The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

flesh-eating butterflies were in my chest, and that provided
momentarily disturbing imagery.
“I promise,” his mother said. “She has nothing to fear
from me.”
“I don’t,” I agreed, and she looked at me. “I don’t fear
you at all.”
And that was the truth. I was nervous, but that was not
the same as fear.
The Queen stared for a moment and then smiled. “I
would think not. My son would only choose a bride whose
bravery equaled his own.”
The Queen of Atlantia and I walked a path made of ivory
stone and lined with soaring blossoms a bluish-purple
shade. We weren’t alone, although it might appear that way
at first to some. Hisa and another followed at a discreet
distance. Kieran also followed, and I was sure I’d spotted a
flash of black when we first stepped onto the path. I
believed that to have been Lyra, moving through the shrubs
and trees.
“My son is…very protective of you,” Queen Eloana
noted.
“He is,” I said. Casteel hadn’t exactly been thrilled when
I agreed to walk with his mother. He worried, and I think he
feared that she might say something that would hurt my
feelings or perhaps overwhelm me. But I didn’t expect
instantaneous friendship from his mother, and I had grown
accustomed to existing in a near-constant state of being
overwhelmed.
And, honestly, what more could be shared that would be
more shocking than what I had already learned? The fact
that I was able to walk and think about anything else was