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Reluctantly, Cassia left Perita, Callen, and Miranda with the child. She and Solia took Lord Hadrian to join the Hesperines within their veil spells around Pakhne’s empty cot.
Rudhira was already gone. Cassia breathed a sigh of relief that he had slipped in and out with the Aithourians and Lord Hadrian none the wiser. Like Cassia, Lord Hadrian had met Rudhira in his guise as Hold Lord Justinian. They couldn’t have the most powerful free lord in Tenebra realize Lord Justinian was secretly a Hesperine.
“Where is Pakhne?” Lord Hadrian asked.
Cassia couldn’t bear the grief on Lio’s face. She wanted to hold him until she talked him out of every bit of self-blame. But she couldn’t even risk reaching into their Union. She didn’t want him to hear what she was thinking right now.
Alone in her own thoughts, she wondered if Pakhne’s fate had been a vision of her own future.
“Our healers have taken her to safety,” Lio said.
Lord Hadrian looked to Solia, his hand on his hilt.
She touched his arm. “These Hesperines are our allies. I uphold the new Solstice Oath my sister negotiated with Orthros.”
Lord Hadrian gave a nod and released his sword. “Lord Gaius pledged Hadria to that treaty on my behalf, and I keep my oaths—but my vows of fealty to my queen rule them all. As long as you are a friend of Queen Solia, you will be a friend of Hadria.”
Lio bowed. “You have Orthros’s gratitude for your support, my lord. Rest assured, we are on your side.”
“We would all have died today,” Cassia said, “if the Hesperines had not defended us. We are facing an enemy too powerful to fight with swords.”
She exchanged a glance with Lio and Solia, who both nodded. There were few secrets they could keep from Lord Hadrian now.
Solia turned to Lord Hadrian. “What do you know about the necromancer Lucis calls his ally? You have greater access to the king’s solar—and his secrets—than any man in Tenebra.”
“I know he consorts with mages of all kinds,” Lord Hadrian rumbled in disapproval. “Including a Gift Collector last year.”
“Master Skleros,” Solia confirmed. “He serves another mage—one even more dangerous—who has been working spells for years to help the king claim and hold the throne.”
“His other crimes are not enough?” Lord Hadrian said, with all the anger he had hidden from the king these many years. “He relies on magic to cheat his way to power?”
“I have seen it with my own eyes,” Cassia replied. “His secret ally is both a necromancer and a mage of dreams.”
Lord Hadrian shook his head. “A father should never allow his daughter to witness such things.”
“Cassia and I are the only ones who know of this necromancer’s existence,” Solia said, “except for the Hesperines who battled him when he tried to sabotage the Solstice Summit. It is safer for our people that way.”
“I am as silent a steward of your secrets now as I was when you were girl,” Lord Hadrian said.
“Thank you,” Solia told him.
“So this necromancer is the one who turned my men against each other?” Lord Hadrian demanded. “What did he do to Mage Pakhne?”
Lio, of course, took it upon himself to answer. Rudhira would have been proud of how he explained Pakhne’s condition. “We need to decide what to tell her family. Lord Hadrian, I understand her parents and sister are loyal to you. Will you be the one to break the news to them?”
Lord Hadrian looked weary. “They will have my full support once they receive word. But since Pakhne entered the temple, she is no longer a daughter of Hadria, but of Kyria. It’s best if you tell her temple sisters first, then let them decide what her family should know.”
Lio gave a nod. “I will tell the Semna and Mage Ariadne upon our return to Patria. We will seek their blessing to keep Pakhne under Hesperine care.”
“Can you save her?” Lord Hadrian asked finally.
“We don’t know,” Lio said. “But we will fight hard for her.”
“That is an honest answer.” Lord Hadrian looked between Lio and Cassia, his gaze settling on Lio. “Lord Gaius tells me that at the Solstice Summit, you extracted a confession from the Dexion of the Aithourian Circle without laying a hand on him. Anyone who can get a politician from Cordium to spill his guts is no mere light mage.”
“Ah, I see my bluff did not fool the insightful Lord Gaius.”
“Can your Hesperine mind magic protect my people from the mage of dreams?”
