Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
My brows lifted. “I think you’re both right. It’s a risk either way.” I smiled as Casteel placed a glistening strawberry near my fork. “Do we have any idea how many Blood Crown soldiers remain?”
“From our estimates, about thirty percent were killed after the battle at the Bone Temple,” Kieran said, his brows pinching.
My stomach twisted. That many died? While I had been sleeping? I sat back, stunned. It wasn’t that I didn’t expect people to die. I knew they would. But… “Where and when did that occur?”
“Much of it happened immediately after the battle while we were in the vaults beneath Wayfair and then in skirmishes beyond the capital as they fled,” Casteel explained. “The rest were those who refused to disavow the Blood Crown.”
“Did we suffer any losses then?”
“About five thousand,” Kieran confirmed.
My heart sank even further. It could’ve been worse. Many more than that had died during the battle at the Bone Temple—many whom I cared dearly for. They were all given a second chance thanks to the Queen of the Gods and Nyktos…and me, but it still hurt to think that second chance was short-lived. “How many disavowed the Blood Crown?”
“I believe…” Kieran squinted. “About fifteen thousand.”
I swallowed. “That’s all?”
“It’s more than I expected,” Casteel noted, biting into the first berry he picked from the bowl without paying much attention to it.
His comment surprised me. He’d spent time with the men when he was a Rise Guard. “But those are mortals, many who came from the poorest areas of each city and joined the Crown Guard as a way to escape poverty or were given no choice,” I reasoned. “You know they didn’t lift their swords out of love for the Blood Crown.”
“That may be true for many of them.” Casteel’s fingers absently traced the stem of his glass. “But you know they were raised to fear Atlantians—entire generations of their families told lies. We are their enemies and have yet to prove that we are different or show what our rule means.”
And if we lost our hold on Carsodonia, other Ascended and those who support Kolis would rise to take Isbeth’s place. All who renounced the Blood Crown would then face repercussions, both for themselves and their families.
“But it goes deeper for many, even those treated the most unfairly by the Blood Crown.” His fingers stilled, and his gaze met mine. “They were still bound by the oath they made—an oath to their kingdom that gave them a purpose. An identity. To them, disavowing the Blood Crown meant disavowing an intrinsic part of who they are. For many, that is all they have.”
Taking in what he’d said, my hands lowered to my lap, and I sat back. Several moments passed as I stared at the food on my plate. “I didn’t expect everyone who stood against us to suddenly stand with us. I just…”
“You just don’t want to see lives lost unnecessarily,” Casteel finished, and I nodded. “They weren’t.”
My gaze shot back to him.
“Those who violently or…aggressively refused to swear allegiance to Atlantia had to be dealt with, but the others who simply refused? Minds are not impossible to change.” Casteel took a sip. “They may have chosen wrong now, but they could choose differently in the future. We,” he said, glancing at Kieran, “knew you would’ve wanted to give them a chance.”
I exhaled roughly, relieved and so damn lucky to have them both. “I do,” I said, knowing they would also want to give the mortals a chance in place of senseless slaughter.
“The soldiers could not be left to roam freely,” Kieran said.
“Obviously,” I murmured, my brow furrowing as Casteel reached over and nudged my plate. It hit me when I picked up my fork. Had they been sent to the mines? My grip tightened. Yes, some willingly chose to work the mines, which was using the word willingly liberally, but it did pay better than other jobs. Prisoners weren’t generally paid by the Blood Crown, though. And those who were sent to the mines as punishment were forced to provide backbreaking—and often deadly—free labor. I seriously doubted there had been time to sift through the Royal Treasury to see what coin might be there to pay those sent to the mines. No minds would be changed that way. “Please tell me they weren’t sent to the mines in the Elysium Peaks.”
“They were given a choice,” Kieran began. “The mines or Harrowfeld.”
Harrowfeld was more of a penal colony than an actual city, located in the Niel Valley and closer to Three Rivers than the Willow Plains and Ironspire, where the citadel and military dormitories were located. If Harrowfeld was an option, that meant General La’Sere had either seized it before arriving in Carsodonia or after I went into stasis.
Something else occurred to me then. “How are the prisons in Atlantia? I never asked about that.”