Blood Solace (Blood Grace Book 2)

by Vela Roth

  “How could it? We aren’t doing anything scandalous. The terms of the Solstice Summit do not forbid me from having a taste of one of the defenseless mortal females in the delegation.” He snapped his teeth at her, tickling her ribs.

  She laughed, scooting out of his reach. “How have my countrymen failed to lay down the law on this matter?”

  “I’d like to see them try.” He followed her, snatching her in both his arms and dragging her onto his lap.

  She left off their play, too happy to be in his arms even to pretend to want to escape. “Are you sure no one will disapprove?”

  “We do not shame passion here. There is no one in Orthros who will not be happy for us. They all know what you did for us during the Summit…and who you are to me.”

  “No one in Orthros? Do you mean to say you told everyone?”

  “It is public knowledge now. I hope that will not make you feel uncomfortable.”

  She looked away, then at him, then promptly lost her battle with an enormous smile. “Everyone in Orthros knows I am your choice, and you are mine. That makes me feel like the most fortunate person in the world.”

  He kissed her again. “I cannot tell you how proud I shall be to have you at my side during this Summit.”

  “I shall have to struggle not to crow.”

  “I don’t think anyone will begrudge us a bit of well-earned crowing. I also took the liberty of telling everyone you are the invisible hand guiding Tenebran politics. I wanted them all to know we have you to thank for uniting the free lords, dividing the king and the Orders, and sparing our Hesperines errant from certain persecution.”

  Cassia let out a breath of astonishment. “You knew.”

  “I have done my best to be your herald, writing down all of your deeds and making them known. But I have missed so much. You must tell me everything.”

  “I scarcely know where to begin.”

  “That’s all right. We have time.”

  “Well.” She settled more comfortably in his arms. “The beginning is really Solia’s secret. Her ivy pendant was truly her final gift to me.”

  She told Lio everything about how Solia’s gifts and teachings had opened up the palace inside the palace. Cassia’s months of spying in the dark came to light in the glow of Lio’s spell, and she told him the secret her sister had entrusted to her as a child, which she had never shared with anyone.

  He held her tightly. “When I think of how close you came to Lucis every night…”

  Silence fell between them. Neither of them said anything more about how close she had come.

  She pushed her memories of the pass away. He must want to do the same. She would say nothing to remind him of his crisis, unless he raised the subject first.

  “There are still so many other things we must speak of,” she said. “Not only regarding you and me.”

  He nodded, and for the first time the light his own magery cast upon his face made him appear tired again. “The real politics will begin when we arrive in Selas. We will have more time to prepare on the ship on the way to the capital.”

  “I’d best collect myself. There’s still Perita to worry about, and my handmaiden’s powers of perception are not to be underestimated. You see…she is the one person who has an inkling about you.”

  Lio’s eyes widened. “She knows?”

  “That I am feeding the Hesperine ambassador? No. But she did figure out there was someone during the Equinox Summit, who got his hands on a bar of soap from Orthros and presented it to me as a gift. So I told her. Everything. Except who you are. She thinks Lord Fancy Soap is a Tenebran of exceptional character.”

  Lio laughed. “Lord Fancy Soap, eh? That is a far kinder epithet than I expected to earn from Perita if she ever found out.”

  “All I left out was the fangs part. She heartily approved of everything else. Keeping secrets in plain sight is usually better, as we’ve often said.”

  “Indeed. And having friends to confide in is best of all.”

  “I have come to appreciate that,” Cassia admitted. “Although it does necessitate some extra effort to keep our secret from her now that she knows more.”

  Even as Cassia said it, her gaze fell on the tangled bedclothes, and she realized how the scent of her namesake spice lingered in the air. After a moment’s hesitation, she leaned closer to the foot of the bed and looked over the edge.

  Lio drew her back, but not before she caught sight of the bloodstains all over the rug.

  He flushed to his forehead. “Didn’t have a chance to see to that yet. I was more focused on you than the sunbound carpet.”

  “We destroyed it.” She put her hands to her cheeks, chuckling. “Is it very ancient and valuable?”

  He had never appeared so embarrassed. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “Well, if there’s anything Hesperine cleaning spells can cope with, it is bloodstains.” She planted a kiss on his mouth before she rose from bed.

  She went to the wash stand and found the pitcher once more full of clean water. It was a marvel the room was warm enough that she didn’t feel the urge to drag one of the blankets across the room with her. She could stand at the basin completely naked and perfectly comfortable.

  Her goosebumps came only from the knowledge that she stood brazenly for her lover to see, wearing nothing but the glyph shard. It was a good thing there was no one to peek through all those windows but the gulls.

  The familiar, lovely sensation of his cleaning spell trailed over her skin. When she looked over her shoulder again, the rug was spotless, and so was her gardening dress, which was now spread out on the tidy bedclothes. She sniffed. The room no longer smelled of her breakfast or even his scent, which usually accompanied his cleaning spell.

  She sighed. “I suppose we cannot have anyone smell evidence of you in my rooms.”

  He eyed his handiwork. “Perita might notice a detail like that. She will be spending more time in close proximity to me, unlike last winter in Tenebra.”

  “What about the mages? What measures are necessary to ensure they do not sense the arcane evidence of you in my rooms…and my body?”

  Lio pointed upward. “You’re sleeping under our Summit Beacon. That’s enough Hesperine magic to drown Eudias’s entire mastery class. And yet the beacon is a twinkle compared to the aura of the capital. In Selas, the mages won’t be able to sense the noses on their own faces. Even the Aithourians will have no hope of detecting the mark of my innate Gift that our time together makes on you.”

  “Thank you for reassuring me, my champion,” she said to remind him of their very first conversation. “I shall enjoy the mark you leave on me without any worries.”

  He gave her a satisfied smile. He drifted closer, his gaze traveling from her head to her toes. “I wish we had time for me to enjoy watching your bath.”

  She wrapped her arms around him, under his open robe. “Are you sure we don’t?”

  “Yes. If I stay to enjoy it, it will take much longer than usual.” He kissed her again, then slid out of her hold.

  “Next time,” she invited.

  “Please. I have fantasized about your baths ever since I first smelled you.”

  “Keep on like that, and I shall not let you leave.”

  He fastened his robe firmly. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back. Allow me to remind you that you are my official responsibility. Queens’ orders.” He flashed her another fanged grin. “Therefore you shall be seeing a great deal of me.”

  It was hard to believe. All the forces that had conspired to undermine them in Tenebra were now working in their favor. Magic. Politics. Even time.

  “I am sorely tempted to hold you to your orders immediately. I am not seeing nearly enough of you at this very moment. Far less than you are seeing of me. Tonight seems like a long time from now. That is, later tonight.”

  “Veil hours,” he supplied. “There are eight moon hours for public matters and eight veil hours for family time and private affairs. We observe fewer hours
than Tenebrans, but ours last longer. We measure them by the degrees the moons move in the sky.”

  “Then I shall count the degrees till veil hours.”

  “I’ll be counting with you.” He stepped out of sight, taking the spell light with him.

  Cassia took a breath for what seemed like the first time in months. Just as Lio had said, she felt ready to take on the entire world.

  The Most Powerful Temptation

  They had feasted. They had loved. He had held her all night while she slept, safe and untroubled in his arms.

  Those quiet, blessed hours had afforded Lio plenty of time to dwell on his good fortune and say his prayers of thanks. But once he was alone in his room, the reality of it struck him anew. He laughed aloud and levitated in a pirouette on the way to the chair where he had draped his formal robes.

  Time to don the attire of an ambassador and become his other self, the diplomat who would show Lady Cassia the courtesy he owed a foreign guest. Nothing more.

  Lio halted in the act of unfastening his veil hours robe. When had Ambassador Deukalion, Lady Cassia’s partner in treason, become a different person from Lio, who loved her when no one was looking? In setting the Solstice Summit in motion, had he not succeeded in bringing those two broken pieces of himself together again? Had he not made Cassia a way to him that did not require her to abandon her political path?

  He shook his head and pushed the thoughts aside, tossing his veil hours robe into his travel bag. Last night had been one of the best of his life. Why was there even room in his thoughts for worry?

  Because those nights in Tenebra were still too near, when his duty to leave her had been at war with his need to be near her. Because every night of the Solstice Summit here in Orthros, he must get through the negotiations without letting on publicly what the crown’s representative meant to him. Ha. Not a daunting task at all.

  Lio set to it. He put on his formal robes and labored to ensure his appearance was impeccable while he planned what he would say when he and Cassia had an audience. He must resist the temptation to constantly veil their conversations whenever the rest of the embassy’s direct attention was on them. In Selas, where the very air was thick with Hesperine magic, it would be all too easy to use his magic to enable them to have candid conversations, even with the other mortals watching.

  In most situations, however, it would be an unnecessary risk. She was no longer a wallflower in a crowded room full of the king’s uncaring dinner guests. She was the royal representative from Tenebra, with protective friends and dangerous mages watching her like hawks.

  Lady Cassia and Ambassador Deukalion’s every word to one another in front of the Tenebrans was not only a spectacle, but a political opportunity. He and Cassia must not waste their conversations before the embassy, for those too were tools for winning Tenebra to Orthros’s side.

  He could still get away with some innocuous remarks that would alarm none of their listeners, while offering plenty of private meanings to her. Actually, this might turn into a sport. A very enjoyable one. Negotiations during moon hours could be a kind of foreplay, teasing at what they had to look forward to when veil hours arrived.

  It didn’t matter how hard it was to lead this double life. It was a small price to pay for having her with him at last. And they would only have to pretend for a little while longer.

  What awaited them afterward was eternity.

  While together they devoted their Will to wrestling Tenebra toward peace, he would devote all his heart to his own private cause with her. He would use all his powers of persuasion to convince her to choose to stay in Orthros.

  And his powers of persuasion were great indeed. He had already given her a taste. Now she would feast on it night after night, the most powerful temptation there was. Happiness.

  When Lio was buckling his travel bag closed, he became aware of two impatient auras outside his door. He pulled back his veil to let his Trial brothers in.

  Lyros took a seat. “You didn’t come back to your room until a few minutes ago.”

  “Of course he didn’t.” Mak leaned on the back of the chair.

  “You look better,” Lyros observed. “You aren’t wearing a veil, are you?”

  Lio shook his head, holding his arms out. “I am as you see me.”

  Their relief was palpable.

  Mak looked at him expectantly. “Well?”

  “How did it go?” Lyros grinned.

  Lio sat down on the edge of the bed and folded his hands. “It was definitely Cassia who fainted.”

  His Trial brothers burst into surprised laughter. Mak came over and clapped Lio on the shoulder.

  Lio smiled. “It was a challenge. But it was worth it. It was all worth it.”

  Lyros leaned forward. “How did she take the news of who she is to you?”

  “Last night was hardly the time to tell her that. I’ll broach the subject of her not returning to Tenebra after I help her grow comfortable with life in Orthros and show her what kind of future she can have here.”

  Mak chuckled. “I think last night probably did the trick.”

  “But it’s not enough for her to stay for me. She has to want to stay for herself, too.”

  “Wait,” Lyros said. “Do you mean you plan to convince her to stay in Orthros, then tell her about your bond?”

  “Of course. How could I do it any other way? If I simply tell her I can’t survive without her, she’ll feel obligated to stay for my sake. She’ll never have the chance to choose Orthros because it’s what she wants.”

  Mak sighed. “You always make things so complicated for yourself.”

  “I see your point, though,” Lyros admitted. “She did just face the prospect of a forced marriage. You don’t want to make her feel trapped.”

  Mak shook his head. “It’s well past that point! Cassia isn’t safe anywhere the king can reach her. The heart hunters’ attack proved that. You have to keep her in Orthros.”

  “I will keep her safe,” Lio swore, “but I will not build our future on fears.”

  “The danger to her won’t be enough to convince her to stay, will it?” Lyros asked. “She’s so committed to her cause, she will not put her safety first. It won’t be easy for you to persuade her to do what she wants instead of what she feels she must.”

  “Whether you like it or not,” Mak warned, “you may have to come out with the truth, for both your sakes.”

  “No.” Lio smiled. “Treaty or no treaty, when the embassy returns to Tenebra, Cassia will choose not to go with them. I am her Lio. No one can make her happy the way I can.”

  Uncharted Sea

  Cassia took a deep breath to taste the salt that flavored the frosty air. At the foot of the bluff below Waystar, a small fleet of slender, white ships with brilliant red sails waited to carry her and the rest of the embassy across the sea. She could not see the vessels’ figureheads from this angle, but if they were not carved in the shape of swans, she thought the shipwrights had missed a perfect opportunity.

  How Cassia wanted to say something to Lio, to share with him what went through her mind in this moment, when they would set sail for his home together. Although he walked beside her, she dared not meet his gaze now.

  Benedict, Callen and Perita kept close behind Cassia, and Eudias trailed after them looking seasick before setting foot on the ships. Cassia, the master crafter of court masks, feared one of them would see on her face good moon kisses, a breakfast of cassia pastry and the taste of Lio’s fingers in her mouth.

  She occupied her gaze with their surroundings. The steep, slender coastline clung to the foot of the mountains, just a bit of land bound in snow where bare winter brush and creatures like her might gain a foothold between the massive peaks and the vast expanse of the sea.

  Up and down the cliffs, water birds of every shape and size flocked long past their time to roost. Agile terns swooped, raucous gulls called, and graceful surf striders stood calmly about on their stilt-like legs as if they too were d
iplomats waiting to welcome the embassy. The creatures covered the air, the ground and every hospitable perch upon the fortress far above.

  As the Hesperines approached the edge of the water, the birds took wing and surged forward, but then turned midair and retreated. They must have noticed the human guests. By the time the embassy halted with their Hesperine guides near the gangplanks, the flock had vacated the masts, but they still watched from higher up on the bluff.

  Lio was still standing next to Cassia. It seemed he might be the one who would hand her up into the ship. She caught her balance on a knife-edge of anxiety and gladness and allowed herself to seek his gaze for an instant.

  Before he could reach for her, Callen positioned himself at her side. He bowed to Lio, then stood with his feet braced. Cassia bit her lip. Would Callen run his bad leg ragged trying to keep up with her Hesperine escort? She had no doubt he would, for he was willing to confront any danger for her. She knew how much courage it took a man to get this close to a Hesperine.

  While Callen’s attention was on Lio, Cassia noticed her hound had not taken a side in the confrontation. She couldn’t let anyone think the Hesperines had magicked her dog or that Knight’s breeding and training had somehow failed him. She bent and slid a hand into Knight’s fur, as if for comfort, and muttered the command for him to be on guard. He dutifully adopted his most watchful stance, even if only on three legs.

  It was Benedict who broke the stalemate. Flavian’s faithful knight clapped Callen on the shoulder and stepped up to Cassia. Callen let him. Segetia and Hadria united, momentarily, around a common cause.

  Lio swept a bow and slid out of reach. Cassia suppressed a sigh. Holding her skirts and clutching her gardening satchel close, she let Benedict escort her up the gangplank and hand her on board. Callen, making an admirable effort to hide his pain, followed suit with Perita.

  They all turned to find Lio already waiting for them on deck. Eudias jumped a little at the sight of him.

  “Why, Ambassador,” said Cassia, “I must thank you for providing gangplanks for those of us who are not so fleet of foot.”