Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
I turned back to the western sky, unsettled by the reddish-orange glow. Whatever burned was no normal fire.
“The sky brings back old memories.”
I jolted at the sound of Jasper’s voice. He’d entered the parapet without me realizing. The silver-haired wolven was tall—taller than his son and Casteel. He propped a hip against the wall and stared at the burning sky.
“Entire towns were burned,” he continued. “Some by accident. Others on purpose. There’d be weeks where, no matter what direction you looked, the sky appeared to burn. It was something I’d hoped never to see again.” His gaze slid to mine. “I don’t think we’ve been officially introduced.”
“No, we haven’t.” I found nothing but concern and curiosity whirling through him. “Penellaphe Balfour.”
“Jasper Contou,” he told me, and I realized I’d never known Kieran’s last name. “Balfour? That is an old Solis name.”
“Alastir said the same.”
“He would know.” Jasper glanced to where the others stood. “So, I was under the impression I’m to officiate a wedding?”
I bit down on my lip, wondering if Casteel still planned to marry me while here. We’d only planned to be in Spessa’s End until the first group from New Haven arrived, which should be today. But with the fire?
“A highly anticipated and yet also extremely unexpected wedding, I might add.” He smiled then, and I felt a trickle of amusement from him.
Perhaps the day before, I would’ve responded with something appropriately vague, spoke in a way that was becoming of the Maiden, but that part of me was gone. “I don’t know if Casteel still plans to marry me while we’re here,” I answered, meeting his pale gaze. “You speak for the wolven?”
He nodded.
“So, I imagine you probably expected him to marry someone else.”
His amusement rose a notch. “Considering that Casteel has never once indicated that he was interested in settling down with anyone, I didn’t expect anything from him.”
There was a catch in my heart. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe Casteel when he said that he hadn’t agreed to marry Gianna, but it was…well, it was a relief to know that the wolven who spoke for his people hadn’t expected the marriage. “But did you expect him to marry a wolven? From what I’ve learned, there has been discontent among the wolven, and I’m guessing there was hope that a marriage between Casteel and a wolven would ease those troubles.”
There was a slight hardening of Jasper’s jaw, and I felt a hot spike of anger. “I am of the same mind as Casteel. A marriage between our two peoples would’ve done very little to assuage concerns or to end the need for retribution against the Ascended. Valyn is also intelligent enough to know that,” he said, referring to the King by his first name. “But when you hear enough whispers, you begin to believe whatever those whispers tell you.”
I frowned as I looked at Casteel—at those who stood with him. Was Jasper suggesting that the union between Casteel and a wolven had been an idea fed to the King? Alastir was an advisor to the Crown, but while he had doubts regarding our relationship’s authenticity, he didn’t appear against it. But what had Casteel said to Alastir last night at dinner? That he knew why he’d brought up the expectation. Perhaps it had been Alastir’s idea in hopes that it would help ease the unrest. I couldn’t exactly fault him for that.
“I imagine I will still be officiating a wedding,” Jasper mused.
I lifted my brows as I refocused on him. “You don’t doubt our intentions?”
“Not after meeting you.”
“I’m not sure if that was a compliment or not,” I admitted, even though nothing I sensed from him indicated that he was being facetious.
His grin grew even wider. “You seem to have no problem speaking your mind for someone raised to be the Maiden.”
“Not always,” I confessed, shivering as a gust of smoke-tinged wind whipped across the roof. “You seem to have no issue speaking with me even though I was the Maiden.”
“And are apparently capable of healing broken bones with just the touch of your hands.”
I looked at him in surprise.
“I heard what you did for Beckett. I told Alastir that little idiot shouldn’t be out here.” There was a fondness to his tone. “Young wolven can be very accident-prone due to their general curiosity about literally everything, which leads to a near-catastrophic level of inattentiveness.”
I grinned. “But he’ll be okay.”
“Because of you.”
Looking back at the sky, I exhaled softly. “I’ve never done that before.”
“I heard that, too. From my daughter and son. They also said you appeared…old.”
Good gods, I’d forgotten about that amidst everything that’d happened after that conversation. “Do I smell like death to you, too?”
He laughed. “You do not smell of death, but you do have a…different scent. One I can’t exactly place, but that feels familiar.” Jasper was quiet for a moment, and I suddenly remembered the wolven in New Haven—the one who had spoken Jasper’s name and said that Jasper would be interested in meeting me. “When Delano said you most likely descend from an empath bloodline and Kieran confirmed such, I didn’t believe them. And now I really don’t.”