Blood and Ash, #1
From Blood and Ash
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Contents
Chapter Five
Overview
Poppy and Vikter confirm Ridley’s fate through his grieving father, underscoring the spread and cost of the curse. In Wisher’s Grove, Vikter challenges Poppy’s risky choices and fear of Ascension. Later, Lord Mazeen corners and assaults Poppy, but screams draw them to a freshly killed woman bearing puncture wounds, signaling a deadly threat within the castle.
Summary
After leaving Agnes with Marlowe’s body, Poppy and Vikter visit Ridley’s father. The grieving man admits he already ended his son’s life and buried him beneath a pear tree, preventing Ridley from harming others after being bitten.
They cut through Wisher’s Grove, where Vikter chastises Poppy for using her empathic gift and risking exposure. He presses her on deeper motives—fear of Ascension and a possible subconscious desire to be found unworthy—warning that only the Duke’s wrath will result. Vikter insists she will Ascend regardless.
Shaken, Poppy spends the next day in self-reflection and skips training. At dusk, Rylan arrives to escort her for her permitted walk. In the banquet hall, Lord Brandole Mazeen intercepts and coerces Poppy into a curtained alcove, leveraging the Duke’s authority to trap her into conversation.
Inside the alcove, Lord Mazeen gropes and threatens Poppy, invoking past “lessons” and the Duke’s punishments to keep her compliant. Poppy prepares to defend herself despite the risks to Vikter and herself.
Screams from a nearby room break the moment. Poppy escapes the alcove as servants and guards converge. With Rylan, she enters a room to find a woman dead on a settee, her neck twisted and marked by deep puncture wounds, revealing a shocking, predatory killing within the castle.
Who Appears
- Poppy (Penellaphe Balfour)The Maiden; helps investigate Ridley, struggles with fear of Ascension, endures Lord Mazeen’s assault, discovers a woman slain with puncture wounds.
- Vikter WardwellPoppy’s guard and trainer; confirms Ridley’s death via the father and confronts Poppy about her risks and fear of Ascension.
- Rylan KealGuard who escorts Poppy; intervenes against Lord Mazeen’s intrusion and accompanies Poppy to the scene of the woman’s death.
- Lord Brandole MazeenAscended lord; corners and gropes Poppy in an alcove, using the Duke’s authority as leverage before being interrupted by screams.
- Ridley’s fatherGrieving man who admits he killed and buried his bitten son to stop the curse’s spread.
- AgnesWidow left mourning Marlowe as Poppy and Vikter depart; emblem of the curse’s toll.
- Unidentified woman (victim)Found dead on a settee with neck puncture wounds, indicating a predatory killing inside the castle.
- Unnamed servant womanDrops her basket earlier; later flees screaming from the room where the victim is found.