Page 114 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

“All right.” Naill rose with the needle jutting out from the corner of his mouth.

If I even attempted to do that, I would likely end up choking on said needle.

“Have a look,” he said, walking past me to the walk-in closet.

He opened the door, revealing a full-length mirror hanging from the back that I hadn’t noticed in my explorations.

My eyes widened as I stepped in front of it.

The tunic was the same color as the one Casteel wore and made of some sort of soft material that was fitted to the chest. The quarter-length sleeves tapered gently while the tunics Naill brought for Casteel were either sleeveless or fitted to the forearms. The seam parted the tunic into halves just below the navel, revealing the black leggings I wore.

The style was similar to the knee-length ones Casteel had been given and was unbelievably flattering on my shape.

More importantly, it allowed for quick access to a dagger.

The pattern of vines in gold thread that caught the light was absolutely stunning.

The brocaded vines climbed upward in a symmetrical design along either side of the central panel beginning near the hem.

The golden swirls converged at the chest and then swept outward toward the shoulders like creeping ivy, continuing along the stiff collar and the tops of the arms. The vines covered the forearms of Casteel’s tunic.

It was the same design I’d seen on Kieran’s and in the flesh of the Ancients… and Casteel.

“I figured you wouldn’t want a gown,” Naill was saying, having pulled the needle from his mouth and done only the gods knew what with it. “So, I thought something formal yet relaxed would work. But there are other tunics—”

“No, this is great. It’s like a combination of a gown and a shirt,” I told him with a smile. The length fluttered around my ankles as I twisted to the side. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“No problem.” He scratched the back of his neck and ducked his chin. “I’m glad you like it.”

Moving closer to the mirror, I ran my fingers over the embroidery. “This design. What made you choose it?”

“Oh, man.” Naill dropped his arm. “It’s something I saw beneath the garrison in the old tombs at Aegea.”

My brows rose.

“Yeah, I know. That’s morbid as fuck, but…I don’t know.” He lifted a shoulder. “The pattern carved into the tombs always stuck with me.”

That was a little morbid. “Were they tombs like the crypts in the Skotos?”

“No,” Casteel answered. “Those were for the Forgotten Ones.”

In other words, they were for the gods who’d fought against the Elemental Atlantians. Gods that had been chained deep in the Skotos and left to die slow deaths of starvation. I shivered at the reminder of my brief time in those crypts.

“These were gods who fought alongside the Atlantians. It’s also rumored to be Lailah and Theon’s resting place—either separately or together,” Casteel continued, taking a drink from his glass tumbler.

“But honestly? Who knows if that is true? It’s also said they were asleep beneath the Pillars of Atlantia. ”

“We could always ask Na’Lier,” Naill said as he gathered up his spools of thread. “I heard he’s en route.”

“Na’Lier?” I asked.

“Dominik,” Casteel said, and it took me a moment to remember Jasper briefly mentioning one of the eldest Elementals still alive. “He usually guards the palace. Why is he coming here?”

“I imagine to get an update.” Naill stacked the spools in his satchel. “Other than word being sent back to Evaemon that Carsodonia was secured, and the Blood Crown des—” He paused. “ Dealt with. There haven’t been any further updates.”

“Destroyed is fine,” I assured him, figuring he’d censored himself because of who Isbeth was.

“I’m guessing my mother is tired of waiting for a more detailed report,” Casteel remarked. I thought of the last time I’d spoken to Eloana.

Hopefully, she didn’t hold my anger against me. She shouldn’t. Her and Valyn’s lies had helped to protect Isbeth and endangered their sons.

“Although,” Casteel continued, his finger tapping the side of his glass, “any of the lesser-ranked officers could’ve come.”

“Agreed.” Naill straightened and draped the strap of his satchel over his shoulder.

“Thank you again for doing all of this,” I said, waving my hands around as Casteel watched me through half-lidded eyes. “I really do appreciate it.”

“It was my honor,” he said, bowing his head.

As Casteel saw him out, I headed into the closet and took off the tunic.

I had no idea what Malik wanted to show us this morning and didn’t want to risk ruining all of Naill’s hard work.

I donned a black blouse and a soft, sapphire-blue vest that Naill had brought with him as I felt Kieran drawing near.

Finishing the clasps on the vest, I walked out of the bedchamber just as Casteel was coming through the Solar. “Kieran has just informed me that no additional gruls have been discovered,” he announced. Kieran was behind him, his hands making tearing motions.

“That’s a relief.” My steps slowed. “Do you have a biscuit in your hand?”

“I do.” He ate a torn section. “I didn’t get a chance to eat yet.”

I looked at Casteel, and my chest tightened. When Kieran hadn’t joined us for our meal again, I’d asked where he was. Casteel had claimed he’d already eaten, just as he’d made an excuse yesterday. “Is that so?”

Casteel picked up a glass and took a drink, his eyes hard as polished topaz as he stared at the wolven.

Kieran tore off another piece of the biscuit. “I ran into Malik heading to the stables. Said he was waiting for you all.”

“He is,” Casteel said.

Kieran raised a brow. “For…?”

My gaze cut to Casteel. “You didn’t—?”

A fine shiver rolled through me without warning. Frowning, I looked down at where the sleeve of my blouse had fallen back to my elbow. Tiny bumps erupted along my forearm as the fine hairs rose. My gaze lifted and connected with Casteel’s.

“Yeah.” He lowered his glass. “I feel that.”

“So do I.” Kieran frowned at his biscuit. “It feels like…something unnatural.”

Everything to do with Tawny and my worry over what was going on with Casteel and Kieran—the argument, all of it—immediately fell to the wayside. “Something that…” The air throbbed . “Doesn’t belong here.”

Casteel’s gaze sharpened. “Do you know where—?”

A horn blasted through the air, cutting him off.

“It’s coming from the west.”

Our west? That would be the Stroud Sea. Casteel brushed past us, heading for the Solar as Kieran finished his biscuit without making a mess. “Really?”

“What?” He tossed the pieces into his mouth. “Why let it go to waste?”

Shaking my head, I followed Casteel. He stopped by the large table, grabbing the still-harnessed swords he’d left there the night before.

I didn’t wait.

Which was probably a sign that the argument hadn’t completely left my mind.

Whatever.

Yanking open the doors, I stepped out into the hall, my gaze sweeping right and then left as I tried to get my bearings within Wayfair.

“This way.” Kieran entered the hall with Casteel, who was tightening the straps on his leather baldric that held a sheathed sword. “If we go down one floor and then to the west end, some of the balconies should give us a view.”

Casteel glanced at me and shifted the sword. “Forgetting something?”

“No.”

An eyebrow rose. “Yes, you are.”

Kieran opened the door, and we quickly entered a staircase. “I have my—”

“I was talking about your lack of footwear, my Queen.”

“Oh.” My lips pursed as I glanced down at my bare feet. “Too late now.”

The hall of the floor below us was empty, and we quickly crossed it to reach the end.

Kieran pushed open the doors and then skidded to a halt, his head jerking back as a horn blew somewhere again.

I went to the railing, unable to see anything beyond the inner Rise, where guards in gold-and-silver armor walked along the battlements.

“We need to get closer.” I stepped back and scanned the length of the balcony. There was a staircase at the end. Kieran pivoted toward it.

Casteel stalked along the railing, his eyes narrowed. He stopped beside Kieran. “Something is happening in the water,” he said.

My gaze snapped to the nearest steps in the Rise. Walking would take too long.

But we didn’t need to walk.

I didn’t give myself time to think about what I was about to do. I crossed the distance between us and grasped Casteel’s cheek. “Will yourself to the inner Rise.”

Confusion quickly faded into realization as the essence pulsed behind Casteel’s pupils. Then, a slow smile lifted the corner of his lips. “See you there.”

“Hold on,” I said, grabbing Kieran’s arm.

“What—?”

A rush of charged air stole his words as I pictured the inner Rise in my mind. Summoning the essence, I acted on pure instinct. Casteel hadn’t looked ready to vomit when I mentioned shadowstepping. Kieran had.

A single heartbeat.

That was how long it took before the wind swirling around us shifted and became laced with the much stronger scent of the sea. We were no longer standing on the balcony—

We were directly in front of an Atlantian guard.

“Holy shit,” the man gasped, his eyes flaring wide below the rim of his steel helmet.

“Sorry,” I said.

“What the fuck?” gasped Kieran, staggering back.

I spun and caught his arm before he fell off the battlement. He bent at the waist and clutched his knees.

“You’re the…you’re…” the guard stammered, his brown skin taking on a gray tone.

A shout of surprise came from our right. Another guard stumbled in mid-run as the air in front of him distorted. Casteel appeared in the blink of an eye. It was the strangest damn thing. The space was empty one moment and filled the next.

“Y-your Majesty.” The pale-skinned guard stiffened, his hazel eyes darting to where I stood. “Your Majesties.”

Both guards started to kneel.