Page 154 of Blood Sanctuary, Part One

“I was a suckling Bosko’s age when Atalanta achieved her mastery. It was a glorious time for the Stand. I dreamed of serving with Atalanta and my sister Pherenike. Lanta and Nike guided me on my first steps as a warrior. But Lanta had been a Master Steward for less than a month when the heart hunters’ liegehounds brought her down. I swore I would not lose another hero of mine.”

And yet Kadi had lost her elder sister, too. Ever since Nike had gone missing in action in Tenebra, Kadi had lived with not knowing her beloved sister’s fate.

“Are you certain you wish to do this?” Cassia asked.

Kadi glanced at Knight, still not meeting his gaze. “Yes. I think tonight will diffuse conflict in more personal ways than I expected. I am ready.”

“Thank you for giving Knight a chance. Let us help him get to know you. Do you have an item with your scent on it?”

Kadi hesitated. Then she lifted her hands and untied her speires, letting her golden hair fall around her shoulders. She offered the ceremonial hair ties to Cassia.

The Hesperines gasped.

“You honor us, Master Arkadia!” Cassia gave a curtsy before accepting the speires.

“Let everyone see that I am not Knight’s opponent tonight.”

Leaving the lure in Kadi’s hands, Cassia returned to Knight’s side. She knelt beside her hound and held Kadi’s speires before his muzzle. His nostrils flared, and his hackles rose.

“This is Arkadiakaetlii,” Cassia told him.

Cassia whispered in his ear in the language they had cobbled together over the years, half her expressions of affection, half the iron commands the kennel masters had taught her. Knight understood both down to his bones. Together, they had tested their bond against every challenge, be it new friends or new foes.

“I have every confidence in you tonight, my Knight,” Cassia assured him. “You are myoedann.Nowckuundat!Stand proud with Arkadiakaetlii.”

Knight’s devotion to Cassia was absolute. His bond with Lio was deepening. His urge to protect had overcome his instinct to destroy and made him a proud guardian of Zoe. Bosko and Thenie could spend time with him without fear. But would all that be powerful enough to teach him that their mother, a Master Steward of the Stand, was not his enemy?

Knight paraded toward Kadi. In the stands, Javed was on his feet, watching his Grace. Argyros sat frozen in his chair, a hand clasped to his mouth, while on the dais, Lyta was poised as if to go on the attack. But Mak and Lyros gave Cassia encouraging, confident glances.

Cassia caught a glimpse of fear in Arkadia’s eyes. But all hint of it was gone when the Master Steward turned her face toward Knight. She met his gaze at last.

He halted at attention before her. He waited patiently and looked to her for command.

Cassia watched everything they had been through come together before her very eyes and listened to the crowd’s murmurs of wonder.

She approached the two of them carefully, wary of breaking the spell. “Arkadiakaetlii,” she reminded her hound.

He kept his eyes on Arkadia.

“Oedann.” Cassia halted at Kadi’s side. “Master Arkadia, let us begin with a simple chase exercise that mimics a hound running down his prey. Throw the lure as far as you can. He will know what to do.”

Arkadia pulled her arm back and gave the lure a mighty swing. Hesperine strength indeed. The lure became a blur Cassia couldn’t even see, but Knight pirouetted in place and shot after it. The lure reappeared on the far end of the gymnasium. Knight streaked to it and lunged, pinning it to the ground.

“He never gets such a good run with me!” Cassia exclaimed to the laughter of the crowd. “A mortal’s arm can scarcely provide him with a challenge. And yet everyone says Hesperines and liegehounds weren’t meant to be partners.”

A hint of a grin alleviated Kadi’s concentration. “He appears to be waiting for orders, Lady Cassia.”

“You can instruct him to abandon, hold, retrieve, or destroy his captive.”

“Then by all means, let us call him back and give the lure quarter. It must last us through the match.”

“He will bring it back so you can repeat the exercise if you command him,dockk raat.”

“Dockk raat!”Kadi barked in the voice of a field commander.

Knight pelted back across the gymnasium, halted before her, and dropped the lure at her feet, then stood at attention once more.

A few words at a time, Cassia passed the teachings of generations of kennel masters on to Orthros’s resident Master Steward. Kadi took to the commands like the warrior she was. They came easier and easier to her tongue, and her determination gave way to obvious enthusiasm. It was not long before Cassia no longer supplied Kadi with commands.

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