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)
Kieran sighed. “Good point.”
“Perhaps you should both speak with him,” I suggested. “To make sure he doesn’t do anything.”
“Good idea.” Tawny plopped back down. “Then Poppy and I can have some alone time.”
Casteel’s gaze swept over us. “Why do I feel like that would be a bad idea?”
“You probably think everything is a bad idea,” she retorted, reaching for the wine with a tilt of her head. “You probably only enjoy bad ideas.”
“Go,” I urged before Casteel could respond to that. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He hesitated.
“She’s not.” Tawny topped off my glass and then hers. “I will attach myself to her like a tree bear.”
“That won’t be necessary,” I told her.
“We shall see.”
Casteel exhaled, briefly glancing at Kieran and then me. Poppy…
I’m not going to run off to Pensdurth, I assured him.
Promise me.
The hand resting in my lap curled into a fist. I promise.
And I wouldn’t break that promise. At least not tonight. But if we heard nothing by tomorrow? I would go.
He hesitated for a handful of seconds and then bent forward to cup my cheek, his lips brushing over mine. “Behave.”
Tawny snorted.
Pushing back from his chair, he stood. “Let’s go talk to my brother.”
Kieran walked around the table and stopped at my side. He stood there silently for a moment as Casteel stepped off the platform.
I peeked up at him.
He waited.
I sighed. “I’m not going anywhere. I swear.”
“You’d better not,” he said, squeezing the back of my neck.
Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms. Kieran nodded at Tawny and joined Casteel.
The moment the door closed behind them, Tawny looked at me. “I half-expected Kieran to kiss you before he left.”
“I’m not even going to respond to that,” I muttered, picking up my glass.
Tawny giggled. “I thought the Da’Neer brothers were about to engage in fisticuffs.”
“Fisticuffs?”
Her head bobbed. “Are your suppers always that entertaining?”
My thoughts flashed to the one in New Haven when Casteel had announced his intention to marry me. “They can be even more…entertaining.”
Her eyes widened. “Do tell?”
“Sometimes, people start their suppers with their hearts in their chest.” I took a drink of the sweet wine. “And end them missing said heart and dead.”
“Oh.” Tawny looked away. “Wow.”
I smiled.
“So.” Tawny drew out the word. “You going to tell me what Nyktos forbade Reaver from telling you?”
My grip tightened on the glass.
“If not, I’m going to be offended, and you know how I get when I’m offended,” she added. “It will probably end with one or both of us not behaving. Then Casteel will never leave you alone with me.” She turned in her chair, flashing the widest eyes possible. “Do you want to be responsible for that?”
I shot her a bland look.
“And do you want to stress me out?” she tacked on.
“How am I stressing you out?”
“Because I know something is stressing you out. Except for the whole Ascended business, you were weirdly quiet and, I don’t know, still throughout dinner. And you’re never still.”
I frowned.
“I have a feeling that whatever made you quiet has to do with what wasn’t said. How do I know? Because after Reaver said he always knew, you went quiet and still again.”
Inhaling a deep, slow breath, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I…” A hoarse laugh parted my lips. “It’s going to sound impossible.”
“Good thing I believe in the impossible,” she replied. “I mean, look at me. How can I not?”
I did look at her. I knew I should take this time to tell her what I’d done to her—why she believed in the impossible. But when I spoke, it wasn’t about that. “Do you know the legend of Sotoria?”
CHAPTER 44
POPPY
What was I doing?
No answer came to me as I stood with my eyes closed, the unseasonably cool breeze tugging at some strands of hair that had escaped my braid.
I’d asked myself that a hundred times since Casteel left to see if any word had come from his father or the others at Pensdurth and to speak with his brother more regarding our new plans surrounding the Ascended. He’d asked if I wanted to go with him.
I politely declined and came here.
Though I didn’t know why. As Queen, I should be checking with him. Guilt churned.
Casteel had hesitated when I said no, and I knew he wanted to ask if I was okay. As Tawny would say, I’d been quiet and still this morning.
But she took over that role last night when I told her about Sotoria. She was shocked and disturbed, even though she tried not to show it. Who wouldn’t be?
I hadn’t thought to ask Casteel about Malik, and if he had convinced him not to go to Pensdurth, and as a wife—his partner—I should have. That added to the roiling my stomach was doing. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I did. The very last thing I wanted was for Malik to run off and get himself killed. And I was worried he had a reason to: That Kolis had summoned the Revenants, and Millicent had gone, unable to resist his influence. My chest squeezed so tight it felt like no air could get in.