Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
But I wasn’t so sure.
“What are you thinking?” Casteel asked after several silent moments.
“I’m thinking many things,” I admitted. “But I know you’re lying.”
Casteel stiffened behind me. “I’m not—”
“I don’t mean that you’re lying to mislead me,” I quickly added. “But you’re lying to protect me. You’re more concerned about the Soul Eater thing than you’re willing to admit. And you’re more worried about your parents’ reactions than you’re willing to say. That is why you want to marry now.”
Casteel still remained tense. “Are you reading my emotions?”
I smiled faintly. “I don’t need to read your thoughts to know any of that.”
He was quiet and then said, “Poppy—”
“Not that you’ve asked, and I’m assuming you were getting around to it, but yes,” I cut him off. “I will marry you in Spessa’s End.”
Chapter 30
“I don’t think this is wise,” Alastir said as he sat in the chair across from Casteel and me the following day.
Casteel stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles. He looked utterly at ease but I knew better. I hadn’t opened my senses. Part of me was half afraid that if I did, I would start glowing silver even though I hadn’t when I tested it out on Casteel upon returning to our rooms the night before.
But I knew.
It was as if I had opened myself up to him. There were no tastes in the back of my throat, but I knew he was annoyed with Alastir and struggling to remain patient. I knew he was also bored with the conversation five seconds after it began. These were not speculations. I knew this to be true, because when I did open myself up to him, I felt those exact emotions.
Just like I had when I woke this morning to Casteel watching me from where he lay beside me and knew he was hungry. Not for blood. Hungry like he had been when we stood outside Vonetta’s house. What I’d felt from him had brought forth a heady reaction from my body, and when he left the bed without touching me, I felt his confusion.
Then, when Vonetta showed up with clothing that I had yet to go through and a basket of powdery doughnuts, I’d looked at her and had known that she felt no ill feelings toward me. There was curiosity and a low-level buzz of wariness, but she didn’t distrust or dislike me. When I opened my senses to her, what I felt confirmed that.
And now, I could feel Alastir’s dismay simply by looking at him. It was thick like curdled milk.
What I felt was not my imagination, that much I knew. This was my abilities changing yet again, possibly even growing stronger.
“I do not think you should marry without the King’s and Queen’s permission,” Alastir said.
“You know I don’t need their permission.”
“But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t request it. Even if they reject this marriage, you can still proceed, but at least you would be doing so with their knowledge,” Alastir argued. “Marrying here or in Saion’s Cove without their consent or knowledge will cause a spectacle, Casteel.”
“It would only cause a spectacle if people realize they were unaware.” Casteel crossed his arms. “Which is something no one should realize since it’s not improbable for me to have sent word home to them.”
Alastir leaned forward. “Casteel, I really think—”
“You’re not going to change his mind,” I interjected, nearly as weary with the conversation as Casteel was.
“And what about yours?” Alastir demanded. “Would you wish to meet your future mother-in-law before or after you’ve married her son? Or does what you want even matter?”
The pulse of fury from Casteel was a warning, but it was my irritation with that question that led me to say, “If I hadn’t agreed with Casteel, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation with you.”
“Penellaphe, trust me when I say that this is not something either of you needs to rush into,” he said, gentling his voice, but I felt a thread of…anger that was not mine or Casteel’s. “You have time. All the time in the world.”
But we didn’t. “In a perfect world, I would’ve loved to have been courted in a way that didn’t involve kidnappings or fleeing the Ascended.”
“Or being stabbed,” Casteel murmured under his breath.
I turned to him.
He winked.
He actually winked at me.
Taking a deep breath, I focused on Alastir. “But that is not the real world. The reality is that I’d rather marry before learning all the ways his parents will most likely object,” I told him, and that was the gods’ honest truth. Temporary or not, who in their right mind would want to subject themselves to that?
Alastir’s features softened. “You don’t know that they will.”
“Yes. I do,” I stated, aware of Casteel’s gaze and the absence of the all-too-brief amusement. I sat forward. “The only people here who have been even remotely friendly to me are the wolven and some of the men who traveled with you. None of the people of Spessa’s End have, and I know exactly how they feel about me.”