily back in Spark. So I'm leaning definitely Forto's healing magic and not her special Omnos magic as she brings this woman back from the brink of death. The only reason I would think that is Omnos magic is because we do get that, like, hot and cold reference. But we did also get that when she healed Lily. So I do think that this is specific to Fortos. And the impossible is starting to be realized by dm. She was able to look into Zelrick's mind earlier, and now she can use Fortos healing magic. We will worry about all that weird magic she's not supposed to be able to wield later. Though I honestly don't blame DM or consider her to be dulu right now, because this is just so impossible, so unheard of, so terrifying, that DM cannot even fathom the possibility that she can use more magics than Lumnos.

[Taryn]

Not even a little Dulu?

[Lexi]

Okay, maybe. Okay, we're bringing back the dulu scale here.

[Nicole]

Okay. One out of ten. One out of ten.

[Lexi]

A five. Okay, I'd probably give it like, a second. Six. Okay.

[Nicole]

Yeah, no, she burst into flames last episode.

[Taryn]

I'm gonna give it a 7.5.

[Lexi]

And she has done this before. Okay, maybe.

[Nicole]

Never mind.

[Taryn]

Maybe an 8. Anyway, TM does not want to draw.

[Lexi]

Attention to healing this person. She definitely should not have been able to heal, so.

[Taryn]

Oh, no. Oh, dear.

[Lexi]

The cardinal didn't make it.

[Taryn]

And do just distract Simon from finding.

[Lexi]

Out about the miracle that just happened.

[Taryn]

Let's flirt.

[Lexi]

You hope for this being such a. Everybody gets Elle's episode.

[Taryn]

It's quite fun for yourself. Yes, this is absolutely a strategy to.

[Lexi]

Distract Simon with ideas of sex and flirtation and ooh la la. But it's also to kind of restart with the person she does not like as this person, you know, takes her to see the queen, who very well might still kill her. And DM wants to, you know, be on her good side. So she tells her all the information.

[Taryn]

She needs to know.

[Lexi]

But the rest of her group, except for Zal, looks so betrayed. They've seen DM and Luther fall in love over the past month, and now DM is just flirting with a slimy Umbro's descendant who has them all captured. Captured like what? I feel like her friends should know better and that she has reason, you know, behind this, but it's just that jarring in the moment. And I do love how it's Zal who knows the Umbros ways, who is really strategic and sleuthy and thinks a lot more on the survivalist side, like dm. He immediately picks up on what she's actually doing.

[Nicole]

I'm not surprised that Zellaric and and Luther does. Luther does as well. He knows that she's doing this just.

[Taryn]

To he's pissed about it, but he knows he's pissed for all sorts of reasons, but this is not particularly one of them.

[Nicole]

I'm not surprised that Taran doesn't pick up on this. Taran is an on the surface kind of guy. He's not really a three layers deep.

[Taryn]

So anyway, off to see the Queen.

[Lexi]

Of Omparos next episode. Dun dun dun. In this magic fueled segment of the episode, let's tap into our umbros magic. I love it when it works and turn our full attention to important foreshadowing moments for the rest of this book, including speculations for book four, Burn of the Everflame.

[Nicole]

We've highlighted far too many for my liking. Luther dying foreshadowing, but here's some others Rapid fire style as DM is defending the leak saying that she just followed her orders Back in Igneous, Luther says that he has to know that there are people who and then he cuts himself off. I'm guessing people who he can trust to keep her safe when he's gone.

[Taryn]

That's my best guess.

[Lexi]

And in that same section DM notes how he will not let her tend to bandaging his wounds. You know his other ones that he got from Igneous. Yeah, I wonder why I want it.

[Taryn]

To be next not even next episode because I don't know if it's gonna.

[Nicole]

Be any better but the episode after.

[Lexi]

I'm just getting it all out this episode. So next episode we can focus on Ambrose Queen. And I don't think I'm gonna talk.

[Taryn]

About Luther cheating like they're being a never. I'm not opening up the can of worms right now.

[Nicole]

Then as Luther is talking with Zaleric, he mentions how he wants to have people to stand by the Queen. He's literally helping DM build an army of extremely powerful descendant because he knows he won't be around and she needs them. Also, when Luther is talking to DM during the team meeting, DM starts to almost blame herself for the Vance attack. And out of nowhere Luther Billows quote, you will not blame yourself for that. DM notes how this was such an out of character reaction. And yes I agree, we do know in hindsight it was the Godstone temper shining through. He's also just he's a little on edge right now. But also he's afraid that if she blames herself for his death just like she did with her father, that is going to tear her apart. On a level that, oh God, it would be bad, bad, bad, bad.

[Lexi]

I will say this because if he told her earlier and she tried healing him and she could not treat him, she would have blamed herself. And in this instance, he knows that she is going to be upset with him because he did not tell her. But that is also for her. She might be able to want to blame herself for not having seen the signs and all that kind of stuff, but she did not directly know and try to help. And there's a difference there, right, where it's like she would to be able upset, but not for the exact same reasons, I guess, anyway. And when Luther urges DM that she is the one to save the world and she doesn't need Luther or anyone else, and then she's like, I need you most of all, he gets a little harsh with saying people she cares about are going to die and she can't lose herself to grief. He's voicing his exact fear for why he's not telling her about his Godstone wound.

[Nicole]

Also, DM noticing how she's running lower on the herbs that she collected in Arboros, and she thought. Which is immediately followed by Luther looking over at her. Yeah, because he's been the one using a lot of those herbs to make his own poultice, replicating DM's recipe almost just without the blood.

[Lexi]

On that same note, there's foreshadowing that it was not the herbs that helped because the poultice is still white, which is a sign that it did not work. Which is of course correct, because it was her blood that didn't, not the poultice. And it looks like Taryn is healing very fast when Godstone is supposed to slow healing. I have a nagging thought. These past few episodes we get a mention about how Luther's hands are calloused from so many years with plates. And then last episode we learned that descended can still get irritated skin from sand and the sun. How is it possible if they have such strong skin? Where I'm getting at is, does the tissue under Andre's nails absolutely confirm it could not be from a descendant based on some other inconsistencies with their skin not being as impenetrable from things that are not mortal blades. I just don't think it's as telltale of a fact as we've all been making it out to be because of these other inconsistencies. I do still think it is likely the guardians who killed Andre, but I had to point that out.

[Nicole]

That's a really great point. Yes. ZC mentions how he's got his own score to settle with House Hanover. When? I don't think it's an if. I think it's a when. When do you think that this is going down in burn?

[Lexi]

I want to say probably middle maybe. I can't see Jean Hanover making it to the ending battle. Is Alaric still in Lumnose by the end of Heat?

[Taryn]

Yep.

[Lexi]

Okay. Huh. I'm going to keep that top of mind. I might answer that question later.

[Nicole]

I think you're right. I think it's going to be about midpoint or maybe like 2/3 point of the book. And I definitely think think that Zaleric or Taryn are going to off Jean Hanover. Speaking of Zellary, when DM tells Taran that he'll find his mate, she's sure of it. That's when the bookcase shifts and Zellaryck walks in.

[Taryn]

This is not an accident.

[Lexi]

Not at all. When Luther's magic returns suddenly in the washroom with dm, I think it's because of his big emotions again, but on a smaller scale than 8 igneos. Even in his bonus chapter, he thinks maybe his godhood broke through the foraging spell by sheer will. Or he speculates his magic is lured by DMs. I love this idea. Like the foraging spell is broken and fragile, so godheads can emerge past it and their descendant can have magic once again. Moving forward, Alix says she does not know how Luther got his scar, which surprises me. I assume she will find out about how he got his scar in the next book and maybe it'll be a test of her loyalty to the Royal Guard, as she has had to take orders from Remus, the one who gave him the scar. It's a bit of a reach, but just throwing ideas out. I definitely also take this as she does not know he's a half mortal either yet.

[Nicole]

Definitely not. While walking through the markets, DM notes how she would want to establish a mortal library back home and enlist Zellerik's help with filling filling it out. I absolutely see this happening. I don't see it happening in the bulk of the book. It's more like an epilogue. But I love this.

[Lexi]

I do too. I really hope so. Yeah. Especially with people in Sophos who have the memory that they have for their power. I could see there being a whole bunch of reprints and like really ensuring that the lost mortal history that is in so few books now is more. More, I'll call it, mass produced and available to people Oh, I love that. In Luther's bonus chapter, as he describes Lunos's expression. Always depicted, she's always a little sad, which makes Luther think, quote, some said that she'd suffered a terrible loss from which she never recovered. Still grieving it in death.

[Taryn]

Sacrifice. Yes.

[Lexi]

Yes. Or maybe she was the closest to the mortal, so she mourned the loss of the Everflame. But I think that this is amazing. Omnos sacrifice.

[Nicole]

I think this is maybe not so much sacrifice. I see this more the Omnos turn of events. She said that she lost her brother.

[Lexi]

Yes.

[Nicole]

To Dievil.

[Lexi]

Yes.

[Nicole]

Yeah. Oh, that's good.

[Taryn]

Good catch.

[Nicole]

Alix mentions how she's working on a secret project, something that could protect them all from the enemy.

[Taryn]

Yes.

[Nicole]

Elix is making armor and shields out of the raw godstone that Dia made when her father died. And we know that Elix will succeed in this project because Diem, in her vision, is wearing that glittering metal. When Diem makes it back from the markets, Luther shows her a newspaper.

[Taryn]

I have been waiting to talk about this scene.

[Nicole]

And on it, with striking features, glittering silver skin, and a pale look that he almost appears colorless. The man from their visions is on the page.

[Taryn]

This is huge.

[Nicole]

This is the first time DM is ever seeing her birth father, Ophiuchai, outside of her visions. And even though he's on the paper, it looks like he's looking at her. Like he's watching her from a continent away. Like he's waiting for her.

[Taryn]

Oh my God, this is so cool.

[Nicole]

What's not cool is that it looks like he's helping the Guardians, according to the paper. Which, as DM notes, she's got a bad feeling about. Yeah, bad, bad, bad indeed. Because he's not working with. He is leading. Ready to help that particular faction of Guardians destroy all descended in Omarion. And I guarantee you his plan is to Emperor rule over all of them when he's done.

[Lexi]

Oh, yeah, which is. And that's exactly what he's already started doing. The Amarian army deployed a battalion of 80 descended soldiers to Montios, and all of them disappeared without a trace. To Montios, you say? Technically, the realm, yes, but really it's the Forgotten Land. Lands which used to be Omnos's realm and now is Ophiuchai's headquarters. On a separate note, about the Umbros newspaper. First of all, love that they have one. And it tells the truth about what's happening. Even how the rebels have taken Kuril, which the Crowns have formally denied. Ombarus might be full of secrets, but it also bolsters the truth of what's going on in the world in a way other areas don't. It's so Umbros vibes Just a little thing to point out. One of the centenaries who reads DM's mind is very surprised to learn that there is a Guardian loving queen speaking about her. This means they do not know about the Arboros queen. I bet the Arboros queen stays extra far away from the Umbros queen when you know they aren't on Koreal and no one can use their powers because she's got a lot of secrets to hide.

[Nicole]

Yes, one of my favorite moments is when they're like, you know, listing off all these things that they're uncovering in their mind and they're like on naked and begging and stilled in one want you.

[Taryn]

And she's like, you can stop airing out our private matters now. Like I don't know why it's so not okay, but it just makes me giggle Anyway, it is time to enter.

[Nicole]

The Sophos Library where each episode Lexi guides us through a world building topic to help us deepen our understanding of this world and the magic within it.

[Lexi]

Today's Sophos Library topic is Umbros. Of course it is. Right? Umbros is the realm of mind and secret. Its descended have the eye color of the black and their magic is the most feared and some of the most powerful in the continent with the ability to read and slash war control minds. The Emperor's Gryvin's name is Kriyani. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. Who is a female and of course alive. She is larger than Sarai, with sleek feminine lines and a graceful gait. Her wings and fur are a dark caramel hue and her scales glitter like godstone. Umbros is ruled by Queen Yers Yersel. She is fiercely powerful and feared by the other realms for her mind magic. Yersel is strikingly beautiful. She is sex incarnate. She's on the mature end for a descendant with striking mix of full lips, long ebony hair, an hourglass silhouette and dark olive skin. She reigned through the Blood War, so she's been ruling for centuries and she is very much distrusted by the other crowns, but she's not all business. She runs a tight ship in her pocket realm, but she enjoys the finer things in life like lots of pleasure. Good for you girl. Oh, I cannot wait to get to her more Next Episode Umbros is known for being a haven of Darkness and sin. Mortals, and at least Lumnos, grew up hearing rumors about how it is a place where nothing is sacred and everything is for sale. If you have the money, whatever you want is yours for the taking. Carved into the canyons, the dark markets of Ambrose sell all manner of sins. With only one rule. The queen always gets her cut. If Meros is a central port for the inner realm trade of legitimate wares, Ambrose is its sneaky evil twin. Muahahaha. Fun fact about this black market port. It is never closed. Not even during or after the Blood War. Umbros is known for being a melting pot of descended and mortals alike. If a foreign descendant pays their tithes to the queen, they are permitted to use their magic in this realm. And some of them are put to work. Like Lumnos descended who use their light magic as the realm's way of lighting the city underground in the dark. Same that we saw with the newspaper. And how it's so cool how different magics are used. Like Umbros is such a cool and mysterious place. I just love it so much. It's one of my favorite realms. All right, let's keep talking about the centenaries. After the Blood War that the descended almost lost, many realms put limits on descended breeding in order to prevent their magic from diluting. But Yersel was the most extreme in her practices. She ordered the slaughter of all but the most powerful 100Ambrose descended in order to keep their magic undiluted and strong. These 100 are known as centenaries. And they are her small but formidable personal army. And they are fiercely loyal to their queen. And they ensure the realm runs smoothly and nothing gets by them or their queen. There are only ever 100 sentinels centenaries. But they are each immensely powerful. Their staggering thought magic can read anyone's mind like a book and bend them to their will with hardly a thought, making them the perfect enforcers. In a realm populated with liars and thieves. There is no secret the centenaries can't uncover, no deception they can't detect. They collect their queen's share of the profits with perfect efficiency. And because she can read their minds, even they don't dare cross her. They're all open books with no secrets and believe it is rather freeing. They like this. They also love to party. As we will absolutely see next episode. With sex, drugs and alcohol pivoting here to geography within Umbros, the entire capital is built underground. Carved into the realm's sky high canyons of matte black rock. At least from Igneous. You have to enter through a long tunnel that descends into Umbro City. Cast in perpetual evening, its residents thrive on the sins of the night, no matter the hour. The main square is a cavernous hall extending a mile in every direction, including up, up, up. Several levels of carved archways are stacked along the walls and with tunnels splintering off as far as the eye can see. We can only imagine how big this capitol truly is. Like wow. Where is the fan art of this? Oh my gosh. I have such a beautiful image in my mind. Although there is darkness, it is also a place of life. The mammoth bustling central market is packed with merchants selling every creation imaginable and then some. The air is rich with a medley of smells. Roasted meats, heating incense, fragrant spices, intoxicating perfumes, and fluttering with textiles that paint the room in vibrant colors. There's crowds of raucous spectators for the fighting pits and caged beasts chip, snarl and hiss at passersby. And then from Taran's bonus chapter we learn more about about the skin market which has like four different guilds and holy moly. They are one efficient, well oiled machine over there. Very well oiled. There is no segregation, no poor village where mortals are shoved to be subjugated and unseen. Vendors and consumers alike are a melting pot of mortal and descended man and woman, local and foreign and everything in between. The palace of Ambrose is also carved into the canyons nestled high above the city. A system of pulley drawn lifts carry the queen and her centenaries up and down at their leisure. But there is also a seemingly endless set of narrow spiral stairs for foreigners, AKA people who are not permitted to ride in the lifts. Unlike the perpetual darkness of the underground city, daylight spills in through the tall narrow slits carved into the black rock walls. The floor is inlaid with gold, vined marble and towering columns carved into the shape of dragons. Guardians each corridor. I cannot wait to talk about these dragons next episode. Elaborate flame lit lanterns hang from the ceilings depicting scenes of debauchery. Pools of velvet cushions and golden carts bearing liquors and spirits are scattered at random, as if the palace's residents might find themselves in need of a bed or a drink on a moment's notice. The air is often heavy with rich incense, music and moans pivoting once again here. This is so Ambrose.

[Taryn]

Like pivot, pivot.

[Lexi]

Pivot it okay. Mortals are permitted to live and work freely without restriction in this realm. Like I was saying earlier, such a melting pot. Like I was saying earlier about this city, Ambrose is the only place where mortals and descended from all realms are welcome without restriction. The career paths they may choose might be less than savory. You know, like assassins and spies and courtesans and opium dealers and the like. But it's also a place of opportunity where you can be a self made person like Zalrick. That is very very very difficult in quite a few of the other realms, I'll say. Even including Lumnos. And of course Umbros is where Luther and Orly smuggle the half mortal children. Queen yourself is already aware of what Luther is doing. She's read Zaleric and Orly's mind throughout the years and she chooses to look the other way because from her perspective she makes money off of this. And that is Umpros.

[Taryn]

Let us close out this episode with.

[Nicole]

Skipping around the apple orchard and discussing.

[Taryn]

Our favorite moments from this stretch of chapters. We actually have more than I would think that we would have during this stretch of chapters.

[Nicole]

I love everything about the interactions with the half mortals at the second chance in from dmc. The woman at the counter and almost enveloping her in her queenly magic and protection. And the woman shivers in response like gah. I love it. And of course the young children who are friends and they use their magic in tandem with the each other to make a bouquet of light and shadow. Blue dahlias.

[Taryn]

Yep, you guessed it.

[Nicole]

It is time for plantwatch. Dahlias symbolize beauty, inner strength and positive change. Sounds like a great thing for children who had to leave their home but left for a place like Umbro's and specifically under Zellerik's care. And it also symbolizes creativity which sums up these two friends so perfectly.

[Lexi]

I also love how they use their magic to together and I wonder if we'll see more of this without spoilers. I had this whole theory with Signet powers working together. I was completely wrong.

[Taryn]

But that's okay.

[Lexi]

I'm still holding out hope that these magics are going to work together in really cool ways.

[Taryn]

That was such a fun oh moment.

[Lexi]

Egg on my face. Anyway, it happens.

[Taryn]

Of course I also have to gush about how wonderful Luther is with with these two kids.

[Nicole]

He tells them that they're allowed to come home and how their queen will know that he sent them if she goes up and brings a flower to the. You know, to the palace.

[Taryn]

Which also just hurts my heart because.

[Nicole]

In the best way. Because he is literally he'll be dead by then and he's planning on giving.

[Taryn]

Her a gift from the grave.

[Lexi]

I do. I know, we didn't talk about it a whole lot just because there was so much else to talk about this episode. But the way that Luther really put forward that the half mortal children are welcome home and how he spoke for dm because he knows her heart so well and she was not able to speak as herself, as the queen in that moment and how touched DM was. And even despite their fighting and their miscommunication and all that, he knows her heart so well and he really wants to do right by her. And so even though he knows that he's going to be leaving, he wants to ensure that his connection, the jaguar and all of the half mortal children know that the door is open now to them back home.

[Nicole]

Such a small detail.

[Lexi]

But from Luther's bonus chapter, when he goes to the temple to pray to Mother Lumnos, they have like lockers for their weapons. And I just thought that was absolutely so fun to see in a fantasy setting.

[Taryn]

It's like lockers I like. Of course.

[Nicole]

I love that.

[Taryn]

It's so good.

[Nicole]

After DM shares that she and Henry.

[Taryn]

Went over the border in Monteos just.

[Nicole]

For fun, Luther tells her quote, it's a miracle you made it to adulthood.

[Taryn]

But also I love this little bit.

[Nicole]

Of info because that's when she received Matios magic.

[Taryn]

Yes.

[Lexi]

And by now he knows like he has put it together and he has figured out what she is capable of and he's urging her her, you have to make sure you go to Sophos, because that is the only realm now that she has not been to. And he knows what's going to happen and.

[Nicole]

And he wants her to figure it out for herself.

[Lexi]

Exactly.

[Nicole]

Which I really enjoy.

[Lexi]

Yes. Taran whispering loudly mom and dad are fighting. Just like so funny. And also the wrong thing to say in the moment.

[Nicole]

Tear bear. Yes. Also, as they're looking at the Umbros newspaper, they see those images that are vivid and almost lit from within. Like they are Luminos illusions and slash or Sophos innovations that have created literally like gifts on a paper. And this is exactly what I think the world that DM is going to create will become. Magics working together in all areas of the realm. No longer hoarding their inventions to their own borders and instead sharing and creating all together. Which is one reason I think Pen loves Umbro so much. Because it's. It is progressive in that way compared to the rest of Amarian.

[Lexi]

Absolutely. I also think too, with the magical barriers broken down, where people can use their magic in different realms, it's going to create so much more unification. It'll be rocky to start off here, but exactly like Umbros is the leading example of what can be and then they can even evolve and improve on that as well there. Yes, thank you so much for listening to the third episode of our Heat of the Everflame Deep Dive next Monday.

[Taryn]

Thank God we are continuing.

[Nicole]

We are going to the Ambrose Queen in Heat of The Everflame episode four, chapters 32 through 41. Not my favorite library scene, but a.

[Taryn]

Close A good second. A good deep dive second.

[Lexi]

Oh, I'm so excited. I'm getting all my Luther stuff out.

[Taryn]

This episode so I we can focus on other things next episode.

[Lexi]

In case you missed it, the next series we're covering after these eight Heat of the Everflame episodes is Quicksilver by Callie hart. Our episode one starts on October 6th and it does include spoilers for all of Quicksilver. We will deep dive this book in the lead up to the sequel Brimstone and then cover Brimstone through the end of the year. We'd love to give the biggest warm welcome, welcome, welcome to our newest crowds Council members.

[Taryn]

Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to Michelle and End Game Witch. Awesome. Welcome, welcome, welcome. We appreciate you so much for supporting the show.

[Lexi]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. And friends, if you're like, hey, I want my name shouted out on the podcast and to be shouted with all the love and attention too, join our fan club@fantasy fangirls.com fan club. The link is also in the show notes.

[Nicole]

Thank you as always to our top sofa Scholar, AKA our Content researcher Brooke. And of course to to our Executive producer AKA our Sanity manager Hayden. We hope you all loved our episode of Fantasy Fan Guide Going Over Mistborn with Hayden that released last week.

[Lexi]

Yes, and we are very active on social media with weekly trivia and so much more. So please be sure to follow us on Instagram and slash our TikTok at Fantasy Fangirls pod. And if you're watching this on YouTube or want to watch on YouTube just watching Nicole and I stare daggers at each other, please hit that subscribe button to keep following along.

[Taryn]

While you're hitting buttons, don't forget to.

[Nicole]

Hit that five star rating and review button. And if you want to go a little extra mile, write a little love note in that review section. It is the best thing that you can do not just for this podcast, but for any podcast that you love. And last but not least, share this episode with your fellow Ever Flame friends. If you had a fight with yourself, Sister about Luther's well being and how he was when you read this part of the book.

[Taryn]

This is a great episode to send to her. And then you get to choose. Team Lexi or Team Nicole. No, we are not making that thing.

[Lexi]

All right, bye everybody.

[Taryn]

Not at all omnimous.

[Nicole]

Ominous.

[Taryn]

Not at all ominous. Oh dear. I love you, you. Silence. Cool, cool, cool. I got it. I was muted. I was muted. I was letting you do your thing.

[Lexi]

I love you too.

[Nicole]

Thanks.

[Taryn]

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[Lexi]

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[Taryn]

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