The long awaited, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire Summary (From Blood and Ash Book 2). All the details, the full recap and review. Here we go!
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: High Fantasy
Series: From Blood and Ash
Pages: 637
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com.
But first, do you remember what happened in Book 1? If you’re looking for From Blood and Ash’s full summary – I’ve got you! You can read that here.
This, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, summary is extremely long. I tried to spare no details. Because of that, I’m making a Table of Contents! So if you’re looking for a specific question to be answered, you can just click on the link, and it’ll take you to that part of the page!
Okay, now let’s get to it! Spoilers ahead!
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire Summary: From Blood and Ash Book 2
Where We Left Off
Hawke has just announced he’s taking Poppy back to Atlantia to marry her. Swoon. Poppy’s finally accepted that Hawke is not who she thought he was. He’s Prince Casteel Da’Neer. His highness. The Dark One.
To marry, they must go to Atlantia because a “marriage can only occur between two Atlantians if both halves are standing on the soil of their home.” So the plan to use Poppy as bait to get his brother, Prince Malik, back has clearly gone out the window.
Hawke is quick to make a statement with people question his new plan to marry Poppy. He literally rips out the heart of a wolven in the dining room. So that’s fun.
“We’re about to have company. Fight me all you want later. I’ll probably enjoy it. But do not fight me in front of him.”
– Hawke
And Here Comes Alastir
Alastir Davenwell is the advisor to the King and Queen of Atlantia, and he’s going to play a large role in the book! Poppy gets a little sentimental over meeting Alastir because his voice reminds her of Vikter’s. Rip Vikter, we still miss you. But, Poppy’s quickly whisked away from Alastir before they can chat by Kieran.
On the way up to her room, Kieran starts sniffing Poppy.. and I knew when I read this that it would be important, so remember this! And he says, “You smell of death.” He doesn’t say anymore on the subject…
Poppy’s feelings about Hawke are all over the place. She doesn’t understand why he’s changed his plans or if he actually has. Kieran does his best to make Poppy understand and throws out a banging quote like –
“He has done things some might find unforgivable. Things that would haunt your sleep and leave you with nightmares long after you wake. He may hate being called the Dark One, but he has earned that name… But he’s the one thing in all the kingdoms that you, and only you, never have to fear.”
– Kieran to Poppy
Poppy Tries to Escape
Poppy tries to escape. Nothing new here. Kieran and Casteel find her in the woods, and Casteel offers to let her fight him for freedom. They fight, and while Casteel disarms her first, Poppy makes him bleed first. Does it really matter who wins?
Interjection: Should I call him Casteel? The question is still up for debate. Maybe I’ll switch for now. Sorry, if I go back and forth a lot.
Although this fight does lead to some swoon worthy commentary from Casteel. Like, “I’d do it again – kill a thousand versions of Landell… And I wouldn’t lose a moment of sleep over it. But you never need to fear me. Never.” – Casteel
Casteel is still finding Poppy’s violence a turn on.. what’s new? Kind of repetitive.
And the Craven are here to attack.
“Make me feel incompetent and kill more than me, Princess.”
– Casteel
Casteel and Poppy take care of them, making it a competition. And Poppy finally lets Casteel know that she was bitten by a Craven when she was a kid and attacked. Of course, if he had known this, he would have known she was part Atlantian long before..
Casteel tells Poppy about Atlantia. It has running hot water and electricity! But he also tells her about the problems in Atlantia, mainly that they are running out of space because the Ascended now have part of their land.
The Meaning of Hawke
He also tells her why he went with the name Hawke. It’s actually his middle name and what people close to him call him back home. People closest to him like his mom and Kieran. And only these people know it. It’s not commonly used.
Castell is in a sharing mood… Did we know he could use compulsion? I can’t remember, but he admits that he can and that he has been able to since his Culling when he turned 19. But his compulsion does not work on the Ascended. Bummer.
Poppy questions if she’s immortal – no, she’s not because she’s half-Atlantian, not full-blooded. She also wonders what would happen if she went through an Ascension, which Casteel hypothesizes she would become a vampry.
What happens when a person becomes a vampry?
They are fed on by other vamprys, almost to death by blood loss, then fed blood from and Atlantian. It can take weeks or months to control the hunger (thirst).
“He was both the villain and the hero, the monster and the monster-slayer.”
– Poppy
By the way, all of this is happening under a little “no other room available” scene, so Poppy and Hawke are going to have to share a room and the bed. And the last thing Poppy questions is, “why did you have to tell that Hawke was your middle name?”
And he responds, “Because you needed to know that not everything was a lie.” Swoon.
After waking up from a nightmare, Poppy and Hawke chat about traumas. He starts to open up about what happened to him when he was captured. Basically, they refused him blood, so he couldn’t heal. Since he was so hungry, sometimes he would accidentally kill the people they brought him to feed him. Then they’d leave the bodies there with him to rot and taunt him.
And Poppy asks him how he survived, and Hawke just wants revenge. That’s what kept him going. Wanting to kill Queen Ileana and King Jalara.
And Poppy survives by refusing to ever be helpless again.
The next day, Poppy is being guarded by Delano in her room. He rushes in for no reason, thinking he had her call his name. She hadn’t aloud… Something to remember!
Do all Atlantians have gold eyes?
Poppy’s hanging out with Kieran again – and she’s getting answers. Most do, but only those of the elemental bloodlines have pure golden eyes.
What are the elemental bloodlines?
Atlantians whose blood can be traced back to the earliest known Atlantians. Descendants not by blood but by creation. Created by the deities, the children of the gods. They can go long periods without food but they need to drink more blood during that time instead.
Where are the deities?
“The last of their line was gone by the end of the war. A drop of their blood is a drop from the gods. They would usurp any bloodline that sat on the throne.”
Are there other bloodlines?
Yes, there are changelings. Able to shift forms.
Moving on, then we get into a big discussion between Poppy and Hawke about how Atlantia is running out of space and food and his people want to go to war with Solis for retribution. But Hawke also wants to save his brother before this bloodshed happens and thinks marrying Poppy will help keep her safe and free. He thinks he’ll be able to negotiate the release of his brother and bargain for the return of some of their land.
“You are the glue that holds all their lies together.”
– Hawke to Poppy
Poppy agrees to go along with Hawke’s plan of marriage and negotiations if he promises to help her get her brother back too – who is most likely an Ascended.
Time to talk with and get to know Alastir more.. He wants to talk with Poppy alone.
He’s basically like how could you fall in love with Casteel knowing he killed your Vikter?? Hmmm? He’s also like Casteel could have been a son to me if things had worked out with my daughter, Shea. Awk. Alastir just happens to let it slip that Casteel has been engaged before, and it’s a “wound” for him.
At the end of the day, it does seem like Alastir is warning Poppy off from Casteel, but also trying to play the father figure that will help her leave him if she needs help. So that seems nice.
We find out King Malec was a deity from Casteel. And also that he thinks Poppy comes from the Empath bloodline. They could “read the emotions of others and turn that into a weapon, amplifying pain or fear.”
Fighting the Ascended… Part 1
And the Ascended are coming. The Royal Knights are there asking around, and they know something is suspicious with the keep. They’re looking for Poppy, and they’re pretty sure she’s there.
The Tulis family strikes again!! Mrs. Tulis led them to the keep. Girl was upset that Mr. Tulis ended up dead by Casteel, so she told them the Maiden was there. And now Mrs. Tulis is too, because of her betrayal – killed by the Ascended.
Casteel and Poppy had been watching from the woods, but Casteel makes his entrance to chat with the guard. This is probably going to turn even more deadly.
Yeah, they’re all attacking each other now. The Ascended knights vs Casteel and his people at the keep.
One of the knights is running off with a child, first as a shield, then as a snack. Poppy goes after this Ascended and kills him. The boy gets away, but while Poppy is fighting this Ascended, Lord Chaney captures the boy. He tells Poppy he’ll release the boy if she’ll lay down her dagger. NO POPPY. This never ends well. And it doesn’t. She drops the dagger. Lord Chaney still kills the boy, and now she’s captured. Great.
Poppy is Captured by the Ascended
Poppy gets stuck in the carriage with Lord Chaney. He tried to feed from her. She fights him off, but he still gets his teeth in her arm. But she uses her knife to keep impaling him over and over again, literally anywhere she can hit him. And then Hawke is there to save her. Yay!
But Poppy finds out the boy still died. So she sadly stopped for fighting for nothing..
Back at the keep, they find a Blood Tree has sprouted overnight. And weird, it’s right where Poppy was taken by Lord Chaney. Coincidence? I think not…. But the group just chalks it up to a sign from the gods that change is coming.
Poppy tries to help the people who were hurt in the fight with the Ascended Knights. She eases their pain. Not everyone wants her help though. Some don’t trust her. Fair. Apparently, people with empath character traits were also called Soul Eaters. So I’d be scared of them too. They would feed on others by siphoning the energy from others’ emotions.
Kind of forgot that Poppy and Hawke never talked about the woman who sent Poppy up to the room Hawke was in until now. And he’s like no, I never told anyone to send you up? I have no clue who that was. So who knows…
Any who, Hawke saved Poppy a gift! Surprise! It’s Lord Chaney down in the basement. And Poppy does indeed accept the gift and kill him. Perhaps she does love violence.
What is the bond?
We find out that Kieran was sick the entire 50 years that Hawke was captured because of his bond. That’s not fun.
They can sense each other’s emotions. Hawke can pull energy from Kieran. If either dies, the other is weakened, but eventually recovers. It’s an oath. Kieran must obey Casteel and protect him any cost, including his life.
To Spessa’s End
The Atlantians have created a town on the Solis side of the Skotos Mountains to start testing things out. More space for their kingdom.
Who are the Guardians?
They are the last of their bloodline. They are warriors, and they are all women. Woo! One of them is equal to 20 trained soldiers. Badass.
More Kieran and Poppy time! They chat about Malik and Kieran warns her to not bring up Shea with Casteel. He also tells it to Poppy pretty straight about things. Basically, she needs to stop ignoring her feelings. She does care for Casteel, and he cares for her, which is why he isn’t giving her up for his brother.
“But even so, sometimes the heartbreak that comes with loving someone is worth it, even if loving that person means eventually saying goodbye to them.”
Kieran
And Kieran lets her know that Casteel can only feed from her now because he cares about her so he’s repulsed to feed from anyone else. AND HE THINKS THEY ARE HEARTMATES!
What is the Joining?
Leave it to Alastir to let us know that we should know about it. It’s an old tradition “when a bonded elemental takes on a partner, the bond can be extended to that person. It requires an exchange of blood between the three – or four if the partner is also bonded.” It can be quite intimate. So yes, there’s that idea of threesome being tossed around again. Surprised? No.
It’s also a way to stop from Poppy from aging since she doesn’t have that super long lifespan like Casteel.
Casteel clears some more things up for us later – the bond goes both ways, so if Poppy dies, so does Kieran, and vice versa. Also, it doesn’t necessarily get spicy.
He also comments on Malik and Malec having such similar names. I think that’s weird too, Cas. Don’t worry.
Why didn’t Malec do the Joining for his consort Isbeth?
She didn’t have Atlantian blood, so it wouldn’t have worked. But also, it would have been offensive to the real Queen. And any wolven would have refused. And then Alastir with the dramatic reveal – he was King Malec’s last bonded wolven, and also told the Queen that Malec had changed Isbeth, breaking his unbreakable oath.
Casteel is starving himself, and he does really need to feed. So we get a steamy little scene with Kieran monitoring Casteel feeding from Poppy. Poppy can’t stop thinking about the Joining…
Anyways, Kieran runs out of that room as quickly as he can. Then Poppy and Casteel can have some spicy time.
Poppy can heal people
Beckett, a young wolven gets injured. And while Poppy tries to take away his pain, she ends up healing him instead. She also glows now. Fun new powers!
Casteel think it’s time for them to get married! At Spessa’s End, before they meet up with Casteel’s parents in Atlantia. They just need an officiant which just so happens to be Wolven named Jasper, who is Kieran’s dad. Cute. Casteel wants to make sure that his parents have to crown Poppy and that they can’t question it in anyway. He’s also worried about his people thinking Poppy is a Soul Eater.
Alastir is like no, don’t get married. Poppy, do you really want to get married before meeting the Queen? And Poppy’s like, I don’t want to hear all the objections, here we go!
THE CAVERNS
Just like I predicted in my summary and review of From Blood and Ash, Casteel takes Poppy to his favorite caverns that he used to go to with his brother (and Shea, yikes!)!!!
They go swimming and have another steamy moment. But instead of pretending, Poppy finally admits that she’s ready to not pretend. “I’m Poppy, and you’re Casteel, and this is real.” FIREWORKS! Finally!!
Alastir’s big mouth… again
Back at Spessa’s end, Alastir, quite the little meddler, lets it slip that Casteel is promised to be married to another woman. But then it turns out, that Alastir is indeed trying to stir up trouble, because while Casteel’s dad did plan for this, Casteel never agreed. Her name is Gianna.
We Meet Jasper
Some info about Jasper – He is Kieran’s father. He speaks for the wolven to the King and Queen. His wife is pregnant… which Poppy finds awkward because they’re so old. Also has a daughter Vonetta that Poppy is friendly with in the book. He’s almost 600 years old. We like Jasper.
Poppy Realizes She’s Free
Poppy realizes she’s finally free! She’s not a captive; no one is standing guard at her door. Her door isn’t locked! She’s also very in love with Casteel.
She and Casteel end up getting into a fight in their room, which actually ends up being a good thing. Finally everything is out in the open. What’s with Gianna? Are they pretending? Why won’t he take his parents throne? What’s the story with Shea?
Casteel lays it out. He wants everything from Poppy. He’s like you threw my entire plan off course. Because when he’s with her, he forgets all the bad things that happened to him and are probably happening to his brother. He forgets about his obligations to the crown.
The Sky Is On Fire
Oh no.. the sky is on fire? Someone is burning the land. Who will it be?? Delano is out scoping.
Jasper also tells Poppy she’s probably not an Empath. He says the healing and glowing don’t match up. But she still smells old.
Poppy and Casteel are chilling, waiting for Delano to return with news. So they have time to chat some more. And we find out that Alastir expected Casteel to marry a wolven and that Gianna is his GREAT-NIECE. Like damn, this man is right in the middle of things. Conflict of interest? Someone wants to be close to the crown anyway he can.
Delano comes back injured and alone. Poppy heals him. And says, “They’re coming. The Ascended.” And they’re burning everything along the way. They have camps and horses, wagons with supplies. It’s a big. They’re prepared. An army of 800 or so.
The Ascended Are Coming: Part 2
Sadly, Spessa’s End doesn’t have a huge population of fighters. They are severely outnumbered.
Casteel sends Alastir and Kieran over the Skotos mountains to get reinforcements. And Kieran is like why am I getting sent away? I should be here with you. Casteel just doesn’t want Kieran risking his life for his. So that’s sweet.
And Casteel wants to send Poppy along with them, but she refuses. She makes a stand that she’s a badass who can stay and defend Spessa’s End. You go girl!
So, it’s settled, Poppy stays! Kieran is still out though.
The moment has come for Poppy and Casteel’s last big conversation before battle. You know, the one where they clear the air in case they die.
Casteel opens up about he would use anything to his advantage to get his brother back. Like the night at The Red Pearl. He was actually going to take Poppy the night of the Rite. But he couldn’t because he didn’t want Poppy to stop looking at him the same. He basically apologizes for sleeping with her before she knew who he truly was. Poppy’s like oh well.
And Casteel just wants Poppy. No matter what. But Poppy needs one thing from him. To know about Shea.
The truth about Shea
He loved her. Their families were friends. He thought they’d spend their lives together. He got captured. She came to rescue him with the help of his brother. But the Ascended knew. They were prepared and wanted the heir, his brother. There was a fight, and Shea pulled Casteel through the tunnels.
The truth was, Shea had been caught when she and Malik were looking for Casteel, and she had given up his brother’s life for her own. But because Malik fought back, Shea was able to help get Casteel out. But they weren’t really free yet, and she offered up Casteel’s life to save her own.
He couldn’t believe it. He killed them all. The Ascended and Shea. And Casteel hates what he did to her, but he also hates her and her memory.
He never told Alastir because he didn’t want to “let the truth destroy a man who has been nothing but loyal to our kingdom and people.”
And that opens Poppy and Casteel up to profess their love for one another. Cute.
“Let’s make a deal that we don’t borrow tomorrow’s problems today.”
– Casteel
THEY’RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY
They have the ceremony outside. No shoes, need to be one with the Atlantian ground. Jasper officiates. They bury their rings together in the soil. They both get a cut in their palms, stick their palms together, and then reach down to the soil together, blood dripping on the rings. They lift their palms to the sky, and they’re healed, leaving behind a gold swirl. And they put the rings on… married!
Thick clouds roll in, turning the sky black. An omen? A good one from the King of Gods. Nice. Nyktos approves!
What are Heartmates?
Poppy asks about Heartmates. Sorry, I’m not giving the full cute little story that Cas gives. An ancient deity loved a mortal so much he asked the gods to give her eternal life. They said no. He kept asking. They kept saying no. She died. He was heartbroken. He was like I’m done. He became dust, because he was missing part of his soul. The gods realized there were people that their two souls and two hearts were meant to be joined.
So when an ancient daughter wanted to keep someone they said okay, but do these trials. Like your lover must remain by your side and drink from you to stay alive. The first Atlantian. The elemental line.
Then they get to the wedding night fun, sharing blood and all that fun stuff.
And when they woke up in the morning, the fight was there. Good news, the whole army isn’t coming yet. So maybe reinforcements will arrive in time.
It’s Time… The Ascended are Here
Poppy’s up in the parapets with her bow and arrow. Casteel is like don’t leave this spot and run if I get hurt. She’s like nah, can’t do that.
The Ascended and their army roll up towards the keep, and a carriage without windows comes forward. Who is it? None other than Duchess Teerman. And she wants the Maiden back. And they promise to leave without bloodshed.
We all know that’s bullshit. And thank God Poppy doesn’t come forward when she’s called. Oh wait, no, she does. *sarcastic clapping*
Duchess Teerman tries to claim Poppy is Queen Ileana’s granddaughter. No one believes her. And Duchess Teerman gives up her nice girl act and has the catapults throw heads at them. Magda, Elijah, all their friends from New Haven.
And the fight begins. Casteel jumps off the wall and into the frenzy. Poppy’s shooting arrows. They’re reaching the wall. Poppy decides to go down and fight. Honestly, thank goodness she has Quentyn covering her with his bow from above. Poppy fights and kills her way to Casteel.
The Duchess is hiding in the carriage… so yeah, that’s where Cas and Poppy want to be. Fire arrows descend on them, the larger division from Solis arrived, overwhelming them. And Cas is like I’m getting you out of here. We’ll fight our way out.
Which honestly, I do feel bad for everyone fighting on their side if they just get left, but they have a plan for the people not fighting to escape, so that’s good at least.
Reinforcements Arrive from Atlantia
And finally Poppy is like this is too much. Threatens to slit her throat and gets the people directly around her to stop. And then incoming, the reinforcements arrive just in time. Atlantia is here.
And with that help, Poppy makes her way to that carriage. Throws the door open. And there’s Duchess Teerman. She claims Tawny is Ascended; Poppy doesn’t believe her. The Duchess realizes Poppy is married and starts laughing. She says the Queen will be thrilled to hear that Poppy had done what she could never accomplish.
“Seized Atlantia right out from under them, under her.”
Duchess Teerman
So Poppy stabs her in the heart. Fair. Cas tells someone not to let anyone in the carriage. Jumps in with Poppy, and they bang. In the middle of a battle. Yeah.
The Aftermath
Back to reality, people have died. They sent one boy from Solis back with the message that their army had failed.
Poppy spends her time healing those that she can. She’s warned that she hasn’t been accepted by the people even though Casteel has chosen her.
Back in their room, Casteel lets Poppy know that the wolven heard her calling them out in the field during battle. She’s like I didn’t. But they all heard her…
And We’re Finally Off to Atlantia!
They’re going through the mist of the Skotos mountains. They split up into smaller groups. Kieran, Casteel, and Poppy are a team. No surprise. She’s warned not to listen to any calls from the mist and forest while they cross, especially at night. The mist is magic, and it protects the Pillars of Atlantia even though the gods sleep.
Poppy wakes up during the night cuddled between Casteel and Kieran. Cute. There are those hints of a triangle again. Hm.
And then Poppy hears her name being called. She’s kind of sleep walking in her typical dream with her parents. She’s being told to stop. Finally, the voice solidifies into a figure in the mist and tells her to stop. She was going to fall off the face of the mountain. Then Casteel grabs her to safety. The mountains rumble, and they question who she saw, because that was the sound of a god returning to sleep. Aios sleeps in these mountains…
In Atlantia
They finally reach Saion’s Cove where the Pillars of Atlantia are. They’re greeted by Alastir, and Casteel is summoned away to speak with him. His parents are in the town. Beckett offers to show Poppy the Chambers of Nyktos in the meantime.
Beckett thanks Poppy again for healing him, and then he disappears while she’s looking around. She realizes there are Atlantians and mortals around the room, dressed in white with long gold daggers.
People Try to Kill Poppy. Rude.
They don’t want Poppy to be in Atlantia. They don’t trust her. They don’t like her, and they don’t accept her. They block the exit and surround her. They start literally stoning her. Like throwing rocks at her. Rude.
And all of a sudden the sky is raining blood. An omen from the gods, the tears of an angry god. But Poppy has had enough. She connects to all of the people in the room with her powers and sends their negative feelings back at them. Killing them all. And where Poppy’s blood had fallen, a blood tree has sprouted up.
That’s Queen to You
The wolven found Poppy first. And then Casteel and everyone else is there. And Queen Eloana questions what, not whom, Hawke has brought back. Casteel kneels before Poppy, then the wolven, and finally the King and Queen of Atlantia.
“And bow before the last descendent of the most ancient ones, she who carries the blood of the King of the gods within her. Bow before your new Queen.”
– Eleona
My Thoughts
What an ending. Poppy, the new Queen? Love it. Kind of. Also, kind of like what just happened.
I loved this book. A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire was leaps and bounds better than the first book. So much happened, I couldn’t believe it just kept going. We learned a lot more. Still have questions, but they’re starting to get fleshed out (get it? ha.).
I’m excited to see what happens with Poppy becoming Queen. What’s going to happen with Solis? Will they get her brother and Casteel’s brother back? Will there be a war? Will the people of Atlantia accept her? What is Poppy exactly? So many questions to be answered!
I know this A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire summary was incredibly long, but it probably beats reading this long book again if you’re just trying to get ready for the next!
If for some reason you read all of this, and don’t have the book, you can buy A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire through my link. I receive a commission from Amazon Associates if you buy through my link with no additional cost to you – win win!?
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