The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“I…” My stomach tumbled some more as something
occurred to me. “Is it possible that Ileana or Jalara learned
where Malec was entombed?”
King Valyn inhaled deeply, and every part of me tensed
even further. “I imagine they did. It’s the only plausible
explanation as to how Malec is your father.”
I stared at them.
Casteel’s fingers stilled against my hand. “Are you
implying that the Ascended raised him? Because I never
heard them mention him.”
“They would’ve had to have gotten to him before he
died,” his father said. “But even if it took only a century or
two to learn that he was entombed there, it would’ve taken
a lot of Atlantian blood to bring him into any state of
consciousness. And even then, he would’ve been…not of
the right mind. I doubt he would recover from such a thing
in hundreds of years.”
My gods.
I pressed my other hand against my mouth. The
implications were so horrifying, I couldn’t speak.
“And when did you all suspect that he had risen?”
Casteel asked softly.
“When we saw her at the Chambers. Saw what Alastir
claimed for ourselves,” his mother said. “We would’ve
talked to you immediately, but…”
But there hadn’t been time.
A wild sense of panic rose in me, thinning each breath I
took. I fought past it as my heart thundered against my
chest. None of this changed who I was. None of this
changed who I would grow into. At the end of the day, these
were just names and stories. They were not me.
I breathed a little easier.
“The only way to know for sure if Malec has risen is to
go to the Blood Forest,” Kieran stated. “And that would be
damn near the definition of impossible with all the Craven
there and how deep within Solis it is.”