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Nike explained, “A Warmblood takes her name when she and her rider begin their new life together.”
Elegant flower names ran through Cassia’s mind, but none suited such a defiant girl. Cassia smirked and patted her horse’s speckled side. “I’ll call her Freckles, and I dare anyone to underestimate either of us.”
She managed to put a smile on Lio’s face with that.
“She’ll carry you through whatever this quest demands of you.” Nike rested her hands on Cassia’s arms. “I’m sorry we’ve traded places. I’d hoped we could both stay on the same side of the border.”
“So did I. But I feel better knowing you have our backs, and that Orthros has you.” It might not be official until after her Gifting, but in Cassia’s heart, Nike was already her Ritual mother. She knew she could trust her with her life. And probably embarrassing questions, too. Cassia mustered her dignity. “I find myself in need of advice on a rather personal matter.”
Nike’s veil spell rose immediately. “The horse paddock is an excellent place for female confidences, in my experience.”
With Freckles nosing at her pockets in search of treats, Cassia couldn’t disagree. “I, ah, have concerns about mages being able to sense…how close Lio and I are. When we first met, he assured me our secret meetings weren’t enough to alert anyone. Then, when we spent more time together during the Solstice Summit, I had a pendant imbued with Sanctuary magic that concealed any Hesperine magic on me. But that was destroyed in the duel with the Collector.”
“You’re wise to take this into consideration.”
Cassia hesitated, but decided that what she was about to reveal was probably no secret to Nike. “You are one of the few who can sense Lio’s mind ward on me, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Possibly the only one, aside from my father and Ioustin. Lio did excellent work. Far too subtle for most Hesperines to notice, much less clumsy Tenebran mages.”
“Could war mages tell the ward is there with their specialized anti-Hesperine spells?”
“Not even them,” Nike assured her. “A mind mage that serves Hypnos is another matter. But I know you are already on alert against the mage of dreams.”
Cassia suppressed a shudder. “Will war mages be able to sense…anything else?” She felt a blush rise to her cheeks. “In my blood?”
Seldom had such a teasing smile appeared on Nike’s face. “Worried they’ll notice Lio’s magical handprints all over you?”
Cassia’s blush intensified. “Yes!”
“They do have spells for detecting if someone has been bitten by a Hesperine. Those are some of the most difficult for us to avoid and combat.”
Cassia’s heart sank.
“However,” Nike went on, “there’s one Hesperine errant who has been working on experimental thelemancy to conceal the magical signature of the Drink, or even the Feast. It’s rather dangerous research, only possible where there are war mages about for testing purposes.”
Cassia felt her eyes widen. “That Hesperine errant wouldn’t happen to be my Ritual mother, would she?”
“You’re in luck.” Amusement lightened Nike’s gray eyes. “I’ve spent a great deal of time in Cordium under the war mages’ noses, and I have to eat.”
“I’d love to hear tales of your experiments, especially if they were romantic.”
“Ioustin will have to beat those out of me in the arena. But I’ll stay here for another hour or two and show Lio how to cast the spells I’ve developed.”
“Thank you. I hate that he must endure all of this for the sake of my magic. But at least your spells will allay one of his fears.”
Nike might still harbor doubts about her stalled quest for her lost Trial brother, but none of that showed in her now. “Do not regret your quest. Do not feel guilty, even when it burdens those we love. If I have learned anything in sixteen hundred years of life, it’s that the most important things are the hardest won.”
UNDER TENEBRAN LAW
Cassia trailed her fingers over the roses for reassurance as she reentered the pavilion, her other hand in Lio’s. Now that Nike had departed, it somehow felt as if home were truly far away.
Rudhira strode around the table, his Tenebran riding boots making a distinctive thud on the stone floor. Organized maps, correspondence, and sketches were spread across the timber tabletop, and an empty wooden notice board stood to one side, ready to be hung with key documents.
Lio paused to skim a scroll, then glanced at Cassia. She picked out enough words to recognize it. They had read a longer version of this dispatch in Uncle Argyros’s library during a strategy session where Solia had not been present.
The authors of the dispatch were also notably absent. Basir and Kumeta, the Queens’ Master Envoys. It seemed Orthros’s spymasters had no intention of introducing themselves to the presumptive Queen of Tenebra. Cassia, Lio, and Rudhira would have to selectively relate the spies’ findings to Solia.
Cassia picked up a dish of pins with colorful glass heads and stood before the largest map, which showed Orthros Boreou, Tenebra, and Cordium. Now that she had been to the Empire, the shadowlands seemed smaller to her than ever. So why did Tenebra feel enormous, like some behemoth breathing down her neck from the other side of the ward over this Sanctuary?
