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Most difficult of all, she must help her sister understand her choice, after Solia had sacrificed everything for her.
“Her Imperial Majesty will see you now,” came a woman’s eerie, metallic voice.
They turned to see one of the Golden Shield nearby. These women gave their all to protect the Empress. Yet Cassia resented the golden armor concealing the warrior, especially her helmet, forged with the same face as every member of the elite guard. Cassia couldn’t tell if this was Solia or another of her comrades in the Empress’s service. Knight had leapt to attention, but if his canine senses could discern their familiar Soli under the armor, he gave no sign.
“Your liegehound may accompany you in Her Imperial Majesty’s presence.” The Golden Shield spoke with none of the affection Soli might have shown Knight.
“Thank you.” Cassia took Lio’s offered arm and the encouragement he sent into her thoughts. At her murmured command, Knight paraded beside them, and she was as glad for his reassuring presence as she was proud of his gait.
The Golden Shield escorted them under the showers of yellow blossoms toward the center of the fragrant orchard. Toward the tree where Cassia had reunited with Solia after fifteen years apart. The same tree an ancient Empress had planted with her sister, before bidding her farewell forever so she could live on as a Hesperine.
That would not be her and Solia’s fate, Cassia vowed. When she became immortal, she would not let it separate them. She must find a way for them to have the futures they wanted and each other.
On the bench beneath the ancient cassia tree sat a woman who was undoubtedly the Empress. A thrill traveled through Cassia from standing in the presence of a mortal woman who held so much power.
Her Imperial Majesty, the shining Eldest Sister, daughter of the Queen Mothers, anointed by the ancestors and pleasing to Zalele, Goddess of the Sun, wore her might as easily as her simple wrap dress of yellow cotton. Her deep brown skin was luminous with gold dust in the spell light, and her tight steel-and-black braids were woven around an ornate golden circlet.
Tasteful but glittering reminders that her lands stretched far and wide, her treasuries ran deep, and more people lived loyal to her than to any other monarch in the known world. She smiled at Cassia with full, beautiful lips, crows’ feet deepening at the corners of her eyes.
No one could ever come close to the place the Queens of Orthros held in Cassia’s heart. There was room for her to be enamored of the Empress, though.
This Empress sought to make Cassia a queen.
There was a time, not so long ago, when Cassia would have coveted such power. She would have emulated the Empress and relished teaching the lords of Tenebra a lesson with a gold-dusted, female hand.
But at this moment, Cassia’s greatest desire was to go home, hug Lio’s little sister Zoe, and water her house plants.
She almost laughed with relief as one of her greatest fears drained away. She was not tempted.
“Your Imperial Majesty,” Lio said with great respect, “allow me to present Ambassador Cassia Komnena of the Diplomatic Service of the Queens of Orthros, my partner for eternity.”
His words sparkled through Cassia, little shards of joy, sharp and real and wondrous. She gave a deep bow befitting a Hesperine diplomat, and as she straightened, her medallion landed against her chest with a satisfying thump.
Knight lowered his bulk into a graceful down-stay, rewarding Cassia’s efforts to prepare him for this audience. The grooming she had given his masses of shaggy fur would not last long, but it was worth the benevolent smile he won from the Empress.
“Ambassador Cassia.” The Empress’s regal voice rested upon her like a strong and gracious hand. “How glad we are to see you safe and well after your capture by our enemies.”
Cassia found this to be the easy part, for expressing thanks was central to the Hesperine way of life—her way, now. “Your Imperial Majesty, for all you have done to rescue me from the Rezayal and for your generous hospitality since, you have my deepest gratitude and that of our bloodline. For your treatment of my sister during her years at your side, I have no words to thank you. I hope my deeds will soon speak clearly.”
“What joy it has brought us to reunite you and Princess Solia after so long. I am sure you are eager to see her again, but at present, she is enjoying some well-deserved hours of sleep while her sister-in-arms attends us.”
Calculations took shape in Cassia’s thoughts. The Empress had planned this audience for Solia’s off-duty hours and told Cassia as much. What did Her Imperial Majesty wish to say that was not for Solia’s ears? What did the Empress hope to hear from Cassia that she might be less likely to confess in front of her sister? Assuming what the Empress said was true, and Solia was not hidden in that armor.
Lio touched his medallion, one of their private signals during negotiations. That meant he was confident. He must agree with Cassia that the Empress was telling the truth.
“Thank you for granting my sister a reprieve, Your Imperial Majesty,” Cassia said.
The Empress made a generous gesture. “Are you well, Ambassador Cassia? We know how you suffered as the Rezayal’s prisoner. We will gladly have a chair brought for you, should you need to rest.”
Cassia bowed again, her head spinning at the suggestion that she might sit in the Empress’s presence. “You honor me, Your Imperial Majesty, but I have never felt better, thanks to the expert care of your personal physician.”
The Empress gave a nod, clearly pleased with Cassia’s manners. When Cassia had learned politics in the dung heap that was the kingdom of Tenebra, she had never imagined she would use those skills on the other side of the world in the Empire, for the sake of the Hesperines. All those years under the king’s tyranny now seemed like something solid in her hand that she could wield, rather than a dreadful specter haunting her.
Solia might not be present, but her words were on Cassia’s mind. I have made my power my own, and I wield it with pride. My legacy may be ill-gotten, but I have freed it from the king, as surely as I have freed myself.
It was time for Cassia to wield her power. “We come before you representing the Hesperines, your faithful allies, to propose a new course of action for the Empire and Orthros to undertake together for the benefit of all our people. I’m afraid this plan may not be what my sister has anticipated, but we assure you that our alternative gives no less consideration to the best interests of your Empire.”
The Empress considered Cassia. “Princess Solia tells me that you spent your life believing she was the rightful heir to the throne of Tenebra because she is King Lucis’s eldest daughter.”
