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At last Lio joinedthe circle on the Queens’ Terrace, hand in hand with his Grace.
“Ah, here they are.” Annassa Alea sat alone on the Queens’ bench.
Annassa Soteira and Konstantina were absent. Even now, Konstantina must be privately informing Annassa Soteira of Ioustin’s plight.
Kassandra occupied the chair beside the Queens’ bench. To her right stood Ioustin, the embodiment of the Charge. Basir and Kumeta were at his side, representing the envoy service. On the Annassa’s left waited four Hesperines Lio did not know personally, all heads of bloodlines whom he had spotted at the Firstblood Circle before. With them stood Uncle Argyros and Lio’s father.
Of course they would call upon Uncle Argyros at a time like this. He was much more qualified to address the hostage situation than Lio.
Cassia gave the heart bow. “I beg everyone’s pardon for our late arrival. I had difficulty escaping the embassy tonight and kept Lio waiting outside the guest house.”
Lio held his veil steady and hoped everyone there assembled would accept Cassia’s excuse without too much thought.
Annassa Alea nodded to Lio and Cassia. “You had important work to do there, as well.”
Queen Alea never accepted anything except with a great deal of thought. Lio, too, gave her the heart bow. “Thank you, Annassa.”
“Thank you for your deeds on behalf of our children tonight.”
The others listening would assume she was referring to what he had done for their people when he had confronted the Dexion at the Firstblood Circle. Lio knew she meant what he had done for Ioustin, for even now, thanks to Grace Union, she was privy to Annassa Soteira’s conference with Konstantina.
He gathered Annassa Alea’s gratitude to him like a light, a shield. A Sanctuary ward.
“Cassia,” Queen Alea asked, “in the aftermath of the interrupted negotiations, how have our guests reacted to the Dexion’s plot?”
“They are afraid,” Cassia answered, “too afraid to resist Cordium’s might, even when it only amounts to one man, and the only magefire he waves at them is a scroll from the Akron.”
Annassa Alea’s age-old sadness sighed through the Union. “How much has changed in sixteen centuries, and yet how little. One of the truths that remains is this: Hespera has always rescued the children of Kyria from Anthros’s wrath. May we yet rescue the Tenebran embassy from the Dexion.”
“Yes, Annassa,” Lio and Cassia agreed.
Lio’s father drew near and clasped his arm. “You had to leave the Firstblood Circle so quickly earlier tonight, we scarcely had a chance to tell you how proud we are of how you handled the situation.”
Lio gripped his father’s arm in return.
“How are you, Cassia?” Father asked her.
Cassia had yet to become at ease in his father’s presence, but she managed a smile. “Angry. Therefore I will be of great use to the hostages, for anger is productive.”
“A woman after my own heart,” his father replied.
The glass doors behind the Queens’ bench opened, and Queen Soteira and Konstantina emerged from House Annassa. Queen Soteira rejoined Queen Alea, while Konstantina went to stand next to Ioustin. She put a hand on her brother’s arm. He turned to her.
Annassa Soteira addressed the circle. “Much is at stake tonight. War or peace. Victory or surrender. The very balance of power between Orthros and Cordium. But none of those arewhywe are gathered here tonight. We are here for our people.”
Annassa Alea slid her hand into Annassa Soteira’s. “Son, tell us of the Hesperines errant we are here for. Let us hold their names, their faces, and their loved ones in our hearts with every step we take from this moment forward.”
Ioustin bowed his head and recited four names Lio didn’t recognize. “These Hesperines errant have all gone missing Abroad in recent months and are presumed to be in the Order’s custody. I have informed their bloodlines accordingly.”
Annassa Alea turned to the Hesperines on the left. “Thank you all for being here tonight. It is only right that the firstblood of each family affected by this crisis be party to our decisions.”
One of the four unfamiliar Hesperines bowed, her hand on her heart. “Ever since the First Prince informed me my great-granddaughter had gone missing Abroad, all our family could do was hope and pray—and offer all possible support to the Charge from home. I will not say it is better to know nothing than to know she is in the Order’s custody. At least now we can act.”
“Who are the other three hostages?” asked the bearded firstblood next to her. “What other bloodlines share our sorrow?”
“As the Dexion has confirmed,” Ioustin answered, “Nephalea, Alkaios’s Grace, is in custody. That leads us to believe the sixth hostage is their comrade Iskhyra.”
“They have no family in Orthros,” Cassia spoke up, “except me.”
