The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Kieran snorted. “And how is that different from any other
night?”
I sighed. “True.”
Leaning over, Casteel kissed my cheek and then looked
at the menu. We ended up settling on roasted vegetables
and duck. With my stomach happily full, I moved closer to
the empty fireplace and one of the overstuffed chairs with a
tall back while Casteel argued with Vonetta about…well, I
wasn’t sure what they were arguing about now. Earlier, it
had been whether or not yams could be considered sweet
potatoes, which was a strange argument, but I had a feeling
it wasn’t the most bizarre one they’d had.
They acted like a brother and sister, no matter if they
shared blood. Watching them caused my heart to ache with
envy. Ian and I could’ve had that, arguing about vegetables.
If we’d had a normal life.
But that had been taken from us.
All because I was Malec’s child and carried the blood of
the gods in me. It was why I’d been forced to wear the veil
and was caged for half of my life under the pretense of
being Chosen. In reality, I had been, just not in the way I’d
thought.
I no longer believed that there had been another
Maiden. That had only been a lie to keep up the ruse. What I
didn’t know was what Queen Ileana hoped to gain through
this. In a few days shy of a fortnight, I would know. Unease
slithered through me like a snake.
But at least some part of the Ian I knew remained. We
could still have that normal life where we argued about
vegetables.
Kieran dropped into the chair beside me. “What are you
sitting over here thinking about?”
“Nothing,” I replied, and he shot me a knowing look.
“Everything.”
He chuckled. “You having second thoughts about your
decision?”