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“You are prepared to set sail without the Kyrian mages.”
“The Semna excused herself via Apprentice Ariadne. Until Lady Cassia or a member of her household relates to me her excuses, we do not lift anchor.”
Kassandra gave Cassia an amused smile. At last Chrysanthos caught on and followed her gaze. His eyes narrowed at Cassia, then he flicked a glance at Skleros. The Gift Collector’s scarred face betrayed nothing, but Cassia was grateful for the wind, which would make lighting anything impossible and shred any hint of smoke. Eudias did his best to become invisible behind the others, but Tychon, despite his green complexion, looked ready to pick her up and deposit her anywhere his master asked.
“Good moon, Lady Cassia,” Kassandra called down. “I am so glad you can join us.”
“Thank you, Elder Firstblood Kassandra,” Cassia replied.
“Basilis,” Chrysanthos said, “you should fear for your health. You must return to the heat in the guest house at once.”
“I have a much stronger constitution than you imagine, Honored Master.”
The mages stood between her and the gangplank. Cassia showed them her impassive face and her posture stiff enough to crack bones.
“Are you not eager to board?” Cassia prompted. “I will keep you waiting no longer.”
Lord Gaius eyed the ship. “Where are we going?”
“An evening’s tour of the coast,” Kassandra answered. “You hail from coastal Hadria, I understand, known for strong ships and even stronger sailors. Would you like to stand on a vessel that has been to the Empire and back?”
Lord Gaius did not answer. The other lords and knights hung back, their wariness writ large on their faces. Benedict hovered between Cassia and the men, as if he did not know which side to choose.
Kassandra laughed. She turned to the nearest crate on deck. She picked up an iron crowbar, tossed it in her hand, then pried the lid off the crate. She lifted out a bolt of vivid green silk and tossed it into the crowd of mortals.
It landed in Lord Adrogan’s arms. Other men inched away from him, but he examined the fabric with the eye of an old horse trader on market day.
Kassandra opened a barrel next. She pulled out a canvas sack and sent it overboard in Lord Severin’s direction. He caught it, landing it safely on the dock before him. He hesitated, then opened it, only to stare at its contents. He reached inside, then lifted his hand, letting golden grain spill through his fingers.
“I can continue to deliver my gifts to you thus,” Kassandra said. “But it may be more comfortable for you to receive them on deck.”
“Heed not temptation!” Master Gorgos whispered loudly to the men. “Remain steadfast! Consider what unnatural power reveals to her the innermost lusts and longings of mortals.”
A female voice rose above the gusts. “There is nothing unnatural about her power.”
Cassia and the others looked all around them for the speaker. Cassia realized the unfamiliar voice had emerged from one of the woman-shaped shrouds who served Chera. Cassia wondered if any of them had exchanged more than five words with the mourning goddess’s handmaidens in all these long fortnights.
The Cheran mage’s veil turned as she took them all in with her hidden gaze. “Kassandra has already given her gift to my sister and me. A consultation. She is Orthros’s seer.”
The revelation met with utterances of astonishment. Kassandra’s secret was now in the wind, and Cassia could do nothing to snatch it back. Cassia would never again underestimate the mages of Chera. Now she understood their strange attachment to Kassandra. But what was their intent?
“Well met, Sisters,” Kassandra said to the Cherans.
The two shrouded mages bowed to Kassandra, who nodded in return.
“There is no mistaking it,” said the Cheran who had first spoken. “We may never have had the privilege of a pilgrimage to the temple of our own oracle in Cordium, but we who are devoted to Chera know such power when we encounter it, and so too do our brothers who serve Hypnos.”
The other Cheran swiveled her concealed face toward Skleros. “Did you not sense her manteia, Brother, when we met her at the welcoming ceremony? Elder Firstblood Kassandra has eyes on the unseeable.”
“That’s why I’ve kept my eye on her.” Skleros looked up at her.
“You’re looking the wrong way,” Kassandra warned him.
Suddenly Knight let out a cacophony of warning barks. A sweat broke out on Cassia’s skin. On instinct she glanced at Skleros and Chrysanthos. But Knight was facing the opposite direction.
Cassia spun around. A column of smoke rose from the guest houses.
DAMAGES
