The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Kieran, but I felt like I needed to do it again. I opened my
mouth.
“Don’t,” she cut me off. “I know what you’re going to
say. It’s not necessary. I understand. We all understand.”
There were several murmurs of agreement from around
the fire. My gaze briefly met Hisa’s and then Delano’s and
finally Naill’s. “He’s still alive,” I said roughly. “She won’t kill
him. Not when she thinks she can use him to control me—
control Atlantia.”
They nodded, but I sensed relief. They had needed to
hear that. I’d needed to say that. “Does anyone know
anything about shadowstone? That was what the
Handmaiden had.”
“I heard what she said,” Kieran said.
“Do you think that could be what’s causing Tawny’s
injuries?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Hisa dragged a hand over her head.
“She’s mortal. I’ve never seen a mortal wounded by
shadowstone before. A lot of Healers in Evaemon and some
of the older Elders may have seen something like this.”
I thought of Willa and then her diary, and the next
breath I took hurt.
“What is the plan?” Emil asked as Vonetta handed him
the flask. He took a drink.
We hadn’t really spoken on the ride away from Oak
Ambler. Not about anything, but I had done a lot of thinking
—about what Isbeth had said, what even the Duchess had
claimed in Spessa’s End, and what the Handmaiden had told
me.
Even though I’d refused Isbeth, she believed that
everything was falling into place. She had the Prince and
now the King of Atlantia. She had found a way to control me,
and in her mind, she therefore controlled Atlantia. Just like
Duchess Teerman had claimed, I would succeed where the
Queen had failed.
But they were wrong.