The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“You really believe Alastir was involved with them?”
Casteel asked with a sneer. “A group of men who feel
emasculated by the fact that the actual Guardians of
Atlantia are all female, so they desperately cling to their
special, secret group?”
“Alastir said he belonged to a brotherhood of sorts,” I
reminded Casteel. “He called himself a Protector of
Atlantia.”
“I had no knowledge of Alastir’s involvement in any of
this before the attack at the Chambers,” his father said.
“But after seeing those masks at the ruins, I began to
wonder if it was the Unseen. If they have returned, and if
they are behind much more.”
I thought of what Kieran had shared with me before.
Casteel was thinking along the same lines. “You’re talking
about the destroyed crops, fires, and vandalism?”
His father’s lips were pressed into a hard line as he
nodded.
“We don’t think they’ve been active this entire time,”
Hisa said. “Or if they have been practicing, they weren’t
acting upon any perceived notions of oaths. That’s changed,
however. And it changed before news of the Prince’s…” She
trailed off, her brow pinching as she appeared to search for
how to phrase what she wanted to say next. “It changed
before news of our Prince’s entanglement with you.”
Entanglement sounded vastly less awkward than
capture, so I had to give it to her. She knew how to be
tactful.
“How can you be sure they are responsible for the
vandalism?” Kieran asked.
“The mask.” Hisa lifted the one she still held. “We found
one of them at the site of a fire that destroyed several
homes near the water. We weren’t sure it was connected—
there is still no hard evidence. But with this?” She looked
around the now-empty courtyard. “And them wearing these
masks at the ruins? They have to be connected.”