Page 16 of Nocte

“Your little fae bird?—”

As soon as she is mentioned, my ears perk up. He suddenly has my full attention, and his pleasure settles over me like a sickly sweet perfume. He likes my attention, oh yes. He craves it.

“You do realize that your role only matters during the ceremony? Perhaps it was a mistake to tell you so soon?”

He’s lying. Dear brother Cassius never makes mistakes. He told me for a reason. He lets me play with her for a reason. Because of his disgust for the fae. He wants her to suffer. Wants to shame and embarrass them.

He wants me to hurt her in order to hurtthem.

“Those creatures have paraded their treaty over our heads for long enough,” he says. But that’s all he’ll ever say. The real reasons behind his anger are locked up tight, well beyond my reach. Even his—our—brethren don’t prod it. They let him fester in silence. They think he’s too inept to act.

Cassius knows they underestimate him.

He is counting on it.

“Beautiful things are always overlooked,” he says softly. “We understand this, my dear Caspian. More than you realize. Those who see beauty in the world are discounted. Ignored. Dreamers, they call us. Starving artists?—”

“You want me to ruin the ceremony,” I blurt out. Pretty words sound intriguing when uttered by the fae bird. Ugly when spoken by him. Wrong. I’ll draw his attention away to anything else. “Why wait that long?”

The reasons why don’t matter to me. I want to rip. Bleed. Kill. Without Cassiopeia, what else is there to do?

If I linger in this den of sheep, one day I will become like them. Their thoughts are a mindless hum:we are one, one…My brain will turn to mush like theirs.

And he will rue the day. He is my tormentor but I am his only source of amusement. I know it.

“So deviant you are, little Caspian. But yes, you are my agent of chaos. My knight,” he purrs. “The fae have lorded over us all for long enough.”

He will never make a move against them. He can’t.

I can. I will.

But…

“I want to play with her,” I say. Dumb, silly words, but they’re the only ones that feel like me. Not pretty and fanciful like him. I’d speak in grunts if I could. I wonder if that little fae would shudder then.

“You can’t harm her before then,” he warns. “That is an order, Caspian.”

Too late. I picture her blood. Hell, I can still smell it. Sweet and fragrant despite her abominable form. Far better than the itchy rose she sniffed with a longing she thought I didn’t notice. My mouth waters. Tongue dampens. Damn, I want to taste her.

“Be careful,” Cassius warns, his tone stern for once. My little rebellions don’t faze him but this does: risking his precious plan. I’m only a small cog in it, that I know. Cassius would never ever trust the entirety of his plans to me.

In fact, I’m probably a backup. A last resort. My dear master, he has something else in mind.

“Such little faith you have in your own skills, my brother,” Cassius scolds, still serious. His voice sounds different. Less flowery. More grated, betraying his real age. This man’s life has spawned countless civilizations. He doesn’t waste his time on trivial nonsense.

Unless it happens within the walls of his domain.

“But that one stipulation cannot be undone. You’ve marked her pretty skin once. That should be enough.”

It isn’t. I want to bite her. Make her bleed more. Scream. I want to see fear in the little fae’s eyes. More forgotten words might spill into my mind when I do. Such as new, pretty words for the color red.

“You will,” he promises.

I flinch at that. Cassius never promises me anything, but he means this.

“You will have your bloodshed soon enough,” he adds. “That I can promise you, my dear boy.”

Yes. I nod. Oh, yes, I want it. But…

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