Burn of the Everflame by Penn Cole

Here is a summary with spoilers for Burn of the Everflame by Penn Cole

Diem has been stabbed through the heart with a godstone blade and left behind on Coeurîle. She survives because of her mating bond with Luther, but the connection is only working in one direction because Diem’s mating mark has been completed while Luther’s has not. It is called a Stranded Mating Bond. For about a month, Luther is separated from her and stays with Diem’s mother and sister while they try to determine what has happened. He can feel that something is wrong and struggles with the fact that he cannot reach Diem. Diem is also aware of Luther while she is imprisoned and sees him at one point, but deliberately avoids allowing him to see her because she does not want him to see how weak she is. While confined on Coeurîle, she discovers the Rosebane flower and remembers Yrselle’s instructions to take it. She eats a petal and enters a vision in which she encounters the Kindred, the ancient beings who created the realms of Emarion.

The Kindred reveal that Ophiucae is Diem’s biological father and that Diem is the heir capable of stopping him. They explain their own history, including their arrival in Emarion from another world, their creation of the Everflame and the realms, and Ophiucae’s betrayal of them. Ophiucae attempted to take the power of the other Kindred, and their mother imprisoned him. His prison can only be opened through the blood of an heir, making Diem central to his return. The Kindred also explain the importance of the heartstone and Sorrow’s Edge, a godstone weapon containing a fragment of the heartstone that can kill Ophiucae. The weapon has a life-for-life cost, meaning that killing Ophiucae will ultimately require another life. The Kindred give Diem their Crowns, transferring their power to her and making her Queen of Emarion. Diem uses her new power to break the barrier around Coeurîle and escapes on Sorae.

Diem returns to Lumnos and is reunited with Luther, but the reunion is not what either of them expected. Diem has completed her mating mark, making her the only one whose side of the bond is complete, and she knows Luther will complete his when they are together again. She does not tell him about the mark because she is already planning around the possibility that she will have to die. She also feels changed after her encounter with the Kindred and her new connection to the Everflame, even though everyone around her continues treating her as the same Diem. She begins pushing Luther away and hides the marks on her body from him. When Luther confronts her about the distance between them, she tells him that she needs time and space, although she continues to love him. Luther is struggling with the changes in her and with the feeling that she is deliberately shutting him out.

Diem begins using her authority as Queen to reorganize Emarion and prepare for the coming war. Diem takes control of the fractured kingdom but refuses to become an absolute ruler. She creates a governing council intended to give mortals, half-mortals, and Descended a voice in the government. Luther publicly reveals that he is half-mortal, explaining that his biological mother was a mortal woman named Florille who was killed to hide his parentage. The revelation causes outrage among the Descended nobility but reinforces Luther’s decision to support Diem’s political changes. Diem begins traveling through Emarion to build an army against Ophiucae. In Ignios, she uses her magic to restore poisoned water and damaged crops, gaining support from the people and from High General Nidara.

Diem decides that she may need to surrender the Crowns rather than remain the sole ruler of Emarion. She begins traveling from village to village, explaining the coming threat and trying to gather support and troops. In one particularly poor area, she uses her magic to help the people and improve their situation, but she also has to convince them to abandon their homes and travel with her because remaining there will leave them vulnerable to Ophiucae's forces. She continues trying to build an alliance between mortals, half-mortals, and Descended rather than simply replacing one ruling class with another. She eventually establishes a governing council designed to give different groups a voice in the future government.

At one council meeting, however, the political factions turn against Diem. A plan has been made to remove her from power, and she begins losing control of the meeting. Luther arrives and reveals secrets involving his former betrothed and the political forces surrounding her. The revelations cause people to question the former royal family's version of events, although many still do not know whether Diem herself can be trusted.

She also confronts the Guardians and Vance’s forces in Fortos, where she attempts to unite factions that have been fighting against both the Descended and each other. Diem decides that the forced Forging bonds placed on the gryverns must end and uses her authority to free them. Sorae and Tybold remain with Diem and Luther by choice rather than because they are magically forced to serve them.. She tells the people that mortals and Descended should have greater equality and that people should be free to marry whom they choose rather than being controlled by political or social restrictions. Some people attempt to attack her, but Diem's newly acquired power allows her to defend herself. She later returns to Lumnos and works with the heartstone she accidentally created during an earlier emotional outburst, trying repeatedly to reproduce the magic but failing. She is still struggling with the power she now carries and continues hiding her mating mark from Luther while he tries to care for her.

As Diem builds the rebellion, she continues searching for a way to defeat Ophiucae without sacrificing herself. She discovers that Henri Albanon, her childhood friend and former fiancé, was involved in the murder of her adoptive father, Andrei Bellator. Henri explains that Vance coerced him into helping with the murder. Teller wants Henri executed, but Diem refuses to kill him because Henri has an unborn child and because she believes he was manipulated into the crime.

The conflict between Diem and Luther then becomes personal. Luther tells her that he would marry her immediately, but Diem panics because she knows what completing their bond could mean. Luther confronts her about repeatedly pushing him away. Diem tells him that he needs to leave. As he is leaving, attackers arrive and explosions tear through the area. Diem believes Luther has been killed and fights her way out. Luther also survives and escapes separately, and they eventually find each other again. Diem leaves afterward but returns because she cannot stay away from him. They kiss and partially reconcile, although Diem still refuses to tell him the full truth about her mating bond and what she believes she will eventually have to do.

Ophiucae eventually captures Diem and takes her to the prison where he can keep her under his control. The experience forces Diem to confront him directly as her biological father, although she does not consider him her true father because Andrei Bellator raised her and was the father she loved. Diem spends time imprisoned and has another prisoner who becomes an ally while she tries to survive and understand what Ophiucae intends to do with her. Luther and the others work to reach her. Henri eventually helps Luther and the others locate Ophiucae's forces, despite his previous role in Andrei's death. A battle breaks out around the prison, and Diem fights from inside while Luther and the others fight their way toward her. They eventually reach each other, and Ophiucae is forced to retreat. Diem remains uneasy because she has seen Ophiucae survive apparent defeats before and does not fully believe that he is gone simply because they have escaped.

The group begins preparing for Remis and Auralie's mating ceremony. During this period, some of Diem's closest allies discover that her mating mark is completed and realize that Luther does not know. Diem makes them promise not to tell him because she wants to keep control over when and how he learns the truth. The ceremony goes ahead, and Remis and Auralie are married and complete their mating bond. Luther's father later arrives and begins discussing the prophecy surrounding Diem and the Everflame, creating additional conflict between Luther and his father. Despite the political and magical tensions, Diem and Luther eventually get time alone together. Their relationship becomes closer again, although Diem continues concealing the fact that she believes her own death is tied to defeating Ophiucae.

The war finally begins in earnest. Ophiucae's forces use mind-controlled mortals and Descended against Diem's allies, while Diem's side attempts to prevent him from taking control of Emarion. Teller secretly decides that he has to act against Ophiucae himself. He drugs Diem so that she cannot interfere, takes the weapon containing flameroot, and attempts to use it against Ophiucae. Auralie is under Ophiucae's control during the confrontation, and Teller manages to create an opening for the weapon to be used against Ophiucae, but Ophiucae kills Teller. Teller's death devastates Diem and the others, especially Lily. Aemonn is also gravely wounded during the fighting but survives, while other characters are killed. Alixe fights Ophiucae's gryvern Xipherus and manages to kill it with a ballista, but she dies in the process. The deaths leave Diem consumed by grief and vengeance as the surviving forces move toward the final confrontation on Coeurîle.

As a final battle gets closer, Luther decides to show Diem their future home that he has built her. A place where the two can just be themselves and not have to worry about war. While showing her Luther finally confronts Diem about the distance she has been keeping between them, she admits that she has completed the mating bond and has been hiding it from him. Luther then reveals that he has had a mate bond all along as well. He has known what she was going through and has essentially been waiting for Diem to catch up and accept what exists between them. Diem is caught off guard because she thought she was the only one who had completed the bond, while Luther has been patiently waiting for her to be ready to acknowledge that they are truly mates. The two are able to spend some time together before the battle commences.

Diem and Luther eventually reach Coeurîle for the final battle. Ophiucae's forces have gathered there, and the fighting becomes increasingly destructive. Diem uses the power she inherited from the Kindred and accesses the Undying Fire of the Old Gods, producing silver flames that cleanse the island and destroy the heartstone on the temple dais. She confronts Ophiucae directly. He attempts to convince her to join him and accept her place as his daughter and heir, but Diem rejects him and tells him that Andrei Bellator is her true father because he raised and loved her. During the battle, Ophiucae's actions also lead to the death of Diem's brother, further traumatizing her and leaving her determined to kill him.

Diem uses Sorrow's Edge against Ophiucae and succeeds in killing him, but the heartstone's life-for-life bargain begins taking effect. Ophiucae's body begins to heal, making it clear that killing him with the sword is not enough. Diem finally tells Luther the truth: she must die for the bargain to be completed. Luther refuses to kill her and tries to find another solution. Diem reminds him of the promise he made to her and uses her authority as Queen to command him to finish what she started. Luther finally drives Sorrow's Edge through Diem, killing her and completing the exchange that permanently destroys Ophiucae. The mating bond immediately goes silent. Luther is devastated and attempts to follow Diem into death, but he survives. Tendrils from the earth consume Diem's body, the sword, and the remaining heartstone fragment, while Ophiucae's body and the ruins of the temple are also destroyed. Luther is left with Diem's necklace and the knowledge that she is gone.

Three months later, Luther is still grieving. He writes a letter to Diem and struggles to continue the work they began together. He refuses the bronze crown offered to him by the Mortal City because he does not believe anyone deserves to rule if they allow Emarion to return to the greed and hatred that caused the war. Diem, meanwhile, wakes in the After beside the Everflame tree. She encounters the Kindred and is reunited with Andrei, Teller, and Perthe. The Kindred explain that destroying the heartstone has freed them from the Forging Spell that had bound them. Diem has the opportunity to remain with her dead family, but she cannot accept an eternity without Luther. The red-haired god associated with the Everflame offers her another choice, including the possibility of removing the mating bond so that she can remain in the After without being tied to Luther's life. Diem refuses because she does not want to lose the bond or the connection to Luther.

Teller is also given the possibility of returning, but he chooses to remain in the After. Diem refuses to take his place or sacrifice another person to return. She ultimately accepts the Everflame's offer to return to the living world. At the same time, Luther is at the Lumnos council, where the surviving leaders are trying to determine how Emarion will be governed. Remis and Auralie urge him to take the crown, but Luther removes it and says that he does not want to rule in the way previous monarchs did. Diem then appears before the council in a moon-white gown with a crown of silver Fire. She places the crown back on Luther's head and tells him that she is ready to continue the work they started. Her return also restores their mating connection, confirming to Luther that she is alive.

One year later, Diem and Luther are living together in the home they wanted, with Emarion being rebuilt under the new political system. Mortals and Descended share power through the unified council rather than returning to the old system. Diem and Luther are married and fully mated. Lily has had Teller's son, who is named Andrei Teller Bellator after both of the men she lost. Taran and Zalaric are mated, and Auralie and Remis remain part of their family and political circle. The gryverns are no longer controlled by the old Forging system, and Sorae eventually returns with a young daughter, demonstrating that gryverns can reproduce now that they are free. Diem and Luther continue their life together while Emarion rebuilds from the war and the destruction caused by Ophiucae.