A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire(110)
It had to be a Royal.
The door opened, and someone stepped out—someone so heavily cloaked that when they moved around the door, I could not tell if it was a man or a woman who walked forward, flanked by knights. Whoever it was, took their sweet old time, stopping once they stood in front of the soldiers. Gloved hands rose, shoving back the hood.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I muttered under my breath.
Duchess Teerman stood before the Rise, her face as pale and pretty as I remembered, but she wore no finery in her brown hair tonight. It was pulled back from her face in a simple twist as she stared up at the Rise.
And it was then when I truly feared what I would discover when I saw Ian with my own eyes. Duchess Teerman had been kind—well, she had never been particularly cruel to me. She’d been as cold and unreachable as most Ascended were, but when I killed Lord Mazeen, she had told me not to waste a moment more thinking of him. I believed that perhaps she too had been a victim of the Duke’s perversities. Maybe she had been, but the fact that she was here could only mean one thing.
She was the enemy.
Would that make Ian one, too?
Her berry-red lips curved into a tight, humorless smile. “Hawke Flynn,” she said, her voice too familiar as I quietly nocked an arrow. “Or is there another name you prefer?”
“It doesn’t matter what name you call me,” he answered, sounding about as bored as Kieran did during, well, everything.
“It would be rude if I called you by a false name,” she replied, clasping her hands together. The soldiers and knights remained silent and still behind her. “I don’t want to be rude.”
“I go by several names. The Dark One. Bastard. Cas. Prince Casteel Da’Neer,” he said, and there was no mistaking the slight widening of her eyes. She hadn’t known that—who he truly was. “Call me whatever you like as long as you know it will be my voice that will be the last sound you hear.”
“Prince Casteel,” she spoke the words as if she’d been presented with an entire chocolate cake…or with an elemental Atlantian. She laughed. “Oh, I’ve heard all about you from our Queen and King. They always wondered where you disappeared to. What happened to you. Now I can tell them that their favorite pet is well and alive.”
Pet? The grip of the bow dug into my palm.
“You know, I might just let you live, Duchess. Just so you can return to your King and Queen to let them know their favorite pet cannot wait to see them again.”
Teerman smiled even broader. “I’ll be sure to do so. That is if you allow me to live.” There was a coyness to her tone that skated across my nerves. Was she flirting with him? “But before you get to the killing, I’m here to prevent death.”
“Is that so?” Casteel asked.
She nodded. “You have to know that there are more than those who stand behind me.” A hand extended with all the elegance of a ballroom dancer. “One of your dogs made it back to you, did he not? The other, well, our horses have been well fed.”
Nausea seized me. She couldn’t be serious. I wanted to vomit.
“You know that we outnumber whatever you have behind those walls. There can’t be many living in ruins,” she said, giving away the knowledge that she knew very little of Spessa’s End. That eased some of the horror churning within me. “Even if it were hundreds of Descenters with a few—albeit one less—overgrown mutts, you will not walk away from this. So, I am here to prevent that.”
“And I am here to tell you that if you refer to a wolven as a dog one more time, I will strike you down before those knights have a chance to blink,” Casteel warned.
“My apologies.” Teerman bowed her head. “I meant no offense.”
Really? I rolled my eyes so hard that it was no wonder they didn’t get stuck back there.
“I do hope we can come to an agreement. Believe it or not, spilled blood makes me squeamish,” she said. “It’s so…wasteful. So, most of my armies have remained back in a show of good faith. In hopes that you will listen.”
“It doesn’t appear as if I have the choice not to listen. So, please. Speak.”
The Duchess heard the insolence in his tone. It showed in the tensing of her jaw. “You have what belongs to us. We want it back. Give us the Maiden.”
Belonged to them? It? I drew on every ounce of willpower I had not to lift the bow and send a bloodstone arrow straight through her mouth.
“Give the Maiden back to us, and we will leave this pit of bones untouched for you to cross back to whatever remains of your once-great kingdom.”
If her words represented the entirety of the Ascended, they truly had no idea what they were up against. What kind of hailstorm could descend upon them if something did happen to Atlantia’s Prince.
“And if I did, you would just walk away? Allow me and mine to live?”
“For now? Yes. You’re far too valuable to kill if we can capture you, but right now, the Maiden is the priority.” Her pitch-black eyes reflected no light. “And there will be more chances to capture you later. You’ll be back. For your brother, correct? Isn’t that why you took our Maiden? To ransom her for him?”
Casteel stiffened, and the fact that he remained silent was evidence of his willpower.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there will be no ransom. You either give her to us or…”
When Casteel said nothing, she inclined her head, searching the battlements. “Penellaphe? Is she up there? I’ve heard you have grown quite…familiar with her.”
Casteel said nothing as I stared down at her, not allowing myself to think too hard on how she could’ve learned that.
“If you are up there, Penellaphe, please say something. Show yourself,” she called. “I know you must think terrible things of us now, about our Queen and King. But I can explain everything. We can keep you safe as we always have.” Her gaze flickered past where Casteel stood. “I know you miss your brother. He’s learned of your capture, and he’s sick with worry. I can bring you to him.”
I almost stepped forward, almost opened my mouth. She knew how to get to me, but she also must’ve thought I was an incredible imbecile if she thought that would work.
“Do you know what happened to the last Ascended who came looking for the Maiden?” Casteel asked.
“I do,” Duchess Teerman replied. “That will not happen here.”
“Are you sure?” he retorted. “Because what you seek never belonged to you in the first place.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Teerman countered. “She belongs to the Queen.”
My self-control snapped, and I moved before I could stop myself, reaching the battlement as I said, “I belong to no one, and especially not her.”
Casteel slowly turned his head toward me. “This is not staying unseen,” he said in a low voice. “In case you’re unsure.”
“Sorry,” I muttered.
Duchess Teerman’s tight, toothless smile returned. “There you are. You were up there this entire time. Why didn’t you say something earlier?” She held up her hand. “No need to answer that. I’m sure it’s because of what you’ve been told—one very biased side of the story.”
“I’ve heard enough to know the truth,” I told her. “Have those who stand behind you? Do the soldiers know the truth of what you are? Of what the King and the Queen are?”
“You have no idea what Queen Ileana is, and neither does the false Prince standing beside you,” she replied. “And you’re wrong, Penellaphe. You belong to the Queen. Just like the first Maiden did.”
“The first Maiden? The one I supposedly killed but never met?” Casteel demanded. “The one that probably doesn’t even exist?”
“I may have insinuated that you were directly responsible for her fate,” the Duchess replied. “But the first Maiden was very real, and she too belonged to the Queen. Just like you do, Penellaphe. As did your mother.”
“My mother?” The string of the bow was taut between my fingers as I kept the arrow pointed down. “My mother was her friend. Or at least that was what I was told.”
“Your mother was so much more than that,” she called back. “I’ll tell you everything about her—about you.”
“She knows nothing,” Casteel said. “The Ascended are masters of manipulation.”
“I know.” And I did. “There is nothing you can say that I will believe. I know about the Rite. I know what happens to the third sons and daughters. I know how the Ascension works. I know why you need me.”
“But do you know that your mother was Queen Ileana’s daughter? That you are the Queen’s granddaughter? That is why you are the Maiden. The Chosen.”
My lips parted on a sharp inhale.
“You’re not even a good liar,” Casteel snarled. “What you’re suggesting is impossible. Ascended cannot have children.”
The Duchess tilted her head. “Who said that Queen Ileana is an Ascended?”
“Every Ascended in Solis has claimed as much. Your history books have stated it,” I exclaimed. “The Queen herself has called herself an Ascended. Are you seriously trying to say she is not what she is? When she does not age? When she does not walk in the sun?”