“I can hear you both,” Casteel announced as he exited the southern hall. Looking over at us, he arched a brow and made his way to the western hall.
“We know,” Seraphena called, the green of her eyes twinkling with amusement. It faded quickly, though. “Damn, he looks so much like him.”
I remembered then what Rhahar had said. I’d completely forgotten it in the aftermath. “Kyn?”
Her head jerked toward me, and she nodded curtly. “How do you know about him?”
“Rhahar said it,” Casteel answered, crossing the entry hall. “It seemed I reminded Attes of someone, too. He never said a name, though.”
I didn’t miss how Seraphena’s features tightened. “Kyn was Attes’s brother. His twin,” she said, surprising me. “They were nearly identical. I supposed they would’ve been considered fraternal twins, just as Malec and Ires, but they shared far more physical similarities. Just minor differences, such as hair color.”
Casteel stopped to stand next to me. “Attes looked like an older version of my brother, Malik, and was damn near a spitting image of our father.”
Seraphena frowned, likely at the name so similar to her son’s, but seemed to let it go. “You’re not twins, though?”
Casteel shook his head. “You’re not going to tell me anything more about my ancestry?”
“Nope.” Her smile returned. “I’ll leave that up to your father.”
Her smile had the knowing edge of someone who knew something another did not.
It was slightly unnerving.
“What happened to Kyn?” Casteel asked.
It took a moment for thevadentiato do its thing. It didn’t tell me what’d happened to him, but it did tell me who he was. The Primal God of Peace and Vengeance.
Seraphena’s eyes met Casteel’s. “Attes killed him.”
I choked on the breath I took and coughed. “Sorry,” I croaked as Casteel turned to me in concern. “I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”
Seraphena winced as Casteel rubbed the center of my back while I struggled to not wheeze in front of the Queen of the Gods. “It should be me who’s apologizing. I can be a bit…blunt.”
“He killed his brother,” Casteel said, “and we’re supposed to trust him?”
“He killed his brother and still helped break Kolis’s influence over Penellaphe,” she countered.
“Those two things seem grossly unrelated,” he responded.
“Oddly, they aren’t,” she said, causing me to frown. “Kyn was loyal to Kolis.” Essence crackled through her irises. “The fucker deserved it.”
I opened my mouth and then snapped it shut. All right, then.
I felt Reaver drawing close. Casteel’s head tilted, eyes narrowing slightly. “What does Kyn have to do with Attes helping us?” he asked.
Seraphena didn’t answer for a moment. “You will have to ask him.”
Casteel smiled, but there was no hint of his dimple. “I will.”
“Good.” Seraphena’s smile was unnervingly wide. “I’m sure that will go…well.”
Cas’s smile faded.
Okay.
Time to change the subject.
I cleared my throat. “Did Reaver tell you that I tried to wake Jadis?”
