A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

The next day, Cas announces his engagement to Poppy. Poppy notes that Alastir is displeased by the announcement, though he masks his true emotions. When Alastir mocks the people of Solis for their unquestioning obedience to the Ascended, Poppy reminds him that the commoners have no choice. Like her till recently, they have been raised to believe that opposing their leaders would mean angering the gods.

Alastir asks to speak to Poppy in private. Once alone, he tells Poppy Cas was engaged once before, to his daughter Shea, who died trying to rescue Malik from the Blood Crown. Alastir—like Cas’s father—believes Malik is already dead and that Cas’s mission to save him is futile. Cas may be pretending to be in love with Poppy to use her to rescue Malik. If Poppy feels she is being forced into marriage, Alastir can rescue her and send her to a safe place. Poppy hugs Alastir and gently refuses his offer. He asks Poppy not to say anything about Shea to Cas.

Kieran and Cas ask Poppy about her conversation with Alastir, but she doesn’t reveal her knowledge of Shea. Cas tells Poppy that as his parents’ 400-year rule is coming to an end, they want him to be the next king. Cas wants to find his brother because the older Malik is the true heir to the throne. Poppy spends the day in the New Haven library, watched by Kieran. As they look through a volume together, Kieran receives an electric shock from Poppy, a sign she is emitting energy. Meanwhile Poppy finds an old record of Atlantian bloodlines. Cas shows her the empath warrior bloodline to which he believes Poppy belongs. Able to sense the pain and fear of their enemies, warriors learned to amplify these emotions and turn them back against their foes in battle, destroying them. A guard comes in with the news that a party of Ascended is headed to the castle.

Poppy and Cas head to the front of the castle and hide behind trees as a royal carriage from Solis pulls up with a party of knights. Lord Chaney, an Ascended Poppy recognizes, gets out of the carriage and asks Elijah, the keeper at New Haven, to hand over Cas, Poppy, and the rest of their party. When Elijah professes ignorance, Lord Chaney pulls out Mrs. Tulis, a commoner Poppy knew in Solis, and breaks her neck. A knight grabs a young boy and threatens to kill him if Poppy is not brought out. Cas leaves his hiding spot to tell Lord Chaney that he does have Poppy, but does not plan to give her up. Lord Chaney and the knights bare their fangs, revealing that unlike what the people of Solis have been led to believe, it is not only royals who Ascend.

Fierce fighting breaks out. The blades of the wolven, made of a material called bloodstone, kill the Ascended when struck in the heart. Poppy’s dagger—which Vikter, her mentor in Solis gave her—is also made of bloodstone. When she sees the knight who grabbed the mortal child try to drink his blood, she injures him with her dagger. However, Lord Chaney now grabs the child. Poppy volunteers to go with Lord Chaney if he leaves the boy. She is knocked unconscious by a knight and wakes up in Chaney’s carriage. Chaney is one of the few who knows truly about the power of Poppy’s blood: Once the Blood Court have Poppy again, they can use her blood to “usher in a whole new era of Ascended” (202). Chaney bites Poppy so he can feed on her blood and heal his injuries.

Poppy empathically focuses her pain and rage on Chaney till he is startled. She then stabs him with her bloodstone dagger. Chaney is badly injured. Just then, Cas stops the carriage and takes Poppy out. Chaney manages to flee. Cas chides Poppy for revealing herself to the Ascended. She did it to save the child, but Chaney killed the boy anyway, right after knocking Poppy unconscious. The only blessing is that the death was quick, as Chaney did not feed on him. Poppy faints again. When she awakens, Cas tells Poppy he gave her his blood for sustenance. Sensing the pain of those injured in the battle, Poppy wants to help them with her empath powers.

Poppy comes out of the castle and sees an enormous tree grown overnight in the courtyard, leaking blood—an omen that the gods are watching them and predicting a great change. In the sick room, Poppy takes away the physical and emotional pain of the wounded, but notes that some people look afraid of her. One of the women calls her a “second daughter” (220), confusing her. Outside, Alastir tells Poppy she reminds the people of stories about empath warriors. Empath warriors were feared and called Soul Eaters because they sensed and drew out the pain of their enemies to destroy them. Cas tells Poppy they all must now head to Spessa’s End. Cas asks Poppy to pretend he’s still the Hawke with whom she fell in love and the two kiss.

Cas tells Poppy that he has a gift for her in the dungeon. Lord Chaney has been found and captured and Poppy can seek the revenge she wants. Poppy enters Lord Chaney’s cell and, thinking of the way he snapped Mrs. Tulis’s neck, stabs him in the heart with her bloodstone dagger. The Ascended dies and turns into ash. Poppy realizes she has never been a Maiden, but always a warrior. Poppy goes with Kieran to the underground chamber and chisels Mrs. Tulis’s name on the wall in remembrance. Kieran tells Poppy about the bond he shares with Cas: They can sense each other’s feelings. If either of them dies, the other would become weakened, though would eventually recover. This bond recalls the story of how the first wolven were created: When the gods’ children—called the deities—were born, the gods summoned wild kiyou wolves to protect them. In return, they offered the wolves the ability to shift into the mortal form.