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Cassia put a hand over her sister’s. “If I ever venture into Tenebra again, the Master of Dreams will not let me escape him a second time. I have to stay inside the Queens’ ward over Orthros. If you return to Tenebra, I cannot go with you. We’ll never see each other, except when you can get away to visit me here.”
Cassia let silence fall between them and allowed her sister to consider the consequences.
“Cassia—” Solia began at last, but then broke off, closing her hand around a fistful of fire. “For now, we need to focus on the conditions for awakening your magic.”
Cassia bit her tongue. If her sister wanted to keep avoiding the question of Tenebra, so be it. Cassia had given her the truth to ponder.
“What about your soothsaying?” Solia prompted.
“The Hesperines have opened my heart so wide that I cannot seem to close it again. If anyone can awaken my soothsaying, it is them.”
“Have you seen any signs of your magic awakening? Thalia said you might notice an even better season in your garden than expected, animals willing to behave against their instincts for you, or sudden aptitude for a new tongue.”
Cassia’s heart beat faster. She found it hard to get her words out. She wanted their implications too much. “I was able to revive Roses of Hespera that had been dead for hundreds of years.” But Lio had helped.
“Lio’s uncle could talk of nothing but how you made a coffee tree grow in Orthros for the first time in history.”
“I also persuaded my liegehound to protect Hesperines instead of eating them.” Perhaps it was only a sign of Knight’s loyalty to her, nothing more.
“I notice you’re already fluent in the Divine Tongue.”
“I can read lips in Divine, too, and thanks to our journey in the Empire, I’m learning Tradewinds quickly.” But the Hesperines were good teachers.
“It has already begun.” There was no doubt in Solia’s tone. “Congratulations, Cassia. Thalia would be so happy. It won’t be long now before you are in full possession of your power.”
In the depth of veil hours, hearts beat throughout Lio and Cassia’s once-empty residence. As the two of them retreated through the sleepy halls to their own chambers, he savored his awareness of the auras in their home. The Ashes seemed to be settling in, but Solia’s pulse pattered with restlessness.
“I don’t suppose I should check on her again,” Cassia fretted.
“Zoe or Solia?” Lio asked.
“Both. But Zoe has Knight staying with her in the main house to help her regain her calm. Perhaps I should stop by Solia’s room one more time.”
“I think what she might need now is time with her own thoughts.”
Cassia sighed. “You’re right. But Goddess—Solia is here. It’s difficult to let her out of my sight.”
“I know, my rose. Your aura is all difficulty at the moment.” Lio Willed open the door of their bedchamber for her.
She went inside ahead of him, her words spoken to the shadows in their Sanctuary. “It was good to see you and Solia sitting together.”
Lio cursed silently, raising the spell lights so she wouldn’t trip over the trunks they had yet to unpack. It should not be a momentous occasion for her Grace and sister to take chairs next to each other without conflict. He could do better than this.
He would make Solia accept his and Cassia’s life together, one labor at a time, no matter what his Grace-sister demanded of him.
Cassia turned to him, sliding close. “It looks like you’re already making progress with her. Why don’t you simply give it a little time before you two embark on these labors? Perhaps you won’t need them, after all.” She ran a hand down his chest.
He felt the pressure of his fangs ready to unsheathe at this display of soothing sweetness from his prickly Grace. With all her softest places pressed against him, he could not deny this method of persuasion was highly effective. But he would wager he could be more persuasive still.
“Cassia, stop worrying about everyone else for just one moment and look where we are.” He caressed her cheek, lifting her face toward the ceiling.
She gazed up at the mosaics of her favorite flowers. “We’re home.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “We’re home.”
She rested her face on his chest, and he sighed into her hair. They stood there together, and he felt as if they were truly still for the first time in a very long while. Their Grace Union seemed to calm all the noise of the world.
“I wasn’t sure I would ever make it back here,” she whispered.
