The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

respectfully off your tongue. But what you will never refer to
her as is the Maiden. Do you understand me?”
I pressed my lips together. His words. His tone. I didn’t
know why, but I wanted to smile.
His father drew back, eyes flaring wide, but his wife held
up a hand. “Your father nor I mean any disrespect, Hawke.”
“You don’t?” I blurted out, and her golden gaze shot to
me.
“No,” she stated, her delicate brow pinching. “We do
not.”
I stared at the Queen—at my mother-in-law. “When you
first saw me, you spoke as if Casteel had brought a curse
back to the kingdom instead of a wife.”
“I was caught off guard by what I saw,” she responded,
“as I imagine anyone would have been.” Her brow tightened
even further. “I…I never expected you.”
“And I never expected any of this.” I held her stare,
needing her to understand that I wasn’t the Maiden—that I
wasn’t the Ascended’s tool like those in the Temple had
believed. “Alastir wouldn’t have known this, but I was there
when the Ascended delivered their gifts at Spessa’s End.”
My chest squeezed as I thought of Elijah, Magda—of all of
them who had been murdered so senselessly. “I fought them
alongside Casteel. I killed the Duchess of Masadonia. I
healed your people even as some of them looked upon me
as if I were some kind of monster. I didn’t force your guards
to attack me, and that’s who some of those people were,
weren’t they? Guards of the Crown. Members of the
Unseen.”
The Queen remained silent as I leaned forward. It didn’t
go unnoticed how the King shifted as if he wished to stand
and shield his wife, or how Hisa stepped forward. Maybe
later, I’d feel ashamed for the savage rush of satisfaction
that gave me. Or maybe I wouldn’t. “I don’t know what you
might think of me or what Alastir shared with you, but I
didn’t choose to be the Maiden or to wear the veil. I didn’t