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“How can you give up on them like that?”
“Hespera never gives up on anyone. I am fightingforour Hesperines errant. How many more of them will we send Abroad with cheers and fanfare, without any promise of when their fight will end? How many more will we bring home broken for the sake of a victory than can never be won? How many more will die in a kingdom that begrudges their sacrifice?”
“Will you give up on Tenebra?”
“Tenebrans do not want our aid. They live in fear of us. They regard us as a threat to all they hold sacred. The king lays traps for us that will result only in further harm to us and his own people. The Oath has long since lapsed, and with it our purpose and rights in Tenebra. The mortals there wish to be responsible for their own fate, and we must respect their Will.”
“The Oath can yet be restored. Tenebra can be made safe for Hesperines again. Made better, for Hesperines and mortals alike.”
“Do not doubt that I cherish your hopes, as much as I lament this world will not reward them. Nearly sixteen hundred years, and all the power of our Hesperines errant has not been enough to create lasting change in Tenebra.”
“They changed me. And I will change Tenebra.”
“Do not let Tenebra change you, Cassia,” said the princess. “Give your heart to your Summit. Ioustin thinks you and Lio have bought him time, but the time you have bought is mine. You have given me the opportunity I require to make my case to him. The Cordian mages are the perfect bait to lure Ioustin home. Every time he comes here to prowl around them, he finds a moment’s rest in spite of himself. Every instant of respite is another chance for me to make him realize how much he longs to stay. I will open his eyes to how much his people need him here.”
“You must know I will warn him of your plan.”
“Go ahead. My intentions are no secret to him. We have been at this debate for a very, very long time, young rose. But debate is my service to my people. I will deliver our Hesperines errant. When Cordium begins the Next War, none of our own will be there to meet them in battle.”
“There will be no war.” Cassia repeated the promise she lived by. “There is still a chance for peace! The Solstice Summit is proof of that.”
“Anthros’s fire and sunsword are rampant plants. They don’t stay in their garden. They grow across the face of the world and choke out every other living thing.”
“Why aren’t you taking your blades to them?”
“Phaedros tried that. It didn’t end well.”
“Who is Phaedros?”
“I will leave it to Hypatia to give you her firsthand account. She would never forgive me for stealing her thunder.”
“I think that is a secret I need to know now,” Cassia insisted.
“Only one thing should occupy your thoughts. I want you to attend the Circle of Rosarians’ annual gathering under my patronage. You can present your rediscovery of a true Rose of Hespera.”
“Thank you for your interest in my career.” Cassia lifted her chin. “I will keep your invitation in mind while the world as we know it comes to an end.”
“You are growing strong and true, wild rose. Mark my circle on your calendar. It is held during the Spring Equinox festivities.”
Cassia sucked in a breath. “After the embassy has left.”
Konstantina beckoned to the Sanctuary Rose. A perfect rosebud, just beginning to open, detached itself at the stem and came to her hand. She offered it to Cassia. “You must choose your garden. When the ward divides Orthros and Tenebra for all time, where will your roots remain?”
WITH A FLOWER
The princess’s light magichad snatched Cassia from Lio’s sight, but even a royal’s power could not disrupt his Union with his Grace. The turmoil in Cassia’s aura raged along every path of the royal rose garden. Her denial stirred the trees, and the roses filled the air with the fragrance of her grief.
Lio had had enough.
He left the mortals wandering, befuddled and unconcerned, in a labyrinth of rose hedges and sent four different illusions of himself in opposite directions to lead them astray.
Cassia’s aura hurtled toward him from the direction of the greenhouse. He stepped into her path. She came striding around the corner of a hedge, Knight bounding at her heels. Her white gown flowed around her, begrimed with soil. Her gloves were gone. She held a white rosebud in one bleeding hand.
Lio caught her in his arms. “Cassia, what happened?”
She was shaking with anger. “If we are to prevent the Departure, we must best Konstantina. We two, against all her power.”
“Konstantina is the driving force behind the Departure? I should have known!”
