Blood and Ash, #2
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Contents
Chapter Twenty
Overview
During the ride to Spessa’s End, Poppy’s silence prompts a frank discussion with Casteel about identity, guilt over the Ascended’s system, and what a convincing relationship should look like. Casteel admits a lost love, withdrawing into grief. Days later, the group encounters Dead Bones Clan warnings; an ambush follows, and Casteel is struck from his horse.
Summary
Riding toward Spessa’s End, Casteel presses Poppy about her unusual quiet. She admits uncertainty about how to act convincingly as his fiancée. Casteel urges her to be herself, arguing that conflict and passion can still signal a real bond. Their banter turns intimate, then Poppy pushes back, reasserting boundaries.
Prompted by his questions, Poppy unpacks life as the Maiden, detailing how enforced silence and abuse from the Duke and Priestess Analia taught her to disassociate. Casteel frames survival choices as necessities, guiding Poppy to share blame with the Ascended who built the oppressive system. He compares her view of Vikter’s limits, suggesting self-forgiveness is key.
They discuss relationships; Casteel says she deserves honesty and tenderness from any future partner. When Poppy asks about his past love, he admits she is gone. Sensing deep pain, Poppy almost uses her gift to ease him, but Casteel refuses, calling the pain a necessary warning. Poppy notes her tie to the Ascended; Casteel falls into a prolonged, pained silence.
Over several days, Casteel speaks little, though he returns nightly to comfort Poppy through fragmented nightmares of smoke, wounds, and a voice about bleeding poppies. On the fourth day, Poppy spots rope-and-bone symbols hanging from trees. Casteel identifies them as the Dead Bones Clan’s markers and hands her a bloodstone-firing bow, warning that the clan survives by brutal means.
Moments later, an attack erupts from the trees. As bolts fly, Casteel shields Poppy and turns Setti for cover. A shot snaps a branch, and a second impact knocks Casteel from the saddle, leaving the group under fire amid the ambush.
Who Appears
- Poppy (Penellaphe)Struggles with how to act in a public engagement, confronts past trauma and guilt, nearly eases Casteel’s pain, spots Dead Bones Clan signs.
- Casteel Da'NeerUrges authenticity, reframes blame toward the Ascended, reveals a lost love, grows silent, arms Poppy, and is knocked from his horse in ambush.
- Kieran ContouAdvises and watches the road; warns as the ambush begins and tracks threats in the trees.
- DelanoRides nearby, cautions against fighting on horseback, supports the group during the sudden attack.
- NaillRides in the escort; calls out enemy position as the ambush unfolds.
- Dead Bones ClanHostile forest dwellers; mark territory with rope and bone symbols and launch an ambush from the trees.