The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“You sounded like anyone saying hello.” Casteel lifted a
hand, tucking a strand of hair back from my face. “If
anything, you seem a little shy, not awkward.”
“Really?” I asked hopefully. “Because I…well, I’m not
used to actually interacting with people. In Solis, people
didn’t really acknowledge me unless it was in a situation
where it was allowed. So I feel weird, like I’m doing it
wrong.”
“You’re not doing it wrong, Poppy.” The lines of Kieran’s
face softened. “You sound fine.”
Casteel dropped a quick kiss to the bridge of my nose.
“We swear.”
Kieran nodded.
Feeling a little better after hearing that, we continued
on. If I were to become Queen, I supposed I’d have to get
over these annoying insecurities.
Unsure of how that would happen, we slowly made our
way past paintings and statues, many depicting the gods or
fantastical cities that stretched into the clouds. Casteel
claimed those were the cities in Iliseeum. They were all
beautiful, but I stopped in front of a charcoal drawing. Some
of it had faded, but it was clearly a sketch of a man seated
upon a large throne. The lack of features told me it was
Nyktos who sat there, but it was what sat at his feet that
snagged my attention—and held it. Two extraordinarily large
felines rested before him, their heads tilted in his direction.
My eyes narrowed as I cocked my head to the side.
“This is a really old drawing,” Casteel said as he idly ran
his hand up and down my back. “Supposedly drawn by one
of the deities.”
It took me a moment to realize what those sketched
cats reminded me of. “Are they cave cats?”
“I don’t think so,” Kieran answered as he stared up at
the drawing.
“They look like them,” I said. “I saw one of them once…”
I frowned as the dream I’d had while in the crypts