26. Casandra
The afternoon sun is a weak, pale disc trying to pierce through the perpetual mist of Blackmere Isle, casting a silver sheen over the ripples of the black lake. I walk along the pebble path, the small stones crunching beneath the soles of my boots, a crisp wind biting at my cheeks.
Julian is already there when I arrive.
He is standing near the edge of the water, his hands tucked loosely into his pockets.
He looks like a statue carved from marble, entirely still, staring out into the vast expanse of the water.
We had agreed to meet here today. After everything that’s happened, we decided it was time to actually get to know each other better. In case we end up marrying after all.
He supports whatever I choose, though. Julian has made that clear from the very beginning. He isn’t forcing me into a corner, which is more than I can say for the universe right now.
As my footsteps grow closer, he turns his head, a soft, welcoming smile breaking through his usual aristocratic composure. “Cassie,” he greets, his voice smooth and grounding.
“Julian,” I say, stepping up to stand beside him, the scent of cedar and fresh rain immediately envelops me.
He gestures toward a blanket spread out by the water’s edge, right next to a woven picnic basket. “Please, sit,” he says, waiting for me to settle onto the blanket before sitting down next to me.
He turns his body fully toward me, his dark eyes scanning my face with a quiet, genuine interest. “So.. tell me about yourself,” he says simply.
I let out a sudden, involuntary laugh, the sound echoing lightly over the water.
Julian’s smile widens, his eyebrows drawing together in amusement. “What?”
I just shake my head, looking down at the pebbles beneath my feet before looking back up into his warm gaze. “Nothing. It’s just... this feels so incredibly normal. I can’t remember the last time anyone actually just asked me about myself.”
Julian’s expression softens, a profound, quiet understanding in his eyes. He just smiles, letting the silence stretch for a moment, letting me realize that with him, I don’t have to carry the weight of a crown.
“How much do you actually know about me, Julian?” I ask, tilting my head. “What has my father told you?”
He shifts his weight, looking back out over the lake.
“Your father told me that you didn’t know what you were until recently. He said you were intentionally kept in the dark about your heritage, raised away from the palace, in order to protect you.
He wanted to let you live a normal life for as long as possible before the responsibilities of the Corvin bloodline caught up to you.”
I nod slowly, a phantom ache blooming in my chest. “He did,” I murmur.
The memories feel so heavy now, like pieces of a completely different life.
“I had dreams, you know,” I say, a dry, slightly wistful laugh escaping my lips.
“Normal, human dreams. I went to study in Sweden. I wanted a career in marketing. I wanted to build a quiet life, choose my own apartment, sit in cafes, and complain about corporate deadlines.”
I shake my head, looking at the water. “It all feels like several lifetimes ago. Like it happened to a completely different girl.”
Julian listens intently, never interrupting, allowing me to lay out the pieces of my shattered normalcy without judgment.
After a quiet moment, his eyes track back to mine, his tone shifting into something a bit more cautious. “Is there any update with Nikolai? Have you decided if you’re going to pursue the bond?”
I let out a long, heavy sigh, my shoulders dropping.
The very mention of the werewolf prince makes my stomach knot.
“I feel terrible, Julian,” I admit, my voice dropping into a rough whisper.
“Because I don’t know if I can accept him. Not after how he’s treated me. That is, if he even accepts me to begin with. But… I also don’t want to just give you a definitive ‘no’ right now, because things are so volatile. Things could change,
and the last thing I ever want to do is lead you on or make you feel like a second option.”
Julian leans closer, reaching out to gently squeeze my arm.
His touch is cool, steady, and entirely reassuring.
“Cassie, listen to me,” he says firmly. “I’m the last person you should worry about. Do not let my presence or the contract dictate your heart. Just do whatever feels right for yourself. I am here, and I am not going anywhere.”
Relief washes over me, a tight knot in my chest loosening just a fraction. “Thank you,” I breathe. I look at him, wanting to shift the focus away from my chaotic mind. “How are things back home for you? With your clan?”
Julian’s posture stiffens slightly, a heavy, tired shadow passing over his handsome features.
He lets out a long sigh, running a hand through his dark hair.
“It’s complicated. There are some elders in the North American territories who still hold some species supremacy tendencies. They are working very hard behind the scenes to undermine me, trying to find any excuse to remove me as the leader of the clan because I support the the equality cause.”
I frown, a flash of genuine frustration tightening my jaw.
“I don’t understand why we can’t all just exist together peacefully. Why is equality such a terrifying concept to them?”
I shake my head, my mind immediately drifting to my morning encounters.
“On that note.. Alistair Hawthorne. I don’t understand why he is even allowed to teach at this academy, considering he was very actively on the wrong side of the Great War.”
Julian nods, his expression turning grim.
“Hawthorne and the other High Elders pleaded for innocence when the war ended. The official record states that the Sakhrayea used dark mind wielding to corrupt him and the others. He argued he wasn’t acting of his own free will, that his mind was hijacked by the enemy.”
I stare at him, incredulous. “And everyone just... believed him? Just like that? He gets a free pass to teach the next generations?”
“He brought evidence,” Julian explains, his voice dropping low. “Though the specifics of that evidence... that’s not something I am cleared to know about.”
I shudder, a cold chill running down my spine that has nothing to do with the wind coming off the lake. “He creeps me out, Julian. He singles me out in class, asks invasive questions about my past, trying to pry into when I learned I was a vampire.”
Julian’s eyes instantly flash with a dangerous, protective crimson fire. He grips my hand tightly. “You need to be careful around him, Cassie. Hawthorne has very real, very bitter reasons to hate your father.”
I blink, my interest piqued. “What do you mean?”
“Before the war, the werewolves were governed strictly by the Alpha King alone. ”
Julian says, his tone turning clinical as he lays out the hidden geography of our world’s history.
“The vampires, however, were governed by the Council of High Elders, which Hawthorne was a part of. But after the war ended, the dynamics completely flipped.”
He points a finger toward the distant spires of the academy. “The wolves created a council, while the vampires completely dismantled the Council of High Elders. We named your father as King instead.”
Julian looks at me, the pieces clicking together perfectly. “So, basically... Alistair Hawthorne lost his entire legacy, his seat of power, and his global authority to your father.”
I stand frozen, staring at Julian as the realization washes over me.
This isn’t necessarily news to me—I knew the basic political shifts that occurred after the treaties were signed—but hearing it laid out like this puts everything into a terrifying new perspective.
Hawthorne doesn’t just find me lacking as a student.
He looks at me and sees the face of the family that stripped him of his status.