The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“Gods,” Casteel muttered. “I shouldn’t be surprised that
they learned of her abilities. There have been arrivals from
Spessa’s End over the last couple of days.”
None of that mattered. “Has anyone sent for a Healer?”
“Yes.” Delano’s sadness thickened, and my heart
skipped. “The Healer is actually with the child and mother
now. The father said the Healer told them there’s nothing to
be done—”
Grasping the skirt of my gown, I took off running.
Casteel cursed, but he didn’t stop me as I ran down the
never-ending hall, vaguely aware that I didn’t think I had
ever run this fast before. I rushed out into the warm, sunny
air and started for the doors at the end of the breezeway.
Casteel caught my elbow. “This way will be quicker,” he
told me, guiding me out from between the pillars and onto a
walkway crowded by bushy shrubs covered in tiny
starbursts of yellow.
The moment we entered the courtyard, and before I
could even see anyone beyond the walls, the raw and nearly
out-of-control panic radiating from the man standing near a
horse slammed into me.
“Harlan,” Casteel called. “Bring me Setti.”
“Already on it,” the young man responded, leading the
horse out as the man turned to us.
I sucked in a sharp breath. The entire front of his shirt
and breeches were stained red. That much blood…
“Please.” The man started toward us and then jerked to
a stop. At first, I thought it was the sudden presence of
several wolven that seemed to appear out of nowhere, but
the man started to bow.
“There is no need for that.” Casteel stopped him, his
grip slipping to my hand as I let go of my gown. “Your child
is injured?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” The man’s eyes—Atlantian eyes—
bounced between us as Kieran stepped out of the front
doors of the home, his hand on the hilt of his sword. With