Page 46 of Blood Feast

“Please give her my gratitude.” Cassia clutched her hands together, hardly knowing which pot of feminine magic to pick up first.

She eyed a tiny, beautiful bottle of scent oil, wary of giving past fears an opportunity to intrude on this night. She picked it up slowly and popped the cork. All she felt were the loving auras around her. She took a deep whiff. All she smelled were roses.

Komnena smiled at her. “Well done, my brave girl.”

Cassia squeezed her Grace-mother’s hand, thankful for her and every other mind healer who had been an ally in her daily effort to heal from the memories of her past.

Solia took the bottle and dabbed rose oil on Cassia’s wrists. “This is no Autumn Greeting, Pup. We’re going to get you avowed to that faithful, adoring scrollworm of yours, and then we’ll drink each other under the table like proper mercenaries.”

Cassia’s laughter was interrupted by the door swinging open again. Orthros’s Oracle sailed in, directing a small army of her initiate weavers and seamstresses, who levitated Cassia’s avowal robe in on a stand. Cassia had seen many of Kassandra’s stunning creations, but clearly, she still had the ability to make Cassia’s jaw drop.

The white silk robe looked like it had been woven from the Light Moon itself. The botanical patterns in the intricate brocade were exquisite, and Cassia could only imagine how long it had taken Kassandra to weave them. The embroidery gleamed, applied in thread of real gold.

Perita whistled. “Orthros white outshines Segetian gold, and that’s the truth.”

Kassandra straightened the hem, surveying her work. “When a Hesperine avows into a bloodline, they are the Whiteblood in the ceremony and wear this color as a symbol that they’rebringing light to their new family. The Hesperine welcoming them in, the Redblood, will wear red to signify the giving of a new bloodline to their Grace.”

“Like the two moons?” Perita guessed.

“Yes.” Nodora let out a dreamy sigh. “It’s such a beautiful tradition. The Whiteblood’s family wear white, too, and the Redblood’s line all wear red to show that they’re joining together along with the couple.”

“Wait till I tell everyone back home about this!” Perita exclaimed. “They’ll gossip about it for a decade, and every lady from Solorum to Corona will be green with envy.”

The harpies of the court would hear about how the deposed king’s bastard had risen from her past to wear a robe fit for an immortal. But that didn’t matter to Cassia anymore.

She could see her future in this silk and gold. This night, when she and Lio would make their vows. The years to come, when a portrait of them in their avowal robes would hang in the home they made together. The centuries ahead, when they would wear these robes each time they brought a new Hesperine into their family. She would hold their children at first Ritual in this robe.

Cassia pressed Kassandra’s hand. “I have no words.”

Kassandra smiled. “The Oracle has made the Soothsayer speechless? High praise indeed.”

Cassia looked into the seer’s eternal gaze. Time flowed around Kassandra like light, past and future ever-present in her vision. Was she referring to the affinity that was lost to Cassia now? Or was she saying that Lio’s quest to secure Cassia’s other magics would come true?

When Cassia heard a staff tapping in the corridor, her heart lifted. The earthy fragrances of medicinal plants entered the room with Tuura. New lines creased her deep brown skin, and her round figure was less generous than before. But after hercollapse in Tenebra, Cassia could only be grateful the Ashes’ diviner was alive and on her feet again.

“Peanut!” Cassia helped her to a chair by the dressing table. “How are you feeling?”

“Much restored.” Tuura waved her off. “No need to fuss over me, Shadow.”

Solia slid a pillow behind Tuura’s back. “You fuss over us every time we get a scratch in battle. It’s our turn.”

Tuura sighed. “You should know healers make terrible patients.”

“Allow us to fuss,” Kella said. “That’s an order.”

“If you insist, First Blade.” Tuura leaned forward to peruse the cosmetics. “These are the work of a brilliant alchemist. Could they be Muse Matsu’s famous creations that I’ve heard so much about?”

“Yes!” Nodora reached for a delicate ceramic jar that waited off to one side, offering it to Tuura. “She asked me to give this to you, a custom batch of her Eternal Silk Cream.”

“Is this the one that magically dissolves beards?”

Nodora nodded. “It can be used anywhere you prefer not to shave.”

“I’ll have to thank her in person and chat about alchemy.” Tuura was clearly delighted. She came from a kinder tradition in which no one questioned a diviner for rejecting manhood and embracing her spiritual nature as a woman, but her masculine features were still troublesome to her at times.

“I’ll introduce you at the ceremony,” Nodora promised. “I know she would love for you to come by her residence afterward.”

Cassia bit her lip, hesitant to interrupt, but she could sense the deep exhaustion that lingered under Tuura’s cheer. “How long can you stay? Lio and I would never forgive ourselves if coming to our avowal made you fall ill like you did in Tenebra.”

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