Page 65 of Blood Sanctuary, Part One

“Nearly eight hundred years ago,” Kia began, “the eldest unavowed Hesperines in Orthros grew weary of everyone wringing their hands over them, so they went Abroad to seek adventure and put their great powers to work for the common good. Pherenike Argyra. Prometheus Kassandros. First Prince Ioustinianos. The original Trial circle and Hippolyta’s first trainees. They were already ancient and legendary. Apollon joined them, he claimed, to keep his niece and Ritual sons out of trouble, but in truth, he was the most restless of them all. For centuries, they performed bold deeds in the Goddess’s name that no other Hesperines dared.”

“As you’ve heard, they are the only Hesperines in history to fight with weapons.” Nodora sounded properly scandalized. “You were at Waystar, the border fortress where, by law, they had to leave their arms every time they visited home.”

Cassia bit her tongue about the recent appearance of the prince’s sword at House Komnena.

“Prometheus wielded twin swords, the Fangs.” Kia named them with relish. “Ioustinianos still carries his two-hander, Thorn, as he leads the Charge. Apollon laid down his stonemason’s mallet when he met his Grace, leaving the Hammer of the Sun behind in Tenebra when he brought Komnena home. The stories say the prince keeps it at his fortress of Castra Justa in the wilds of Tenebra, should the night come when Apollon needs his weapon again. As for Nike, in honor of her mother’s hand-to-hand combat, she eschews any blade. Wherever she may be, she goes into battle with only her enchanted shield, the Chalice of Stars. The Blood Errant are still making history—and enemies—from here to Cordium.”

“Hesperines in Cordium?” Cassia asked, incredulous. “The Order of Anthros keeps mages on guard every moment to prevent you from setting foot there.”

“That’s the Blood Errant for you,” said Nodora. “They went where gargoyles fear to tread.”

Kia grinned. “Prometheus stole the Akron’s Torch from the Hagion of Anthros.”

“Hewhat?” Cassia blurted.

The scholar’s face was all alight. “He burned his name on the wall with it so everyone would know one of Hespera’s own had bested the god of fire.”

“The Akron had a personal grudge against him after that.” Nodora wrapped her arms around herself. “It made Cordium even more dangerous for the Blood Errant.”

“About a century ago,” Kia continued, “they embarked on their most dangerous endeavor of all, another quest into Corona itself. As we’ve said, it was not their first mischief right under the Akron’s nose, but it was their riskiest.”

“Riskier than thieving from the Akron’s own temple?”

“Yes, Cassia.” Nodora leaned closer. “Can you believe it? They infiltrated the inquisitors’ prison, with help from Basir and Kumeta. They went to rescue the heretics slated for execution on the Akron’s Altar.”

Cassia shook her head. “I can see Lio’s father and Rudhira doing such a thing, but not the Queens’ Master Envoys. They seem so cautious.”

“Basir and Kumeta’s wariness is born of the consequences of that final mission,” Nodora said.

Hesperines going willingly to the place where their own were sent to die? “How did any of them make it back?”

Kia gazed into their hero’s eyes. “Methu knew he was the one the Akron really wanted. He sacrificed himself so the others could escape with the prisoners. Everyone made it home, except him.”

Silence fell between them. It was Cassia who dared break it. “Then he was executed in their place.”

“The Order performs the immolations at high noon,” said Kia, “so no other Hesperines are awake to offer comfort through the Union in those final moments. So there is no risk the captive will awaken from the Slumber and escape. But we can feel in our Slumber. He felt everything that happened to him, without being able to lift a finger to stop it.”

Cassia said nothing. There were no words. She could not bear to look at Prometheus’s statue.

She looked instead at young Lio, who could not look away.

At length, Kia said, “Apollon, Rudhira, and Nike went on the warpath, of course. They don’t like to talk about it—no one does. That’s how we deal with our own who do ‘un-Hesperine’ things. With silence. But I can’t be silent, not when I and all my Trial circle owe our lives to the Blood Errant’s vengeance. It took them years, for Cordium had become too dangerous, but they lay in wait for the mages to emerge or strategized to draw them out. They pursued or lured every last Aithourian who had anything to do with Methu’s capture into Tenebra and destroyed them.”

“Methu’s suffering wasn’t in vain,” Nodora said. “The Goddess brought blessings out of all that horrible violence. None of us would be here, if not for him.”

Kia sat down with Nodora and Cassia, pointing to Lio’s statue. “Apollon was hunting down one of the Aithourians when he met Komnena. He would never have been in that remote part of Tenebra if he hadn’t followed the mage there. He came home to Orthros after that, for his new family had to be his first priority. But Rudhira and Nike continued their campaign.”

“Grace-Father and Grace-Mother begged Nike not to,” came Lyros’s voice, “but she would not heed them.”

Cassia looked up to see Lio’s Trial brother strolling out of the trees.

“How goes it?” Kia asked.

“Mak is almost done with him,” Lyros answered. “They’ll be along in a moment.”

That gave Cassia her first suspicion that Lyros and Mak were the delay with which Lio had met. The full picture of the conspiracy began to come clear in her mind. Lio’s friends had planned all of this.

Lyros joined them at Prometheus’s feet. “Nike would not be swayed from her path of retribution. Nor would Rudhira, even by the Queens.”

---