Read Taliesin Ascendant (The Children and the Blood) for Free Online Page B

the impassive masks they wore.
    To a person, they appeared genuinely stunned.
    But then, so was she.
    Swallowing hard, she looked down. Merlin’s Children. The Children. Cornelius had said that to Carter. And taking magic. She’d done that. She didn’t know it at the time but she’d done it. And…
    Queen.
    And Carter’d known. Carter had known and he’d sent her here. Carter…
    She forced herself to breathe as she returned her gaze to the wizards. “I have to talk to you,” she said, her voice still rough to her own ears. “I… this isn’t why I came.”
    Some of the wizards looked over, while others glanced to Cornelius questioningly.
    “I–”
    “Your majesty,” Cornelius interrupted.
    The words weren’t anything but absurd, and at them she choked.
    “There will be time for everything,” he continued. “But at the moment, you’ve had a difficult night. A difficult month, in truth. You need food. Rest. Fresh clothing.” He paused, meeting her eyes carefully. “It will do no one a dishonor to care for yourself as well.”
    Protests swelled up in her, but before they could emerge, Darius nodded. “Agreed,” he said.
    He motioned to the suit-clad wizard, and the man rose, circling the table to pull back her chair. “This way, your highness,” the man said, gesturing toward the door.
    “We will arrange for food to be brought to you,” Darius told her. “And clothing as well.”
    The woman in the gold glasses nodded and stood to leave as he glanced to her.
    Darius’ expression hinted at a warm smile. “Welcome home, your majesty.”
    Ashe stared. The room was spinning and everyone was going too fast. Getting up, leaving, moving around like any of this was normal or sane. With quiet voices, the wizards had turned to confer among themselves, Cornelius included. Leaning over, he spoke quietly to a man with shoulder-length graying hair, and drew Darius’ attention when his question could not be resolved.
    And not a single one of them glanced at her again.
    “Your highness?”
    She blinked and then looked up at the man next to her. Dressed in a faintly reflective black suit with the light glistening from his oil-slicked hair, he regarded her with diplomatic politeness as he waited.
    Her gaze returned to the wizards. It would be so easy to just say the Blood were real. To tell them the Blood killed Lily. Her father. Carter. So many others. She could just yell the words and then get out of here.
    Because these people were crazy.
    Cornelius glanced up, meeting her gaze across the length of the table. Her brow furrowed at the look in his eyes.
    Behind her, the man cleared his throat and she flinched, turning back to him. He gestured toward the door again.
    Feeling vaguely lost, she followed him.
    On the factory floor, people glanced up as she emerged from the conference room. Her eyes darted from them and locked on the grated metal walkway. The man strode ahead of her, turning down a narrow passage that bisected the sheer wall. The ceiling overhead felt far away, while the walls felt too close, and shadows crowded out the air. Struggling to breathe, she hurried after him when he turned down a wider corridor.
    At a door several yards down the hall, he stopped. Glancing around, he checked that no one else was near, and then pushed it wide. Watching him warily, she stepped into the room.
    In years past, the space had been an office. Or perhaps two, if the girder running down the center of the ceiling was any indication. But now a four-post bed was against the far wall and an oak cabinet stood nearby, its doors open and hangers waiting for clothes inside. Matching nightstands were positioned on either end of the headboard, and a dense rug lay by the bedside.
    “The royal suite, your majesty,” the man said, his voice perfunctory.
    Ashe glanced back. “The…”
    “Such as it is,” he amended, a touch of sarcasm emerging, and then he explained. “This was your late father’s room.”
    She