The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash 3)

“I do, too,” I admitted quietly. “And it’s because of you.”

His eyes closed briefly as he dipped his forehead to mine, and a long moment passed with us just standing there. “Before Kieran gets here, I wanted to ask you something.”

“That sounds serious.”

“It kind of is.” He lifted his head. “Have you felt any hunger?”

“For food?” I drew out the question.

His lips twitched. “Not the kind you’re thinking of.”

“Oh.” My eyes widened. “For blood?”

He grinned then. “You don’t have to whisper it.”

“I didn’t.”

“You totally did.”

“Whatever.” I bit down on my lip. “I don’t think so? I mean, I haven’t felt that gnawing ache again. I think I would know if I had.”

“It’s not always like that, my Queen.”

My Queen. I liked that. Almost as much as I liked it when he called me Princess. Not that I’d admit that to him. “How does it feel?”

“You’ll feel inexplicably tired, even after sleeping. You’ll eat, but you’ll still feel hunger. Food will eventually lose its appeal,” he told me. “You’ll be easier to irritate, which wouldn’t be new for you.”

“Hey!” I smacked his arm.

“Perhaps you do need to feed now,” he teased, eyes glittering. “Once you get to the point where food no longer eases your hunger, you’ll need to feed.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“You probably wouldn’t need to feed by now, anyway. If we’re basing it on when Atlantians need to feed,” he said. “But you may be different. You may not even need to, but I wanted to check in.”

I searched to find even a flicker of unease at the possibility of feeding and found none, when a knock sounded.

Casteel let Kieran in. The wolven appeared to have managed a shower and a change of clothing. A fresh white shirt and black breeches had replaced what he’d worn earlier. I was jealous.

“We won’t keep you long,” Casteel said, coming to join me. “But there is something important we wanted to ask you.”

Kieran raised a brow as he glanced between us. “Is it about the Joining?”

For the second time in twenty-four hours, I choked on my breath. “What?”

“Am I wrong?” Kieran crossed his arms.

“Yeah.” I nodded while Casteel appeared to do his best not to burst into laughter. “That so wasn’t where we were going with that, and by the way, the Joining isn’t necessary, right? I’m a deity. I have an incomprehensible lifespan now.”

“Well,” Casteel drew out the word.

I looked over at him, and then it struck me—what I’d worried about when I first learned that I could be immortal or the closest thing to it. “I’ll outlive you, won’t I?”

“Deities have double the lifespan of Atlantians, maybe even longer if they take the deep sleep,” Casteel explained. I didn’t feel a single ounce of worry coming from him while I was five seconds away from throwing myself onto the floor. “But we have a very long time before we have to stress over that.”

“I’m stressing over it now.”

“Obviously,” stated Kieran. “I’m bonded to you—all the wolven are. Not in the same way the bonds worked with the elemental lines, but a wolven would still be the connecting piece that fuses two lifelines together.” He frowned. “Or three, I suppose. It’s just your life that his would be bonded to.”

I stared at him.

“Anyway, it could be any wolven.” Kieran shrugged.

I continued staring at him.

“Okay. That’s good to know.” Casteel patted my shoulder, and I sat down on the thick, black cushion of a chair. “But that really wasn’t what we wanted to discuss with you.”

“No shit,” Kieran said.

Blinking, I shook my head. We were about to ask him to be our advisor. Tomorrow, we would travel to Iliseeum and then into Solis. I so did not need to think about any of that right now.

“We wanted to ask if you would do us the honor of being the Advisor to the Crown,” Casteel began. “I had this whole speech planned in my head about how you have been a brother to me and that there is no one I trust more, but now things are just kind of awkward, so…yeah. We would like for you to be our advisor.”

Now it was Kieran who stared at us, his eyes wide, and I felt the coolness of shock from him—something I didn’t think he often felt.

“You’re…you’re surprised,” I said. “How can that be? You have to know that Casteel trusts you. As do I.”

“Yeah, but…” Kieran rubbed the heel of his palm down the center of his chest. “The Advisor to the Crown is usually someone far older than me, with more experience and connections.”

“The King and Queen are usually people far older than us,” Casteel replied dryly.

“I know, but…why wouldn’t you choose my father?” he asked. “He would serve you well.”

“But not as good as you,” Casteel told him. “You don’t have to accept—”