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Eloana’s brows puckered. “What are you saying?”

“I can summon Nyktos’s guards, and I will. Isbeth may have her Revenants, her knights, soldiers, and those who support her.” My grip tightened. “But I will have the draken.”

Visibly shaken, it took Eloana a few moments to respond. “Can you even—? I’m sorry. You can. You are a god.” She smoothed a hand over her gown, a nervous habit, I realized. “But are you sure? The draken are a fierce bloodline. There is a reason they went to sleep with Nyktos. Only he can control them.”

“I am his grandchild,” I reasoned, but I really had no idea how the draken would respond. I could only assume that what Nyktos had said also meant that they’d do so favorably. “And I don’t seek to control them. I just need their help.”

Understanding flickered through her. “I thought you and Casteel wanted to prevent war. You won’t once the draken are awakened.”

“By holding Casteel, she thinks she can stay my hand. But, sometimes, war cannot be prevented,” I said, echoing her words—ones I knew the Consort had whispered to me before when I first entered Saion’s Cove.

And that was something I’d realized on the journey back to Atlantia. There would be no more talks or ultimatums. What was to come couldn’t be stopped. It never could be. And in a way, the War of Two Kings had never ended. There had just been a strained truce, like Isbeth had said. All the years Casteel sought to move pieces behind the scenes, to free his brother and gain land for Atlantia hadn’t been wasted. It had given Atlantia time to gain what they didn’t have before.

“No,” Eloana agreed quietly, sadly. “Sometimes, it cannot.”

I glanced to where Hisa stood beside Naill. “Can you please send word to the Blood Crown that I will meet with them in the woods outside of Oak Ambler by the end of next week?” I told her. “Make sure they understand that whoever they send had better be fit to receive a Queen. That I will only speak to her or to the King.”

The corners of the commander’s lips curved up as she bowed at the waist. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“A message?” Eloana asked. “What are you planning?”

“First, I brought my friend back from Solis. The one I believed to have Ascended. She hasn’t, but she was wounded with what I believe was shadowstone, and my abilities aren’t working on her.” I dragged my palms over my knees. “Delano took Tawny to one of the rooms and summoned a Healer. I would ask that you look after her. She is…” I inhaled deeply. “She was my first friend.”

Eloana nodded. “Of course. I will do all that I can to help her.”

“Thank you.” I cleared my throat. “I’m going to take a bath.” A shower was… I couldn’t do that and not think of Casteel, and the only way I was surviving currently was by not thinking of him. “I’m going to Iliseeum. Once I return, I will send the Blood Queen the kind of message only Casteel would be proud of.”

“Knowing what my son would be proud of,” she said, voice thickening, “I can only imagine what kind of message that will be.”

I felt my lips curve up in a tight, savage smile. “And then I’m going to finish what you started centuries ago. I will return these lands to Atlantia, and I will return with my King at my side.”

Golden eyes locked with mine. “And if you fail?”

“I won’t.”

Chapter 49

I slept for a few hours and ate a couple of mouthfuls of food only because I had to. Then I dressed in breeches and a simple white shirt that belonged to Casteel. It was far too large, but the black bodice worn over the shirt kept me from swimming in it.

Many tunics and shirts of mine now lined the walk-in wardrobe, but it felt good to have Casteel’s shirt against my skin. And he’d liked it when I wore the bodice like this the…the last time I’d seen him.

I stopped at the bed, my gaze straying to the nightstand, to the little wooden horse. My heart squeezed. I hurried over to it, taking the toy in my hands. In the chest by the doorway, I found a pouch. Placing the horse in it, I left the bedchamber and then the quarters as I tied the bag to my waist.

I checked on Tawny, finding her the way I’d left her—asleep and far too still. The dark veins had traveled to the curve of her chin. Eloana sat at her side. “I summoned Willa,” she said, and the breath I took was painful. “She will bring one of the oldest Healers. He will know how to treat her.”

“Thank you,” I said, inhaling and exhaling slowly.

She nodded. “Be careful, Penellaphe.”