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)
APPROVAL = buttery cake
ATTRACTION and AROUSAL = spicy and smoky
CONCERN = too-thick cream
CONDESCENSION = scalds throat and stings eyes
CONFLICT = tart and lemony
CONFUSION = tart and lemony
CONTRITION = vanilla
CURIOSITY = spring-fresh lemon
DESIRE = spicy and smoky
DESPERATION = burns
DETERMINATION = salty and nutty, sometimes oaky like whiskey
DISLIKE = sour
DISTRUST = bitter
EMBARRASSMENT = very sweet
EMPATHY = warm
EXCITEMENT = bubbly water or champagne
EXHAUSTION = gritty
FEAR = acrid like bitter melon
FRUSTRATION = prickly
FURY = hot and acidic but can be icy
GUILT = sour
HATRED = hot and acidic but can be icy
HELPLESSNESS = bitter, similar to anguish or like hot, choking smoke
HORROR = bitter
IRRITATION = acidic
LOVE = chocolate and berries
LUST = spicy, smoky, and warm
PAIN = physical feels hot, emotional feels cold
PANIC = bitter
PRIDE = like empathy but richer and warmer cinnamon
RAGE = hot and acidic, can be icy
RELIEF = earthy, woodsy, and refreshing
RESOLVE = salty and nutty
SADNESS = tart and tangy
SHAME = sour and itchy/confining
SHOCK = icy, cool, and slippery
SINCERITY = warm and comforting vanilla
SORROW = heavy and bitter
STRESS = like too-thick, heavy cream
SURPRISE = cool
TERROR = feels similar to pain
UNCERTAINTY/UNEASE = tart and lemony but biting at times
WONDER = bubbly and sugary
WORRY = too-thick cream
This extraordinary woman with a weakness for cheese and strawberries started her life as a sheltered and sequestered Maiden. The title meant she was supposedly Chosen by the gods and was thus hidden behind a veil while merely a child, bound to rules that gave her no say in matters of her life. Until she meets Hawke Flynn, a.k.a Prince Casteel “Cas” Hawkethrone Da’Neer.
Once he enters her life, eventually sparking a love she fears will never be reciprocated, she vows never to hide herself again—even when she’s more afraid of herself than anything.
With everything she has ever been taught or believed unraveling as a series of sinister lies, her powers growing, the love between her and Cas getting stronger by the day, and the truths of her heritage coming to light in pieces at every turn, Poppy learns to compartmentalize, process, and accept in record time. But she still struggles with the big truths—that Isbeth, a demis, is her mother, and that she—Poppy—is a god, a Primal born of mortal flesh, the Primal of Blood and Bone, and the true Primal of Life and Death.
Her journey has been harrowing, to say the least, and I’ve recorded as much as I can—both things that have come to pass and those I’ve seen via my gift. The bottom line, however? Her future, only some of which was foretold, is still very much hers to write…
POPPY’S JOURNEY TO DATE:
Born of the demis, Isbeth, and the god, Ires, Penellaphe is raised by Revenant Handmaiden Coralena Balfour and her viktor husband, Leopold.
Cora and Leo attempt to flee with Poppy—only age six at the time—and her brother, Ian—Cora and Leo’s biological son—to remove them from Isbeth’s influence, stopping at an inn in Lockswood for the night. While there, a supposed friend, a wolven by the name of Alastir Davenwell, believing Poppy to be a threat to Atlantia, betrays them, paving the way for Prince Malik Elian Da’Neer to destroy her. The Dark One considers her the harbinger of death and destruction set to lay waste to both kingdoms as the prophecy foretold. But when Malik sees the Consort—Poppy’s ancestor, Seraphena—in her eyes, he hesitates to kill her, already struggling with the idea of taking a child’s life. He eventually returns her to Carsodonia, but before then, given the deaths at the inn, the Craven follow the blood trail and eventually attack, causing even more destruction.
Unlike most who suffer a cursed turning or death after being bitten, Poppy survives the Craven attack at the inn, lending credence to the story she is told about being Chosen by the gods. The truth there is that Atlantians cannot be turned if bitten. And she is so much more than that. She is a god. A Primal. Though that is something she does not discover for a while.
For the majority of her life, Poppy believes the Craven killed her parents in Lockswood that night. Which actually isn’t true. Isbeth killed Cora sometime later by forcing her to drink draken blood, and Leo was likely sent to Mount Lotho to await his viktor rebirth.
However, now orphaned and returned to the capital, the Queen eventually sends Penellaphe to Castle Teerman, where they shroud her under the veil of the Maiden and sequester her, awaiting her nineteenth birthday and the first Ascension since the War of Two Kings—something she is told will heal the Kingdom of Solis. All of that is also a lie. And even more unfortunate, during her time in Masadonia, Poppy is subjected to the tyrannical rule and cruel abuse of Duke Dorian Teerman as his wife, Duchess Jacinda, turns a blind eye.
Afraid of her Ascension and deeply craving freedom and the right to choose, Poppy secretly hopes she’ll be found unworthy by the gods.