The Atlantian swallowed. “We have heard of the resurgence of the Unseen and the attack on you. We condemn it and do not stand for such actions.” His hand flattened on the table. “But—”
“There is no but,” Casteel interrupted, his tone soft but full of smoke.
Ambrose’s mouth tightened, but he nodded stiffly. “Understood.”
I started to relax, but Casteel’s head tilted. “You were not in the reception hall when we arrived.”
“I was not, Your Majesty.”
“You did not bow upon entering the room,” he continued, and I glanced at him.
“Cas,” I started softly.
“It’s a common courtesy,” Casteel said, his gaze trained on the Atlantian. “The most basic of them. Nor have you once referred to your Queen as ‘Your Majesty’ or even ‘Your Highness’ as you spoke to her. Again, the most basic of common courtesies and respect.” Silence fell throughout the room. “Am I not right, Father? Mother?”
“You are right,” Eloana answered. “Those who did not greet either of you as such in the hall should have done so once within sight.”
“Lord Ambrose, you did bow to my son,” Valyn added.
Anger simmered in Lord Ambrose, as did embarrassment. He said nothing.
“You will bow before your Queen.” Casteel eyed the Atlantian coolly. “Or you will bleed before her. It is your choice.”
A low growl of agreement echoed from where Vonetta was crouched beside me.
I tensed. I wanted to intervene, to put a stop to this before something unnecessarily bloody happened during our very first Council meeting as rulers, but instinct warned that an example was being made—one that would indicate whether or not Casteel or I would tolerate disrespect. And respect was important. If we didn’t have the Elders’ respect, how would we have the kingdom’s respect? Still, the threat made my skin itchy.
Wood scraped against stone as Ambrose rose. He bowed stiffly. “I apologize, Your Majesty,” he said to me. “I meant no offense.”
I nodded, and as he straightened, I called on what Casteel had said before. “You may sit.”
Ambrose did just that, and the thread of tension eased from the room.
“Now, can we get started?” Casteel asked as he scanned the Elders and was met with several nods. “Good, because we want to stop a war before one starts.”
Sven leaned forward. “This, I am very interested in hearing.”
Others seemed to share his sentiment, and some didn’t, but they all listened to our plan to meet with the Blood Crown in Oak Ambler and offer our ultimatum, explaining why we believed it would work.
“It could,” Lady Cambria stated, brows pinched. “You’re ripping out the foundation that holds all their lies together. The Ascended are a lot of things, but they are not stupid. They know what that will do to their people.”
I glanced at Valyn. “It will lessen, if not destroy, their control over the people of Solis and destabilize their society. I do not believe they will risk that.”
“None of us want war,” Lord Gregori stated, looking around the table. “Those who were alive during the War of Two Kings are still haunted by those horrors. But you’re asking for us to agree to give the Ascended a second chance? To prove they control their bloodlust? We’ve been down that road before.”
“We know. Right now, we are asking that you understand our decision to keep the soldiers in the north at bay,” Casteel said, making it clear he was not asking for their permission. “Once we meet with the Blood Crown and have their answer, then we can reconvene and discuss whether or not you feel that you can give any of them a second chance. But we haven’t crossed that bridge yet, and we have no intention to burn it before we do.”
“I have innumerable reasons for why I want to see the Ascended killed,” a female Atlantian stated. Her sand-colored skin was without a trace of wrinkles and her brown hair was free of any gray or white. I believed her name to be Josahlynn. “But I only need one. My husband and son died in that war.”
My heart clenched. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Her chest rose with a deep breath. “As the rest of you know, I’ve been on the fence about what to do. If we can prevent more husbands and wives, sons and daughters from dying, we should.”
There were many nods of agreement, but Lady Cambria leaned forward, resting her arm on the table. “But it is far too dangerous for you two to be the ones to meet with the Blood Crown. You are the King and Queen—our Liessa. Someone else should be sent in your place. I will gladly go.”
“As will I,” Sven announced, and so did many others.
I felt Kieran’s wry amusement the moment our gazes touched. “Neither of us will ask any of you to do what we are not willing to risk ourselves,” I said. “Plus, it will be far safer for us than it will be for any of you. The Blood Crown does not want us dead.”
“We will also enter the city before we’re expected,” Casteel explained. “Giving us time to see what they may have in store for us.”
“And who set up this meeting?” Ambrose asked.
I braced myself. “My brother, who was Ascended.”
As expected, this created several outbursts and questions. Once they quieted, I explained who Ian was to me, and that even if we shared no blood, he was still my brother. Throughout the discussion, Casteel had extended his arm, placing his hand on the back of my neck where his fingers moved in slow, soothing circles. There were echoes of empathy from around the table, mingled with blunt pity. “Before we left, Ian told me that the only way we could defeat the Blood Crown—force them into taking our ultimatum—was by waking Nyktos and gaining the assistance of his guards.”
“We plan to travel to Iliseeum in the morning,” Casteel explained.
“Travel to Iliseeum? To wake Nyktos?” a mortal Elder exclaimed. “I mean no offense by saying this, but are you two out of your minds? Wake the King of Gods? And I truly mean no offense,” he quickly repeated when Casteel’s gaze fixed on him. “But we will be having another coronation before you even leave to meet with the Blood Crown.”
“Well, that was highly encouraging,” Casteel murmured, and I cracked a grin.
“The resting place of the gods is well protected, either by Primal magic or guards,” Lord Ambrose stated, his brows raised. “I imagine the King of Gods is surrounded by both.”
“Yes, but Pennelaphe is of his bloodline,” Willa noted. “What is guarding him should be able to sense that.” She paused. “Hopefully.”
The hopefully part was really reassuring.
“Or he could become extraordinarily angered by such an intrusion and kill any who dare to wake him,” another Elder pointed out.
“There is that.” Willa lifted her drink.
“Do you need to travel to Iliseeum?” Casteel’s father asked. “We do not know if you will need Nyktos’s guards. It may be an unnecessary risk.”
“Or it could be what forces the Blood Crown’s hand,” Eloana countered.
Casteel’s fingers continued moving along the nape of my neck as his gaze shifted to mine. “What do you think, my Queen? The plan isn’t set in stone.”
It wasn’t, but I believed my brother. Whatever these Revenants were, we needed all the help we could get.
“He’s slept long enough, hasn’t he?” I said, and approval flashed in those amber eyes despite the insanity of what we were considering. “We will wake him.”
“How would you even begin to locate his resting place?” asked Lady Josahlynn.
That was a good question. I started to look at Casteel, but Willa spoke. “I imagine he slumbers in his Temple. It shouldn’t be hard to find, as it looks like the palace and the Temple of Nyktos here, but larger.”
Well, I supposed Malec had been correct in his belief that his renovations were more in line with the Temples in Iliseeum.
Casteel raised a brow as he leaned into me and murmured, “Now we know where to find him.”
I nodded,
wondering how Willa knew. Had she been to Iliseeum? Then again, she had sent me to Casteel’s room without his knowledge. The Atlantians didn’t believe in prophecies, but they did believe in Seers.
“You’re willing to do this—all of this?” Ambrose asked with a shake of his head. “Because of what an Ascended said? When we know you cannot trust an Ascended?”
Willa rolled her eyes with a delicate snort. “Anyone who has lived long enough and can look past their own asses knows that not even the vamprys are inherently evil.”
Mutters of derision rose from other Elders. Glancing at Casteel, I saw a slight frown tug at his lips as I leaned forward. “You mean those who have managed to control their bloodlust?”
“Those who have managed have been few and far between,” Gregori countered. “At this point, they are more legend than reality.”
“Legend or not, when they are first turned, vamprys are consumed by bloodlust. That is correct.” Willa’s eyes met mine with a look that made me think of my Ascension. “And it can take time for them to find their way out of that, but it is who they are in their hearts and souls that determines whether or not they can be trusted.”
My breath caught. Could that be why a part of Ian remained? Because he had been a good person before his Ascension? If so, then there was hope for Tawny and how many others?
“That is an extremely optimistic and naïve outlook on the Ascended,” Gregori asserted.
Willa looked at the Elder. “I’d rather be optimistic than bigoted and close-minded, but I am never naïve. I have more than a thousand years on you,” she said softly, and I blinked. “Consider that before you speak so ignorantly, and maybe you will save yourself future embarrassment.”
I…I really liked Willa.
And it had nothing to do with her diary.
She held Gregori’s stare until he looked away, a muscle flexing in his jaw. Then she turned to Casteel and me. “You have my support, even if you do not require it. You also have my advice. I’ve never been to Iliseeum. Obviously,” she told us, finishing off her glass of whiskey. “But I know those who have.”
A thought I really didn’t want to entertain entered my mind. Malec apparently knew what the Temples in Iliseeum looked like, and my father had a lot of mistresses.
And Willa had had a lot of partners.
What if she’d written about him in— Nope, I stopped myself from going there. I did not want to think about that.
Willa’s gaze met mine and then Casteel’s. “Whatever you do, do not enter Dalos, the City of the Gods. You will know it when you see it. If you enter, you will never return.”
Chapter 38
After Willa’s unsettling warning, the Elders gave their reluctant support of our plans to travel to Iliseeum and then meet with the Blood Crown. The cautious backing mostly came from those concerned about our safety, but I could sense a few simply didn’t agree with any of that.
Those who thought war was inevitable.
Lord Ambrose and Lord Gregori were two of them.
But I didn’t think they truly wanted war. It was just that they couldn’t see a way around it, and I hoped we proved them wrong.
The meeting was adjourned, and there was one thing left to do. We were to greet the public, along with the Elders and Casteel’s parents. Their presence would be a show of support and approval.
And then Casteel and I would be alone. Of course, we still needed to speak with Kieran, but we would have to process everything, and maybe even live a little before we embarked on our journey to Iliseeum.
I lingered as everyone filed out of the room, making their way back toward the Temple of Nyktos. I wanted to speak to Willa, who had taken her time rising from the table.
Or she simply knew I wanted to speak with her.
Either way, I had many questions and only a handful of minutes to speak to her with only Vonetta waiting by the door.
“May I ask you a question?” I said.
Willa looked over at me, her golden-brown eyes alight with the same strange, knowing glint that had been present when I first met her. “You are the Queen. You can ask whatever you like.”
I didn’t think being Queen gave me carte blanche for questions—which I had many I wanted to ask. “Why were you at the Red Pearl?” I asked.
“I have a wandering soul that has a thirst for exploration,” she answered, and based on her diary, I could agree with that.
“But isn’t it dangerous for you?”
Her laugh was throaty. “The best kind of adventures always carry a hint of danger, as I’m sure you know,” she said, and my cheeks warmed. “And it had been many years since I’d been to Masadonia. I had the strangest urge to travel there.”
Her strange urge roused my suspicions about exactly what she was. “Why did you send me to the room Casteel was in?”
Her red lips curved upward in a slight smile. “It simply…felt right to do so.”
“That is all?”
She nodded as she approached me. “One’s instinct should always be trusted.”
“You’re a changeling, aren’t you?” When she nodded, I asked, “So, your instinct is far more…accurate than others?”
A soft laugh left her. “Some would say that. Some would even say that instinctual accuracy has led me to become one of the greatest Seers Atlantia has ever known.”
A Seer. I knew it!
“When I saw you in the Red Pearl, I knew you wore a mask. Not the one that hid your identity, but one you were forced to wear for many years beneath the veil. One you didn’t know you even wore. I saw you, and I knew you were the Maiden.” Willa’s eyes searched mine as tiny bumps rose all over my skin. “I knew you were a second daughter, one who shared the blood of the gods.” Her gaze flicked over my shoulder to the door. “And I knew he was seeking the same thing that led you to the Red Pearl that night.”
My brows knitted. “He was there to discuss his plans.”
Thick curls swayed as she shook her head. “That was one of the reasons, but deep inside, he was searching for the same as you.” She paused. “To live.”
Air lodged in my throat.
“Can I share something with you?” Willa leaned in, touching my arm. A faint charge of energy danced over my skin. “You weren’t the only one seeking sanctuary that night. He was in need of shelter—one that could bear the weight of his desires, his love, and his pain. And he found it. He may have given you freedom, but you have given him more than you could ever know.”
Emotion clogged my throat, stealing whatever words I had to speak.
“Don’t forget that,” she said.
“I won’t,” I managed.
Willa smiled.
“Penellaphe,” Eloana called from the doorway. “Are you ready?”
Inhaling deeply, I nodded. “I am,” I replied and then lowered my voice. “Thank you for answering my questions.”
She inclined her head. “Always. And if you become…curious enough to ask those other questions I’m sure are brewing in your head, I’ll be more than happy to answer them or refer you to a certain…chapter.”
Oh.
Oh, my.
“T-thank you,” I stuttered out and then started to turn.
“Your Majesty,” Willa stopped me, and when I faced her, her smile was gone. “A Seer cannot always know things about another, nor can most close their eyes and look past the now into tomorrow and the days that come after. I cannot,” she told me, and those tiny bumps returned. “Atlantians can be superstitious, even if they don’t believe in prophecies. Do you know why they don’t?”
My skin chilled. “No.”
“Because we believe that the days yet to be seen are not foretold. That even what the gods may have in store for us is not written in stone,” Willa said, the golden flecks in her eyes burning brightly. “But what is written in bone is different, and what is not believed should not be ignored.”
Heart thumping and aware that Eloana was waiting, I stepped in closer to Willa. “Are yo
u speaking of the prophecy the Unseen believe in?”
Willa touched my arm once more, and that same charge of energy swirled over my skin. “Your namesake was so wise, she could see beyond the day before her, but what she saw is not what they believe. You are not the great conspirator, but one of two who will stand between what has awakened and the retribution it seeks to reap against man and god.”
Willa’s words haunted my steps through the palace and the Temple of Nyktos. While the logical part of me wanted to rebel at the idea of any part of the prophecy being true, I felt some measure of relief hearing her say that I wasn’t the great conspirator the Unseen believed me to be.
But if what she spoke was true—and how could it not be when she knew so much else—she had to be speaking of the Blood Crown and Casteel and me. I imagined the Ascended sought retribution for a lot, but what could’ve awakened? All I could think of was Malec. Obviously, for me to be here, he had to have risen.
The low murmur of voices drew me from my thoughts as we passed the statue of Nyktos and his silver-white flames. Hisa stood at the doors. The Elders had already stepped outside onto the balcony, joined by Willa. Casteel’s parents waited with the commander.
Eloana had asked if Casteel or I wanted to change before we greeted the people of Evaemon. While there had been a brief moment where I’d pictured myself in a pretty gown, I’d declined, only taking enough time to tame the strands of hair that had slipped free from my braid. It was unlikely that the people would see me in anything other than what I wore today—or things like it—for some time, and it seemed rather pointless to present myself in another fashion.
Besides, it only delayed us speaking with Kieran, and me talking with Casteel about what Willa had shared. So, we stood there as we had been when we first rode into Atlantia earlier.
It had truly been a long day.
The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood And Ash Series Book 3) Page 50