The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

manhood by then, and he probably wouldn’t have
recognized me, but I didn’t care. I knew I would help him
remember.”
She came down a step. “So, I joined Jalara at Pompay,
and you know what I saw? The newly crowned King Valyn
Da’Neer, leading the Atlantian army. And I knew.” Her hands
closed into fists as her voice quavered. “I knew then that my
son was gone. That he had probably been gone since the
moment I left Atlantia, and they would’ve only been able to
get to him if they’d done something to Malec. For years, I
waited for them, never giving up, and they took that from
me! He was all I ever wanted,” she screamed, and I
shuddered at her words. Her chest strained the gown as she
inhaled deeply. “They took everything from me. My son. My
Malec, and I did nothing wrong but love, and gods, I will
never love like that again. That was all. That was it.” She
sliced her hand through the air. “They could’ve stopped this
at any point. They just had to tell the truth about Malec and
I. That I was not a vampry. That he was exiled wrongly. But
in doing that, they’d have to confess what they’d done. Tell
all their lies. Admit to murdering children,” she hissed, and I
flinched then because I…I knew that they had. “And they
would have to give back the Crown if that was what Malec
wanted. So, of course, they didn’t. And here we are,” she
said quietly. “All of this?” She lifted her hands and spread
her arms wide. “All of this is because of them. They created
this fire and fanned it, and now it’s out of control because I
am the fire, and I will take everything from them.”
From them.
Not Atlantia.
Not even them, really. From her, was what she meant.
From Eloana.
The breath I took lodged in my throat. The lies… So
many damn lies soaked in blood. Both kingdoms were at
fault for this mess.
Both Queens.