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“Thank you, Semna. Please give my farewells to the Prisma and everyone at the temple.”
“They will hear of your deeds!”
No man there raised another protest.
Except one. When Cassia rose and moved away from the Semna, she found herself face-to-face with Eudias. Lio’s heart went out to the young mage, as surely as to Cassia’s other defenders.
Eudias ducked his head, looking into Cassia’s face. “Basilis, I promised to protect you.”
She smiled at him. “You have gone above and beyond your promise. Your duty to me is done, and you have freed yourself from the Aithourian Circle. What will you do now?”
He looked around him at the gathering of Hesperines, warriors, and mages. “I shall finish what I’ve started.”
Benedict held Cassia’s documents aloft. “We will not waste our princess’s death or our lady’s life. We will see the truce decided before we leave Orthros.”
“We will return home the champions of peace,” Lord Gaius called out, “and the protectors of freedom.”
The embassy met their words with a chorus of “ayes.” The few who seemed unmoved received ungentle nudges until they too voiced their support. Master Gorgos, not to be outdone by the Semna, hastened to intone an Anthrian prayer for Cassia’s safety, praising her courage to the heavens. Lio thought Laurentius would appreciate that.
At last Cassia turned to Lio. “Ambassador, my offer stands.”
He wore a diplomat’s face for the embassy, but as he spoke, he touched Cassia’s mind with all his love for her. “On behalf of Orthros, it is my honor and my pleasure to accept you among our people for all time. In Hespera’s name, we grant you Sanctuary.”
FESTIVALOF
SANCTUARY
3 Nights After Winter Solstice
TIME TO ACT
The remnants of Cassiaand Lio’s ruse lingered between them in the form of half an arm’s length of dock.
She leaned a little closer to him and stood on tiptoe in an attempt to speak quietly with him. “Ambassador, may I ask who had the honor of planning this event?”
He stooped, leaning still closer to her. “Every Festival of Sanctuary, the first ceremony of the night, the Commemoration of the Founders, is overseen by the Second Princess and a committee she appoints the night after last year’s event.”
“Ah.” Cassia nodded. “I see her eye for detail and appreciation for history at work.”
Lio gave a slight bow, the corners of his mouth twitching.
From behind her, Cassia heard Callen clear his throat. Lio eased aside to increase his distance from her.
Cassia bit back a sigh and tried to pay attention to the podium on the central dock.
Yet another elder official whose name she had forgotten was giving yet another long speech. Something about the lasting, worldwide historical impact of a five-minute conference between the Queens and the elder firstbloods at a particular spot on the beach in the third hour after their arrival at Harbor.
If Cassia’s role hadn’t warranted a place at the front of the huge audience at the Commemoration, she would never have been able to see over all the tall Hesperines. In a stand of festival seats covered in miles of stately draperies, the Queens and the elder firstbloods sat at Hespera’s feet. Somehow, the real founders did not look small, even while they sat facing their massive statues.
“I’m looking forward to the lightworks,” Lio murmured. “Later tonight, our master light mages will hold a display of spell lights and illusions over the harbor.”
“When can we look forward to that?” Cassia asked.
“After the Commemoration, there’s another ceremony at the ward. Then the founders return across the Sea of Komne and land in Harbor. That’s when the real festival starts.”
Cassia swallowed a yawn. “Will there be coffee?”
When the dispersal of the audience restored her to some alertness, she wasn’t sure if she had actually napped on her feet or not. The cozy tiredness in her limbs reassured her she really was experiencing the benign effects of too little sleep. Never mind. She could Slumber when she was a Hesperine.
