Page 79 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

Something else occurred to me then. I’d been in stasis for a long time, and I knew the Ascended could go for extended periods without feeding—just like an Atlantian but not for as long. It varied on how old they were, too. “Have none of the Ascended fallen into bloodlust?”

“They had stockpiles of blood.” Kieran’s upper lip curled, and my stomach twisted.

I didn’t want them to, but my thoughts went to Ian. The idea of him living off bottled blood turned my stomach. I just couldn’t see that. Not Ian. Well, not the Ian I’d known. But he hadn’t seemed all that different when I saw him at Spessa’s End, and Vonetta said he hadn’t been threatening.

“We haven’t destroyed any of them,” he added. “Yet.”

My brows lifted. “Really?”

“Cas figured a bunch of blood-starved Ascended would be even worse to deal with.”

“True.”

“At least one of the homes didn’t have a stockpile in it,” he added after a moment.

A ripple of shock went through me. “Were they just out?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

My mind raced as I considered what that discovery could mean, and I kept coming back to one question. Was it possible for Ascended to survive without feeding?

No answer spontaneously came to me, and I wasn’t sure if that was because I only had some vadentia , or if silence was the answer.

“Are any of the other Ascended homes without any?” I questioned, trying not to get too far ahead of myself.

“I can ask,” Kieran said. “Admittedly, I hadn’t thought of doing so.”

My lips pressed together. What difference would it make? To me, a lot. “Have you heard of any Ascended surviving without feeding?”

“I haven’t,” Kieran stated. In a way, that was answer enough.

But it didn’t mean there weren’t any. And if some did and survived somehow, could Ian—?

I stopped that avenue of thought, knowing I was likely setting myself up for disappointment. “I’m kind of surprised they are still alive.”

“Cas didn’t want to make the decision regarding what to do with them until you were awake,” he answered. “It didn’t feel right to do so.”

A smile tugged at my lips despite what we were discussing. The fact that I knew Casteel wanted them dead but hadn’t made the call showed how much he valued my input. And that was…well, it meant everything to me.

“Poppy?”

My head jerked up. “Yeah?”

Kieran’s stunning blue eyes, now even brighter with the aura of essence behind them, met mine. “How are you dealing with what happened?”

I sensed he wasn’t talking about what had happened in the Continents.

“With Kolis?” I resumed my pacing. “I don’t know—and I mean that honestly. I don’t remember anything but a sense of having seen or heard something.” I sipped my water. “I have a feeling it’s a blessing I don’t remember.”

“It’s still got to mess with your head,” he said.

Turning my gaze to the window, I drew my lips inward, wincing as I scraped them with a fang. “I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Poppy,” Kieran began, but before he could continue, we both felt Casteel’s presence.

Kieran rose to get the door, and my stomach dipped as he opened it. I peered outside, a mix of excitement and anxiety balling together at the thought of seeing someone out there. The hall was empty, though.

“Naill was stationed outside when I arrived,” Kieran said, seeing where my gaze was as we heard Casteel’s footsteps. “He left when I got here.”

Had he known I was awake? Did Tawny?

Casteel walked in, balancing two silver platters and a bottle of what appeared to be wine. The air immediately filled with the rich aroma of spices and seasoned meat, waking my stomach as Kieran grabbed the bottle and Casteel placed the platters on the table.

Realizing we didn’t have enough seats, I scanned the chamber, spotting another on the other side of the bed. I started toward it—

A faint charge of energy stirred the essence in me, and a second later, the sound of chair legs dragging against the stone brought me to a halt. My brows shot up as the chair lifted into the air.

“Do I even want to know what is happening behind me?” Kieran asked as he lifted the silver dome from the largest platter.

“Probably not.” I watched the deep-gray armchair float over the bed and then lower, coming to rest quietly beside the table.

I turned to Casteel. “Did you just…?”

A dimple appeared on his right cheek. “Perhaps.”

“How is it that you used the eather to…be incredibly lazy before me?”

The dimple on his left cheek appeared. “Because I can.”

“Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should,” I told him as my chin lifted.

Kieran sent me a flat look. “That sounds too logical coming from you.”

Casteel snorted. “More like it sounds like someone is jealous.”

I ignored Kieran’s comment and focused on Cas. “Am not. Using the essence drains you. The more you do it, the more you will need to replenish it.” I said what he already knew. It was the same for Atlantians.

And it was true. So, why was I staring at one of the other chairs and summoning the essence? Because I hadn’t used the essence outside of fighting…and because I was childish. My will formed in my mind. There was usually a couple of seconds’ delay.

There wasn’t now.

The chair immediately lifted straight into the air, almost smacking into the ceiling before I stopped it.

Sighing, Kieran straightened and turned toward me. “Why?”

“Because she was feeling jealous,” Casteel answered. “And left out.”

“I was not jealous.” My head snapped toward him. “I was just…”

Facing me, Casteel cocked his head to the side, his brows rising.

“Whatever,” I muttered.

Casteel grabbed three glasses from the serving table and looked back at Kieran. “Do you also want to lift a chair into the air for no reason?”

I glared at him.

“Not particularly,” Kieran replied, his bright-blue eyes meeting mine as he carried the platter to the serving table. “Please, don’t drop a chair on my head.”

“Wasn’t planning to,” I said, adding, “but I am considering it now.”

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

“I got a little bit of everything since I wasn’t sure what everyone was in the mood for,” Casteel said.

“I can see.” I looked down at the wide array and felt the faint rise of eather. My gaze bounced between Kieran and Casteel. Neither was looking at the other, but I had a feeling they were using the notam .

“Poppy?”

Warm, honey-colored eyes met mine. “Yes?”

“Are you planning to stand while you eat?” Casteel lifted a bowl of steaming, brightly colored vegetables and a plate with various types of cheese from the smaller platter and placed them on the table. “Or do you just want to sit in one of our laps?”

“I wasn’t planning to do either.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” I reached for the back of the closest chair.

“My Queen,” he said, and warmth began to curl low in my stomach as he gave me a slow, teasing, and utterly infuriating grin that lifted one corner of his mouth. “That’s not your chair.”

I frowned. “I didn’t realize we had assigned seats.”

Casteel dragged his lower lip between his teeth. “We do now.”

“That’s—”

“I assume,” Kieran cut in, returning to the table, “that what he considers your chair is still floating by the chandelier.”

What?

Blinking, I tipped my head back.

“You forgot about it,” Kieran stated.

I willed the seat down—and not on either of their heads—then plopped into it. “No.”

Casteel smirked and sat beside me. “She did.” He glanced at Kieran.

I sank a good two inches into the chair.

“Now that no chairs are seconds away from falling on us,” Kieran said, sitting and ignoring the death glare I gave him, “I do have two pieces of news I didn’t get a chance to share. The first one is that your new quarters are ready.”

“Perfect.” Casteel pulled the cork from the bottle as I sat back, watching them. “And the second piece of news?”

Kieran picked up several rolled linens. “It’s regarding Pensdurth.”

I sat up and took a linen roll from Kieran. “What’s going on with Pensdurth?”

“We received a message from one Duke Ashwood,” Casteel explained, pouring deep-ruby-red wine into three glasses. He placed one before me. “Letting us know that his fealty remains with the ‘one true King.’”

“Kolis?” I asked. That heavy, sinking feeling hit me in the chest again. I breathed through it, refusing to acknowledge it. Doing so made it feel like he still held influence over me.

“Yes.” Casteel moved several strips of roasted beef from the platter and placed them on my plate.

The hand in my lap balled into a fist as I picked up a fork with the other. “Pensdurth may be a smaller port city compared to Oak Ambler, but it is still vital for providing food and resources to the southern cities.”

“I know.” Using a large spoon, Casteel scooped up some vegetables and set them on my plate. “I sent a regiment there to aid in him rethinking his choice.”

“You’ll like this,” Kieran said quietly, adding a small mountain of rice to my quickly overflowing plate while theirs remained empty.

“Da’Silva, one of the guards sent with your father, returned this morning to inform us that they encountered a rather sizable force stationed between the Blood Forest and Pensdurth’s Rise. ”

My stomach dipped as Kieran added several slices of chicken breast to my plate.

“Well, now we know where the missing generals likely went,” Casteel remarked as he cut some grilled fish into bite-sized pieces. “Exactly what is considered a sizable force ?”

Kieran nodded. “Da’Silva estimated about two thousand.”

“How many did we send?” I asked as the fish Casteel had cut up ended up on my plate.

“Not nearly that many.” A muscle along his jaw flexed as he picked up his glass and took a drink.

“That’s why I sent Thad to assist ,” Kieran said, referring to the brownish-black draken I’d yet to see in his mortal form.

My mind flashed to the seventeen that had perished outside of Massene, sending a wave of anger and sorrow through me. They had awakened only to die. It would never seem fair to me.