The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

I sat back, weighed down by the truth of his words. After
I left the shower, I’d told myself that I was ready to discuss
all of this—to face it all. Right now, I was proving that to be
a lie. I was also proving childish. My unexpected heritage,
what Casteel had done to save me, and its implications,
wouldn’t go away simply because I had a hard time
acknowledging them. I had to face this.
A kernel of panic took root in my chest where that
strange energy hummed quietly. I stared at the fruit and
cheese. “When we free your brother, he won’t need the
extra pressure of being expected to take the throne. It
wouldn’t be right to thrust that upon him.”
“No,” Casteel agreed solemnly. “It would not.”
But what if Malik did want what he’d grown up believing
was his birthright once he did find himself? I wasn’t sure the
question even mattered at the moment. The bridge hadn’t
even been built to cross yet. I swallowed the heavy feeling
in my throat. It made sense why Casteel had refused the
throne. I could see what that signified to him. “So you want
to be King now?”
He didn’t answer for a long moment. “This would have
happened eventually, even if you weren’t a descendant of
the gods. Malik wouldn’t be ready to lead, and we would
have had to make a choice. At the end of the day, I want
what is best for Atlantia,” he said, and I remembered then
how Kieran had described him as a young boy. How many
would’ve mistaken him for the heir and not his brother. I
heard it then, the seriousness in his tone. I’d heard it
moments earlier when he’d called me out on my denials.
“But I also want what is best for you.”
My gaze lifted to him.
“We know what we both need to do. I need to free my
brother. You need to see Ian. The Queen and King of Solis
must be stopped,” he told me. “But after that? If you want
to claim the Crown, I will support you. I will be right beside
you. Together, we will learn to rule Atlantia,” he said, and