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“The Queens will host us tonight,” Cassia answered, “then each of the princes and princesses, from eldest to youngest, will welcome us into his or her respective residence for one night.”
“Not every prince,” Chrysanthos cut in. “First Prince Ioustinianos, the Queen’s eldest, is conspicuously missing from the itinerary. I wonder why that could be?”
Skleros took another swallow of wine. “What a disappointment. I so wanted to meet the Blood-Red Prince, who rampaged across Tenebra and Cordium with his fellow Blood Errant.”
“That sounds fearsome.” Cassia pressed a hand to her throat. “Do set my mind at ease, Masters. Did not Elder Firstblood Apollon, himself one of the Blood Errant, assure us only last night that they are quite retired?”
“Hesperines don’t die. They don’t retire either.” Skleros caressed the goblet in his hand. “Unless you help them along.”
Chrysanthos smirked. “We have already caught our hosts in a lie. The prince’s absence calls Apollon’s claims into question.”
“First Elder this, Prince Firstblood that.” Lord Gaius threw up his hands. “Who can keep up with all their strange names and titles, much less how they’re related to each other?”
“Howarethey related to each other?” Lord Severin put in. “They can’t have children, therefore…”
Benedict shuddered. “Don’t think too hard on it.”
“Regarding the First Prince,” Cassia said, “I can set your minds at ease. Surely you heard what the firstbloods were all saying about him at the welcoming ceremony last night. He is serving as his mothers’ regent at a distant Hesperine settlement. It sounds as if he was deeply disappointed his duties prevent him from returning to the capital for the Summit.”
“No,” said Chrysanthos. “I heard no one say that.”
“I did,” said Benedict.
“Who?” Chrysanthos demanded.
“Elder Firstblood Argyros,” Benedict answered with confidence.
Lord Gaius nodded. “Yes, the Queens’ Master Ambassador. He told me that, too. As much as I hate to agree with the Segetian boy.” He frowned at Benedict.
Lord Severin chimed in. “Orthros is barely populated outside the capital, but the Hesperines do have an outpost up the coast.”
All of that was true. None of them needed to know the First Prince was his mothers’ regent in Orthros Abroad and lived in disguise as a Tenebran hold lord, and that the Hesperines’ settlement north of Selas had nothing to do with it. They also didn’t need to know that Argyros, Lio’s uncle who mentored him in both diplomacy and mind magery, had worked a spell on the mortals at the welcoming ceremony.
From the corner of her eye, Cassia caught a glimpse of smiling blue eyes. She was glad Lio felt reassured that the First Prince’s secret was safe. Aiding Lio’s beloved Ritual father was without doubt one of their most important responsibilities during the Summit.
She would do everything in her power to continue buying time for the Prince’s Charge so they could find Orthros’s missing Hesperines errant and bring them home. The Hesperines who had saved her life when she was seven were out there now, vulnerable targets for mages bent on persecuting them. Her rescuers were counting on their prince—and on her.
“What does the ‘celebration’ tonight entail?” Lord Gaius asked Cassia.
“Guides will arrive to show us to House Annassa, giving us a tour of the city on the way.” Cassia studied the note Lio had left her in the margin of the itinerary. “The Queens are holding a royal banquet, and we are to rest assured we will be the recipients of their hospitality, not the main course.”
Chrysanthos coughed mid-swallow.
“Be wary!” Master Gorgos warmed up again. “Heed the fate of the unwary traveler who met a beautiful Hesperine female at the crossroads by night. She seemed so fair and kind that he accepted the food she offered him. Once he tasted a bite, her spell upon him was complete, and he had to return to Orthros with her, powerless ever to escape. Eat not a morsel from the banquet table tonight, no matter how luscious it appears, for succumbing to temptation opens you to the vile magic of the Great Blood Sorceresses.”
Chrysanthos recovered from his wine. “I advise you to follow my colleague’s suggestion. Do not waste your effort trying to appear to be good guests.”
“What if they take offense?” Lord Severin asked. “Wouldn’t that put us in more danger than if we eat their food?”
“The Hesperine embassy didn’t eat a bite at any of His Majesty’s royal feasts in Tenebra,” Cassia reminded them. “I am sure the Queens will understand.”
“What the Queens understand,” said the Dexion, “is that we are not impressed by their hospitality. We are not here to be lulled into complacency by fine food. Silk sheets are tasteless jests in the face of the history between Hesperines and mankind. We are here under Anthros’s banner, and no feminine wiles can induce the god of war to lay down his arms.”
Had Chrysanthos just asserted his authority over Cassia in the same breath as he decried the Queens? That was too close a parallel for comfort. Cassia had best wave Anthros’s banner about to avert suspicion.
She drew herself up. “The ground of Tenebra holds the bones of all our men who have died under Anthros’s banner and of the women who labored to bear them. We care nothing for fine food and silk sheets. What speaks to our hearts is the chance to protect our homes and see our families prosper in peace.”
Lord Gaius looked at the Dexion with narrowed eyes. “We may all be here under Anthros’s banner. But who among us is best prepared to lead the charge?”
