The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Casteel joined me, folding an arm around my waist while
I stroked the side of Setti’s neck. As I watched Kieran mount
his horse, I asked, “Is the bowing thing going to happen
often?”
“Yes,” he answered, taking the reins of his horse.
“Why didn’t your mother do that?” I wondered out loud.
“Not that I wanted her to, but I’m curious. Is it because
she’s pregnant?” I doubted she would’ve been able to drop
into such a position.
“I told her it would make you uncomfortable if she did,”
Kieran answered. “Just like I told my father not to do it.”
My chest warmed. “You know what?”
He raised a brow as he looked down at me. “What?”
I reached over and patted his chest. “You’re more than
okay.”
“Now that I know you think I’m more than okay, I can
sleep well at night.” His tone was as dry as the Wastelands,
but I grinned.
“By the way, when it happens again, you can say ‘You
may rise,’” Casteel said as he nudged Setti into motion. “Or
if you would like to use something less formal, you can
simply say ‘Yes’ or greet them by name if you know who is
before you. And before you ask them to cast the formality
aside, please know that I have also asked that of many, and
you’ve seen how well it worked for me.”
Not very well at all.
Sighing, I leaned against Casteel as we rode out of the
courtyard. The wolven, now four of them, followed at a
discreet distance.
“We won’t have to ride through the busiest parts of the
city to get to the estate,” Casteel told me as we veered onto
a paved road surrounded by tall, lush cypress trees. The
wolven quickly disappeared into the thick foliage. “We can
follow the bluffs straight to it. There will be people, but
nothing like when we entered the city or yesterday.”