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)
Again, I felt a weird twinge in my chest upon hearing his name.
“How?” she demanded.
“They are Deminyen,” I said. “Or the three of us are, rather.”
Reaver halted mid-slice, and I realized he may not have overheard us when he waited in the hall.
“Deminyen?” Seraphena repeated. Her gaze lowered and then shot back up. “Did the three of you complete a Joining?”
That was the very absolute last question I wanted my grandmother to ask me. I could feel the heat creeping into my cheeks as I forced my voice to level. “Yes. It was, um, a very run-of-the-mill type of Joining.”
“Run-of-the-mill?” Casteel murmured under his breath.
I ignored him.
“It seems to have had some…” Kieran tilted his head to the side. “Unexpected results.”
Seraphena’s laugh was short and throaty, and I felt some of Casteel’s wariness ease. “I would say.” Her smile was a little wider now, more genuine. “This…could be good. Really good.”
“That’s your opinion,” Reaver muttered.
Kieran smirked at him as awareness pulsed through me again. Another draken was nearing the castle. More than one. Aurelia and Nithe. Had Thad returned from Pensdurth?
Reaver paid no attention to that as he sliced into the apple. “By the way, Millicent isn’t around. Not sure where she is.”
“That’s a shame,” Seraphena said with a soft sigh of disappointment. Her gaze drifted back to Casteel and Kieran, then to me. “I think…we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.” Her brows furrowed a little again as her gaze roamed over my features once more. “I would’ve been here earlier, but…we had to deal with some issues.”
“We heard,” Casteel said.
Surprise flickered across her face. “You did?”
“Rhahar told us before…” I trailed off as her face tightened and her back stiffened. There was a glassy sheen to her eyes. My breath caught. “Did he…?”
Seraphena closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Rhahar is…he’s gone.”
CHAPTER 35
POPPY
The breath I took went nowhere as I pressed my hand to my stomach.
I knew it.
But I had hoped I was wrong.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, hating that apologies were all I could give her. “He was protecting us—the city. If he and Saion hadn’t shown up…”
Seraphena nodded, her throat working on a swallow.
“Sera,” Reaver called, his gravelly voice soft in a way I’d only heard it once—at Ironspire.
“I’m okay,” she assured him, her eyes opening. The glint of unshed tears was still there, and her hands were fisted tightly, but her voice was steady. “Rhahar was so incredibly brave to make the choice he did. He had a split second to make it, and he did. He gave his life not only for his cousin but also for the realms.”
Hearing about his sacrifice made my chest ache, even as confusion rose. “I…I don’t understand.”
“Rhahar belonged to a Court Nyktos and I created, one not tied to the essence of the realms as Saion’s Court is. If Saion had perished?” Seraphena’s gaze lifted and roamed over the walls and ceiling. “I do not believe we would be standing in this chamber right now. It would be underwater.”
That made sense. It was why I had hoped I was wrong. The release of power was nowhere near as bad as it should have been when a Primal fell. But I didn’t understand how or why Seraphena and Nyktos had created a Court for Rhahar. Or why he’d felt like a Primal god. So many questions rose. I started to ask one of them but stopped myself. It didn’t feel right to badger her with questions.
“I am truly sorry,” I repeated.
A small smile appeared. “He knew what could happen when he left for this realm. As did Saion. It was a risk both knowingly took.”
I nodded, even though I was sure that knowledge didn’t make his death any easier to process. I didn’t know Rhahar, but I was still saddened by his death. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if I’d known him for as long as she had. But I did know what loss felt like. I knew how heavy and sharp it was. How it felt nearly impossible to overcome.
“Rhahar said Nyktos believed it was a trap,” Casteel spoke up.
Her gaze returned to him. “He did, and it was.” She cleared her throat and blinked several times. I knew before she spoke that she would do what I would when desperately trying not to let how much I was affected show. She would change the subject. “I know Ascensions can be difficult.” She paused, the essence pulsing vividly in her eyes. “Yours more than anyone else’s.”
My stomach twisted sharply as my mind flashed from Kolis to feeling her presence in the field of poppies. “It was…” I glanced up at Casteel, noticing the tic in his jaw. “What it was.”
Her brows rose.
I stepped closer to Casteel. “But I’m fine now.”
“I’m relieved to hear that,” she said, and I heard the sincerity in her voice. “But I wasn’t just speaking about the Ascension and what happened during it. I meant what happened afterward.”