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 Poppy tries to negotiate and says they can have her if they let Kieran and Reaver go, he refuses to be separated from her. The Revenant reveals that they’re not prisoners, and it takes Kieran by surprise, only to be cut short by Poppy succumbing to a shadowstone wound. He barely catches her before she falls unconscious.
Two days later, Poppy finally wakes, and he reveals that he tried to give her blood while she was out. He also informs her that Reaver is in the chamber below them and that the golden fuck as he calls Callum, tried to separate him from her. Once she’s more coherent, Poppy reveals they are in her old rooms at Wayfair. He tells her they’ve brought Reaver to him whenever he demanded it, that the draken is actually behaving himself, and that they’ve been taken care of but never left without guards. He mentions that the Royal Knights are everywhere, but they’re the only Ascended he’s seen so far. Only Millie—the Revenant Handmaiden—and Callum have interacted with him and Reaver.
He brings Poppy up to speed by telling her that their armies should be at New Haven or even Whitebridge by now—approximately three to four days out—and that if they don’t return to Three Rivers as planned, Valyn will come looking for them. He also inquires as to how far away Poppy can communicate telepathically with Delano. She thinks if she can access the Rise, she might be able to reach him. Since he was stripped of his weapons when they arrived, Poppy offers Kieran her dagger, but he refuses.
Millie escorts Kieran and Poppy to the Great Hall, flanked by four Handmaidens and six Royal Knights. Isbeth enters the hall on a litter, which utterly disgusts Kieran. But what really takes him aback is when he sees Malik with her.
Seeing and sensing Poppy’s reaction to everything the Queen babbles on about, Kieran warns her not to do anything rash and tells her to remain calm no matter what happens. The Blood Queen has a frail young woman brought in for the Royal Blessing, and it horrifies Kieran. He knows what the spectacle really means. They use Atlantian blood to make it appear as if the Blood Crown has the gods’ blessing and that their touch can heal. But he knows it’s not a cure at all. It’s only a reprieve from whatever ails the one being blessed.
When the Blood Queen approaches, Kieran refuses to bow to her but stiffens as Malik accompanies Isbeth. He tries to bait him by calling him Prince, and the Queen stymies him by telling him that he looks as scrumptious as the last time she saw him.
I agree with dear Isbeth, but she did not mean it the way I would if speaking with our handsome wolven.
Callum arrives to take Poppy to Cas as requested, but they won’t let Kieran go with her. As they lead her away, Kieran tells her that he’ll be listening for her, insinuating that he will be in wolven form so he can hear her via the notam. Later, she lets him know that both she and Cas are okay. However, he isn’t so sure about Cas. He can’t imagine how he could be all right. Not long after, Poppy reaches out again and tells him they need to get Cas out immediately, relaying that he’s underground and somewhere near the Temple before suggesting they go through the mines.
During their escape, Kieran runs into Poppy on the third-floor landing of the turret’s spiral staircase and asks if she conjured the mist. They intuit that the screams they hear are Reaver’s doing, and Kieran tells her they’ll discuss the mist more later—it’s not the time now as they have less than a minute before they end up getting locked inside.
Reaver joins them, covered in blood, and Kieran leads them both out onto the breezeway after a fight with some knights and guards. He warns Poppy to conserve her energy and tells her that Cas will need her to be strong. As they watch Reaver dispatch some knights, he asks Poppy to remind him to stop antagonizing the draken.
As the mist keeps everyone busy, they make a plan to enter the tunnels. When they get to the Temple’s cella and the candles roar to life, Reaver tells them it’s because of Poppy and the blood she carries within her. Kieran turns and tells her she’s “so very special.”
Malik comes up behind them, and Kieran is immediately ready to fight the Prince, even commenting that he’s only a little conflicted about handling the inconvenience Malik poses. Kieran laughs when Malik insinuates that he’s taking a huge risk and then tells them to trust him. The Prince then goes on to say that what he’s done has all been for Millicent because she is his heartmate. It stuns Kieran. His distrust of Malik is as strong as his reluctant need to believe that his one-time friend hasn’t entirely forsaken his family and kingdom for the Blood Crown. He goes through a significant internal struggle, toggling between anger, hope, disappointment, and uncertainty.