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Suddenly Cassia became aware they were not alone. She looked up, and Lio raised his head. On silent feet, his Trial brothers and sisters had slipped into the room to surround the bed.
“On this Vigil of Mercy,” said Mak, “we have come to honor Alkaios and your sister.”
Cassia looked from him to Lyros, from Xandra to Kia to Nodora. “Thank you all. I’m so glad you’re here. But…you are still planning to go to Nike’s monument, I hope?”
“In a little while.” Mak put a hand on Cassia’s shoulder. “It’s all right if you don’t want to leave Alkaios’s side.”
“It’s so important to me to honor your sister as well, but…”
“Plenty of us will pay tribute at Nike’s monument,” Mak reassured her. “Alkaios doesn’t have any family here to keep Vigil with him, though.”
“Yes he does,” came Komnena’s voice from the doorway.
Cassia looked to see Lio’s father and mother just inside the entrance to Alkaios’s room.
Komnena came to the bedside and put a hand to Alkaios’s clammy forehead. “Since he has no relations in Orthros, we shall gladly fill those shoes.”
Apollon nodded. “When he is strong enough to consider such matters, we will offer ourselves as his Ritual parents.”
“I can think of nothing more fitting,” Lio said. “I look forward to welcoming Alkaios into our Ritual family.”
“For rescuing Cassia,” said Komnena, “Alkaios will always have our unconditional support.”
Cassia took Alkaios’s hand again. “I…find myself at a loss for words. Alkaios deserves no less. But for you to do so much on my behalf…”
Komnena took a seat on the other side of the bed. “Your bond of gratitude is ours, Cassia. I will share in your Vigil over him. Zoe is staying at House Argyros with Bosko and Thenie. Lyta and Argyros feel the need to dote on the sucklings tonight.”
“Blood Argyros needs some time together at home.” Apollon’s smile was not one of tender affection. “I shall take a turn guarding the mages so no members of the Stand need be at the guest houses. My presence should also be sufficient to relieve the Charge from their watch there so they can patrol the border instead.”
Mak’s face brightened. “Thank you, Uncle. We were struggling to arrange our shifts so that everyone would have time for Vigil.”
“Should you wish to join Mak and the others at Nike’s statue,” Komnena reassured Cassia, “know that Alkaios will not be alone for a moment.”
Just as Lio said, gratitude was a kind of nourishment. Cassia found her cup running over with it.
She stood and turned to Mak. “Whenever you are ready, I would be honored if you would introduce me to your sister.”
VICTORY POINT
The sky above thecliffs was so clear it hurt Cassia to look above her. The aurorae blazed vivid under the full Light Moon, and the fallen Hesperines’ namesake stars shone stark and bright around the waxing crescent of the Blood Moon. A blizzard had left the sea restless and thrashing below and flooded the grounds of House Komnena under a second sea of white.
The snow banks would have swallowed her if Lio had not levitated her at his side. The young Hesperines walked lightly upon the surface of the snow, their feet barely disturbing the glittering white path along the cliffs, and Cassia felt nothing more beneath her silk slippers than the soft crush of rime.
A shadow appeared ahead of them, deep and translucent. It looked as if a shield wrought of night had alighted upon the cliff before the dark statue that stood there. Stone and magic rested weightlessly on the very tip of a rocky outcropping that jutted over the sea.
Mak gestured ahead of them. “Here it is. Victory Point.”
Hand-in-hand with Lyros, he led the way out onto the spear of rock. They came to a halt behind the statue.
A tall, broad-shouldered lady of black granite guarded the cliff in Stand regalia, her feet planted as surely as her mother’s in the harbor. She stretched one hand out before her, her palm toward the sea, as if conjuring that shield of shadow, as if declaring to the world she would halt them all at Orthros’s gates.
Cassia said nothing to disrupt the reverent hush, which was punctuated only by the crash of the waves far below. As if in silent agreement, they all let Mak decide whether to speak and what to say.
“Kadi says Uncle Apollon made a perfect likeness. I’m glad to know what Nike looks like, to have a true image of her in my mind when the family tells me the stories about her.” He sighed. “Mother and father have never set foot here, as far as I know, and Kadi never came back after the night Uncle Apollon dedicated the statue. So when Uncle said he didn’t feel the portrait was finished, I offered to help. I cast this ward to last.”
“It is beautiful,” Cassia said. “A true tribute to your sister.”
She wanted to say she was sure Nike would soon come home to see what her brother had done for her. But she couldn’t find the confidence to say the words, and she would not shower Mak with platitudes she didn’t believe.
