The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

My gaze fell to the teal-colored pillow, and I forced my
grip to loosen. It didn’t make sense to me either, but those
actions created unrest. It would ultimately come down to
what a person believed they could achieve through the
disruption. Thinking of the Ascended, it seemed all too clear
to me. The people of Solis lived under constant hardship,
and it made them easier to manipulate and control. Alastir
had basically been staging a coup, and that would have
been easier to carry out if the people of Atlantia were
unhappy. But with Alastir and the others gone, could there
still be more out there who sought to create strife in
Atlantia, and saw me as a threat? Casteel and Kieran had to
believe there was a chance. That was why Casteel had
handed me the dagger before he left to get food, and was
why Kieran sat here now.
What the Duchess had said to me in the carriage and
what Alastir had claimed resurfaced like a wraith
determined to haunt me.
Kieran reached over, tugging gently on a strand of my
hair. “What are you thinking about?”
I let go of the pillow. “Did Casteel tell you what the
Duchess said to me before I killed her?”
“No.”
That surprised me, but I didn’t think it had anything to
do with Casteel not wanting Kieran to know. There really
hadn’t been time for them to talk. “She said that Queen
Ileana would be thrilled when she learned that I married
Casteel and that I would be able to accomplish what she
had never been able to do. That I would take Atlantia.”
Kieran frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“But it does, doesn’t it? Being a descendant of the gods
means I usurp the throne without force. I take Atlantia.”
“Yes. You are the rightful ruler,” he said, and I swallowed
hard, almost reaching for the wine glass again. “But I don’t
see how that helps Solis at all.”
“I don’t either, but that is what she said, and…”