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“Yes,” Solia answered. “Whenever I used to go away, I would always bring back a present for Cassia—something new for our garden. I’ve been saving these while I was in the Empire. I collected them from all the exciting places I traveled over fifteen years. Now they can grow in Cassia’s greenhouse. I hope you’ll share in this gift and help us plant them.”
Zoe twisted her hands together, looking into the box with wide eyes. “You’ll come home so we can plant them together? All three of us?”
“I promise,” Solia said.
Solia had never broken a promise. Not even her promise that she and Cassia would see each other again, which had taken fifteen years to fulfill.
Cassia realized Solia was not saying this only for Zoe’s benefit. It was a promise to Cassia, too, one she had so desperately needed to hear.
Cassia put her arm around both her sisters. “Thank you, Soli.”
Blood magic pulsed beneath Cassia’s feet as she stood within the Ritual circle at House Argyros. For an instant, she allowed herself to shut her eyes before the firstbloods and family who had gathered for the delegation’s sendoff. She focused, as Lio was teaching her to do, and let her awareness of their traveling companions fade.
She drank in the powerful feeling of Hesperine magic. Just one more moment on home ground. One more long draught of Orthros before she must somehow find the strength to cross the border in the wrong direction.
Lio seemed woven into the magic that breathed under them, braided into her heartache.
The fragrance of moonflowers brought her back to her responsibilities. Uncle Argyros draped garlands around their necks, reciting the traditional blessing for departing diplomats.
“The wisdom of the firstbloods is with you, the blessing of the Queens is upon you, and the Goddess’s truths are in your veins. Walk lightly in the land of our enemies; deal gently with the mortals we once were; wield your words before your fangs. Go forth and rebuild another piece of Hespera’s Sanctuary in the land we left in ashes.”
Lio offered her his arm, palm up, and she laid her hand in his. Together, they responded, “We will walk the path of our martyrs; we will reach with the hands of our Queens; we will speak with the voice of our Goddess.”
Aunt Lyta placed wreaths of blackthorn upon Mak and Lyros’s heads. “The might of the firstbloods is with you, and the Goddess’s justice is in your veins. Bear the burden of violence for your Queens. Protect our people in the land of our enemies; show Mercy to the mortals we once were; wield only your fists and your fangs. Go forth and defend the gates of our Sanctuary.”
Mak and Lyros joined hands, lifting them like one fist above their heads.
When Apollon and Komnena stepped forward to stand before Solia, she appeared surprised. They each held out a hand to her, and she took the invitation.
“The love of your firstbloods is with you,” Apollon said, “the Queens’ refuge remains for you, and our prayers to the Goddess shadow you. Walk safely in the land of our past, Daughter. Hespera’s Sanctuary is always open to you.”
Then four of Orthros’s diplomats for Imperial affairs said a blessing for each of the Ashes. More Hesperine farewells and prayers rose around them in the countless tongues of their people. So many had found a home here in spite of past suffering, because Orthros was a land of peace. Their words washed over Cassia as powerfully as the blood magic on which she stood, and she felt homesick already.
She was leaving for her magic. For her sister. But for her people, too.
That was what becoming a diplomat meant. She would do anything for Hespera’s Sanctuary, even go back to Tenebra.
Uncle Argyros and Aunt Lyta pierced their palms with their fangs, then pressed them together to mingle their blood. Their libation fell into the Ritual circle. An arcane tremor seemed to emanate through the floor, and Cassia rocked on her feet. As if he had been prepared for that, Lio steadied her.
As soon as the ceremony ended, Zoe dashed into the circle with Knight. She clung to Lio, Cassia, and Solia until the last possible moment, while they reassured her over and over. Their Trial sisters gathered around with jests to ward off tears.
Rudhira paused before the Queens, who exchanged veiled words with him before he approached the Ritual circle. “Let us retrieve our weapons.”
Mak and Lyros stepped everyone to the Armory of Akofo. Solia and the Ashes strapped on their glittering array of deadly blades with the efficiency of professionals. Cassia stood aside with Lio and Knight and checked her gardening satchel one more time. It had carried her treasures and weapons through every danger.
She closed her fingers around her spade and drew a deep breath. It had once been a mundane gardening tool, but she had used it in so many blood rituals by now that she could feel the magic emanating out of it.
“You have a small army of protectors,” Lio reminded her.
She brushed her fingers across his temple. “But the protection that reassures me the most is right here.”
He placed a kiss on her forehead.
Finally, without a sound, Rudhira’s two-hander levitated from its stand beside Nike’s shield. Spell-light gleamed along the blade as it slid into the scabbard on his back. He might look his most un-Hesperine, wearing a Tenebran tunic and breeches under a light coal of mail, with Thorn at the ready. But it was his sacrifices in Tenebra that made him the most Hesperine of all princes. He beckoned, and Cassia, Lio, Mak, and Lyros came to stand before him.
“As long as you are in Tenebra,” he said, “you are under my care as Prince Regent of Orthros Abroad, and you are bound by Charge Law. You have my protection and that of all Hesperines errant. You also have the responsibility to support us in return and take no action that could increase the danger to any of our own.”
They all nodded their understanding.
