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“Yes.”
“Fidget all you like, my lady. Enjoy everything about your promise dance this time around.” Perita stepped back to study her handiwork. “You look like a princess.”
Cassia had to admit, Perita was right. They had discovered this piece of Tenebran high fashion hidden among the Hesperine robes in Cassia’s travel trunk. She took it as a vote of confidence from Kassandra. The gown was the color of cinnamon and somehow made Cassia’s complexion shine. She was afraid the texture of the velvet would attract dog hair terribly, though. Knight sat obediently out of range of her voluminous skirts.
Perita grinned. “I’m proud of your night owl for snatching his mouse from the hawk.”
Now Cassia giggled. Instead of clapping her hand over the sound, she decided Perita was right, and she was entitled to enjoyment, even silly laughter.
“Now that’s a man.” Perita sighed. “Willing to do all of this so you can have your fangs and your sister, too.”
“Perhaps I don’t have to choose between the human and Hesperine worlds after all.” Cassia clasped her friend’s hand. “I’m not going to lose you.”
“Lose me? Ha. It would take more than you leaving for a foreign land and turning into an immortal heretic for you to lose me. But I’m glad I’ll be seeing more of you.”
Cassia stood and embraced Perita, so grateful this would not be the last time.
“Now then.” Perita drew back, dabbing at her eyes. “Let’s get you to your promise dance—with the right suitor this time.”
“You’re coming too?”
“Miranda’s keeping the babe tonight so Callen and I can have a dance. Lady Sabina and I will be right out.”
“I thought Sabina was already down at the bonfire.”
“She’s running a bit late,” Perita said with a conspiratorial smile. “While you were lying down, she sneaked into Flavian’s chambers. To rub salt in his wounds or tend them, we can only guess.”
“Well, well. Either way, I’m delighted to hear she’s pressing her advantage.”
After Perita left, there came a knock at Cassia’s door. She sailed to answer it, her sleeves trailing luxuriously from her arms and her train sweeping behind her, her noble liegehound at her side. As Solia had said, they had all agreed to wear their costumes and play their roles. Surely there was no harm in feeling like a real princess for one night.
Even so, when she found Mak waiting in the corridor to be her escort, the sight of him in Stand regalia oriented her. Her hand went to her ambassador’s medallion, hidden with Ebah’s pendant under her gown.
Mak chuckled. “Don’t worry. Putting on a Tenebran dress doesn’t cover up the blinding glow of Hesperine magic all over you.”
She blushed. “Lio and I decided we didn’t need Nike’s veil spells any longer.”
“There will be no doubt in the mind of any mage within a vast radius that you and Lio are…well, I’ll play along and say ‘betrothed.’” Mak pulled her into a hug. “Congratulations.”
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back. “I’m so glad we get to share this with you and Lyros, even if it is a stupid mortal tradition.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s an adventure. Like the time Nike and Rudhira told us about, when the Blood Errant took on human guises to save a village from the lynx changer and his necromancer ally.”
Cassia squared her shoulders. “Yes. If Nike can pretend to be a Tenebran lady, then so can I.”
“Hm, I wonder if Lyros would fancy seeing me in a knight’s armor?” Mak struck a chivalrous pose. “Probably not. He’d say it’s too difficult to take off.”
Cassia laughed. “You and Lyros will dance tonight, won’t you?”
“No. We’re on duty. A crowded dance, outside in the dark? Perfect place for unsavory types to cause trouble.”
Her humor faded. “You’re right, of course.”
“Don’t you worry. The Stand is trained for precisely these situations. How do you think my father survived sixteen hundred years of Equinox Summits?”
“Thank you for reassuring me. I wish you could relax and enjoy this, though.”
“We’ll get our chance to dance later. I may have let it slip to the Charge that you and Lio have something to celebrate. Now Lyros and I have strict orders to deliver you and any friends you’d like to invite to the Summit Sanctuary after the mortal festival is over.”
