The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Chapter 48
I stalked through the palace halls in Evaemon, the dust
from the road and blood still staining my breeches and
tunic. I headed for the sun-drenched atrium in the center,
followed by Kieran and his sister still in their wolven forms.
Naill and Hisa followed, their hands on their swords. Delano
was with Tawny, having taken her to one of the rooms above
mine. Healers and Elders were being summoned.
Crown Guards bowed stiffly as we passed, the heels of
my boots clicking off the tile floor as sharply as the wolven’s
claws.
Vonetta was one giant ball of stress. I didn’t know if she
was more worried that I would obliterate Casteel’s mother
or if it was the plans we’d discussed on the way back to
Evaemon. I, on the other hand, was strangely calm. I wasn’t
worried about what I was about to say to Eloana or what I
would carry out next. I felt only determination and anger, so
much anger, it seeped out of my bones and coated my skin,
but I was calm. I didn’t know one could feel such wrath and
yet feel such silence.
The doors to the family room were open, and the scent
of coffee and freshly baked bread stretched out to me,
turning my stomach instead of inciting my hunger.
Eloana wasn’t alone.
She sat across from Lord Sven and Lord Gregori. Several
Crown Guards stood in the back of the room, but my focus
was on her.
His mother looked at me, and then her gaze flicked
behind me, searching for what she would not find. And she