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“I will not back down from the challenge I issued Flavian,” Lio said.
“Cassia, talk some sense into him,” Solia fumed.
“I agree with him.” Cassia took Lio’s hand. “Clearly, there is only one solution to my tattered reputation. The panacea that cures all fits of Tenebran morality. Marriage.”
Betrayal flashed in Solia’s gaze, and Lio regretted the pain between the sisters. But he still would not regret his actions.
Flavian had been a threat to Cassia long enough. It was time to remove him, and Lio could not deny it would be a pleasure to do it with his bare hands.
AUTUMN EQUINOX
1 Kyria’s Bounty, 1597 OT
PRINCESS CASSIA'S HAND
The moment Cassia arrived on the torchlit festival grounds, the censure began. Arm in arm with Solia, she raised her chin and strode through the crowd. The logs for the autumn bonfire were cold and skeletal, the stares of the courtiers colder. Few risked Solia’s ire by insulting Cassia to her face, and none came within range of Knight’s teeth. But Cassia read their whispered words on their lips. She caught sight of hands signing glyphs to ward off evil.
Plenty made slurs against Lio, but she had to admit, most of their venom was directed at her. They expected a Hesperine to be wicked. But when a mortal woman threw away her virtue, well, that was another matter.
It was like walking through one of her nightmares of their forbidden love being discovered. But this was real. All she had done was speak his name and put her arms around his neck in front of them, and the secrecy she and Lio had fought for all this time was gone.
Having their secrets aired made her feel like someone had wrested her weapons from her grasp. Every person in this crowd now had power over them, and every whisper came at a cost.
Lio could hear their whispers perfectly well. He loomed at her side, his lips tight, as if he were fighting not to flash his fangs at everyone they passed. “I cannot bear for you to endure this because of me.”
“You are not to blame,” Cassia said. “They are.”
“I’d like to warp their minds into a more respectful shape. But if I must use a tournament and a dance to change their opinions, so be it.”
Solia did not dignify their onlookers with a glance. She led Lio and Cassia, their Trial brothers, and the remaining Ashes to her box in the tournament stands. Flavian, standing before his seat across the field, acknowledged their arrival with a nod. Ben stood next to him, looking as if someone had died.
“He isn’t taking it well?” Cassia muttered. “No surprise.”
Lio rubbed his mouth. “I’m sorry. I was not gentle with him.”
“He was standing between you and Cassia,” Mak said. “You couldn’t be expected to stay gentle.”
“And I didn’t expect Ben to understand,” said Cassia.
But what effect would this have on his actions at the vote? She still didn’t know what he was planning, or what debate had raged in his heart as he’d prayed. But now that she’d lost his good opinion, she had little hope of pulling him back from the brink of desperate actions.
Lio handed her into her seat. “The walk from the keep tired you.”
She knew there was no point in protesting. “I will be all right, as long as I don’t try to run any races.”
“If you feel ill from sitting up too long, tell me.” His fangs showed as he spoke, and she had no doubt he would carry her off a second time, if necessary, no matter who was watching.
“With you near, I am not in danger of collapsing again,” she reassured him.
He took the seat next to her. “You know I would feel better if you were in bed.”
“Ha,” she replied, “as if I would stay in bed at a time like this. I insist on getting to watch.”
“I would hate to deny you that satisfaction.” He leaned closer to her. “I admit, I’m glad you’re here to see this.”
“I’ll rest after you win,” she promised, “so I’ll have plenty of strength for our dance.”
With Solia and Flavian seated, the attendees of the Council followed them into the stands. Cassia wondered how many seats on Solia’s side would be empty. How many supporters would she lose due to Cassia’s indiscretion? How much sympathy would Flavian win because his betrothed had betrayed him with a heretic?
