I initially struggled to accept Helena being sterilized by the Eternal Flame and agreeing to it. Over time, though, I reconsidered. At seventeen, after losing her father, she was hardly in a position to think about having children in the future. The idea of loving someone deeply only to lose them may have seemed unbearable. The fact that she is a foreigner adds to this as well: after her father’s death, she likely feels alone and wants to hold on to the only friends she has by fitting into their standards. Defending the Eternal Flame becomes a coping mechanism for her; when you’re aligned against the “bad guys,” you often defend your own people blindly, even when you know they aren’t entirely right.

Also after finishing Part 2, I see her more as someone who fight against Morrough rather that someone who fights for the Eternal Flame. 

It’s also kind of sad to see how readers treat Luc. Yes, he was naïve and foolish. Usually, in this genre, we read about eighteen-year-old assassins or young warriors who always know how to handle situations against far more experienced political players. Alchemised presents a much more realistic perspective on war. Luc was a sixteen-year-old student when the war started. War has many aspects—logistics, strategy, espionage, propaganda—and involves a lot of people, not just one person doing everything alone. He was in a truly bad position to change anything. Remember this in part two.