“Before the War of Two Kings,” Kieran answered.
Watching her, I shook my head. “That’s not true.”
Seraphena’s gaze returned to mine, and a moment passed before she sighed.“Vadentia?”
I nodded.
“Well…fuck me,” she muttered. I almost laughed. “Itwasnice being the only one with foresight.”
“You didn’t go to rest before the war. Right?”
“We went to ground after the end of it.”
“You all…you were awake during the war?” Casteel asked, his voice pitched low. His arms fell to his sides, and Kieran stiffened.
“Yes,” Seraphena said.
“And you did nothing?” he demanded. I turned sideways to keep an eye on him. “You did nothing when entire bloodlines were eradicated?”
Her shoulders drew back. “You don’t understand.”
“Damn right, I don’t,” Casteel shot back, the ripple of eather in his voice snapping me from my thoughts.
I placed a hand on his chest as Reaver’s attention shifted to him.Cas. I reached out to him. He took a deep breath, and the eather dimmed.
“We are not to interfere in the mortal realm unless it is to prevent a great catastrophe,” she explained.
Kieran’s eyes widened. “A war isn’t a big enough catastrophe?”
Oh, gods, nowhewas doing this? The calm, logical one?
The tension returned to the corners of Seraphena’s mouth. “There are rules,” she began, and I nearly groaned. “Rules I don’t personally agree with and do my level best to skirt.”
Casteel laughed, and I stiffened. The sound was low and…shadowy. And I wasn’t the only one who’d picked up on it. Kieran inched closer to him. “Your level best clearly wasn’t good enough.”
Eather pulsed from Seraphena, hot and intense. “Your father would disagree with that.”
Casteel jerked back. “What?”
“All I can say is that we weren’t as uninvolved as the histories will have you believe.” Seraphena’s shoulders relaxed as she calmed the essence in her. “We went to ground shortly after the end of the war.”
“What convenient timing,” Casteel remarked coolly. I was still stuck on the whole mention of Valyn. “You slept through every atrocity committed by the Ascended.”
The chamber was tomb silent, the only sound being a wolven howling outside as Seraphena stared at Casteel.
“Cas,” Kieran warned.
He held up a hand, silencing the wolven, and I hoped to the gods ravens didn’t start flying in. “A whole lot happened after that war. It wasn’t like the suffering and death ended with it. You know that, Kieran.”
Casteel was right.
And it needed to be said.
With the Blood Crown able to grow unchecked, many had suffered and died. We would never know the full extent of the damage, but the anger that always occupied thoughts of the gods sleeping the last several hundred years away wasn’t as intense as it had been in the past. The difference? I thought I knew why.
“It’s because of Malec,” I said.
Seraphena went completely still.
