Page 162 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

Awkward was an understatement when it came to how things were between my father and me after learning what my parents knew when it came to Isbeth. But this? This was something else. Poppy continued staring at him.

Malik leaned toward me, his voice low. “I don’t think now is a good time to bring up the Ascended.”

“Figured,” I replied, watching our father. He still hadn’t moved.

Then Malik cleared his throat. “Father?”

As if coming out of a trance, he blinked rapidly and shifted his gaze to his daughter-in-law. “I apologize. Was a little caught off guard.”

“No need to apologize,” I assured him. “It’s understandable.”

“It’s good to see you,” he replied, his stare darting back to me. “Both of you.”

Those three words were loaded.

Emil cleared his throat. “Would anyone like something to drink?”

Several hands lifted as Sven looked at him and said, “If there is wine, then the answer is yes—always yes.”

“There is wine,” Emil replied, turning to the serving table. Playing host, he quickly handed my still-standing father a glass and then served Sven.

“Water,” I called, glancing at Poppy. She nodded. “Three of them,” I said.

My father seemed to recover and began walking toward the seat beside Malik. “I hope I didn’t keep everyone waiting too long.”

“Not at all,” I said as he sat.

“What does everyone know so far about the…situation in Pensdurth?” my father asked as Emil placed water in front of Poppy, Kieran, and then me.

“We know you encountered a sizable force outside the city that Thad was sent to assist with. I would’ve thought he’d make quick work of the opposition, but we were told he was injured.”

“Nearly half the forces were dealt with when Thad showed,” Father answered. Poppy cringed, knowing dealt with meant they’d been burned alive. “The remaining army fled toward Pensdurth.”

Surprise flickered across La’Sere’s face as Emil placed what appeared to be wine in front of Netta without her asking. “You allowed that?”

“Trust me when I say that was not our plan, but we didn’t have a choice,” Father replied. “Should have expected what happened, but hindsight is twenty-twenty, or so they say.”

“Exactly what happened?” Murin asked.

“You need to know something first to understand why we didn’t expect it,” Father said, reaching for his glass. “My regiment was tasked with making sure Bram’s division crossed the Blood Forest without any losses. That turned out to be easier than expected.”

Surprised, I raised a brow. “Really?”

My father nodded. “We encountered less than a dozen Craven, and they were…well, they had clearly been turned quite some time ago. It was no issue to deal with them.”

“That is a surprise,” Poppy stated slowly. “I know parts of the Blood Forest are thinner, like the section we traveled through when we left Masadonia,” she said, glancing toward me. “But the section between Carsodonia and Pensdurth is thick.”

“Most of it is,” Father confirmed. “But the southernmost point closest to the coast is thinner. That is the route we took.”

“Really?” She sat back. “I was always told…” She trailed off and pressed her lips together. “I see that was another lie.”

“The lies regarding the Blood Forest served a purpose,” Malik stated. “If people believed that there was no easy avenue of escape, they’d be less likely to attempt such a thing.”

“It was a successful lie,” Poppy said, sipping her water. “How did you all discover the route?”

“We spent much time scouting the Blood Forest,” Kieran answered. “Fun times.”

Poppy snorted before directing her attention to my father. “Please, continue.”

“As the soldiers fled, and before our regiment could give chase, Craven swarmed us,” he said, his grip tightening on his glass. “Hundreds of them.”

“Hundreds?” Poppy whispered. Aylard paled, and Damron swore.

My father nodded as Malik reached forward and picked up a circular, onyx-hued paperweight.

“How many Craven do we suspect are in the Blood Forest?” Netta asked.

“No one knows exactly,” Malik said when Poppy looked at him. “The Blood Crown didn’t keep detailed records, but I once heard thousands were speculated.”

“That’s…” Netta took a long gulp of her wine. When she set her glass down, Emil refilled it. “Problematic.”

“Very much so,” my father agreed, “especially since these were…fresh. Very quick-footed.”

“Fresh?” Poppy set her glass down. “Do you think they were turned after the battle at the Bone Temple?”

“I’m nearly a hundred percent confident of such, which I will explain shortly,” he advised. “Thad assisted the best he could with the Craven but left it mostly up to us.”

“How many losses did we incur?” I asked, resting my elbow on the arm of the chair.

“About fifty,” he said, glancing toward me.

“Fifty trained soldiers lost to the Craven?” Aylard questioned.

My father looked across the table as Malik rolled the paperweight on his palm. “I’m surprised it wasn’t worse.”

“We crossed paths with some Craven on our journey here,” Aylard started. “We suffered no—”

“How many Craven did you encounter at once?” Poppy interrupted. “Ten? A dozen. Maybe two at most?”

“Never more than a dozen at a time, if that,” Damron said, her blue eyes narrowed on Aylard.

“And have you ever dealt with a swarm of them?” Poppy pressed. “Coming at you all at once with the same goal in mind. To feed?”

Aylard stiffened. “Well, no—”

“I have. The first time, I got the scars you always stare at,” Poppy stated, and I ran my fingers over my lips to hide my grin as La’Sere shifted uncomfortably in her seat—probably wishing she hadn’t sat beside the imbecile.

“So have Casteel and Kieran. As have Naill, Emil, and Delano. And now Valyn has learned the kind of destruction a horde of them can wreak,” she continued.

“If you had, then you would know that only losing fifty is a miracle.”

Aylard’s jaw tightened, and his shoulders stiffened, but he wisely stayed quiet.

Poppy turned back to my father, who didn’t even attempt to hide the smile that crinkled the skin at the corners of his eyes.

“After we dealt with the Craven, I made the call to stay with Bram’s regiment in case there was another swarm,” he shared as Malik’s paperweight scraped the wood.

“Not to mention, his division needed support. The half that fled to Pensdurth outnumbered ours, but we believed they were mortal. They were in the sun, after all.”

“I’m assuming they weren’t?” I said, glancing at Malik’s hand. Scrape, scrape, scrape went the paperweight.

“Some were.” He shifted in his seat. “Before the Craven swarmed us, we were engaged with several who ran and struck them down.” He paused. “They did not stay dead.”

“Revenants,” Poppy said.

“I have no idea how many of them were that, or how many Thad got.” He lifted his glass. “It took less than half a day to cross the remaining distance to Pensdurth’s Rise.” He looked over at Poppy. “The city had gone silent.”

Poppy sucked in a sharp breath. Sensing my confusion, she said, “Any quiet city or village we encountered on our way to Carsodonia was never good.”

“As in nearly every mortal had been turned Craven or captured for feeding,” Kieran elaborated. “You think the fresh Craven were citizens of Pensdurth?”

“We do,” he confirmed. “We met combatants near the Rise. That’s when Thad was injured.” A muscle ticked in his temple. “By a spear.”

“A spear?” I repeated. Malik’s hand stopped moving. “I was unaware such a weapon could pierce a draken’s flesh.”

“Normally, it can’t.” My father set his glass down as Malik began rolling the paperweight between his palm and the surface again. “However, these were spears that appeared to have been designed solely to take out a draken. They were ten times the size of a normal one.”

“How badly was Thad injured?” Poppy demanded, her hands pressed against the table.

“It got him in the chest, just below the shoulder. He was able to make a controlled landing, but we couldn’t get it out immediately.

” My father grimaced as Malik continued to roll that fucking paperweight, and it kept scrape, scrape, scraping— “Eventually, we did, and that’s something I do not care to repeat. ”

I reached over and smacked my hand down on Malik’s. His stare lifted to mine. I raised my brows as I removed my hand, one finger at a time.

Holding my glare, Malik matched my speed and slowly lifted his fingers.

“What caused the delay?” Kieran asked as Father immediately snatched the paperweight without even looking at it.

My lips twitched when Malik slumped back, eyeing our father’s hand. It reminded me of the countless times he’d done that when one of us was annoying the other.

Father’s next words obliterated all thoughts of the fucking paperweight or the many toys he’d taken from us in the past. “We were delayed in doing so because after Thad was struck, we were greeted at the Rise.”

“Kolis?” Damron asked.

“Varus,” he said.

“Who?” Kieran frowned.

“A god,” my father bit out. “A rather full-of-himself god.” Pausing, he looked over at Aylard. “And yes, an actual god.”

Aylard motioned for Emil to refill his glass.

“I do not believe he is the only one there,” he said.

“How many do you think there are?” Poppy asked, and I wondered why she thought my father could answer that.

“If I had to wager a guess?”

She nodded.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were as many as were in my regiment,” he said, meeting her stare before looking away.

“You took how many with you?” La’Sere’s armor creaked as she leaned toward the table. “Two hundred?”

“Two hundred and fifty,” Valyn corrected.

“Fucking gods,” Kieran muttered.

We knew some gods would side with Kolis, but that many? We hadn’t expected that. “Did this Varus have anything to say?”

My father exhaled as he lifted his gaze to mine. “Only that we would receive word from Kolis soon.”