Page 297 of Lady of Starfire

Cassius managed to contain his grumbling until they were outside the den and trudging up to their rooms.

Theirrooms. Because Cassius was staying here, obviously. Cyrus would remain the Fire Court Second, and Cassius would remain Hand-to-the-High Queen of the realm. Together. They would all be together.

“What are we doing, Cyrus?” Cass sighed, kicking the door shut behind him.

“Just get dressed,” Cyrus answered, crossing to the bedchamber and into their dressing room. He quickly shucked off the formal attire he was still somehow wearing before pulling on far more comfortable pants and tunic. He was sliding on his boots when Cassius finally appeared in the dressing room, still looking ready to fall into bed and sleep instead.

“How are you this awake?” Cassius asked, changing at a much slower pace than Cyrus had.

But the truth was, if he didn’t do this now, he’d probably lose his nerve.

“Get changed, then we have to wake Sorin,” Cyrus said, pushing past him and back out to the bedchamber.

He was trying not to pace when Cass came back out dressed in similar pants and tunic. He Traveled them back down to the den without a word, clearly realizing that this was something important to Cyrus.

Cyrus crossed the room, managing to wake Sorin without disturbing Scarlett. The worry that had immediately appeared quickly vanished when Cyrus told him what he needed. Sorin nodded, a fire portal appearing near the door where Cassius stood waiting.

Cyrus clapped Sorin on the shoulder in thanks before making his way back to Cassius, who was looking at him with concern in his eyes. One brown. One milky white. No eye patch. Not anymore.

He followed Cyrus silently through the portal, and then he went completely still when he saw where they were.

The cry of gulls filled the air as the sun bathed the land with its morning rays. There were already people bustling around the town, unloading ships and calling to each other from the docks. The smell of the sea filled Cyrus’s senses, but it wasn’t as agonizing as it had once been. Not with Cassius standing beside him.

Cyrus slid his hands into his pockets, waiting as Cass took everything in before his eyes settled back on him.

“This is Aelyndee,” Cass breathed.

“You once told me this was the last place I felt truly deserving of something, and you were right, Cass,” Cyrus said, watching as two workers loaded a cart with various items. Items he would have tracked and stolen a lifetime ago. “I loved Merrick, and I loved Thia. Gods, did I love Thia with everything I was.” He looked back at Cassius once more. “But everything I was… Pieces of who I was died with them, and while I had my family, I still never felt completely whole. I didn’t think I ever would again. That brokenness was just part of my fate that I needed to learn to live with. That I thought I was deserving of. But you…” He swallowed thickly, Cassius quiet as he let him get this out. “Who I was then? That person was made for Merrick. Was made for Thia. But who I am now? That person was made for you, Cass.”

Cassius smiled at him as he reached up and pulled something from a pocket realm. When he opened his hand, the vial of his blood the Sorceress had kept was lying there.

“To new memories, Cyrus” Cassius said, black flames flickering to life in his palm and devouring the symbol of the hell Cyrus had been living for the past weeks, years, decades.

“To deserving happiness,” Cyrus replied, watching while Cassius burned even the ashes to nothing.

Then he was reaching up and hauling Cass’s mouth to his, not caring that they were standing in the middle of bustling docks on the shores of the sea.

“Show me everything,” Cassius murmured when they finally broke apart.

So Cyrus spent the day showing Cassius around Aelyndee. It was different. A lot had changed, but much had stayed the same too. He didn’t know if the loft would be the same. If it would be vacant. Likely not centuries later, but he showed him where he and Merrick had lived for their short years together. He showed him where some of his best cons had gone off seamlessly, and he showed him where he’d hidden when his father had died trying to steal him some bread to eat.

He showed him everything, just like Cassius had asked.

Because while this place was where Cyrus had lost so much and so much of who he was had ended, it didn’t have to stay that.

After all this time, it became a place where something new began.

Something he was deserving of.

Chapter54

Sorin

“Hey, Tula Bug,” Scarlett said, crouching down to the little girl’s level. “Care to join me for a walk? I have a super secret garden to show you.”

Tula’s eyes went wide with excitement. “Really?”

Scarlett nodded, taking the child’s hand and leading her to stairs that would take them up the levels. They could Travel, but Scarlett would walk, taking her time to reach the Princess’s Gardens on the top level that Sorin’s father had designed for his mother.

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