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“I will go reassure your mother. I make no promises about mitigating what your father will have to say to you for worrying her.” With that, he stepped out and left them alone.
For an instant, Cassia’s pure relief eclipsed everything else. “You’re going to be all right.”
“Of course I am, my rose. Do you think I would ever do anything that would prevent me from feasting on you? That might interfere with me Gifting you?”
“I didn’t know what you were planning to do!”
“You left before I could explain.”
“You accepted her challenge before I could ask you.”
“If I had asked you, would you ever have agreed to my plan?”
“Of course not. I would never endorse you and my sister coming to blows.”
“Ambassador Cassia, now that you understand my plan and have seen the results, tell me your professional opinion. Was it effective?”
“I don’t care if it was effective, Lio. I never want to see you like that again.”
His expression gentled. “I’m sorry I frightened you.”
“Surely you could have shown her who you are in some other way than letting her hurt you.”
“You truly think anything but a battle would have gotten through to her? She is who she is. I am who I am. We cannot change that. But we can meet halfway—and tonight, the halfway mark was in the fighting ring.”
“You could have at least tried every other possibility before resorting to this.”
“She challenged me, as one of the labors. If I had refused, it would have cost me all the ground I’d gained.”
“If you hadn’t taken her bait about the labors to begin with, none of this would have happened.”
He put his uninjured hand over hers where she still gripped his robes. “Have you talked to Solia since the match?”
She watched him glide his thumb over her skin. “Yes.”
“And how does she feel about me now? Did I succeed in changing her opinion?”
She stroked his hair back from his brow. “In my professional opinion, Glasstongue…you proved more than just the limits of her anger, and the fact that she doesn’t want to hurt you.”
His smile returned. “What else do you think I demonstrated?”
“You showed her that she should trust your judgment, in battle or out of it.”
Ghosts of regret flitted behind his eyes, and she knew he was thinking of Pakhne.
“You also proved to Solia how much you’re willing to sacrifice for me. As if everything you’ve already done for me isn’t enough.”
“She wasn’t here for most of it. I felt a live demonstration was necessary.”
Cassia caressed his jaw. “Most of all, you showed her that you’re powerful enough to defeat anyone for my sake—including her.”
That unabashed smile of his was much too handsome. “This scrollworm beat your sister in a fight. I wish you could have seen my spells.”
Goddess, how could he be in such good humor after nearly losing his fangs? “You are quite full of yourself at the moment.”
His grin widened. “I managed to fool her with my simulacra.”
“Simulacra?”
