Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
I turned as I was leaving the clearing, wanting a mental portrait of the setting to take with me. General Ximien was fastening his sword belt around his waist and tucking a wicked-looking dagger into his boot but looked up at me with such a look of reverence it made my body flush.
He called to me that he’d find me again, and I gave him a saucy wink and told him he could try, then made my way through the intricate hedgerow maze once more, so dazed from pleasure that I took a couple of wrong turns and had to double back.
When I reached my carriage and headed home, the events of the night continued to play in my mind, just as they do now.
I have always said that life is for living and I have never been one to waste a day, but I think if anyone were to ask me, I might give up one of those days for another hour in that man’s arms. The pleasure he brought me was incredible—and as you know, diary, I am no stranger to seduction and pleasure. Plus, I was able to take one of the Blood Queen’s guards away from his Royal duty for a while. Just long enough for what I saw in my vision to manifest—or at least I hope.
I guess we’ll see.
Still, tonight was definitely an encounter fit for these pages.
Willa
QUEEN ILEANA (A.K.A ISBETH) †
Click here to see a full-size image of Isbeth by art.bymikki.
Isbeth is a complex ruler. She started out as merely a woman in love, but circumstances embittered her and caused her to become something cold—and all of that was before she had time to let the circumstances of her unusual Ascension affect her. I could give her a pass; she did, after all, lose her child and have her love stolen from her, and all after being denied the one thing she wanted most. However, we all have a choice in how we behave and whether we use the things that happen to us in our lives to make us better, transmuting that negative energy so we vibrate at an even higher frequency and then using it to help others. Or if we fall into the despair and let it turn us dark. Isbeth embraced her need for revenge and let go of all her light to reach her ultimate goals.
Hair: Dark auburn in loose, waist-length curls.
Eyes: Nearly black.
Body type: Slender. Almost impossibly narrow waist.
Facial features: Pale skin. Lush, red lips. High, arched brows. High cheekbones.
Distinguishing features: Nose pierced with ruby gem. Faint glimmer of silver in her pupils.
Other: Also known as Queen Ileana. Laugh like tinkling bells. Smells like roses and vanilla.
Personality: Cruel. Conniving. Vindictive. Strategic. Dramatic. Narcissistic.
Habits/Mannerisms/Strengths/Weaknesses: Still loves Malec. Has a thing for cleanliness. Incredibly detail oriented. Wears Malec’s ring on her index finger—Atlantian gold with a pink diamond.
Background: Demis—was Ascended by a god. Malec’s heartmate. Queen of Solis.
Family: Son = name unknown † (killed by Alastir). Daughters = Millicent and Penellaphe.
ISBETH’S JOURNEY TO DATE:
As the Queen of Solis, Ileana was always on my radar. As an Atlantian, I simply couldn’t abide what she and her people were doing. But when I started getting glimpses of overlapping items for her—layered images, even—it was then that I realized there was much more than meets the eye when it came to the Blood Queen.
When I saw the meeting between Poppy and Ileana, whereupon she revealed her true identity, I knew that nothing would ever be the same. It answered so many questions yet created a multitude of others at the same time.
From the minute Poppy, Cas, and their people come face-to-face with Ileana/Isbeth following Ian’s invitation, the Blood Queen employs the snark. There is seemingly no end to her narcissism. When Poppy gives as good as she gets, Isbeth remarks that Ian didn’t tell her that Poppy had found and sharpened her tongue.
She asks Poppy if she’s bonded to Kieran. When she responds that she’s bonded to all the wolven, the Queen taunts Malik and tells him he missed out. She then adds that she knows Poppy became Queen of Atlantia—just as she hoped—but that she married the wrong brother. Malik chimes in and confirms that, yes, Poppy was to be Ascended, and that he was to be her Ascension of the flesh.
Cas lashes out at his brother, and Ileana chimes in that she’s curious about which of the brothers would win in a fight. She says she’d bet on Casteel as he was always a fighter, even when on the verge of being broken.
She makes it clear that she invited them so they could come to an agreement regarding the future. She says she is fond of Poppy but warns her against thinking that the care is a weakness because she is the Queen and demands respect.