The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash 3)

My gaze fell to the teal-colored pillow, and I forced my grip to loosen. It didn’t make sense to me either, but those actions created unrest. It would ultimately come down to what a person believed they could achieve through the disruption. Thinking of the Ascended, it seemed all too clear to me. The people of Solis lived under constant hardship, and it made them easier to manipulate and control. Alastir had basically been staging a coup, and that would have been easier to carry out if the people of Atlantia were unhappy. But with Alastir and the others gone, could there still be more out there who sought to create strife in Atlantia, and saw me as a threat? Casteel and Kieran had to believe there was a chance. That was why Casteel had handed me the dagger before he left to get food, and was why Kieran sat here now.

What the Duchess had said to me in the carriage and what Alastir had claimed resurfaced like a wraith determined to haunt me.

Kieran reached over, tugging gently on a strand of my hair. “What are you thinking about?”

I let go of the pillow. “Did Casteel tell you what the Duchess said to me before I killed her?”

“No.”

That surprised me, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with Casteel not wanting Kieran to know. There really hadn’t been time for them to talk. “She said that Queen Ileana would be thrilled when she learned that I married Casteel and that I would be able to accomplish what she had never been able to do. That I would take Atlantia.”

Kieran frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“But it does, doesn’t it? Being a descendant of the gods means I usurp the throne without force. I take Atlantia.”

“Yes. You are the rightful ruler,” he said, and I swallowed hard, almost reaching for the wine glass again. “But I don’t see how that helps Solis at all.”

“I don’t either, but that is what she said, and…”

“And you think there’s something to that because of the shit Alastir said to you?” he surmised.

I said nothing.

“Listen to me, Poppy.” He leaned over so we were eye-to-eye and there was barely any space between us. “Every single one of us who lives within Atlantia is a potential threat to the kingdom. Our actions, our beliefs? Any of us could tear the kingdom apart. You being a descendant of the gods doesn’t make you more of a threat to the kingdom than anyone else. Only you control your actions. Not your blood—not your bloodline. Alastir was wrong. So was the Duchess. And the fact that you didn’t turn into a vampry when Casteel Ascended you should be evidence of that. And if you take the Crown, you’re not taking it in the name of Solis.”

“I can’t say that’s evidence of anything when we have no idea what I’ve become,” I pointed out, but what he said made me think of what I’d told Casteel earlier. “I have another question for you.”

He leaned back. “Of course, you do.”

“When we were waiting outside the Temple of Saion and Emil was speaking to us, I thought something in response to what he said.”

“You wondered if Alastir’s plan had failed,” Kieran finished for me. My breath caught as I stared at him. “But you said that out loud, Poppy.”

I stilled. “No, I didn’t.”

The corners of his lips turned down. “Yes, you did.”

“I didn’t,” I insisted, my heart thumping. “I only thought that, Kieran. And I heard you respond.”

He didn’t move or speak for a moment, and then he drew his legs up as he leaned forward. “I was in my wolven form.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t speak that answer. I…”

“You thought it.” I sat up. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. And that wasn’t the only time that happened,” I said, and then I told him about Delano. “Somehow, we communicated…telepathically.”

“I…” The shock Kieran felt was like ice water. “Can you feel my imprint—my mark, like you did with Delano?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t tried.”

“Can you?” When I nodded, he sat up, his knee pressing against mine. “Then try it.”

Eager to figure out if I could, I inhaled deeply and focused on Kieran. The feel of his shock was still there, cool and slippery, but I pushed past that. The center of my chest hummed, and I felt it then, the invisible pathway that pushed past emotions and thoughts. It was like a cord connecting us, one invisible to the eye, and it fed back an earthy, woodsy sensation, one that reminded me of… “Cedar.”

“What?” Kieran blinked.

“You feel like cedar.”

He stared at me. “I feel like a tree?”

“Not really. I mean, that’s just what your…imprint or whatever feels like to me. Something rich and woodsy, connected to the land.” I shrugged. “That’s the only way I know how to explain it.”