A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire(123)

A city sprawled ahead, dipping and flowing with the valleys and hills—a city twice the size of Carsodonia. White and sand-colored structures gleamed under the sun, arcing gracefully with the landscape, some square and others circular. Some rose high, stretching into sleek towers, while others were buildings as wide as they were tall, and some remained closer to the ground. They reminded me of the Temples in Solis, but they weren’t fashioned to mirror the night but to reflect the sun—to worship it. The roof of every building that I could see was green. Trees rose from them, vines swept down their sides, and bursts of color came from all sides.

Unlike the capital of Solis, where the city was stone and dirt, flashes of green surrounded buildings. Just as it had been in Spessa’s End, no building appeared stacked on top of one another, crowded to the point where they could barely fit. At least not from what I could gather from this distance.

Beyond the city, where specks of white grazed in open pastures, past the heavily wooded area that followed, was a mountain that did disappear into the clouds. And in the face of that mountain were eleven statues that had to be as tall as the Atheneum in Masadonia. Each one held a lit torch from their outstretched arm, the flames burning as brightly as the setting sun.

These were the gods—all of them—watching over the city or standing guard.

I couldn’t even begin to figure out how those statues were built to that size, raised onto the mountain. Or even how those torches were lit—how they remained lit.

“Saion’s Cove is beautiful, isn’t it?” Casteel didn’t need to ask. It was the most beautiful city I’d ever seen, and I could imagine what the capital looked like. “You can’t see the sea from here, but it’s beyond the trees, to our right.”

Thoughts of warm sand and salty air tugged at my heart as I followed his gaze. I saw the tops of columns through the trees. “What is in there?”

“The Chambers of Nyktos,” he answered. “You can see the Seas of Saion from there, and the Isles of Bele,” he added. “And, yes, the Goddess of the Hunt slumbers there.

“I have so many questions.”

“There is not a single person surprised to hear that,” Kieran remarked.

Delano laughed as he turned his head to the sky, basking in the sun.

A bell tolled, startling me. Leaves rattled as a flock of birds took flight from the nearby trees, their feathers a vivid green and blue. The bell tolled five more times.

I tensed. “Is something happening?” I looked around, and no one appeared concerned. I only ever heard a bell ring when there was an attack or something afoot.

Jasper smiled at me. “It is only telling the time. It’s six in the evening,” he explained. “It’ll ring every hour until midnight and then resume at eight.”

“Oh.” That was clever. Ahead, I noticed someone on horseback riding toward us.

Casteel slowed the horse as Jasper said, “Here comes the welcoming party of one.”

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Alastir,” he told me. “He must’ve been waiting for us.”

The advisor to the King and Queen arrived within a few minutes, a smile softening the deep scar in his forehead.

“You cannot believe how relieved I am to see you. All of you,” Alastir said, and the strangest thing happened.

A shivery feeling of icy fingers danced across the back of my neck. Gods, he sounded so much like Vikter, but—

“You must tell me what became of Spessa’s End.” Alastir drew his horse up to our side, clasping Casteel’s hand. “But I must warn you.” His voice dropped low. “Your father and mother are here, and your arrival was spotted. They know you’ve come home.”

My stomach fell beyond my feet. I hadn’t planned on meeting his parents this quickly. They were supposed to be in the capital.”

Casteel was of like mind. “What are they doing here?”

“They came as soon as they learned of the trouble in Spessa’s End. Your damn father was about to cross the mountain. I assured him that our forces would make it…” He trailed off as he caught sight of the ring on Casteel’s left hand. He turned Casteel’s palm upward. His skin blanched. “You did it.” He twisted in his saddle, looking toward my left hand. His gaze met mine. “You actually did it.”

“We did,” Casteel said. “Just like we told you.”

“You missed it,” Jasper chimed in as I picked up on the disbelief and concern radiating from Alastir. Which wasn’t surprising. He’d wanted us to wait until Casteel spoke with his parents. “Day turned to night at the end of the ceremony. Nyktos gave his approval.”

Alastir blinked as if he hadn’t expected that. “Well, that is…that is good news. Perhaps that will be of aid when the King and Queen are made aware, but I need to speak with you Casteel, in private.”

“Whatever you need to say to me, you can say in front of my wife,” Casteel replied, and my already unstable stomach flipped.

Wife.

Why was that such a shock to hear? It was a pleasant surprise, though.

“This is a conversation regarding the kingdom and I mean no offense, but she is not a part of the Crown yet,” Alastir replied. “Nor privy to such information.”

Casteel stiffened behind me, and I knew he was about to push back, and the last thing I wanted was him to be standing here arguing with Alastir about what I was privy to when his parents arrived.

“It’s okay. No offense taken,” I said, tapping his arm. “I would like to stretch my legs a bit anyway.”

Casteel wasn’t at all happy about that, but Beckett offered, “I can show her the Chambers of Nyktos. It’s not very far from here,” he said. “That is, if you’d like.”

“I would like that,” I readily agreed, latching on to the offer as if it were a lifeline. “That’s what I would like to do.”

“Then that’s what you will do,” Casteel replied.

My heart was pumping so fast as Casteel dismounted and helped me get down that I wouldn’t have been surprised if I fainted. How embarrassing would that be? The first time to faint…at the feet of my father and mother-in-law, the former the King who still planned to use me as a message.

But that would change. It had to. Not just because the gods favored me, but because what Casteel and I shared was real.

“One second.” Casteel motioned at Beckett as Quentyn went to the young wolven’s side. He drew me slightly away from the others, under the shade of one of the nearby trees. “I’m sorry about this,” he said. “I had no idea they’d be here. I wanted to give you some time before I introduced you. That was what I planned.”

“I know, and honestly, I’m glad that Alastir was here to warn us and that he wants to talk to you. It will give me some time to…I don’t know.” I felt my cheeks flush. “Prepare myself.”

“You don’t need to be nervous.”

“Really?” I replied dryly.

“I’m trying to be helpful.” A half-grin appeared and then vanished. “We’ve faced scarier things than parents caught off guard, and we will face far more frightening things. Just remember that this,”—he picked up my left hand and turned it over—“is real,” he said, echoing my earlier thoughts. “We’re real. No matter what.”

I stared down at the dazzling gold swirl on my palm. “No matter what.”

Curling a finger under my chin, he lifted my head, and his lips found mine. He kissed me, and it was no short peck on the lips. People watched us, but Casteel took his sweet time, and by the time he lifted his head, I felt faint for a whole different reason.

“No matter what,” he repeated.

Nodding, I pulled away from him and turned to where Beckett waited, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“Poppy?”

I turned back to Casteel, and the moment I saw him, I felt the breath I took catch in my throat. The way he stared at me, the intensity in his fiery golden eyes, rooted me to the spot. What I felt from him…it tasted like the smoothest chocolate and the sweetest berries.

Casteel’s chest rose with an uneven breath. “I’ll come for you.”





I love you.

That was what I thought Casteel was going to say. That was what I felt from him, but those words didn’t pass his lips.

They hadn’t passed mine either.

Whatever disappointment I might’ve felt was quickly lost to wonder as Beckett led me through the woods. The wolven hadn’t been an excited chatterbox, and I could tell he was still wary of me. I picked up the faint trace of fear from him, and I imagined he was challenging himself to get past that by offering to take me to the Chambers.

The trees were full of the calls and chirps of birds, but as Beckett had said, the Chambers weren’t that far. We left the wooded area fairly quickly.

The structure rose against the deep blue of the sky, the limestone and marble a glistening white in the sun.

We walked through a short field of tiny blue and yellow flowers. The closer I got, the more I realized how large the temple still was. It was nearly the length of Castle Teerman.

“Good gods,” I said, glancing at Beckett. “This thing is huge.”