A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire(29)

But I had seen the walls of the chamber underground. I’d seen Casteel’s scars. I’d had my suspicions before I even met him. I knew that what he claimed was true. I didn’t need to see or know anything else to believe that.

“And you plan to allow the Ascended to live? Who would rule Solis then?” I cut myself off because I wanted to ask: what about Ian?

“To prevent war and repeat history, they would have to be allowed to live. Things would have to change, though. No more Rites. No more mysterious deaths. They would need to control themselves.”

“And you believe that can happen? You said it takes months, if not longer—”

“But they can control themselves. They already do in some cases, and a lot of Ascended are old enough to do so. They can make their bite pleasurable. They can feed without killing. I’m sure many would volunteer. Or the Ascended could even pay for the service. Either way, if they want to live, they will need to control their bloodlust. The fact that they are not the Cravens they create is proof that they can. They just never had a reason to do so.”

“Do you think it will work?” I asked.

“It’s the only way the Ascended have a chance of survival,” he said.

But if he was wrong—if he failed? If his brother was already gone? I looked up at him and could say with a hundred percent certainty that he would kill them all or die trying.

My throat constricted. “And afterward, with or without your brother, I’m free?”

He met my gaze. “You will be free to do as you choose.”

“So, this marriage will not be…real?”

There was a beat of silence before he said, “It’s as real as you believe anything about me is.”

He wasn’t looking at me then. His attention was once again fixed on the flames. The line of his jaw was like marble. “I truly have no idea what that’s supposed to mean,” I admitted, folding my legs under the blanket. “How will I be free if we marry?”

“I will grant a divorce if that is what you decide.”

I gasped before I could stop myself. Divorces were practically unheard of in Solis. They had to go before the Court to even petition to have one, and it was, more often than not, rejected. “Is divorce common in Atlantia?” I asked.

“No,” he answered. “What is uncommon is for two Atlantians to marry who don’t love one another. But when people do change along with their love, they may divorce.”

I got snagged on the whole part about marrying when there was no love being uncommon. If it was so rare, then how could he so easily go into a union   with someone he obviously didn’t love? The answer was easy. He would do anything for his brother.

“So, this marriage isn’t real.” I drew in a shallow breath. “And what if I refuse? What if I say no?”

“I hope that won’t be the case, especially after everything you’ve seen. But this way, you won’t be used to send a message to the Ascended, and you won’t be used by them. It’s a way out.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “It’s not a perfect one, but it is one.”

It…it was a way out. A windy, twisting one, but I knew that if he had never come for me, I would be in Masadonia, veiled and suspicious, but having no real idea of the horror that was happening—the future I was going to meet. Casteel wasn’t a blessing in disguise. I didn’t know what he was, but nothing would have been okay if he hadn’t entered my life.

I lifted my chin. “And what if I still say no?”

“I won’t force you to marry me, Poppy. What I already have to force from you is…distasteful enough, given everything that was taken from you before you even met me.” His chest rose with a heavy breath. “If you refuse, I don’t know. I’ll have to find another way to free my brother and somehow hide you away so that no one, including my people, can get their hands on you.”

Surprise flickered through me, and without thinking, I reached out to him, reading his emotions, searching for a hint of scheming or slyness. Anything to indicate that he wasn’t being truthful. What I felt was sadness, heavier and thicker than before, and I tasted something sour in my mouth, something that left me with the sensation of wanting to shed my skin.

Shame.

I felt shame coming from him, and it wasn’t buried deep. It was there, just below the surface. “You…you don’t like this, do you? The situation I’m in—that we’re in.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw once more, but he said nothing.

“That’s why you aren’t just hauling me straight to the capital right now, demanding the exchange,” I said. “That would be quicker. It would be easier—”

“There would be nothing easy about giving you to them.” His eyes flashed an intense amber before he looked away. “And stop reading my emotions. It’s a bit rude.”

My brows lifted. “And forcing me to drink your blood wasn’t?”

“I was saving your life,” he groused.

“Maybe I’m saving yours by reading your emotions,” I shot back, pulling my senses back in.

Casteel pinned me with a dry look. “Please explain how you came to that conclusion.”

“Because it’s a relief to know that you wouldn’t force my hand in marriage.” And it did loosen some of the tension knotting in my chest. “It doesn’t change the lies and everything else, but it does at least dampen my near murderous rage.” And the soul-shattering disappointment, but I wasn’t sharing that. “So, I might not actually try to sever your head while you sleep.”

His lips twitched. “But no promises?”

I didn’t dignify that with a response. “So, you will tell everyone we’re getting married, and I’m supposed to act as if that is the case when we’re around others? Then once we’re married, we will go to the capital?”

Casteel lifted his head, gaze focused on the wall across from him. “Yes, but we will have to be convincing. It’s not as simple as telling the world we’re to be married. We must marry as soon as we arrive in Atlantia. Before I take you to my parents.”

My stomach hollowed. “Do you think it’s wise to marry before you even tell the King and Queen you’re engaged?”

“Not particularly.” There was a flash of a boyish grin, one I imagined he wore quite a bit when he was younger and about to do something he knew he would get in trouble for. “My parents will be…displeased.”

“Displeased?” I choked on a laugh. “I have a feeling there will be a stronger emotion.”

“Quite possibly. But my parents will seek to delay the marriage until they are sure it’s true. We cannot afford the time it will take to gain their permission—permission I do not need,” he said. “As I said before, my people want retribution. If they think this is a ploy to get back a Prince they have already mourned, and if they value revenge over life, they will try something. Once you become my wife, you will be protected.”

“Your people seem…” I trailed off. His people seemed barbaric, but mine weren’t much better. Whether I claimed the Ascended as my people or not, I had been raised by them. And wouldn’t I be just as violent if I lived every day, knowing that the Ascended could arrive at any time to slaughter without question or punishment? I would be just as wrathful.

A shudder worked its way through me as I stared at his profile, at the taut lines of his face, and the shadows under his eyes. I realized that maybe Casteel and I weren’t all that different. “I understand.”

His gaze flew to mine, his eyes wide. “What?”

“I understand why you’re doing this. They have your brother, who was captured in the process of freeing you,” I told him, my thoughts shifting to Ian. “I can understand that you’d go to extremes to get him back.”

He turned to me. “Really?”

I nodded. “I would do the same. So, I can understand and still not like it. I can hate that I’m nothing more than a pawn to you and still understand why I am.”

“You’re not just a pawn to me, Poppy.”

“Don’t lie,” I told him, my heart squeezing. “That’s not doing either of us any favors.”

He opened his mouth and then closed it, seeming to rethink what he’d been about to say.

“There’s a reason I understand,” I told him. “You would do anything to free your brother, and I will do anything to get back to mine. I’ll agree to this if you promise to help me get to Ian.”

“Poppy—”

“I know what he is, and you know that I have to see what he’s become.”

He turned fully to me. “And what if he has become just like the others?”

“Just because he’s Ascended doesn’t automatically mean he’s evil—don’t.” I lifted a hand when he moved to speak again. “You said that they can control their bloodlust if they want. Many of the Ascended are evil, but just as many were good people before their Ascensions, and they had no idea what the truth was. My brother…” I drew in a shaky breath, squaring my shoulders. “I have to see for myself what he has become. So that is the deal. I will temporarily marry you and help you free your brother if you help me free mine.”