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“We cannot address one unless we address the other.”
“Elder Firstblood Hypatia has the podium at present. You must wait.”
Uncle Argyros made the circle petition. “Hypatia has already acknowledged her cession of the podium to me and was about to return to her seat. I hereby give my place on the schedule to my nephew.”
Konstantina rounded on him. “Argyros, it was purely out of respect for you that I agreed to allow you some brief remarks before I take the podium to present my proposal, despite the fact that you oppose the measure. This is how you reciprocate?”
“Of course you would invite a dependable and cautious ancient such as myself to be the obligatory voice of dissent. I must tender my excuses.”
Hypatia subjected him to a glare of betrayal.
He looked back with a mild countenance and piercing eyes. “By my right as an elder firstblood, I appoint my nephew to speak on my behalf at the podium.”
“My gratitude, Uncle. Second Princess, is that in accordance with the rules of the Circle?”
A moment of silence stretched across the Firstblood Rose between Konstantina and Lio.
“For in accordance with the spirit of the Circle,” he said, “I have come to do my part.”
Her sigh was barely audible. “So you must.”
He gave her the heart bow. Then, bearing the Torch high, he circled the gallery and descended the aisle next to the Imperial section. As he passed the front row, he would have saluted Kassandra with the Torch, but she was not there.
Hypatia made him wait beside the podium while she gathered her scrolls with affronted precision. “I will not insult the memory of one of our greatest heroes by pointing out the dreadful consequences of that Torch coming into our possession. However, I have no qualms voicing a forthright analysis of Firstgift Komnenos’s recent actions. Remember, my fellow firstbloods, it is youthful recklessness that drove us to this point of crisis in the first place. I pray you will not allow blind idealism to lead Orthros to further destruction.”
With that charming introduction, she left the podium to Lio and returned to her seat.
Lio set the Torch on its end upon the podium before him, then released it. It hovered upright of its own power.Thank you for your partisanship, Methu.
“Annassa, Firstbloods, and heirs of the blood, thank you for hearing me under the Goddess’s Eyes. By the light of Prometheus’s greatest victory, I shall strive to speak only truth, according to my conscience. I will not dissemble. I am here tonight to convince you that we must never invoke the Departure. For the sake of our elders who have dreamed and bled these long years to craft us a better world. For the sake of every reckless young Hesperine in Orthros who dares imagine that what is set in stone can change.”
Lio had stolen a place on the schedule ahead of Konstantina. Until he was finished, she couldn’t take the podium. She couldn’t propose the Departure. The Circle couldn’t vote in favor of it.
All Lio had to do was keep talking.
THE ORACLE SPEAKS
The city bells tauntedCassia. Orthros was slipping through her fingers. She was certain Lio would not come to get her, just like last night. The truth had spoiled all that was left of their time.
Would they while away the rest of this stalemate, unable to bear being together because they knew they must part? When she departed Orthros, must she leave without the solace of these final nights of their life together? It would have made her sacrifice so much harder, but so much easier, if she could only have enjoyed Lio to the last.
The emptiness of the guest room dragged at Cassia. The bed called. If she but lay down upon it, the paralysis would overcome her, and she would find no reason to rise again.
No. No, there might be one more reason to stay on her feet.
I so enjoyed our evening together during the Vigil of the Gift,Kassandra had said, the first time Cassia had met her. According to Kassandra, their encounter on this night had already come to pass. Cassia had never put any faith in diviners, whether the Oracle of Chera or the Tenebran fortune tellers who claimed they could read the future in a bird’s entrails. But she had also put no faith in kindness or love, until she had met Hesperines.
Cassia made herself put on her cloak. She hesitated, casting a long look at the empty bed. No illusion of her would sleep there tonight to deceive eyes and minds.
Cassia went to the couch in the sitting room and put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. Perita didn’t startle. She must not have been asleep.
“Do you need something, my lady?”
“I need to scheme. I’m going to shut my bedchamber door and not come out till I think of something.”
Perita sat up. “That’s my lady. Callen and I will make sure nobody crosses that threshold until you call for me.”
“Thank you, my friend. You know I would be lost without you.”
