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- Tendo
Lio rested his hand on the dagger. “We’ll keep Solia and this blade safe for him until he has a change of heart.”
Cassia hesitated, unwilling to ask the next question, needing to know the answer. “You do think he’ll have a change of heart?”
“How long did I manage to stay away from you?”
“Half a year, before you gathered an entire diplomatic summit just to reunite us.”
“Mark my words. Tendo won’t last any longer than I did. Although I shudder to imagine what his version of calling the Solstice Summit will look like. I do hope he doesn’t start a war.”
“Tonight was not the Solstice Summit, Lio.” The words she’d been saving for when they were alone finally boiled out of her. “I was standing right there, but you didn’t even discuss the Labors for the Matriarch with me before agreeing to my sister’s demands. That was a decision we should have made together.”
He did not appear surprised at her protest. She knew he had sensed her seething all night. “The Empress made her preferences clear. It would have been difficult to say no.”
“More difficult than all the other times we’ve stood up to a great power together? No. Even the Empress agreed it was your choice.”
“Yes, Cassia. My choice. I want to do this.”
“Solia should never have asked this of you! It is unjust.”
Lio pulled her closer, despite the very large dagger she held between them. “Give Solia and me this chance to resolve matters between us. She and I must take responsibility for our differences and make our peace.”
“Making peace is not her motivation for the labors.”
“I have withstood sabotage by fire mages with evil intent. Solia, on the other hand, is only trying to protect you. She and I are completely aligned in that goal, and I intend to prove it to her.”
“Yes, I am what you have in common. I can mediate between you and bring you closer. But not if the two of you are locked in some kind of battle of wills!”
“You are a magnificent diplomat, my rose. But this is one alliance you should not have to work for. I never want you to feel you must negotiate between your own Grace and sister. I will not allow you to be caught between us.”
Sunbind her, she wanted to kiss that sweet, persuasive mouth of his. But she had a point to make, and she couldn’t let her Craving for Lio cost her this debate. “You expect me to stand aside like a spectator while she puts you through who knows how many tasks?”
“Five tasks for an ambassador,” he replied. “It varies depending on the woman’s status. For a princess, it is eight. Kassandra told me her husband had to perform ten tasks for her mother because she was the daughter of the Empress.”
Trust her scrollworm to know such things. He was so calm that it only made Cassia angrier. “Knowing Solia, she’ll claim I’m still a princess and ask for eight instead of five. But she has no right to demand any. You’re my Grace. You have nothing to prove. I shall go to her right now and tell her she must set a more reasonable condition for giving us her blessing.”
“You do need to speak with her. But it’s more important to change her mind about returning with us to Orthros than about the labors. When our family arrives tomorrow, wouldn’t you rather tell them they aren’t here to visit her, but to bring her home?”
Cassia fisted her hands at her sides, her fingers closing around the hilt of the dagger. “If she were being fair to you, she could meet your parents and Zoe tomorrow night with open arms, and I wouldn’t have to convince her Orthros is her home.”
“Another reason I agreed to the labors. I hope my goodwill gesture will endear her to the idea of at least visiting House Komnena. If nothing else, she will need to oversee my tasks for her.”
This was not how Cassia imagined it would be when she introduced Solia to her Hesperine family. Zoe was looking forward to it so much. Cassia could only pray her little Grace-sister would not be disappointed.
Lio stroked Cassia’s arms. “Try to look forward to tomorrow night, if you can. We’ll finally get to see Zoe. Now that you’re well enough for her to come see you, she’ll give you no rest.”
His comfort seemed to wrap around her, and her traitorous senses reached for his magic before she could control the impulse. She felt her aura bloom and tug at his power, her surrogate for blood until she could feast on his vein.
The next thing she knew, he was kissing her, and she could not have stopped him for all the debates in the world. He fed her the sensation of his lips, the flavor of his tongue, the prick of his fangs while he held her to him with a firm, gentle hand behind her head. With his other hand, he slid the dagger from her grasp.
When she found the coherence to pull back, he let her go. Her chin high, she backed away through the open doors. “I will table the matter of the labors—for now. Under protest.”
“Understood,” he said seriously, but the smile in his eyes reminded her how much he enjoyed the flavor of her temper.
She descended from the terrace with Knight, trying not to think of this as a retreat. The fresh air offered her some relief from the flush of her Craving. She would walk off her hunger on her way to the Golden Shield barracks.
Knight wandered to and fro on the path, sniffing at the cassia trees’ fragrant bark. After he had been on his best behavior all night, she let him roam. Suddenly he lifted his head, then trotted off like a dog who knew where he was headed.
