The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

One of his father’s more aggressive ideas was to send
me back to the Queen of Solis in pieces. “And your mother
truly doesn’t have the same ideology?”
“I think my mother has seen enough war to last her four
lifetimes,” he said. “Even when Malik and I were both too
young to fully understand the problems Atlantia faced with
the ever-decreasing land and the threat of Solis just beyond
the Skotos Mountains, we could feel the heaviness that sat
on our father’s shoulders, and the sadness that wore on our
mother. She is an incredibly strong woman. Just like you. But
she worries greatly for the people, and some days, the
sadness overshadows the hope.”
“Do you know if your mother loved Malec?” I asked.
According to Casteel, it was rare for Atlantians to marry
without love between the two, but his mother’s marriage to
the original King didn’t sound like it had been a happy one.
Part of me hoped she didn’t love him, considering how the
marriage had turned out. But she’d given her son a name so
strikingly similar to her first husband’s that I had to wonder.
Casteel appeared to think it over. “She never really
talked about him. Malik and I used to think it was out of
respect for our father, but he isn’t the type to be affected by
another who is no longer a part of her life. I think she loved
him, Malec, and as crazy as this will sound, I think Malec
loved her, too.”
Surprise shuttled through me. “But he had numerous
affairs, right? And didn’t you say it was rumored that he and
Isbeth were heartmates?”
Casteel nodded as he twisted a strand of my hair
between his fingers. “I think Malec was in love with being in
love, and he was constantly chasing that feeling instead of
nourishing what he already had.” He dragged his thumb
over the hair he held. “If the rumor of Malec and Isbeth
being heartmates is true, it could’ve been the first time he
stopped searching and paid attention to what was in front of
him.”