The War of Two Queens

“I was born with the flesh and fire of the Primal god in my blood. Make no mistake, with each passing day, I feel less like a mortal than I did the day before.”

“Nothing except that I’m in love with you. That I will always be in love with you, from now until our last breaths.”

“You may have given birth to me, but blood is the only thing we share. We’re nothing alike. We never will be. You’re not my mother, my friend, or my confidante. All you are is a Queen whose reign is about to come to an end. That is it.”

“I don’t need to wear a crown for them to remember I’m the Queen.”

“If you somehow, in the unlikely event, make it past us, she will know, and she will kill him. She’ll tell you she didn’t want to, and a part of her will be speaking the truth because she knows what that will do. What pain it will cause you.”

“Honeydew. You taste of honeydew, and your skin smells of jasmine. Fuck.

“By the way, you’re beautiful when you’re like this, wrapped in nothing more than a cloak. As beautiful as you are when you’re draped in fine silks and dressed in breeches and a tunic. And tonight, when you moved between us? When you opened yourself to us?, and your essence spilled out from you, surrounding us? Entering us? Entering me? I felt worthy of such a beautiful gift as you.”

“I don’t give a damn about leadership right now. It’s you that I’m concerned about. You are the Queen, but you are also my daughter-in-law.”

“I would do anything for him. I would do anything for you. And knowing that you would do this for me means…There really aren’t words other than that my reasons for agreeing to the Joining have very little to do with Cas being a King or you a Primal god and everything to do with the love I have for both of you.”

“Unlike you and my daughter, Malec and I were never granted the privilege of the marriage imprint—proof that either of us lived or died. And you know that not even the bond shared between heartmates can alert the other of death. I have spent the last several hundred years believing that Malec was dead.”

“I can’t feel you mouth on mine. If I do, I’m going to fuck you. I’m going to get so deep inside you that there will be no part of you I don’t reach. Right here. Right now. It doesn’t matter who is in this chamber. It’s already taking everything in me not to be inside you.”

“Nyktos would be conflicted over your actions. On one hand, he would never not be happy about a renewal of life. On the other, he would worry about the nature of things. The course of life and death and how such an intervention alters the balance—the fairness. When it comes to the Consort and choice to act or not, she would weigh the concerns, toss them aside, hope no one was paying attention, and just do it.”

“We are not brothers of the same blood. We are not friends due to some bond. We are not loyal to each other because of courtesy or tradition or title. We have always been above all that. And, in a lot of ways, we’re two halves of the same whole. Different than Poppy and me, but not that much different. You know that.”

“Whether she ruled over all the lands and seas or was the Queen of nothing but a pile of ashes and bones, she would—will—always be my Queen. Love is too weak an emotion to describe how she consumes me and what I feel for her. She is my everything.”

“I would tell you that I would kill Isbeth for that, but my Queen is a god. She will kill her.”

“You’re right. Casteel would never want me to take such a risk, not even for him. Not even when he would do the same if it were me who had been taken. But he also wouldn’t try to stop me.”

“We will end this tonight, one way or another. And then, I’m going to find that diamond I told you about.” He kissed me again. “But before that, I’m going to get what I want. You. In the armor.”

“Go get our King, my Queen.”

“Either you find me something else to wear, or I go like this. And if that is unsuitable, I will go to her with nothing but the skin I was born in.”

“Nearly everything I’ve done is for her. She’s my heartmate.”

“To be honest, I don’t know how I’m doing when it comes to her. All I know is that I…I don’t think of her as my mother. Because she wasn’t. I used to struggle with who she was to me and the monster she was to Casteel and everyone else. I don’t anymore. Not after Ian.”

“Her name is a shadow in the ember, a light in the flame, and the fire in the flesh. The Primal of Life has forbidden us to speak or write her name.”

“That kind of magic, that kind of power this Blood Queen has learned? You just saw what it is capable of. It can only be used for death and decay. She is a far more dangerous foe than I think anyone has realized.”

“What you need is natural. It may not feel that way right now because it’s new to you, while I’ve been around Atlantians my whole life. There’s nothing awkward or bad about it. I’m actually proud of you.”

“I think it’s exactly what you believe. Soul walking between heartmates. My son said he believed you were his heartmate—not that he needed to tell me that. I saw it for myself after the attack at the Chambers of Nyktos when he awoke to find that you’d been taken. I saw it in your eyes and heard it in your voice when you spoke of your plans to go to Carsodonia. You two have found something so very few ever experience.”

“You once told me that I didn’t always have to be strong when I was with you. That it was safe for me not to be okay. You told me that it was your duty as my husband to make sure I knew that I didn’t have to pretend. Well, it’s my duty as your wife to make sure you know that, too. You’re my shelter, Cas. My roof and my walls—my foundation. And I am yours.”

“It’s the truth, Poppy. All of us know the risks, and we’re not here just for you. He is our King.” He met my glare with his own. “Also, I don’t believe that once you have a couple of minutes to think about this, you won’t seriously reconsider taking on the entire damn Blood Crown by yourself.”

“You have faced Craven and vamprys, men wearing masks of mortal flesh. Stared down Atlantians who’ve wanted to harm you, seized cities, and freed me. You’re more than a Queen. More than a goddess on the verge of becoming a Primal. You’re Penellaphe Da’Neer, and you’re fearless.”

“We may need many things, but we are not conquerors. We are not takers. We will use what power and influence we have to destroy the Blood Crown and free your King. We need to live side by side in peace with the people of Solis when this is finished. That will never happen if we prove what the Ascended have claimed about us to be true by leaving them defenseless and burning down their homes in the process.”

“I would suggest you think very long and hard about what you believe you have the right to say to my Queen. Before you speak again. Or you will discover fairly quickly how your King responds when you offend your Queen. Fair warning, it will likely be the last thing you do for quite some time.”

“Because I can’t become something capable of leveling cities. I couldn’t live with myself. You know that. You couldn’t live with allowing me to become that. Neither could Casteel. Maybe that will never happen. I will do everything I can to not let it. But if it does? You would be doing the right thing. You know that. You would be doing the thing that needed to be done.

“Don’t forget what he means to me, Poppy. I’ve known him my whole damn life. We shared the same crib more times than not. We took our first steps together. Sat at the same table most nights, refusing to eat the same vegetables. We explored tunnels and lakes, pretended that fields were new, undiscovered kingdoms. We were inseparable. And that didn’t change as we grew older. He was and still is a part of me.”

“That’s…gods, that’s my Queen.”

“You want to make her pay for what she did. I do, too. We all do. But if you do this—if you go anywhere like this—people will die. Innocents you want to help. People Cas wants to protect.”

“I’ll call you whatever you like, as long as you call me yours.”

“My beautiful, brave Queen. I could stay here, holding you, forever.”

“I am not mortal. Neither am I Atlantian. I am a god. And I will not choose between the mortals and the Atlantians when I can choose both.”

“A god can be killed just like an Atlantian. Destroy the heart and the mind. But a Primal? You have to weaken them first. And do you know how you weaken a Primal? It’s rather cruel. Love. Love can be weaponized, weakening a Primal and becoming the blade that ends their existence. I wonder how much you even know about Primals. I must admit, I knew very little myself. If it weren’t for my Malec, I never would’ve learned the truth. I never would’ve known that a Primal could be born to the mortal realm.”

“But you and I both know that if you had to choose, there would be no choice. To be honest, I’m relieved to hear that. Casteel deserves someone who will burn the realm for him.”

“You can heal, but once the soul parts a being of two worlds, you cannot restore life.”

“There was no way you could’ve known that she was capable of such a thing. Your kindness is part of who you are. It is one of the things that will make you a great Queen and god. You just need to learn when not to be kind.”

“Showing concern and empathy for the mortals doesn’t mean I have no concern for my people. Thinking of their futures means I’m thinking of our future, for they will be intertwined, whether wanted or not. It is the only successful path forward as we will not retreat beyond the Skotos Mountains. This war will be the last one.

“Feedings can get intense,” he reminded me, drawing my gaze to his. “Whatever you feel or don’t feel during this doesn’t matter. What does is that you know that this—all of it—is natural. There’s no shame here. No judgment. I know that. Cas knows that. You need to know that, Poppy.”

“I will take the time, but I know my answer won’t change. I want to do the Joining.

“You’re the one who taught me that I cannot save everyone. But I can save those I love.”

“No matter what the prophecy says, I have free will. I control my actions. I wouldn’t do something like that. I won’t take part in whatever Isbeth thinks I will do.”

“You can’t stay up there, my Queen. We need to get Malec, and we may need your extra-special Primal badassery to do it.”

“Don’t forget that vamprys were once mortal, Penellaphe. And while they have left many of those trappings behind, they still see only what they want to see. Because looking too closely at things often makes one uncomfortable. Unsure. Not even vamprys enjoy living like that. So, like those mortals upstairs, and in all of Solis, they’d rather be oblivious to what is right in front of them than feel doubt or fear.”

“I am not the Harbinger. I carry the blood of the King of Gods in me, and those who reside in these walls do not speak to any god—or for them. They are your enemy. Not us.”

“From the first moment I saw you smile… And heard you laugh? Gods. From the first time I saw you nock an arrow and fire without hesitation? Handle a dagger and fight beside another? Fight me? I was in awe. I’m never not in awe of you. I’m always utterly mesmerized. I’ll never stop being that. Always and forever.”