Chapter Thirty-Four
Very few things were more important than what Casteel was saying, what he was admitting to me—and what was left unsaid.
The sky being on fire was one of them.
Casteel watched with near unnerving intensity as I pulled on a pair of leggings and then added the cloak over the ridiculous nightgown. Shoving my feet into my boots, I hurried to where he waited between the two rooms. We went to the main door, but Casteel stopped before opening it.
He turned to me, his gaze immediately finding mine. “This conversation isn’t over.”
“I know,” I told him, and I did. “I have a lot of questions.”
The laugh was quick, but nothing like the one before. It was real, and some of the sharpness faded from his features. “Of course, you do.”
Emil was waiting for us beyond the terrace, and as I stepped out into the courtyard, my mouth dropped open.
A hazy, burnt-orange-red glow illuminated the sky beyond the Rise.
“What in the hell?” Casteel demanded.
“The sky really is on fire,” I whispered. “Is it another omen? From the gods?”
“I sure hope not,” Emil responded. “Because if so, that can’t be good. Delano already left to see if he can find out what it is.”
Casteel nodded. “I don’t think it’s that.” He started walking around the corner of the fortress, but then stopped. Turning to me, he extended his hand.
I placed mine in his without hesitation. His grip was warm and strong, and that jolt of energy was there, traveling up my arm.
I have no idea how you can even bear my touch.
I wanted to tell him right then that I could bear his touch because I loved him.
But it didn’t seem like a good idea with the sky being on fire.
Casteel prowled forward. “How long ago did you guys realize this was happening?”
“Ten minutes, if that. Are you going up onto the Rise?” Emil asked as we crossed the courtyard, heading for one of the entry points to the Rise.
“I figure it would give us a better view.” He led me inside a stairwell lit by oil lanterns. “Did anyone go with Delano?”
Emil followed behind as we climbed the spiraling stone stairs. “I think Dante went out with him. Probably thought it would be safer.”
“Possibly,” Casteel murmured.
Reaching the top of the Rise, my steps faltered for a moment. What appeared to be the entire western sky was aglow.
“Good gods,” Emil muttered, coming to a stop.
Casteel and I walked across the roof of the Rise, the cool air chilling my skin. Several people stood in and near the parapets, their bodies outlined in red.
One of them turned. Kieran. His father was beside him, facing the glowing sky. A Guardian stood on the ledge, the moonlight glinting off the golden swords strapped to her sides. She looked over her shoulder, placing her fist over her heart.
Casteel greeted her with the same gesture as a gust of wind lifted the wispy strands of her hair that wasn’t held back. Mine also blew as I slipped my hand free of his and entered an empty peak. The wind…an acrid scent carried on it, reminding me of…
I placed my hand on the stone. “I don’t think it’s the sky that’s on fire.”
The Guardian looked over at me, saying nothing as Casteel entered the parapet. “Neither do I.”
“While I’m relieved it’s not the sky burning,” Jasper said. “Something is.”
Something big was, but what could it be? There was nothing but fields and ruined cities that way.
“How far away do you think the fire is?” the Guardian asked.
“Hard to tell.” Casteel placed his hands beside mine. “I would say about a day’s or more ride, maybe even farther depending on the size.”
“A day’s ride?” I frowned. “That would be…what? Pompay? What could burn there to create this?”
“If it’s farther out, it would have to be a massive fire to be seen from here,” Casteel said, shaking his head. “Delano is fast. In his wolven form, he’ll reach Pompay in no time. We’ll know soon enough what the cause is.”
“Until then, Your Highness?” the Guardian asked.
“Until then, we make sure there is no panic. Those who were at the dinner will have most likely seen this and are taking tales of the burning sky home. Go and make sure there is no panic, Nova.”
The Guardian nodded and then stepped off the ledge. She strode across the roof, disappearing into one of the stairwells.
“And what do we do?” Kieran asked as he stared at the unnatural sky.
“We wait,” Casteel said. “That’s all we can do for now.”
Dawn crept across Spessa’s End in splashes of violet and pink, but to the west, it looked like the sun had fallen to the land. With each passing hour, the scents of smoke and burning wood grew.
Pulling the halves of the cloak around me, I stared down at the dirt road ahead, searching for signs of Delano or Dante, but I saw nothing.
I couldn’t even see the Guardians I knew were out beyond the wall, hidden in the tall grass.
Endless hours had passed since we’d climbed the Rise, and though I didn’t need to remain, I wanted to be here the moment we found out what burned—and, hopefully, what’d caused it.
Leaning against the parapet wall, I glanced over my shoulder. Casteel stood several feet away, speaking to Kieran and Alastir. I sensed…concern from all three of them, and I wondered if they had the same fear that I wasn’t willing to voice.
I turned back to the western sky, unsettled by the reddish-orange glow. Whatever burned was no normal fire.
“The sky brings back old memories.”
I jolted at the sound of Jasper’s voice. He’d entered the parapet without me realizing. The silver-haired wolven was tall—taller than his son and Casteel. He propped a hip against the wall and stared at the burning sky.
“Entire towns were burned,” he continued. “Some by accident. Others on purpose. There’d be weeks where, no matter what direction you looked, the sky appeared to burn. It was something I’d hoped never to see again.” His gaze slid to mine. “I don’t think we’ve been officially introduced.”
“No, we haven’t.” I found nothing but concern and curiosity whirling through him. “Penellaphe Balfour.”
“Jasper Contou,” he told me, and I realized I’d never known Kieran’s last name. “Balfour? That is an old Solis name.”
“Alastir said the same.”
“He would know.” Jasper glanced to where the others stood. “So, I was under the impression I’m to officiate a wedding?”
I bit down on my lip, wondering if Casteel still planned to marry me while here. We’d only planned to be in Spessa’s End until the first group from New Haven arrived, which should be today. But with the fire?
“A highly anticipated and yet also extremely unexpected wedding, I might add.” He smiled then, and I felt a trickle of amusement from him.
Perhaps the day before, I would’ve responded with something appropriately vague, spoke in a way that was becoming of the Maiden, but that part of me was gone. “I don’t know if Casteel still plans to marry me while we’re here,” I answered, meeting his pale gaze. “You speak for the wolven?”
He nodded.
“So, I imagine you probably expected him to marry someone else.”
His amusement rose a notch. “Considering that Casteel has never once indicated that he was interested in settling down with anyone, I didn’t expect anything from him.”
There was a catch in my heart. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe Casteel when he said that he hadn’t agreed to marry Gianna, but it was…
well, it was a relief to know that the wolven who spoke for his people hadn’t expected the marriage.
“But did you expect him to marry a wolven? From what I’ve learned, there has been discontent among the wolven, and I’m guessing there was hope that a marriage between Casteel and a wolven would ease those troubles. ”
There was a slight hardening of Jasper’s jaw, and I felt a hot spike of anger.
“I am of the same mind as Casteel. A marriage between our two peoples would’ve done very little to assuage concerns or to end the need for retribution against the Ascended.
Valyn is also intelligent enough to know that,” he said, referring to the King by his first name.
“But when you hear enough whispers, you begin to believe whatever those whispers tell you.”
I frowned as I looked at Casteel—at those who stood with him.
Was Jasper suggesting that the union between Casteel and a wolven had been an idea fed to the King?
Alastir was an advisor to the Crown, but while he had doubts regarding our relationship’s authenticity, he didn’t appear against it.
But what had Casteel said to Alastir last night at dinner?
That he knew why he’d brought up the expectation.
Perhaps it had been Alastir’s idea in hopes that it would help ease the unrest. I couldn’t exactly fault him for that.
“I imagine I will still be officiating a wedding,” Jasper mused.
I lifted my brows as I refocused on him. “You don’t doubt our intentions?”
“Not after meeting you.”
“I’m not sure if that was a compliment or not,” I admitted, even though nothing I sensed from him indicated that he was being facetious.
His grin grew even wider. “You seem to have no problem speaking your mind for someone raised to be the Maiden.”
“Not always,” I confessed, shivering as a gust of smoke-tinged wind whipped across the roof. “You seem to have no issue speaking with me even though I was the Maiden.”
“And are apparently capable of healing broken bones with just the touch of your hands.”
I looked at him in surprise.
“I heard what you did for Beckett. I told Alastir that little idiot shouldn’t be out here.” There was a fondness to his tone. “Young wolven can be very accident-prone due to their general curiosity about literally everything, which leads to a near-catastrophic level of inattentiveness.”
I grinned. “But he’ll be okay.”
“Because of you.”
Looking back at the sky, I exhaled softly. “I’ve never done that before.”
“I heard that, too. From my daughter and son. They also said you appeared… old .”
Good gods, I’d forgotten about that amidst everything that’d happened after that conversation. “Do I smell like death to you, too?”