Chapter A Soul of Ash and Blood: JUST A NAME

“You don’t have to follow me,” Poppy said as she walked ahead, her dark cloak blending into the darkness of Wisher’s Grove. “I know my way back to the castle.”

“I know.” I kept pace, a step behind her. “But what kind of guard would I be if I let you walk through the woods all alone and at night?”

“A less annoying one?”

The retort brought a genuine laugh.

“I’m glad you find that amusing.” Her hooded head turned slightly. “Because I don’t.”

I was glad she was speaking again. She’d been quiet as we left the Atheneum, which had allowed my mind to wander to unsettling places, like how the earlier need and then want to seduce her hadn’t felt mutually exclusive.

Fucking Kieran.

“You know what I find amusing?” I asked.

“I cannot wait to hear.”

A grin played on my lips as I kept scanning the shadows for any stray Ascended. “How you manage to dull your tongue with everyone else.”

“That amuses you?” She skirted an outcropping of boulders.

“Only because I imagine that whatever you’re thinking during those moments would burn the ears of sailors.”

She snorted. “Sometimes.” The hem of her cloak snagged on a bush. Being the helpful albeit annoying guard I was, I untangled it for her. “Thank you,” she murmured, clutching the diary to her chest.

“You sound a bit more genuine than the last time you thanked me,” I pointed out.

“I was genuine then, too.”

“Uh-huh.”

Her heavy sigh made me smile. She walked ahead, avoiding the jagged rocks and uneven terrain one would only know if they often traveled this section of Wisher’s Grove. “It’s not easy,” she said after a couple of moments.

“What’s not?”

Poppy didn’t answer right away. “Staying quiet,” she said. “Dulling my tongue.”

I almost asked why she did it, but I already knew the answer. It was the same reason she allowed the Priestess to mistreat her. She had no choice.

“Anyway,” she continued, clearing her throat, “did you know these woods are rumored to be haunted? At least that is what Tawny believes.”

I let the change of subject go. “I have a friend who thinks the same.”

“You have friends?”

I laughed. “Yes, I know. Shocking, isn’t it?”

A soft sound came from the depths of her hood, one that could’ve been a laugh. Did she ever laugh—one that was loud and uncontrolled? I didn’t know, but I…I hadn’t laughed or even smiled as easily as I did around her in a very long time.

I didn’t know why was, either.

Rubbing at my chest, I stepped over a few fallen branches and pushed those thoughts aside. “So, you like to read?”

“I…I do.”

“What do you like to read? Other than extremely detailed tellings of thick, throbbing—”

“I’ll read anything,” she cut in quickly. “It doesn’t always have to be something like…like that, and I’ve read mostly everything that I’m allowed to read.”

“Allowed?” I questioned.

“Priestess Analia believes that I should only spend time reading appropriate things, like the histories or prayers.”

“Priestess Analia can go fuck herself.”

Poppy laughed then—it was short and full of surprise but loud and real. And I was glad she had, but there was nothing humorous about that Priestess.

“You shouldn’t say that,” she said, her voice lighter.

“Yeah, I know.”

“But you don’t care?”

“Exactly.”

“It must be an amazing feeling not to.”

The wistfulness in her voice drew my gaze and caused pressure in my chest to build. “I wish you knew the feeling.”

Her hooded head cut toward me and then faced forward again. Silence fell between us, and it wasn’t good because I was thinking of how Poppy was only to read certain things, as if she were a child or not trusted to choose for herself. There truly was nothing the Ascended didn’t control when it came to her.

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. The fact that we were strolling through the Grove after she’d snuck out was proof, as was the time she’d stolen for herself at the Red Pearl. But those were just minutes here and there over the years.

It wasn’t right.

But it would change when—

I stopped myself, the back of my neck prickling. What would change for her once I got what I wanted? She would end up back with those monsters, the false Queen and King. Her life would return to this or possibly become even stricter while the Blood Crown searched for more Atlantian blood to complete their Ascensions. At least until they were stopped. The only thing that would change would be where her gilded cage was located, and she would no longer be subjected to the Duke. However, there were far worse Ascended in the capital. That, I knew for sure.

I stared at her hooded figure, my heart thumping. How would she react once she learned the truth of the Ascended—of her precious Queen Ileana? She would eventually discover the truth, sooner rather than later. Based on what I already knew, I didn’t think she would continue going along with the charade the Ascended had fostered for her. But so what?

I could give her a choice once I had Malik, could I not? Allow her to remain with us. Doing so would be tricky, presenting a whole slew of risks that my people nor I needed. They’d signed up to free Malik. Not free him and the Maiden. And would my people accept her? Likely not. Atlantians could hold a grudge with the best of them.

Fuck. Now wasn’t the time to think about any of that shit.

“There’s something I’ve been wondering.” Spying several low-hanging branches, I moved so I walked to her left. “What is it that you do every morning?”

“My daily prayers.” Her hooded head tilted toward mine. “And breakfast.”

I reached out, holding one of the branches up so she could pass underneath. “Would you be angry if I said I didn’t believe you?”

Poppy huffed. “I’ve given you no reason not to believe what I say.”

“Really?” I drawled, lifting another branch. “I think I know.”

“Do you?”

“I just need to ask one question to be sure,” I said as we crossed under thinner branches. Streaks of moonlight pierced the darkness all around us. “Does Vikter happen to be with you during your…prayers?”

Poppy said absolutely nothing.

I smiled, getting my answer without her confirming it. She was likely training how to use that dagger and to fight when she was with him.

“I was wondering something myself,” she said, both arms folded over the book now as if she worried I’d snatch it from her once more. “About you.”

“Yes. I find women who can wield a dagger and nearly knock me on my ass to be extremely alluring,” I answered, glancing in her direction. “And arousing.”

Her soft inhale turned into a gasp as she tripped over something in the foliage. I caught her upper arm, steadying her.

“I was not going to ask that.” She quickly recovered, clearing her throat.

“It’s true, though.”

“That, I couldn’t care less about.”

Little liar. My hand slipped away from her cloak. “What were you wondering?”

She was quiet again for a few moments. “You…you called me Poppy back there, in the Atheneum.”

I had?

“You’d been calling me Penellaphe,” she continued. “Why?”

“Does it bother you?” I asked.

“No.” She peeked at me from under the hood. “You didn’t answer the question.”

I couldn’t answer the question. Hell, I hadn’t even realized that I called her Poppy. Or that I now thought of her as such. I frowned. It didn’t matter. A name was just a name. “I’m not sure why.” I remembered what Tawny had said. “I suppose that means we’re friends.”

There was another soft inhale, betraying her sharp words. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

I chuckled. “I would.”

Poppy sighed.

Another laugh left me. “We are most definitely friends.”