The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Chapter 26
Casteel’s gaze met mine. Sensing a thread of concern in
him, I nodded before he could question me. A faint smile
appeared, and then he motioned for the guard to open the
door.
The airy, brightly-lit room smelled of coffee, and the first
person I noticed was his mother. She sat on a dove gray
settee, wearing a simple short-sleeved gown of pale blue.
Her onyx-hued hair was once again twisted in a simple knot
at the base of her neck. She had just placed a small cup on
a low-profile table and appeared frozen there as she stared
at Casteel with bright amber eyes. A rush of emotion poured
from her— relief, joy, love, and underneath all of that was
something tangy. Sorrow. There was a throbbing, steady
current of grief as she rose, reminding me very much of
what I’d often felt from Casteel when we first met.
My gaze inched away to where the faired-haired man
stood at the back of the room, a short glass of amber liquid
in his hand. Neither he nor the Queen wore their crowns,
and I wasn’t sure if that was common or not while in their
private residences. I was almost convinced that Queen
Ileana and King Jalara wore theirs to bed.
Goosebumps pimpled my flesh as Casteel’s father
stared directly at me. I didn’t hold his stare in challenge but
simply looked elsewhere. I felt barely anything from him.
Casteel’s father was either very reserved or knew how to
block his emotions. They weren’t the only people in the
room.