Page 248 of Blood Feast

“We couldn’t have accepted safety in exchange for our freedom,” Lyros said quietly.

“I would never arrest you.” The Blood-Red Prince’s anger vibrated through the temple. “We Blood Errant have so many bolt holes from here to Cordium that you could have evaded arrest—and your enemies—for however long it takes the Firstblood Circle to rise from their silken asses and recognize you for the heroes you are.”

Lyros’s eyes widened. “You were planning to help us escape?”

“Bleedingthorns, of course I was!”

“But Neana told us you gave her orders to arrest us,” Mak said in confusion.

“The Charge had to believe I was upholding the law. And I had to make sure no Hesperines discovered where I was planning to hide you. I didn’t tell anyone except Nike.”

Mak looked at Rudhira with his most stubborn expression. “Cassia and I got ourselves arrested to protect my sister, and Xandra risked everything to help us avoid implicating you. We weren’t about to let you aid us as fugitives.”

Rudhira shoved a hand at the sword on his back. “I’ve been implicating myself with this blade for eight hundred years. And I have never suffered half the consequences that befell you in one night. I could not bear to live in my own skin for the next eight hundred if I didn’t stand with you in this.”

Cassia couldn’t speak, but she reached out and squeezed Rudhira’s hand.

“I tried to enlist your sister’s aid.” He looked chagrined. “Understandably, she is not in a charitable mood toward Hesperines after how we treated you. She informed me in no uncertain terms that even if she could get word to you from the warfront, she would sooner have me spend the Dawn Slumber in Cordium than trust your safety to me ever again.”

Cassia bit her lip. Had that been a lovers’ quarrel or a sign her sister didn’t think of Rudhira that way? She had so many things to ask Solia when they could finally see each other again.

Lyros shook his head. “I’m sorry we thought we had to run from you all this time, but even if you’d offered us Sanctuary, we couldn’t have accepted. We had to follow Cassia’s magic to the Lustra sites. And, with all due respect, you could never have lured out Miranda as she did. We did what we had to do.”

“I know,” Rudhira rasped, “and I question the stars for it. Why couldn’t I have at least made it easier for you?”

Mak rubbed his eyes. “Knowing you’re on our side is enough.”

“It’s nothing like enough,” Rudhira said. “I will not rest until you can walk through the streets of Selas, celebrated and not condemned. But for now, the best I can do is offer you refuge at Castra Justa.”

Mak shook his head. “The firstbloods—even your own sister—question the Charge’s mission enough without you also harboring criminals. That would implicate all our Hesperines errant, who are already making sacrifices for us.”

Rudhira’s red brows descended, and his fangs flashed. “Everywhere Hesperines walk outside the Queen’ ward, I rule. Black Roses, as of tonight, you have an official pardon from the Prince Regent, and no one can question my decree.”

Nights of fear drained out of Cassia’s limbs. She held Lio closer, stroking his back.Did you hear that?

His muddled thoughts formed into a certainty of refuge.

Rudhira closed his satchel with a loud snap. “I would have issued the pardon sooner, but my hands were tied by my own sunbound Charge law. I had to wait for my sister’s legal scroll on the matter to arrive on my desk at Castra Justa.”

Cassia doubted her ears. “Master Kona helped you pardon us?”

“She has been scouring her own laws for some way to grant you clemency. When Neana returned to me with her Grace braid and word of the children you rescued, Kona finally had the basis she needed. Under the Law of Atonement, you served justice by delivering lives to safety, which earns forgiveness for your crimes. Since it happened on this side of the border, it’s not enough to get you pardoned at home, but we will not give up on that, either.”

Cassia couldn’t quite take in the legal technicalities, but the result was clear. Lio would have a safe place to heal.

His jaw relaxed, and his eyes slipped shut again.

Cassia tightened her arms around him. “Rudhira—”

He eased Lio onto his back again. “He has enough of your blood in him for now. Let his mind rest. We’ll know more about his condition when I get him to the Castra.”

Cassia tried to brace herself for harsh truths, but she was out of armor. “What should we expect when he wakes?”

Rudhira’s voice was gentle now. “I don’t know. I have never seen an attack like Kallikrates is capable of. What I can say for certain is this: the only reason Lio is alive and sane right now is because of how you fought for him.”

She wanted to believe that. But she kept seeing the dagger plunge into Lio’s throat. Was there something she could have done to protect him from that blow?

“Look at me, Cassia.” It was a command from her prince, and yet an offer of comfort from her Ritual father.

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