Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

Here is a summary with spoilers of Spark of the Everflame

Diem Bellator lives just outside Mortal City with her mother, Auralie, her father, Andrei, and her younger brother, Teller. Diem and Auralie work as healers, serving mortals with herbs and medicine, while Andrei trains Diem to defend herself. As Forging Day approaches, a blood-red sunset spreads across the sky, reminding everyone of the Blood War between mortals and the Descended. On her way home, Diem fights off a group of drunken men using the combat skills her father taught her. Near her house, she sees Auralie in a secretive conversation with a Descended man. Before Diem can intervene, a strange woman appears and calls her the “Daughter of the Forgotten,” claiming Diem is Descended, something illegal and impossible. The accusation unsettles Diem because of the changes she experienced growing up, including her shifting hair and eye color and Auralie’s insistence that she regularly consume flameroot powder, a substance that dulls the mind. That same night, Auralie disappears without explanation.

Six months later, Diem is still consumed by grief and unanswered questions. She secretly stops taking the flameroot, allowing buried emotions, visions, and instincts to return. Teller reveals that Auralie had been secretly treating King Ulther before her disappearance, shocking Diem and raising questions about her mother’s connection to the Crown. At the healing center, Diem and her friend Maura are summoned to the palace to heal Princess Lily Corbois. There, Diem meets Prince Luther Corbois, the same Descended man she saw with Auralie the night she vanished. During Lily’s treatment, Diem hears a strange voice urging her to fight and protect the girl. Lily survives after Diem instinctively channels an unexplained force into her healing. Luther hints that Diem possesses magic of her own. Later, Maura reveals that Auralie made a bargain with Luther and the Crown, agreeing to serve the royal family in exchange for Teller’s education. If she broke the agreement, she would be executed. Furious over the secrets and manipulation surrounding her family, Diem throws her remaining flameroot into the sea.

Diem travels to Fortos with her lover, Henri Alban, hoping to uncover more about the Descended and her mother’s disappearance. Along the journey, she experiences visions, strange powers, and violent instincts she cannot explain. One night, a wolf attacks their camp, and when the voice inside her urges her to fight, the wolf disintegrates into dust before her. Henri witnesses it happen, confirming it was real. In Fortos, Diem discovers large shipments of flameroot controlled by the Crown and learns more about the growing unrest between mortals and Descended. Henri introduces her to the Guardians of the Everflame, a rebel group resisting Descended rule. Though hesitant, Diem becomes involved after witnessing a Descended father murder his half-mortal child in Paradise Row. During the attack, Diem’s wounds heal unnaturally fast, strengthening suspicions that she is not entirely mortal. Devastated by the violence and disgusted by the treatment of half-mortals, Diem commits herself to the Guardians’ cause.

As part of the Guardians, Diem is tasked with gathering information from the palace while continuing her work as a healer. During one mission, she sneaks through the palace searching for information about the king’s ships. Luther repeatedly catches her but protects her from harsher punishment, warning her not to repeat Auralie’s mistakes. Diem struggles with her growing attraction to him, despite believing he represents everything wrong with the Descended. At the same time, Henri proposes marriage, confessing his love, but Diem hesitates, unsure of her future. Her involvement with the Guardians becomes more dangerous after an attack on the Benette armory leaves innocent people dead. Horrified by the destruction caused by the rebellion, Diem questions whether the Guardians are truly fighting for justice. Inside the burning armory, she rescues survivors while hearing the voice in her head command her to rise and fight. Luther finds her trapped in the rubble, and as the building collapses around them, Diem experiences another vision of herself and Luther together on a battlefield.

Diem awakens inside the palace after surviving the armory collapse with almost no injuries. Luther stays at her side through the night and admits he believes she is Descended. While recovering, Diem encounters Luther’s dragon, who surprisingly accepts her touch. Luther later brings her to King Ulther, who awakens during her examination and calls her the “Devourer of Crowns.” Another voice speaks through the king, calling Diem the “Daughter of the Forgotten” and the “faithful heir.” Moments later, Ulther dies. Guards accuse Diem of murder after seeing her standing over the king with her blade. Luther restrains her with magic, but Diem escapes and confronts him directly. During their argument, they kiss, and Luther insists he can feel the power inside her. Diem continues denying the truth, unwilling to accept what she may be.

When Diem returns home, tensions with Andrei explode. Furious over the lies surrounding her birth, her mother, and her future, Diem finally loses control. The voice inside her pushes her forward as light erupts around her body and rises into the sky. Teller watches in shock as a glowing Crown appears over Diem’s head. She has become the new Queen of Lumnos.

Overwhelmed by the Crown and the reality of being Queen, Diem believes a mistake has been made. Teller urges her to seek Luther or tell Andrei the truth, while Princess Lily Corbois arrives and warns Diem about the Period of Challenging, where the royal houses can challenge her right to rule. If she survives, she must complete the Rite of Coronation. Terrified by the responsibility and by what Henri will think of her becoming Descended royalty, Diem retreats to a cabin on the royal hunting grounds. Luther finds her there, and their unresolved tension resurfaces as Diem demands answers about Auralie. Luther refuses to reveal everything but brings her to the palace, where she meets the rest of the Corbois family, including Remis Corbois, who pressures her into an alliance with House Corbois for protection.

Inside the palace, Diem struggles to adapt to Descended society while preparing for the Ascension Ball and the looming Challenging. Eleanor Corbois becomes one of her closest allies, helping her navigate court customs and politics. Aemonn Corbois advises her to publicly align herself with powerful Descended families to survive. Diem learns that Luther serves as Keeper of the Laws, enforcing the very system responsible for the deaths of half-mortal children. Though horrified, she also discovers that Luther and Auralie secretly worked together to save half-mortals from execution. Luther shows Diem records of the children he protected, forcing her to reconsider her hatred toward him. Their relationship grows increasingly complicated as attraction, distrust, grief, and loyalty intertwine.

As Ulther’s funeral approaches, Diem struggles to control her magic and maintain political support. During the funeral, she cannot summon her powers to light the pyre, forcing Sorae, the Crown’s dragon, to step in. Later, Diem and Luther finally kiss after discussing her inability to use magic and the dangers it poses to her reign. At the same time, Diem continues clinging to her relationship with Henri, asking him to become her King Consort despite the growing divide between their worlds. Henri becomes increasingly involved with the Guardians of the Everflame, believing violence against the Descended is justified. Diem tries to balance her love for Henri with her growing feelings for Luther and her responsibilities as Queen.

At the Ascension Ball, Diem enters a world of political manipulation, hidden threats, and shifting alliances. The royal houses offer gifts while quietly questioning whether she is the true Queen. Diem recognizes the Queen of Umbros as the woman who first called her the Daughter of the Forgotten the night Auralie disappeared. House Hanoverre and House Benette pressure Diem to display her magic publicly, but she refuses, unable to fully control her abilities. During the ball, Diem overhears Iléana Hanoverre encouraging Luther to claim the throne himself, but Luther reaffirms his loyalty to Diem. Their dance becomes one of the most emotionally charged moments of the evening as Luther promises to help her survive the Challenging and protect the mortals alongside her.

Soon after the ball, tragedy strikes when Diem’s childhood home is destroyed and Andrei is murdered. Consumed by grief and rage, Diem unleashes destructive magic that engulfs the ruins in fire while leaving her physically unharmed. Luther finds her in the wreckage, and together they mourn Andrei’s death. The loss hardens Diem’s resolve against the royal houses threatening her family. During meetings with House Benette and the other rulers, she refuses to be intimidated and openly defends mortals against proposals to exile or suppress them further. At Andrei’s funeral, Diem, Teller, and Maura bury his daggers in the ruins of their home while reciting the Rite of Endings.

As the Period of Challenging approaches, Diem still cannot fully summon her magic. House Byrnum pressures her into approving political marriages while threatening to challenge her claim to the Crown. Luther mysteriously disappears after being stripped of his titles and removed from the council by Remis, leaving Diem feeling abandoned. Using the magical compass gifted to her at the ball, Diem follows its pull to Luther’s sword, realizing her deepest desire is not power but home, family, and love. She later uses the Orb of Answering and learns that both Auralie and her unknown birth father are still alive.

On the eve of the Challenging, Luther returns and reveals he considered marrying Iléana Hanoverre to stop her house from challenging Diem. Diem begs him not to sacrifice himself for her. Before the battle, Luther gives Diem a second medallion to mirror the one Aemonn once gifted her, and Diem kisses him. In the arena, every major house challenges Diem’s right to rule. Then Luther himself steps forward and challenges her on behalf of House Corbois, throwing the arena into chaos. Remis accuses Diem of betraying their magical bargain, while Luther privately admits he intended to let Diem kill him so the houses would accept her authority.

Refusing to sacrifice Luther, Diem instead chooses to fight Rhon Ghislaine, the Descended who murdered his own half-mortal child. During the battle, Rhon overwhelms her, and Diem falls unconscious. In a vision, a gray-skinned figure again calls her the Daughter of the Forgotten and demands she fight for him. Diem rejects him, declaring she will rule for her people instead. When she awakens, she fully embraces her power for the first time. Her magic erupts through the arena as she defeats Rhon and kills him after he attempts to attack her again. Diem wraps the arena in branches and levitates above the crowd, forcing every house to pledge loyalty to her.

After the Challenging, Diem and Luther travel together to Coeurîle for her coronation. Along the journey, Luther reveals he is also half-mortal and that Remis murdered his mother, Florille. Their bond deepens as they discuss their shared visions, identities, and hatred of the systems controlling both mortals and Descended. At the Kindred’s Temple, Diem is surrounded by rulers from the other realms, all questioning her legitimacy. During the Rite of Coronation, lightning strikes and destroys the heartstone, a sacred relic tied to the Crowns. Chaos erupts as the rulers accuse Diem of being an imposter. In the middle of the destruction, Diem hears Auralie’s voice commanding her to run.

She is wearing the Crown.

The new Queen of Lumnos.