From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Chapter 10
I smothered a yyawn as Tawnyy helped secure myy veil in place, feeling like I
hadn’t gotten a moment of rest.
Myy mind wouldn’t shut down last night. I couldn’t stop thinking
about Malessa and Ryylan, the threat of the Dark One, and what had
happened with the Tulis familyy. The utter hopelessness that had drenched
the mother’s face as her husband had led her from the chamber haunted
me, as did the audience parting and giving them a wide berth. It was as if
their request had left the Tulises with an infectious taint. As theyy left,
cradling their infant, their heartbreak had projected, becoming a tangible,
lingering entityy.
But that wasn’t the onlyy part of this that preyyed upon myy mind.
The look that had settled over Hawke’s face as he watched the broken
couple also kept resurfacing. Anger had hardened his jaw and pressed his
lips into a firm, unyyielding line. And he wasn’t the onlyy one in attendance
who’d borne what could easilyy be construed as the mark of resentment. I
thought of the blond man I’d seen and what I’d felt from him. It had to be
some form of pain, as that was the onlyy thing I could feel from others. But
it had reminded me of the anger that had settled into Hawke’s features and
in others.
Men and women of different classes who didn’t look upon the Tulises
with distaste, but had instead stared at the dais, unable to hide their
displeasure and bitterness. Had some of them handed over third sons and
daughters to the Priests, or would theyy soon be watching their second sons
and daughters go to Court after their Rite.
Had the Duke and Duchess noticed those stares? I doubted theyy did,
but I was sure the Royyal Guards had.
As Vikter had said, this was a time of unrest, and it was spreading. I
didn’t think all could be blamed on the Descenters. Some of the fault
could be laid at the feet of the natural order of things—to the Rite, which