The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash 3)

“We do.” Leaning back in his chair, he dragged his teeth over his lower lip as he continued rooting through the fruit. “Something I didn’t go into a lot of detail on this morning was something my father shared with me last night. Every member of the Guards of the Crown, from here to Evaemon, are being checked for possible involvement or knowledge of what the others were doing.”

“Have others been discovered?” I asked.

“None believed to have been directly involved so far,” he said as I took the strawberry he offered, and he picked up a piece of roasted meat for himself. “But there have been a few who suspected that something was going on with those working with Alastir. And some expressed concern about your presence.”

“Well that isn’t that surprising, is it?”

“Not really, but it leaves me wondering exactly how much they truly knew of what the others planned.” His fingers folded around his glass. “My father even believes that the ones involved with the attack may have spoken openly with those who weren’t, basically infecting others with their nonsense.”

Alastir’s and the other’s beliefs and words truly were like an infection, but was it one that could be cured? As we ate, I thought of those who had first attacked me. “The people who were at the Chambers?” I said, and Casteel stilled for a moment before picking up a napkin and wiping his fingers clean. “Once they realized what I was, one of them asked the gods to forgive them.”

A cruel, tight smile formed over the rim of his glass as he took a drink. “They won’t.”

“I…I hope they do.”

His brows lifted. “That is too kind of you, Poppy.”

“They didn’t kill me—”

“They wanted to.”

“Thanks for the unnecessary reminder.”

“It sounds like a very necessary reminder,” he replied flatly.

I resisted the urge to throw the piece of cheese I held. “Just because I hope they’re not wasting away in the Abyss for all eternity doesn’t mean I’m okay with what they tried to do to me.”

“Well, I do.”

I ignored that. “They were obviously very misinformed.”

“So?”

“What I’m trying to say is they weren’t like Alastir or Jansen or those who wore the Descenter masks. Their minds were made up. Nothing was going to change that.” I tossed the piece of cheese onto the platter. “But the ones at the Chambers? The others who may have known something was going on, or have concerns? Whatever opinions they’ve formed can be changed. It’s not a…fatal infection. They’re not the mindless Gyrms or the Craven.””

“Sounds pretty fatal to me,” he commented.

I took a shallow breath. “If the people in the Chambers had changed their minds before it was too late and they had survived, I wouldn’t want to see them killed now.”

Casteel opened his mouth as he lowered his glass to the cream-hued linen covering the table.

“I know what you’re going to say. You would see them killed. I would see them given a second chance if they were misled. And after,” I stressed, “they were punished appropriately. It’s obvious they were taught or…indoctrinated into this way of thinking. And those who may have known what the others were involved in? The ones who have concerns now? That can be changed.”

He eyed me as he dragged his fingers over the rim of his glass. “You really believe that?”

“Yes. I do. People can’t be killed simply because they have concerns. That is something the Ascended would do,” I told him. “And if we believe that people aren’t able to change the way they think and what they believe or how they behave, then what is the point of giving the Ascended a chance to change their ways? What would be the point of hoping for change in anything?”

“Touché,” he murmured, tipping his glass to me.

“You don’t believe that people are capable of change?” I asked.

“I do,” he admitted. “I just don’t care if they are if they’re the people who’ve harmed you.”

“Oh.” I picked up another small cube of cheese. That wasn’t exactly surprising to hear. I moved onto something we really hadn’t discussed, not even when it was brought up with Jasper. “Well, you need to start caring. I don’t want people killed because they don’t trust me or like me. I don’t want to be a part of that.”

“You’re asking me to care about those who potentially had knowledge of those who have not only betrayed me but also betrayed you,” he countered quietly. “I believe the technical term would be that they committed treason against me and you.”

“Yes, but having beliefs or concerns that have not been acted upon does not immediately equal treason. If there is evidence that they were aware and did nothing, they should, at the very least, have a trial. Or is Atlantia no different than Solis when it comes to due process?”