Chapter 33 #2
Silvery moonlight glanced off the curve of his cheek and jaw as if the light of the moon were drawn to him. “So, you believe that Ian isn’t like the others? That what he said is true?”
He didn’t answer for a long moment. “I believe in things that make sense, Poppy. Him telling you to wake Nyktos because his guards can defeat the Blood Crown only makes sense if he was trying to help us. I cannot think of how that would help the Blood Crown. Like I said in there, they have not indicated that they want you dead. I do think he’s trying to help you—help us—at great risk to himself.
For him to be willing to do that to help his sister has to mean that he’s still in there.
A normal Ascended would be looking out for only themselves. He’s not like them.”
I briefly closed my eyes, nodding. Hearing that Casteel believed that Ian was still in there erased the tiny doubts I still had and made what we needed to talk about easier.
“And that could mean that some Ascended, young ones like Ian, who might not have had years and years to control their bloodlust, aren’t a lost cause. ”
“It could.”
“And Atlantia is preparing for war—to kill all the Ascended. Your mother told me it wouldn’t matter if Ian wasn’t like the others. They wouldn’t take that risk.” I moved to what was left of a pier, sitting on a stone post. “I can’t let that happen. We can’t let that happen.”
Casteel turned to me, remaining quiet.
I took a deep breath as I looked up at him.
“It’s not just about my brother. Yes, he’s a big reason.
I know your mother wants me to choose the Crown because I love Atlantia, but there isn’t enough time for me to feel that way.
I…I don’t know if I need to right now. Because I am already protective of Atlantia and her people.
I don’t want to see them used by the Ascended or harmed during a war.
I also don’t want to see Solis ravaged. I know you don’t either. ”
“I don’t.”
My hands started to tremble, so I folded them between my knees.
“I have no idea how to rule a kingdom, but I know that can be learned. You said so. Your mother said so. I don’t know if I’m ready for that, or if I would ultimately make a good Queen, but I want to make things better for the people in Solis and in Atlantia.
I keep thinking about how the Ascended need to be stopped.
I know that needs to happen, and that has to mean something, right?
And I have to believe that being able to possibly prevent war is worth figuring that out.
People’s lives are worth that, including my brother’s.
You’d be by my side. We’d rule together, and we’d have your parents to help us.
” And maybe I would come to love Atlantia as deeply as he and his parents did.
It already felt like home to me, so it was possible.
But there was also a little guilt. I wanted his mother to approve of why I decided to take the Crown.
I swallowed, but a knot remained in my throat.
“That is if you want this. If you can be happy with this. I don’t want you to feel forced into it,” I said as he took a quiet step toward me.
“I know you said that part of you knew it would happen eventually, but I want you to know for sure that this is what you want and not…not do it just because I’m choosing this,” I finished, watching him and waiting for a response.
When he stopped before me, saying nothing, the knot expanded in my throat. “Are you going to say something?”
Casteel knelt in front of me, resting a knee in the sand. “I told you before that if you wanted the Crown, I would support it. I would be right there with you. That hasn’t changed.”
“But what do you want?” I insisted.
He placed his hands on my knees. “This isn’t about me or what I want.”
“Bullshit,” I exclaimed.
Casteel laughed. “I’m sorry.” He dipped his chin, grinning. “You’re just adorable when you curse.”
“That’s weird, but whatever. It’s not just about me.”
“It’s about you because I know what ruling a kingdom entails. I grew up with a Queen as a mother and a King as a father. I also grew up knowing that I could ascend to the throne.” Golden eyes met mine. “Even though I’ve held off assuming the role, it wasn’t because I didn’t want to be King.”
“I know,” I said quietly. “It was because of your brother.”
“I know I can do this. I know you can. But it’s not such a shock to me.
” Casteel worked his fingers between my knees, releasing my hands.
He held them loosely in his. “I want to protect my people and the kingdom, and if sitting on that throne will do that, then it’s what I want.
But ,” he stressed, “I want you to have the choice—the freedom. I also want you to know that you don’t have to justify or explain your reasons for taking the Crown.
Not to me. Not to my mother. And there is no one right reason, as long as it is your choice.
So,” he said, running his thumbs over my knuckles, “is it your choice to take the Crown?”
My heart skipped a beat. “It is,” I whispered.
It was only two words, but they were life-altering and terrifying, and it was strange.
To think that before I could remember being called the Maiden, forces had been at play that strove to stop this very moment from happening.
There was a bittersweetness to this, but there was also a sense of…
rightness that buzzed through my veins, in the blood of the gods.
Like what I felt when I first stood at the Chambers.
I almost expected the ground to tremble and the skies to open.
All that happened was Casteel bowing his head as he drew our joined hands to his heart. “My Queen,” he murmured, lashes sweeping up as his eyes met mine. And that connection—the one tied to my heart and soul was just as life-changing. “I guess I will have to stop calling you Princess.”
My lips twitched. “You’ve barely called me that since we got here.”
“You noticed?” His brows rose as he kissed my hands. “Didn’t feel right calling a Queen a Princess. Didn’t matter if you never took the Crown.”
“You’re being sweet again.”
“Are you going to cry?”
“I don’t know.”
Chuckling, he let go of my hands and stretched up, cupping my cheeks. “You’re sure about this?”
My heart gave another leap. “I am.” Something occurred to me. “I want the crest changed. I want the arrow and sword to be equal.”
His dimples appeared then. “I like the sound of that.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated, nodding. “We need to rest here for the night, but I’ll send someone ahead of us to Evaemon. Tomorrow, we will leave for the capital.”
Where we would take the Crown.
And then we would travel to Iliseeum and wake the King of Gods.
“You’ve got to let go, baby. You need to hide, Poppy—” Momma stilled, and then she wrenched her arm free, reaching inside her boot.
She pulled something out, something black as night and slender and sharp.
She moved so fast—faster than I’d ever seen her move, spinning around as she rose, the black spike in her hand.
“How could you do this?” Momma demanded as I scooted to the edge of the cupboard.
A…a man stood a few feet from her, cloaked in scary shadows. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” Momma swung out, but the shadow man caught her arm.
“Momma!” I screamed, and glass cracked.
Her head jerked around. “Run. Run—”
Glass shattered, and the night spilled into the kitchen, tumbling down the wall and hitting the floor. I froze, unable to move as the gray-skinned creatures rose, their sunken bodies and red-smeared mouths scaring me. They swarmed the kitchen, and I couldn’t see her. “Momma!”
Bodies snapped in my direction. Mouths dropped open. Shrill howls ripped through the air. Bony, cold fingers pressed into my leg. I screamed as I scrambled back inside the cupboard—
“Shit,” the dark man cursed, and a spray of something rotten hit my face. The thing let go of my leg. I started to twist away, but the shadow man reached inside the cupboard, grabbing my arm. “Gods, help me,” he muttered, yanking me out.
Panicked, I pulled at his grip as those things came at him. He swept out an arm. I twisted, struggling. My foot slipped in the wetness. I turned sideways—
Momma was there, her face streaked with red. She thrust that black spike into the center of the shadow man’s chest. He grunted out a bad word. His grip loosened and slipped away as he fell backward. “Run, Poppy,” Momma gasped. “Run.”
I ran. I ran toward her—
“Momma—” Claws caught my hair, scratched my skin, burning me like the time I’d reached for the kettle.
I screamed, straining for Momma, but I couldn’t see her in the twining mass on the floor.
Teeth sank into my arm as Papa’s friend silently backed away.
Fiery pain roared through me, seizing my lungs and my body—
What a pretty little flower.
What a pretty poppy.
Pick it and watch it bleed.
Not so pretty any longer...
I jerked awake, a scream burning the back of my throat as my wide-eyed gaze swept across the dark bedchamber.
“Poppy,” Casteel called, his voice thick with sleep. A second later, his chest pressed into my back as he folded an arm around my waist. “It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re here.”
Heart pounding, I stared into the darkness, telling myself that I was in Spessa’s End. I wasn’t trapped in Lockswood, alone and—
My breath caught. “I wasn’t alone.”
“What?”
I swallowed, my throat sore. “There was someone else in that kitchen where I was hiding in the cupboard. Someone my mother knew. I know she did.”
“Alastir—”
“No,” I whispered hoarsely, shaking my head. “It was someone else. He was like…like a shadow, dressed in black.” I twisted in Casteel’s embrace, barely making out his features in the darkness. “He was dressed like the Dark One.”