AllFreeNovel
Share Us
under my wing of darkness,
where you shall find shelter,
against my heart,
where you shall find strength,
in the light of my eyes,
which shine with joy
in my endless sky,
where you shall be free.
I will,she promised silently.I Will.
EYES ON THE UNSEEABLE
Cassia and her retinuewere almost to the front doors when a figure came into view around a pale granite column. She had to stop herself from looking twice. Apollon circled the pillar, a travel desk strapped to his shoulders. He had not even bothered to veil himself. The Lion of Orthros was a visible threat, wearing work robes and whistling while he examined the structure and jotted notes to himself.
The men gave him nervous glances and walked on the other side of the hall. She stopped trying not to notice him and urged Knight into an alert stance to keep up appearances.
As she and the others walked past him, the surety of his power wrapped her senses. He was here to keep her safe. She did not, could not meet his gaze. That she was glad for the excuse stung her with guilt. But that was not what she wanted him to feel in the Blood Union. She focused on her sense of gratitude.
She and her companions donned their cloaks before hastening out the main doors of Rose House and down the front steps. She spotted their goal right away.
Chrysanthos’s red-gold robes stuck out like a sore thumb under the spell lights that reflected on the dark waters of the harbor. He stood with Tychon, Skleros, and Eudias at the end of a dock, where one of the Hesperines’ pale, lithe ships lay at anchor. The mages of Chera had beaten Cassia there and waited near their brethren.
Frowning, Cassia approached the lords and knights who stood arguing at the mages’ backs. With Knight’s help, she pushed her way through.
“What does the witch want with us?” whispered one lord.
“Leave the experts to deal with her, I say.” A knight nodded toward the mages.
Lord Severin looked at Lord Adrogan askance. “Where did you find such eagerness to visit Elder Firstblood Kassandra?”
“Folded up in the silk in the mage’s study,” Lord Adrogan answered under his breath. “When that cloth shines, don’t you see the gleam of coin? The mages are men, too, and want it all for themselves.”
“Lady Cassia.” Lord Severin halted her, speaking softly, but with surprise in his tone. “Is your condition improved?”
The lords and knights fell silent. Everyone stared at her. Their fingers moved under the cloaks. Signing glyphs, of course. The cursed one had arrived.
Cassia was ready to howl with the same rage she had unleashed in her dream.
She would not put down her spade.
“The Semna has pronounced me perfectly hale,” she announced.
“Why don’t we return to the guest house?” Benedict asked in the low tones of the sickroom, trying to take her arm. “The Semna said you should rest.”
Cassia evaded him and forged through the group. Holding her cloak close, she headed for the end of the dock. The ship’s scarlet sails ruffled and snapped in the gusting wind. The vessel’s figurehead was a graceful, horned gargoyle with the wings of a silk moth. The creature appeared ready to fly over the open sea and take the ship with her. A crew of Hesperines Cassia had not met were active in the rigging. On deck, a number of others busied themselves rearranging cargo that looked perfectly well organized, and Cassia spotted faces she knew from the Charge.
At the bottom of the gangplank, the Cordian mages stood like supplicants. Kassandra looked down upon them from up on deck. She appeared ready for an active night, wearing a knee-length robe over a pair of flowing trousers.
“Basilis is too ill to leave her bed tonight,” Chrysanthos insisted.
“The entire embassy is invited to join me aboard,” Kassandra said. “I will not insult any of my guests by leaving without them.”
