The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

“You should.” She looked over her shoulder at me. “Gods walked these tunnels. As did the Primals. They walked other tunnels in other cities, connecting doorways and creating magical wards made of Primal essence that could keep things out—or in.”

I watched her run her palm over the uneven stone, wondering exactly what in the hell she was talking about.

“A god born a mortal, carrying the blood of the Primal of Life and the Primal of Death upon Ascension was foretold,” the Handmaiden whispered. “Or so they say—and they say a lot. Either way, she broke those Primal wards when she Ascended into her godhood.”

It was clear that she was speaking about Poppy.

She rested her cheek against the wall. “And anything that was kept in can now get out.” Eyes not so dull met mine. “Two questions remain. When and where. Not even he knows.”

I didn’t even know what to say to any of that, but I caught how her lip curled when she said he.

“Who?”

“Callum.”

“The golden boy Rev?”

Her laugh was throatier, more real, and strangely familiar. “He’s old. Real old. Be careful of that one.”

“Fuck him.” Impatient, I leaned forward—farther than usual because of the loosened chains. “What in the hell are you rambling on about? And what does it have to do with Poppy’s Ascension?”

“I do ramble, don’t I? Ian said Penellaphe rambles.” She turned sharply, facing me as she leaned against the wall. “Is that true?”

My eyes narrowed. “Why? Why do you want to know that?”

Her shoulder lifted. “Just curious.”

“Odd thing to be curious about.”

“Is it true?” she persisted. “Does she ramble, too?”

I unlocked my jaw. “Her thoughts tend to wander about…out loud. Frequently and sometimes randomly.”

The corners of her lips turned up as she toyed with an edge of stone by her hip. “I…I didn’t know the Queen would do that to Ian. I—” Her jaw tightened. “I didn’t expect that.”

I believed her. Only because the look of shock on her face and on my brother’s when that bitch had ordered Ian killed couldn’t have been fabricated. “I would tell you that I would kill Isbeth for that, but my Queen is a god. She will kill her.”

Her fingers stilled on the stone.

“Yeah, I figured that out in Oak Ambler,” I told her. “She’s going to kill that bitch for sure.”

The faint smile returned, surprising me, and I didn’t think anything could still surprise me. “I saw her afterward. Penellaphe.”

My breathing. My heart… Stopped.

“I stayed behind, figuring she’d be angry upon waking. And she was. She came at Oak Ambler, and she is powerful. For a moment, I thought she was going to destroy the Rise and the entire city.” She continued rubbing her fingers over the sharp edge of a stone. “But she stopped. Maybe she’s not like her mother.”

“She’s not,” I snarled. “There’s no one like her.”

“You’re actually right when you say that.” Her gaze flicked to me. “But you don’t really know her. I doubt she even knows herself.” Her chin dipped, and her stare chilled my skin. “She carries the blood of the Primal of Life and the Primal of Death.”

“I know. She knows she’s descended from Nyktos—”

“If you think that Granddaddy is the true Primal of Life and the true Primal of Death, then you know nothing.”

My eyes narrowed. What was she up to? Nyktos was the true Primal of Life. The gods Rhain and Rhahar oversaw the dead, but Nyktos was the Primal. The King of Gods. That meant he was the true Primal of Death, too. “Then educate me.”

“I’m not that bored.” She pushed off the wall. “Plus, I have things to do. People to see. Kill. Whatever. I did as I promised.” Turning, she started for the entrance but stopped. She looked down. “The Queen has her plans.”

“The whole remaking the realms bullshit?”

“To remake something, one must first destroy it.”

A cold wind hit the length of my spine. “The Blood Queen is not that powerful.”

“She may not be.” The Handmaiden’s back was unnaturally stiff. “But she knew how to bring to life something that was.”

Poppy

The conversation around me was nothing more than a hum as I sat in the receiving chamber. The others clustered around Hisa Fa’Mar, one of the Crown Guard’s commanders, and the map of Oak Ambler she’d been working on.

Word of the remaining armies’ advancement had come shortly after we returned to Cauldra Manor—in the form of nineteen draken cresting the Pinelands.

There had been a lot more running about and screaming from the locals. They’d only calmed when the draken had landed around Cauldra and in the pines surrounding the manor, doing nothing more than watching the mortals scurry about.

I couldn’t help but wonder what the draken thought of the reaction. Had it been like that when they were awake before? Or had they been accepted? Then again, had they only remained in Iliseeum? I hadn’t thought to ask Reaver.