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He leaned closer, wrapping his hands tighter in hers. “No, Cassia, do not be afraid. I promise you have nothing to fear.”
“You don’t get tochoose?It just happens…or it doesn’t?”
“I can feel your dread, but the Blood Union does not tell me the thoughts that cause it. Hold fast to our Oath, Cassia, for that is more powerful than any mind magic. Tell me why this troubles you, so I can banish your fears.”
Her back straightened, and her shoulders went as tense as iron. “Does it happen to everyone?”
“Everyone hopes for it. Some must wait much longer than others, but we have faith that everyone can look forward to Grace. My Ritual father is still searching after nearly sixteen hundred years, but look at my father. My mother has fulfilled all his best hopes.”
“How can you be sure it has happened to you?”
“There can be no doubt. Once you’ve drunk your Grace’s blood, the Craving sets in. If you are apart even for a few nights, the symptoms are undeniable.”
“I thought Hespera was the goddess of free Will. How can she do this to her children?”
“It is a great blessing,” he tried to explain. “Early in our history, our reliance on mortal blood was a cause of great conflict and sorrow. When the Queens were the first to experience Grace, our people felt Hespera had delivered us anew. Some of our philosophers hold that the Goddess bestows Grace in response to our choices. Others believe she crafts Graces for one another, perfectly matching them from the instant of their creation. There is a new treatise in progress—Kia’s, in fact—which aims to study Grace as a scientific phenomenon and synthesize the collective evidence of Hesperine experience. Our own nature is sometimes as much a mystery to us as human nature is to mortals.”
“I don’t want philosophy or science. I just—I just want you.”
With that, her mental fortress cracked like the shell of an egg, and her thoughts pounded in Lio’s own mind like blows upon an anvil.
Lady Cassia cannot. Lady Cassia must not. If Lady Cassia does…
“Speak the truth, Lio. Just like we promised. Will there be someone else you need more than me? Am I to lose you to this nameless Grace in your future because I am not everything you need?”
That was her greatest fear? Not feeling trapped, but losing him?
“No, no!” He wrapped her thoughts in reassurance and ran his hands over her from her hair to her cheeks to her shoulders. “I did not promise youtime.I promised you eternity.”
Her fears pounded on, but over them, he could sense her defiance shouting. “I already know I’m addicted to you. As soon as you explained the Craving, everything I’ve felt made sense. But…is that what you feel for me?”
“The Craving is always mutual.”
Cassia took a breath. “There is no question you are my Grace. So that means…I must be…”
He took her hand in his and placed her palm over his heart, resting his other hand over her heart. “Cassia. You are my Grace.”
Her heartbeat kicked in her chest. Ephemeral joy flashed through her aura, and he saw it on her face for a fleeting instant. Then a shock moved through her. “You could have died.”
“You’re here now. I’m going to be fine.”
“Rudhira said Alkaios had been without Nephalea since the Spring!”
“Yes, Cassia. But—”
She leapt to her feet, her anger a dark echo of the magic she had cast upon the room. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He stayed where he was, leaning an arm over his knee. It seemed his cousin had a point about his preference for hot tempers. Cassia’s fury didn’t make Lio feel the least contrite. He just wanted to kiss her terrible scowl. “From the moment you arrived in Orthros, I swore to myself I would not tell you that you’re my Grace until you chose our love for yourself.”
“How could I make the right choice without knowing the consequences it would have for you? How can we decide what’s best forusif we only talk about what is good for me? I would never have considered going back to Tenebra if I’d known. I’ve been at Alkaios’s bedside. I would never want you to suffer like that.”
“Would you really want to stay in Orthros because you felt you must for another’s sake?”
“I would never want to leave, only to discover that I—” Her horror crept over the Blood Union. “I would have been the death of you.”
“I will not be like the men who try to set your unavoidable destiny before you. I want nothing to limit you. I want no sense of obligation to tarnish the freedom you’ve found here.”
Her lips trembled. “You would place my freedom above your own life?”
