Blood Solace (Blood Grace Book 2)

by Vela Roth

  “It is not Orthros that gives me cause for complaint.” Cassia went to the dressing table and held up one of the bars of soap. She went through with the strategy she had decided on last night, which she deemed the only way to throw her handmaiden off the scent, literally. “You won’t believe what our Hesperine hosts have put here for me. Just like the ones they brought as gifts last winter.”

  “Would you look at that.” Perita came closer, eying the soap.

  “It’s the same kind Lord Fancy Soap managed to get for me from the embassy. He once told me what it is made of. A plant called cassia.”

  Perita took a sniff. “What a nice thing to be named after, my lady.” There was concern in her eyes, but no suspicion.

  Cassia breathed easier. “I shall feel close to him the whole time I’m here. This will remind me every night I must not give up.”

  “As well you shouldn’t, my lady.” Perita busied herself arranging Cassia’s towels to her satisfaction. “As if we won’t make it through this. You’ve got me and Callen to look after you, and we won’t let you out of our reach again, not for a moment.”

  Cassia put a hand on her friend’s arm. “When you promised me you’d follow me anywhere, I know this is not what you had in mind.”

  Perita’s hands moved more efficiently than ever. “I’d follow you to Hypnos’s realm, my lady. But I think it might be more fit for mortals than Orthros.”

  Cassia longed to offer her friend some real reassurance. Here they were in the safest place in the world, and it brought Perita and Callen only fear. Why must the few people dearest to Cassia come from opposite sides of that snowstorm they had just ridden through?

  Cassia could find no words of comfort to give her friend that would not give something away. So she offered what always seemed to ease Perita’s mind when she was distraught. Tasks to distract her.

  “We have our work cut out for us, Perita. I was on horseback for thirty-one days straight, then fell off a cliff. Now I must somehow manage to look like royalty. How much of my clothing survived in one piece?”

  “As the Hesperines brought in what they recovered from the pass, I rounded up every one of your gowns myself and put them back in your travel trunk. Don’t you worry that they need some work. I can undo horse patties, liegehound spit and all the dirt in the world in under an hour.”

  True to her word, it was less than an hour later that Perita pronounced Cassia fit to be seen.

  “I must make my finest impression yet,” Cassia said. “Thanks to you, I shall succeed.”

  “Mistress Riga worked magic on that gown.”

  “So did you!”

  Perita grinned. “It does you justice, and that’s the truth, my lady. It’s a shame Lord Fancy Soap isn’t here to see you now.”

  Cassia laughed. “If only.” If only you knew.

  Cassia picked up a hand mirror, a Hesperine creation of the clearest glass that put bronze Tenebran mirrors to shame. She felt she had never seen herself so well as she did now. She had not realized her face had become so thin from avoiding food that might be poisoned, nor that the smudges under her eyes were so dark from lack of sleep.

  Her battle scars. She did not know what Lio would make of them. But she gazed upon them with greater satisfaction than she would ever have felt if bewitching eyes or a face worth killing for had looked back at her.

  She met her own hazel gaze, ordinary as an herb that grew in her garden. But those herbs held power in their unprepossessing leaves. Her drab brown hair and her skin that was neither fair nor dark were her disguise, causing everyone to underestimate her.

  Except Lio. He had only ever told her she was capable of more.

  Cassia lifted the neckline of her gown to take another whiff of herself. Rosewater, flametongue oil and her namesake spice soap. Not a trace of Tenebra, as far as her human nose could tell. She sniffed her hands. No deer liver. It had been fortnights since she’d worn fur or leather and months since she’d eaten meat. She ought to provide a delight for a Hesperine’s sensitive nose. Or so she hoped.

  She felt cleansed. Unburdened. Bathed in scents that made her feel treasonous and…beautiful. Not unlike the night she had once anointed herself and gone to the shrine of Hespera for her first tryst with Lio. If that had been the night she had first set foot on this path, then tonight must be when she came within sight of its end.

  Cassia returned the mirror to the dressing table and squeezed Perita’s hand in thanks. “After you escort me to the main hall, why don’t you come back here to the tower and stay with Callen in your rooms? I’ll have Knight and Benedict to look after me.”

  “That won’t do, my lady. You must have an attendant at diplomatic events.”

  “As much as I wish for you to be at my side every moment, I think it will not be improper if you excuse yourself. This is just a preliminary encounter. The official ceremonies haven’t begun yet.”

  “You heard what I said about Callen and me not letting you out of our sights.”

  “I know. It will be some time before any of us feel safe.” She looked down at Knight, who had planted himself on her feet. “But I will be surrounded by the Hesperines who saved our lives.”

  Perita bit her lip. “Are you sure, my lady?”

  “Yes. Don’t tell him I said so, but last night set Callen back. He must stay off his leg entirely until we have to travel again.”

  Perita let out a sigh. “Trying to keep him off his feet is like trying to make candles burn backwards.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you can find a way to convince him to put his feet up.”

  That turned Perita’s worried expression into a smile. “I can’t argue with that, my lady.”

  “Don’t. Your husband is in dire need and utterly at your mercy. What are you waiting for?”

  “Well then, you and I’ll just sneak downstairs, and I’ll come right back up before he has a chance to protest.”

  When the knock came at Cassia’s door, she felt ready. As Perita went to answer it, Cassia reminded herself Lio would not be on the other side, for propriety’s sake. But how she wished he would be.

  Nevertheless, Kadi was a reassuring sight in the corridor. She and Cassia went through introductions for Perita’s benefit and exchanged impersonal courtesies on the way down from the tower. Knight remained wary toward the Hesperine warrior. If only Cassia could persuade him to stay in her rooms and get off his feet. After their ordeal, he would not tolerate being that far from her side, and she would not expect it of him.

  When Kadi led them into the main hall, Cassia took in the entire room with a glance.

  Lio was nowhere in sight.

  Kadi delivered Cassia to the Tenebrans, who had gathered on one end of the room. As Kadi rejoined her fellow Hesperines on the opposite side of the chamber, the men’s gazes followed her, except for virtuous Benedict’s. He glued himself to Cassia’s side, as she had predicted, and a reassured Perita took her leave. Cassia managed to convince Knight to lie down on the edge of the gathering where he could rest, but only by giving him a down-stay command. Alas, that would not work on human knights.

  “How are you, Your Ladyship?” Benedict fretted.

  “In one piece. And you?”

  He cast a wary gaze upon Chrysanthos. “All too well. I should not have been so far from you during the attack. I assure you, it won’t happen again.”

  “As you assured me multiple times last night. Do not berate yourself so.”

  “Just stay close, Your Ladyship. You can rely on me, even without my sword or the assistance of a mage.”

  “Your magely assistant has deserted you?” Cassia made sure not to sound as relieved as she felt.

  “I’m afraid Eudias is taken ill. The spells he cast in your chambers did him in.”

  She felt a twinge of regret. Could Eudias be suffering from the abnormalities in his aura that Skleros had described? “He didn’t seem to have any trouble with all the weather magic he worked on the way here.”

  Benedict shook
his head. “It’s this place. He said there’s so much Hesperine magic everywhere, casting revelatory spells is like counting rats after they’ve eaten your grain.”

  So nothing ailed the apprentice but an abundance of Hesperine magic. “Poor fellow. Are you sure it was the magic and not the sight of such beauty that overwhelmed him? He’s quite innocent.” Cassia spared a glance for Benedict’s amulet of Andragathos.

  Benedict made a point not to glance across the room at the seductive company. All it would take was one Hesperine to bewitch Cassia, but Lio was not here.

  There would be no chance to thank Javed, for he was not in attendance. Cassia looked for Mak and Lyros, thinking the three of them could contrive to break the ice between their two factions, but they and their mentor were not in evidence either. The thought of Mak and Lyros patrolling the border with Hippolyta made Cassia feel safe. Yet there was an anxiety rising in her that even their protection could not assuage.

  Cassia was here in Orthros, in a room full of Hesperines, and none of them were Lio. The hall was not a vast chamber, but the space between the mortals and the Hesperines who had saved them felt too great.

  It felt enormous the moment Lio walked in on the opposite side of the room, as far from the humans as he could get.

  First Maneuver

  Cassia could see Lio properly at last, but must not look. She let her gaze travel the room, taking in the shining stone floors, the sideboards of food that filled the chamber with rich smells, the wrought iron candelabras that cast them all in warm light. There at last, Lio. His dark head, his handsome face half turned from her, his shoulders she had once clung to while he…

  Cassia looked away. The room felt so warm, although no fire burned anywhere. Magic. He sported the beginnings of a beard. What would that feel like against her skin? For the first time, he wore a braid. Would it work a spell on her to touch it when she ran her fingers through his hair?

  It was unbearable. Last night he had been her rescue. He had held her in his arms. She had touched him. And now she must stand on the opposite side of the room from him and pretend to be diplomatic.

  She slid another glance toward him, then away, then back again as soon as she could without being noticed. Each time, another little coil of heat spun through her. His well-groomed stubble suited the sharp lines of his jaw very well indeed. He had exchanged the solid black robes he had worn in the pass for his black silk formal robes with their mesmerizing red, white and silver embroidery. She remembered the way the fabric moved with him when he danced.

  How proud he had been of the braided cords of silver-and-white silk he wore around his neck, which signified his status as an initiate ambassador. A shiny, new silver medallion of office hung from them upon his chest. She longed to go closer and make out the details of the emblem. Put a hand to him there. Congratulate him properly.

  These meager snatches were so far from enough. Every glimpse did something wondrous to her, but deepened her worry. All she could not observe last night was now before her eyes.

  He looked different. Not because of the fetching stubble. He looked…older.

  That was impossible. Hesperines aged in centuries, not in months. Lio had aged far less than she in the time they’d been apart. Yet something about him had changed.

  Lio’s mother drifted into the space between Hesperines and humans with a smile that could bring hardened warriors to their knees. “Now that a night’s rest has restored you, please avail yourselves of the bounty of the Queens’ table, while we take this first opportunity for conversation without duress.”

  Chrysanthos commenced self-important oratory, starting with lies about himself. He was humble, well-meaning Adelphos from Tenebra. Not the royal mage, not from Namenti, a neutral party who had nothing to do with the debacle at the last Summit. Tenebran, but one who had gained diplomatic experience representing the king to the Orders in Cordium. A very tidy story.

  Cassia stole another look at Lio, trying to pin down what most concerned her. His features were more chiseled, the lines of his face tense, as if with strain. As he drew nearer the divide, he moved with his familiar grace. But there was no evidence of the blitheness and good humor, so beloved to her, which balanced his seriousness of character. He carried himself as if he bore as many burdens as his elders.

  Human and Hesperine, they had all borne their fair share of fear and grief lately. She had never expected it to show in Lio like this. It never had before, even when Tenebra had confronted him with human violence for the first time. Lucis’s brutality had almost cost Lio and the others in the embassy their lives, but Lio’s faith had not been shaken. Here among his own people, after last night’s victory, why did he look so drawn and careworn?

  Ah, such confident pronouncements Cassia made to herself about his nature. How much time had she had to become so expert? A precious handful of nights. Lio would be eighty-nine this Winter Solstice. Here he was, surrounded by the folk who had cherished him for all those years. And she presumed to know him after one brief affair.

  When she heard Chrysanthos present her, she stepped forward and courtesied, trying to keep her attention on Komnena. From the corner of her eye, she could see Lio come to stand beside his mother. Was Cassia’s official re-introduction to Lio at hand at last?

  His hand would touch hers. She would have a chance to stand closer to him, if only for an instant. She had committed treason to stand here and stare hopefully at the edge of Lio’s embroidered sleeve, wondering what it meant that he would not look at her.

  Komnena smiled. “Everyone here in Orthros is delighted to have you, Lady Cassia. How well our ambassadors recall your contributions at the Equinox Summit.”

  “Thank you, Chamberlain.”

  “I trust you remember my son, who served in our embassy to Tenebra.” She rested a hand briefly on Lio’s arm. “Allow me to present Ambassador Deukalion.”

  Did every Hesperine in the room hear Cassia’s heart jump? She schooled her face as she turned to him. She dipped her knees. Met his gaze.

  Everything but his jewel blue eyes faded from her awareness. The feeling tested every one of her careful preparations, and she had to remind herself they stood in front of a room full of attentive observers.

  He was going to touch her next, skin to glove. His fingers slid under hers, trapped them. Fabric separated her skin from his, but she felt his touch everywhere. It warmed her through and through and made him feel real to her again at last.

  How well she knew his hands. How well his hands had known her. Long, elegant hands, powerful and tender at the same time.

  None of the onlookers could see her memories. No mortal could hear her thoughts. In her mind, she whispered his name for him alone.

  There was no sign of his smile as he bowed, only his gaze, unwavering. His pupils dilated.

  He lifted her fingers, and she felt his mouth through fabric, as she had first felt his touch through a handkerchief. He gave her a mere brush upon her knuckles. A courtier’s kiss.

  “I remember,” she murmured.

  “A pleasure to see you again, Lady Cassia.”

  There, at last. His voice. Not magic, but his actual voice in her ears. His resonant baritone was still gravelly as after the battle.

  Something was wrong.

  A great deal of time seemed to pass between the moment his lips touched her and the moment her hand, released from his touch, returned to her side. Then it was over. They had touched. They had spoken. They had survived their first public encounter.

  He folded his hands behind his back and glanced at his mother. Cassia followed his cue and tore her attention away.

  “Please allow my son to act as your escort during your time here,” Komnena said. “He will be happy to show you all that Orthros has to offer a lady such as yourself.”

  Cassia had thought it difficult to recover from what she had expected to hear. But those words were so unforeseen, it took a moment for their full impact to reach her. Her courtier’s mouth was miles ah
ead of her as she responded with respectful platitudes.

  On the edge of Cassia’s vision, Benedict stepped nearer, homing to her side again. Ready to make it clear Flavian’s intended already had an escort.

  Komnena turned to meet him, graced him with one of her smiles, and absorbed him in conversation so smoothly no one would believe she had just blown him far off course.

  Cassia would get to spend time with Lio during the embassy, openly, in defiance of all her uncertainty about how soon she might see him, if at all. The Queens’ own Chamberlain was blockading for them.

  Cassia wanted to believe this meant Lio was eager to see her again. But he was a diplomat, one who had been sent to Tenebra before. This was almost certainly an assignment. She did not know if he had requested the duty.

  My mind can always reach yours. I will always be your Sanctuary.

  There could be no doubt in her mind he cared about her. But did he protect her in honor of the past they had shared, or in the hope of what the present might bring?

  Now it was just the two of them, alone in a crowd. Permission granted to look at him.

  The shadows under his eyes were as dark as her own. He had lost weight. He looked weary and gaunt and oblivious to everyone except the person he gazed upon. Her. Cassia’s throat tightened painfully.

  It’s all right now, she longed to say. The fight is behind us.

  But it wasn’t, not yet. Tonight an entirely new campaign must begin.

  Lio turned slightly and glanced ahead of them, lifting his brows in invitation. She stepped forward to stand beside him, and they began a walk around the room.

  This chamber was an ally to those seeking privacy. The thick carpets and tapestries wrapped everyone’s conversations close about them. Whether there was also Hesperine magic at work to obscure their words, Cassia did not know.

  Listening ears were not the only consideration. There was also Lio and her and half a year of not speaking, except for that single, fraught exchange in the storm. Cassia chose her words with care and took it upon herself to make the first maneuver.