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Eudias gazed at his hand. He said nothing for a long moment. Then he clasped Lio’s wrist.
When the three of them entered the corridor that led to the common room, Lyros manifested before them. Mak must have already told his Grace what had transpired, for Lyros gave Eudias a bow. “We are ready. You can rely on our protection.”
Eudias only nodded by way of thanks. It seemed he must now save all his words for what he was about to do. Lio walked beside him, and Mak and Lyros guarded them. As they drew near the open doorway of the common room, the uproar inside spilled out ever more loudly.
Lord Adrogan’s voice rose over the rest. “Benedict would take sides against the king. Like father, like son.”
“Lady Cassia has nothing to gain by this,” Benedict shot back, “and everything to lose. Think what it costs her to speak out against her own father for our good.”
When Lio appeared in the doorway, Cassia’s gaze fixed on him. She stood at the opposite side of the round table, hands braced before her, the moonlight streaming in from the courtyard behind her. Lio bolstered her mind with encouragement.
He bowed to her. “Forgive our interruption, Lady Cassia. It is clear this is not a discussion for Hesperine ears, and I regret that we must intrude. But we have come to deliver to your side a true ally. Apprentice Eudias has requested an audience with you.”
All eyes in the room went to Eudias. Lio could smell the sweat breaking out on the mage’s skin.
“After hearing his purpose,” Lio said, “I am confident you will welcome him at this table.”
In Cassia’s mind, he sensed her surprise, but also her trust in his verdict. She straightened, and then she stepped to the side, making a place for Eudias at the table, a place such as she had once gained at the Equinox Summit.
She gestured to invite the mage to stand beside her. “Please join us, Apprentice Eudias. What is it that you wish to say?”
“Your Ladyship?” Benedict queried. “Are you certain this is wise?”
Master Gorgos glared at Eudias. “He is an impostor who has occupied my temple under false pretenses!”
Lord Gaius warned, “With all due respect to the ambassador, we have no other witness as to Eudias’s intentions.”
Lio gave another bow, this time to Lord Gaius. “Please consider I have no reason to aid Cordium and every reason to support your embassy.”
Mak cleared his throat. “The Stand will ensure the other Cordian mages have no contact with Apprentice Eudias—for his own safety.”
“As a result,” said Lyros, “it will also be impossible for them to get any information out of him about what transpires tonight.”
Cassia raised her brows. “What could cause an Aithourian apprentice to need Hesperines to protect him from his fellow war mages? It sounds to me as if Eudias is taking a risk as dangerous as our own this night, and I for one wish to know what it is.”
“Let us hear the boy out,” said the Semna.
“What harm could come from simply listening to him?” Lord Gaius conceded.
“Very well,” said Benedict. “Let us decide by his words whether we will make him privy to our own.”
Eudias, still speechless, looked everywhere but at the place Cassia had made for him at the table.
Ariadne caught and held his gaze. They exchanged a long look.
Eudias walked forward. His shoes padded softly on the carpets. At last he reached Cassia’s side and slowly stepped up to the table, glancing around him at each of the Tenebrans.
Lio Willed the young man to sense his support. “We will excuse ourselves from your conference.”
“Stay,” said Eudias. “That is, with your permission, Basilis. I think Hesperines, Tenebrans and myself, as a Cordian, should all be aware of what I have to say.”
At his own open mention of his origin, a start went through the gathering, as if some imperceptible thin ice had broken.
Cassia studied Eudias, then she nodded. “Very well. Our gracious hosts, please do us the honor of joining us for this council.”
“We thank you, Lady Cassia,” Lio replied. “We shall join you at the table, representing the diplomatic service of Orthros and Hippolyta’s Stand.”
The Tenebrans on the side of the table nearest Lio and his Trial brothers slid quickly apart to make room for them. But the berth they gave was not nearly so wide as the one at the Equinox Summit had been. Lio stood across the table from Cassia, grateful for her before him and his Trial brothers on either side, and the hope of an ally in a thin, hesitant young man in yellow apprentice robes.
