Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
When they come upon tree hangings with unique shapes during their journey, Kieran warns Casteel. They know exactly what they are—the mark of the vicious, cannibalistic people of the land who live outside the Rise. The Dead Bones Clan attacks, and they fight.
Luckily, Kieran isn’t hurt. I would have hated to see that fine skin marred…and there was plenty on display after he shifted. Poppy certainly noticed.
Kieran sees the damage Casteel took during the skirmish and worries about the Prince’s control. He makes it clear that he doesn’t believe Cas when the Prince insists that he’s fine. The arrows did quite a number on him.
Resting in Pompay, Kieran hears Poppy scream and bursts into the room she’s sharing with Casteel. He realizes immediately that he misread the situation and that it was a scream of pleasure, not one of distress. He apologizes and moves to leave until Casteel turns to him, and Kieran sees that the Atlantian is starving. He urges Penellaphe to run and moves to make Casteel lunge for him. As usual, she doesn’t listen and tries to talk Casteel down. Luckily, the minute she calls him Hawke, he snaps out of it, apologizes, and walks past Kieran and out the door.
Once Casteel is gone, Kieran checks on Penellaphe, ensuring the Prince didn’t hurt her or force himself on her. When she assures him that she’s fine and asks what happened, Kieran explains that Cas saw him as a threat to her in that moment. He goes on to say that Cas needs to feed, and that he warned him about walking the razor’s edge of control and what would inevitably happen.
Penellaphe and Kieran share many things: that Cas told her about his nightmares, why Kieran believes Cas hasn’t fed, and stories about his and Cas’s shared childhood. When she mentions Shea, intuiting that the friend in Kieran’s story is her, he warns her not to bring Shea up around Cas.
Discussing Casteel later, Kieran tells Penellaphe that he’s happy she finally acknowledged that she cares for Casteel. When she asks him if Cas would have really let her go if she refused to marry him, Kieran tells her that, yes, she could have left, and Casteel would have let her leave, but she wouldn’t have been free of him—because he knows the depth of their connection, even if she hasn’t realized it yet.
With Cas finally agreeing to feed, Kieran referees, monitoring Penellaphe’s heartbeat and making sure Casteel takes enough but not too much. Knowing what will inevitably happen between the two of them after the feeding, he leaves.
I, for one, wish he had stayed. All three of them knew about the Joining by that point; they could have had a practice run, at least. And I know for a fact that Poppy and Casteel knew all sorts of tips and tricks about adding a third to their play from reading my diary. Heck, both Casteel and Kieran had practical knowledge, and I’d bet Poppy would have been totally receptive, if a little shy.
Talking with Alastir after Beckett’s injury, Kieran confirms that Penellaphe did, indeed, intend to kill Casteel when she stabbed him, shocking him and everyone else in the room.
Honestly, if they knew her, they likely wouldn’t have been so surprised.
When word comes that the sky is on fire, Kieran is one of the first to head to the parapets to investigate the claim and is there when Penellaphe arrives. They discuss what it could be and what to do and ultimately decide to wait. Unfortunately, that wait isn’t long. They’re attacked, and Delano is wounded in the skirmish. Kieran stands by as Penellaphe heals him. Later, in a strategy session, Kieran suggests alternate routes the New Haven refugees could take to avoid the Ascended.
To Kieran’s chagrin, Casteel orders him to accompany Alastir over the Skotos Mountains. When he argues and says he should stay with Cas, that his bond and duty necessitate him defending Casteel with his life, the Prince tells him that he’s fast, strong, and will not fail, then tells him that he wants him guarding what is most precious to him—Poppy. When all is said and done, Penellaphe doesn’t end up going, but Kieran knows why Cas wants him to go. He doesn’t want Kieran to sacrifice himself, and he wants to ensure that Alastir can’t thwart what he has planned by going to the King and Queen about the marriage before Casteel has a chance to tell them. They exchange a heartfelt and affectionate goodbye. As he leaves, Kieran turns to Penellaphe and tells her to protect her Prince, calling her Poppy for the first time, thus solidifying that they are friends and that he cares.
Kieran and other reinforcements arrive right in the middle of Poppy’s standoff with Duchess Teerman. As the army moves in to attack, Kieran, in wolven form, nudges Poppy’s hand where the wedding imprint resides. Poppy and Casteel tell him that he missed a lot while he was gone—which he did. The wedding was just one of many things.