Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Your name wasn’t chosen by her.
I sucked in a sharp breath at the sound of Leopold’s voice, and I blinked rapidly.
“The goddess Penellaphe and I are very close,” Seraphena said. “And both your father and his brother spent a lot of time in her company. I think he may have had a boyhood crush on her.” She laughed softly, the sound light yet heavy. “She is your namesake, but he chose your name.”
You were not named by the Queen. I named you after my…mother’s dear friend.
A tremor coursed up my arms as Leopold’s voice echoed faintly in my head. But that didn’t make sense. He wouldn’t have known about Seraphena’s friendship with Penellaphe. And he wouldn’t have named me. He wasn’t my father.
“Are you okay?” Casteel asked quietly.
I didn’t know the answer to that as I tried to see Ires’s face, but I only kept seeing Leopold, which was strange because, as the years passed, I’d struggled to recall his features at all. But now? I could easily see the proud lines of his jaw and how his chin ended in a slight point. His broad and high cheekbones and pine-green eyes. I’d been told I was a replica of Coralena when she was younger, but that had been an obvious lie. I looked like Isbeth and, inexplicably, Leopold. Confusion swirled through me as I stared ahead. Perhaps it was because I didn’t remember seeing Ires before I went into stasis, and his features had transposed onto my memories of Leopold. But that also didn’t feel right. And why would Isbeth lie about being the one to name me? I almost laughed. Did she need a reason?
Something occurred to me then. Did Seraphena and Nyktos know about Malec and Isbeth’s son—the one Alastir had killed on Eloana’s orders? She had to. They were still awake then.
Casteel reached over as we walked and pressed his fingers under my chin. “Poppy?”
“Y-yes,” I said. “I’m fine. Just thinking about everything.”
Doubt joined the concern etched into his features. He started to speak when Reaver stopped at the mouth of the sunken chamber and turned to Seraphena. “She’s not in—”
“I remember what you said.” Seraphena cupped his cheek. “I’m ready.”
Feeling the low hum of eather, I wondered if Sera and Reaver were communicating with each other through the notam—something I couldn’t do with the draken. They could sense my will, but it wasn’t like how I could communicate with the wolven—and Cas. Either way, I took his hand and stepped into the sunken chamber, wanting to give them some space. Pushing aside thoughts of Malec and Isbeth’s son, I glanced around. The first thing I noticed was that the packed earth was now clear of the tattered clothing, broken bones, and debris. I lifted my gaze to Jadis’s misshapen form. An ache blossomed in my chest.
Reaver entered first, walking to the wall to lift a torch. He turned, casting light toward where Jadis rested. “Where is—?” Seraphena jerked to a stop with a ragged cry. “Dear gods, my poor girl.”
My throat tightened as I watched her stagger forward and drop to her knees at Jadis’s entombed form.
Tears burned my eyes. Sorrow and anger radiated from Seraphena as she shook her head.
“Jadis has always been small.” Firelight glanced off Seraphena’s cheeks, catching the glisten of crimson tears. “Like her mother. That’s what Nektas told me once. But…” She wiped furiously at her cheeks with the back of her hand. “But she should be larger by now, even in her rest. She should’ve grown if…”
Seraphena couldn’t seem to finish. She didn’t need to. Jadis would’ve grown if she’d been in a physical state to be able to. And knowing Isbeth—knowing what she did to those she held captive—the draken had likely been starved and wounded.
Reaver remained standing but moved back several feet from them. He stayed quiet as he stared at Jadis. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how long he’d spent doing only that since he found her.
I slipped my hand free of Casteel’s, wanting to go to Seraphena, wishing I knew her well enough to offer comfort. I held myself back and folded my arms tightly. The same anger I’d felt the first time I came here swelled, coating my insides with an icy rage. The eather stirred but I willed it to settle. This wasn’t about me and my anger and disgust.
Casteel shoved a hand through his hair. “How long do you think she was entombed?”
“I really don’t know,” Seraphena mumbled. “Decades?” She placed a trembling hand near the two growths atop Jadis’s stone head. “Over a century? Maybe longer.”
“Ires came to look for Malec two centuries ago,” I said. “But I don’t believe she was entombed for that long.”
Seraphena’s head cut to me. “Why do you say that?”
“Because Isbeth used her to kill Revenants. That was how Coralena died, and that was less than twenty years ago.”