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Finally, Cassia brought out the treasures stored in her pack. She held up a sky-blue gown of fine linen, embroidered in silver. “This would be appropriate for your first encounter with Flavian’s representatives.”
Solia raised her brows. “How did you find me a wardrobe fit for an aspiring queen, in the latest Tenebran fashions, in only a few days?”
“I asked Kassandra. The Oracle already had a trove of gowns ready for you. I think much of what comes off her loom begins in her visions of the future. And it’s a good thing, too, because I saw what you packed. Were you really planning to make your first impression on the lords of Tenebra in battle gear?”
“The thought had admittedly crossed my mind,” Solia answered.
Cassia mentally apologized to Uncle Argyros for using violent analogies, but she needed to speak Solia’s language right now. “This meeting with Flavian’s emissaries is only the opening skirmish, but the impression you make on them now will set the tone for what is to come.”
Kella was shaking her head. “Cassia is right. You must dress for the occasion.”
“You wear armor in your mother’s tent all the time,” Solia groused.
“But when the royals of the Azarqi camps assemble, I dress like a princess, not a mercenary. My blades are still there, even when I am wearing silk. Ukocha taught us to fight in dresses, full armor, or nothing at all. It’s not as if you can’t behead someone while wearing a skirt.”
“Indeed,” Cassia said, “but the lords don’t know that. If they underestimate your skirts, your sword will have a greater advantage of surprise when you finally draw it.”
Solia rose from the camp stool. “Very well. Armor me for a princess’s battle.”
“It will be my honor.” Cassia began to unfasten Solia’s Vardaran tunic, while Kella and Tuura set aside her blades for the time being. “Allow me to give you some information on Flavian’s intermediaries.”
Solia’s expression lightened. “Excellent. Do we know whom he’s sending, then?”
“And what languages they speak?” Kella asked. “All the Ashes learned Divine from Karege.”
Kella left the rest unsaid. Tendo had been the only one to learn Vulgus, the language of Tenebra, Solia’s mother tongue.
“Both of Flavian’s intermediaries are fluent in Divine,” Cassia assured her. “We won’t need anyone to translate from the vulgar tongue.”
“They’re not mages, are they?” Solia asked warily.
“One of them is, but he’s an ally. Eudias is a former member of the Aithourian Circle who defected to the Allied Lords’ side in protest against the war mages’ abuses.”
“Ah,” Tuura said, “is he the young mage whom Lio freed from the Collector?”
“Yes, Lio saved his life.” Cassia helped her sister slip into a fine cream-colored tunica.
“Does he know about you and Lio?” Solia asked.
“Well, I don’t trust anyone outside of Orthros that much.” Cassia lifted the gown, Tuura and Kella guiding it so it didn’t disturb Solia’s braids and cosmetics.
“And the other emissary?” Solia asked, smoothing the embroidery along her chest with one hand.
Cassia adjusted the laces of the gown. “He was eight when you last saw him. Iris was distressed about a spider in your hearth room. He caught it for her, and I helped him let it out in the garden. You gave us figs from the king’s prize Cordian trees, which we were never allowed to eat.”
“Benedict?” Solia sounded as surprised as Cassia had expected.
Cassia nodded. “I thought you would remember him well.”
“He was a sweet boy,” Solia murmured. “Tell me, did Tenebra warp him into a monster like his father?”
“Who was his father?” Kella asked.
“Lord Bellator,” Solia answered, “who betrayed Iris and me.”
Tuura tsked with regret. “How did the poor boy fare after that?”
“His life might have been very short,” Cassia said, “but Flavian’s father took him in, promising to raise him loyal to the king. Ben is now the First Knight of Segetia and a member of the Knightly Order of Andragathos, a respected group of holy knights. He does his best to live down the shame of his father’s treason.”
