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Lio tried to reach around Knight to give Kalos a wrist clasp, then with a laugh, gave up. Cassia wanted to hug the shy Hesperine, but she let Knight show physical affection on her behalf.
Kalos’s kind green gaze met hers briefly. “Glad to see you found Solia.”
“All thanks to you.” Cassia touched her sister’s arm, inviting her forward.
Solia pushed her tousled hair out of her face. “This is the Hesperine scout who tracked my movements over the last fifteen years? You’re the one who managed to find me after I evaded the king and the Mage Orders and absconded with privateers.”
Always more comfortable on his own in the wilderness than in a crowd of people, Kalos looked at Knight as he spoke. “Finding people for my prince is my duty.”
“He is too modest,” Cassia said. “He is the best scout and tracker in the Prince’s Charge.”
Solia gave Rudhira an assessing look. “May I ask what the Prince’s Charge is?”
He answered with an amused tilt to his red brows. “A force of Hesperines errant under my command, dedicated to the cause of alleviating mortal suffering in Tenebra.”
“With respect, First Prince, do you mean to say there is a fanged army roaming my kingdom with an immortal royal at its head?”
“There have always been Hesperines errant roaming your kingdom, Princess.”
So much more hung unsaid, a discordant note of secrecy.
Rudhira could have told Cassia’s sister of his secret identity in the Tenebran nobility as Hold Lord Justinian, and of Castra Justa, his fortress hidden in the harsh wilderness of the eastern Tenebrae. There would be no harm in Solia Komnena knowing that the First Prince was the guardian of the Hesperite settlement, the last community of human Hespera worshipers, which would be destroyed if the Mage Orders ever discovered it.
But if Rudhira revealed any of that to the would-be future Queen of Tenebra, it would place her in a complicated political position with her own lords and the Mage Orders.
Cassia gritted her teeth. Once they convinced Solia to stay, these moments of politics would no longer intrude.
Solia did not press further, saying to Kalos, “You have my gratitude for helping Cassia find me when powerful forces were trying to keep us apart.”
“Cassia helped us find Nike,” Kalos answered. “I was honoring that bond of gratitude.”
“A word to the wise,” Nike said. “Don’t ever try to hide from this one. He makes liegehounds look lazy.”
“He is also the most qualified of us to advise Cassia about Lustra magic,” Rudhira informed them.
“I had no idea,” Lio said. “Thank you for coming all the way here to help us yet again, Kalos.”
Kalos’s pale complexion reddened under the attention.
“I have so many questions,” Cassia said. “Shall we go somewhere quieter where we can talk?”
She held a location clearly in her thoughts. When Lio squeezed her hand, she knew he understood.
Rudhira threw an arm around Nike’s shoulders, then Apollon’s. “I’ll be here tossing my Trial sister into the dirt if anyone needs me.”
“You can try!” Nike taunted. “If I win, you must tell everyone the romantic tale of you and the lynx changer’s widow.”
“Since you’ll lose,” Rudhira returned, “you’d better be prepared to tell everyone what you were up to with a certain strapping town guardsman around that time.”
“Challenge accepted.”
“Mak,” Lio said, “we won’t mind if everyone else would rather watch Rudhira’s match instead of sitting through boring research discussions.”
Trust Mak to catch on to their intent. With a touch of his usual good humor, their Trial brother coaxed everyone to their seats.
Lio stepped with Cassia, Solia, and Kalos back to the residence. When they set foot at the construction site of Cassia’s greenhouse, magic enveloped her.
Something deep and strong slept in the stone foundation Apollon had built. The cheerful shadows of Mak’s wards blanketed the iron frame he had forged, which rose around them in graceful arches like the sketch of a work of art that was yet to be. All the greenhouse lacked were the glass panes Lio would install and imbue with light magic. As soon as he was not so occupied trying to win her sister’s blessing.
