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“From the first mention of it, you have been so eager to deny it. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’d like to set your mind at ease.”
Sweat broke out between her shoulder blades. She withdrew her hands from his to put the scroll back on the table. “It’s almost time for us to go.”
He ran a finger between her shoulders. “You don’t have to be afraid. It’s safe to get your hopes up, because it’s not too good to be true. It’s safe to want it, and we all want it for you. It’s safe to love it. The king can’t take it away from you.”
Cassia heard a drip and looked down to see her tears falling on a letter sealed with a rose emblem. “Is this an invitation from the Circle of Rosarians?”
“That’s addressed in Konstantina’s hand. I take it she wants to have you read for garden magic.”
“I—I hope it’s garden magic.” Cassia turned to Lio and wept in his arms.
MY LADY’S LAST SCHEME
When Cassia and Knightslipped back into her guest room from the courtyard, she found that her bedchamber was not empty.
Perita was waiting for her.
In the silence, Cassia pushed the glass door closed behind her, facing her inquisitor.
Her friend. Her best ally in all of Tenebra.
Cassia pulled off her gloves and tossed them onto the dressing table. “I’m not going to make up any more excuses with you, Perita.”
“I’m not going to ask you to.”
Cassia held out her hands, and her friend clasped them.
A smile spread over Perita’s face. “You’ve thought of your scheme, haven’t you, my lady?”
“I find I have one more in me, and it will be my most spectacular one yet. I am not going to let Chrysanthos ruin everything we have worked for.”
“The king isn’t here to call me up before him and bully your secrets out of me. Tell me what we’re going to do.”
Cassia hesitated. “I still want to keep you and Callen safe. Your families depend on you. I will not bring harm upon your loved ones.”
“We can see which way the wind is blowing. Before long, we’ll all have to choose a side. I can’t say either side is safe, whether Cordium’s or Tenebra’s, when the King of Tenebra sides with the mages against his own people. But I can say which side is right, and I’ll not risk my life or theirs for anything less.”
Cassia embraced her friend. “I want you to know how much you will always mean to me, no matter what happens.”
Perita pulled back, her face falling. “That sounds awfully final. I suppose you’re really going to stay with him.”
Cassia’s mind skipped like a stone on the water over the words she had so carefully planned to say.
Could it be that Perita already knew?
Cassia shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. “I have always said your insight is not to be underestimated. I thought I was being so careful, the way I speak to him, the way I look at him…”
“Your discretion has never failed you. It’s the wayhebehaves withyou.Not that any mortal can read a thing on that pretty, mysterious face of his. But actions don’t lie. I doubt any of the thick-headed lords would know romance from a gas pain if they saw it, but Callen and I haven’t taken kindly to the way Ambassador Toothy hovers around you.”
Cassia let out a breath of a laugh. Her candid Lio. For all his veils and illusions, she had always warned him he was too honest.
Perita crossed her arms. “When he came down so hard on the necromancer about the smokes, I couldn’t ignore it any longer. The Ambassador wasn’t worried about his mighty papa’s fancy guest house. He was being possessive of you.”
“Protective,” Cassia amended.
“If you’d been under his influence since he gave you that soap in Tenebra, I figured I was almost too late to save you.”
“Rest assured, there were no spells in the soap, and I am not in need of rescue.”
