Page 41 of Blood Feast

Cassia waved a hand. “Because it is objectively madness to try to hold the avowal ceremony of the century in less than three weeks. And because you are self-sacrificing and worried about my Craving. I thought I might need a great deal of consolation chocolate.”

“I would never tell you no,” Lio said. “Only, ‘yes, later,’ perhaps.”

Her arm around his waist, Cassia leaned into him. “I’m so glad you said ‘yes, now.’”

“So am I.” He would have a clear conscience about it once he confirmed his plan would work.

Xandra pointed at her brother’s gift. “Don’t forget that. You can open it now.”

Lio opened Rudhira’s veiled box to find a cup, the traditional gift of congratulations to Hesperines upon finding Grace. Lio smiled, remembering the one he had given Rudhira when the prince had been doubting Kassandra’s prophecies about his own Grace.

Rudhira had carved this goblet from a single piece of deep red wood. On its knots and flaws, he had engraved twining thorns, while exquisite roses adorned its smooth curves. A true symbol of the pain and joy of Grace. Lio sensed that Rudhira had imbued the cup with his blood, a promise to always lend them his strength.

“Our next destination is House Komnena,” Kia announced.

“Zoe insisted on being the one to throw your congratulatory party,” Nodora said.

Lio chuckled. “Of course she did.”

They stepped to Zoe’s spacious upstairs room and into a sea of purple flower petals and purpler ribbons. A collective sense of joy erupted in the Union like a cheer. Nearly everyone who had attended Cassia’s Ritual was gathered in the light of the stained glass window depicting Zoe’s goats and Knight.

Zoe threw her arms around Lio. “You said yes!”

He managed not to laugh at the riot of lavender and violet all around them, and said very seriously, “Thank you for hosting such a lovely party for us.”

She whispered, “I’m so excited that I’ll get to call Cassia Grace-sister in front of everyone.”

“I’m glad you’ll get to do that, too, Zoe flower.” He turned to their mother. “But I know planning an avowal this quickly is a great deal to ask.”

Instead of looking harried, his mother glowed. “That was Cassia’s first concern when she hatched her plan. As I assured her, I decapitated a member of the Aithourian Circle in my kitchen while I was pregnant with you. I am not daunted by throwing you an avowal worthy of eternity on the spur of the moment.”

“Besides,” Kassandra put in from nearby, “a certain Oracle gave her a few hints about what to have ready in advance.”

Cassia’s brows rose. “Does that mean I chose the moment of destiny to propose?”

Kassandra raised her glass to Cassia.

Lio’s father held out a silk bundle in one war-honed hand. “I didn’t know how many centuries might pass until I could give you this, Son. But even before you met Cassia, we crafted it, hoping you wouldn’t wait as long as I did for your mother.”

Lio unwrapped the gift. His parents’ congratulatory cup was a chalice carved by his father’s stone magic in an ancient style, masterful in its simplicity. It was engraved with calligraphy twisting among stars. The words, an ancient Hesperine blessing, emanated his mother’s theramancy.

Cassia touched the stars, the constellation Anastasios. “It’s beautiful.”

“We’ll treasure it.” Lio placed it next to Rudhira’s cup on the windowsill. “These will be the first we place on display in our residence.”

“You’ll need a room full of display cases once all of Orthros finishes congratulating Firstgift Komnenos,” his mother predicted.

For the first time, Lio felt a hint of panic at their upcoming avowal.

He hadn’t even started on his and Cassia’s avowal cup.

The chalice they would drink from during the ceremony should be a powerful magical artifact and an eternal symbol of their love. An embodiment of Hespera’s sacred cup, from which flowed her divine generosity, including Grace. And as the Hesperine welcoming Cassia into his bloodline, it was Lio’s responsibility to craft it. How could he create something worthy in what little time they had?

As their loved ones presented them with a series of cups that were all exquisite masterpieces of craftsmanship and spellcasting, he tried not to despair.

Even worse, all of this celebration and the happiness shining in Cassia’s aura would be for nothing, if he failed on another front.

His opportunity came when Konstantina floated into the gathering on a current of royal power. If anyone could advise him on his plan, it was the Queen’s eldest daughter, Royal Master Magistrate and author of Orthros’s legal scrolls. He only hoped such a traditionalist would not be thoroughly offended by what he was about to ask.

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