Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
As talk turns to Casteel’s parents, Isbeth says that she pitied his mother. She didn’t hate her at first, but she certainly does now. Isbeth then tells him that she’s a demis and asks what Cas knows about Malec.
After Poppy beheads Jalara, Isbeth tells Casteel what happened, and he laughs. She also tells him that Poppy claimed Malec is alive, knows where he is, and threatened to kill him. When she says that she believes Poppy could actually do it, she asks Cas if it’s true that the god is still alive and where he is. He tells her he doesn’t know, and she believes him.
Talking more, Isbeth says she never wanted to be at war with her daughter. She fully expected Poppy to go along with the plans and let Malik Ascend her. She then adds that she doesn’t just want Atlantia, she wants more, and things have already begun—Poppy was destined to help her accomplish her goals.
Casteel taunts her about seeing a cave cat in Oak Ambler and asks if it’s the same one Poppy saw as a child. Isbeth tells him the cat is fine and in the same place Poppy saw it, then threatens to feed it the next finger she takes from Casteel—the first being the one she sent to Poppy with the note of apology and his wedding ring.
Taking her unawares, Cas stabs her in the chest with a sharpened bone, barely missing her heart by an inch.
Remarking on how strong Cas is, she says it’s to be expected; he’s Elemental and also has Poppy’s blood in him. She tells him about the Primals’ weakness and how love can be used as weapons to impair and then end them, that a Primal can be born in the mortal realm—something she learned from Malec—and that the gods rushed the Primals into their eternity by Ascending. However, she says the Fates created a loophole that allowed the greatest power to rise again, but only in a female of the Primal of Life’s lineage, thus suggesting that Isbeth didn’t birth a god, she birthed a Primal: Poppy.
When Poppy and the group come to rescue Casteel, her subjects carry Isbeth into the Great Hall on a litter that looks like a gilded bird cage. Basking in the thunderous reception she receives, Isbeth remarks that she won’t waver in the face of a godless kingdom and then tells the crowd that the harbinger has awakened, and that Atlantia is laying waste to cities while raping and brutalizing the people of Solis. She follows that with a promise the people will be spared, before asking them to avenge their King.
Isbeth gives a subject a Royal Blessing, gloating because the truth is out, and those with Poppy know what’s actually happening. Later, she tells Poppy she can easily reclaim the lost cities, earning some name-calling from her daughter. Poppy then breaks Malik’s mental shields, and Callum gets stabbed. Isbeth tells Poppy that what she did wasn’t nice and orders the mess and Malik to be removed.
Flexing her power some more, she grabs Poppy by the chin and reminds her that she carried her in her womb and cared for her until it wasn’t safe to do so. She says that’s why she tolerates from her what she wouldn’t take from anyone else, and why she’ll give Poppy what she hasn’t earned. She tells her that she can see Casteel or her father—the cave cat, Ires—but not both, and then adds that she must choose now or see neither.
Isbeth separates Kieran, Reaver, and Poppy and has Malik escort the men to individual rooms. As she leads Poppy through Wayfair, she reminds her that Reaver’s and Kieran’s safety depends on her behavior and brings up watching Poppy and Ian running through the halls they now walk, once again rehashing the painful memory of Ian’s death.
When Poppy sees the state Casteel is in, she lashes out, and Isbeth tells her that threats aren’t necessary and are actually pointless since her Revenants can’t be killed, and any draken who remain are with the Atlantian armies.
Isbeth taunts Poppy that Cas would be in better condition if he just behaved, and Poppy reacts with a show of power. Isbeth warns her that she’ll only tolerate so much disrespect, which causes Poppy to pull back. The Queen remarks that Poppy is powerful and has grown, but she’d better learn to control her temper, and fast.
While talking about Coralena, Isbeth insinuates that the Handmaiden hid her actual eye color—the nearly colorless hue—from Poppy with magic that Isbeth lent to her.
Sometime later, Callum gets stabbed again, and it annoys Isbeth. Because Millie laughed, she orders her other daughter to remove the Revenant. Poppy asks Isbeth how she’s been able to hide her identity from the Ascended for so long, and she says that they don’t look too closely and would rather be oblivious than see what’s right in front of them. Not to mention, they see her as being godlike. She adds that those who do question are swiftly dealt with.