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The crowd milled through the dark with the light of Lyros’s works to guide them. Lio and Mak herded them away from breaking anything. In the quiet, slow shuffle, Lio felt Cassia’s hand seize his. He wrapped his veil of darkness closer around them. She brought his hand to her lips and pressed a long kiss to his knuckles.
“Look at this, Your Ladyship,” Benedict called.
Lio had to make himself let her go. She slid out of his veil and rejoined Benedict in the light of the displays.
She peered inside, folding her hands as if she dare not touch the precious contents within, the picture of the natural daughter who knew the crown jewels were not for her. Lio gazed upon his Grace in the light of Hesperine magic. If her countrymen would really look at her, they would see the truth—a woman who had no love for the gems and precious metals her unwanted suitors piled upon her, who had once given up all the riches she might ever possess to save a human life.
Her face was devoid of expression, but her aura filled with unmistakable longing. Lio drew nearer to see what held her attention.
The glass cover of the display case showed him his own reflection.
CONSPIRATORS
Cassia could not endureanother moment in front of the toymaker’s awning with the lords and knights.
“The evidence is right there before our eyes,” hissed a devotee of Master Gorgos.
“How can we encounter such things and do nothing?” one of Benedict’s fellow knights muttered back.
“Aye,” said a third noble, “the proof is right here. They must use these profane charms to capture innocent children.”
The Hesperine who was embroidering eyes on a silk doll focused on her work and did not dignify the comments with an answer.
“My lords, good sirs,” Cassia reminded them again, “we have lost the rest of our party. Come now, we ought to reunite with the Kyrian mages before we proceed any further through the fair.”
“She might bewitch a child with that very doll,” the knight whispered. “We shouldn’t let her finish it.”
“If we stop her,” said Master Gorgos’s crony, “she will only make another. When you cut off the snake’s head, more grow in its place.”
The toymaker blinked hard, her eyes glistening.
Cassia hooked her arm in Benedict’s. “I am going to find the Semna. Are you coming or not?”
“Of course, Your Ladyship. We would do well to keep close to Mother Kyria’s power in this place.”
Now Benedict hurried her away! The other men, who had ignored her pleas, followed his lead.
Cassia buried her free hand in Knight’s ruff and looked through the crowd. Lio was still nowhere to be seen. It felt like much longer than half an hour since Kia had pulled him and their friends away to deliver some urgent news. Suspense made the moments creep by. When would they find a way to tell Cassia what had happened?
Cassia focused on finding the Kyrians. Her last hope to rescue the debacle at the toymaker’s was for the Semna to dispel the suspicions about the dolls.
She kept a firm hold on Benedict and pressed on through the fair, trying to spot the Semna’s white robes. Here and there amid the strolling attendees and the busy crafters in the pavilions were Hesperines who stood still. Their gazes missed nothing. Then there were the Hesperines who seemed to proceed aimlessly from awning to awning, while never getting out of sight of Cassia. The Charge was everywhere. Whatever trouble brewed, she could rely on them.
The shadows between the two nearest pavilions seemed to beckon her. She slowed her steps to a stroll. The alley there drew her gaze, and she saw Lio’s eyes reflecting at her out of the darkness. His face appeared, and he put a finger to his lips. She felt his magic on her skin like a caress from light itself. A shiver thrilled over her. He beckoned again.
She drew to a halt as if pausing to look about for the Kyrians. She whispered a stay command to Knight and disentangled herself from Benedict’s arm. The sight of her arm still in his startled her. She backed away toward Lio. A perfect image of her remained behind with Benedict. He glanced all around, apparently absorbed in their search for the Semna. Cassia hurried to join Lio in the alley.
He pulled her close. “Allow us to remove you.”
Two nearby shadows manifested into the Queens’ Master Envoys. As the illusion dispelled, light magic faded at Kumeta’s fingertips, a bright gleam upon her night-dark skin. Basir smiled, his fangs white against his own deep black complexion.
“Master Envoys,” Cassia said, “well met. I rejoice to see you are fully recovered from Martyr’s Pass.”
“Good moon, Cassia,” Kumeta replied. “Yes, my Grace’s fangs are in top form. If not his pride.”
Basir bared his teeth further. “The ordeal of regrowing my canines has me in an especially ungenerous frame of mind where mages of Hypnos are concerned.”
“Have you learned anything more about the mage of dreams we encountered in the pass?” Cassia asked.
