The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

day in the halls as I’d left to explore the grounds with
Vonetta. “It is I who should apologize. I wasn’t paying
attention to where I was walking.” My gaze darted to the
young woman behind him. She appeared to be around my
age, but I knew immediately she was a wolven, so she could
be dozens or even hundreds of years older than me.
The pale, wintery eyes were a striking contrast to the
golden hue of her skin, and the warm blonde hair that fell
over her shoulders in loose waves. Her features were a mix
of traits you would’ve found on different people. Her eyes
were wideset and yet hooded, softening the sharp angles of
her cheeks and the blade of her nose. Her brows were thick
and several shades darker than her hair. Her mouth was
small, but her lips were full. She was short, several inches
shorter than me, but the cut of her tunic showed off the
curves of her breasts and the lushness of her hips that
would’ve seemed at odds with someone of her stature.
Nothing about her made sense, and yet everything about
her lined up so imperfectly that any artist would likely be
driven to commit her image to canvas with charcoal or oil.
She was perhaps the most uniquely beautiful person I’d ever
seen, and I couldn’t stop staring at her.
And I was sure I was probably creeping her out a little
based on her growing unease.
“I was actually looking for the King,” Lord Gregori
announced. “But I see that he is not with you.”
Pulling my gaze from the unfamiliar wolven, I focused on
the Atlantian. The thread of distrust was apparent, even if I
wasn’t able to read his emotions. Either the Atlantian kept
forgetting that I could do that, or he simply didn’t care. “He
is with his parents. Is there something I can help you with?”
Amusement flickered through him, the mean kind. “No,”
he said, his smile simpering, his tone overly conciliatory.
“That will not be necessary. If you’ll excuse me.”
He hadn’t been excused, but he still brushed past me. I
turned as Arden flattened his ears, watching the Lord as he