Chapter 148
Author POV
Lucien had spent the better part of the day surrounded by military reports, wounded soldiers, and increasingly alarming news from the southern border. He had expected the next crisis to arrive in the form of another messenger.
He had not expected Cassiane Valerith Ardentia to appear inside his bedroom.
"How on earth did you manage to get inside?" Lucien asked, still staring at her in disbelief.
Cassiane gave him a tired smile.
"It's a long story, and I may have had some help."
She suddenly blinked as though she had remembered something important.
"Oh! I completely forgot."
Before Lucien could ask what she meant, she turned and hurried toward the balcony. She opened the doors, leaned outside, and gave a sharp whistle.
Lucien frowned.
"What are you-"
A shimmer of blue light appeared in the middle of the room.
He immediately stepped backward.
"What the-"
The air twisted as magical energy gathered in a circular pattern. Within seconds, a portal opened, its edges glowing with a faint blue radiance that cast flickering light across the walls.
"Relax," Cassiane said as she walked back inside. "I invited a few friends."
Lucien stared at her.
"Friends?"
The first person stepped through the portal.
An elderly man with silver hair emerged, stretched his shoulders, and looked around the room with the relaxed air of someone arriving at his own home rather than infiltrating the bedroom of the Crown Prince of Viremont.
"Ahh. Much better."
Then he noticed Lucien.
He straightened immediately and walked toward him with an easy smile.
"Hello there, Prince."
He extended his hand.
"I'm Master Benedict. A friend of Cassiane's."
Lucien stared at the offered hand for a moment before accepting it.
"Lucien."
Benedict's smile widened.
"You may call me Benny."
Lucien blinked.
"Of course. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Another figure stepped through the portal.
Miss Ann emerged calmly, adjusted her clothes, and glanced around the room before turning toward Lucien.
"Annabeth."
That was apparently all the introduction she intended to provide.
Lucien gave her a polite bow.
"An honour."
She acknowledged him with a small nod.
Then came Muffin.
The moon fox landed lightly on the carpet, paused for exactly two seconds, and immediately began investigating the room.
He sniffed the bed.
Then the curtains.
Then Lucien's desk.
He eventually moved toward a particularly unfortunate chair and examined it with the seriousness of a royal investigator.
Lucien watched him in silence.
"Is that..."
"My fox," Cassiane said.
Muffin ignored her and continued his inspection.
Lucien looked at Cassiane.
Then Benedict.
Then Miss Ann.
Then the fox.
Finally, he looked back at Cassiane.
"They are your teammates?"
"Yep."
"And you brought them through a portal into my bedroom."
"Technically."
Lucien stared at her.
"There are four of you."
"Technically, there are three people and one very judgmental fox."
Muffin looked up at him as though personally offended by the accusation.
Lucien rubbed his forehead.
"I feel like I've missed several important developments."
"You have."
Cassiane walked toward him and lowered her voice.
"We came together. Getting through the outer defenses wasn't exactly easy. There is Solithium everywhere."
Lucien's expression hardened.
"I know."
"Well, the southern border isn't a problem anymore."
His eyes narrowed.
"What?"
Cassiane smiled.
"I may have removed their weapons."
Benedict cleared his throat.
"Removed is a rather generous description."
Cassiane glanced at him.
"I blasted them."
"You obliterated them."
"That sounds unnecessarily dramatic."
"You sent half their equipment into a ravine."
"It was in the way!!"
Lucien looked between them, still trying to process what he was hearing.
"How did you even manage that without alerting the entire army?"
Cassiane's smile widened.
"Miss Ann helped."
Annabeth remained perfectly calm.
"I created a diversion."
Cassiane nodded enthusiastically.
"She convinced the mages that a sudden hurricane had swept through the area!"
Lucien stared at Miss Ann.
"A hurricane?"
"A localized weather disturbance," Annabeth corrected.
Cassiane snorted.
"She means she lied to them."
"They believed me," Annabeth said simply.
"Apparently, they believed you so thoroughly that some of them started thanking the gods," Cassiane added. "She also used a brain-fog spell on them."
She looked at Annabeth with open admiration.
"That spell was brilliant. You should teach me that one."
Miss Ann gave her a mildly disapproving look.
"You have enough spells."
"I can never have enough spells."
Lucien stared at the three of them.
"Hold on a second..You destroyed an entire weapons position, convinced their mages that a hurricane was responsible, and then walked into my palace."
Cassiane nodded. "Pretty much."
He looked at her for several seconds before shaking his head.
"I don't even know whether I should be impressed or concerned."
"Both are reasonable reactions."
Benedict chuckled.
"That is probably the wisest thing you've said all evening."
Cassiane shot him a look.
"I've said plenty of wise things."
"I'll take your word for it."
Before she could respond, Cassiane's expression changed.
The amusement disappeared from her face as she glanced toward the balcony.
"We don't have much time."
Lucien immediately became serious.
"The moment they realize the southern border has been breached, they'll know someone got through. They'll reinforce the remaining barriers and start searching for whoever destroyed the weapons."
"Then we need to move," Lucien said.
"Exactly."
He took a step toward her.
"Cass, where's Rhaevan? Is he-"
Her smile faded.
"I don't know."
For the first time since entering the room, she looked genuinely uncertain.
"But I don't believe he's gone."
Before Lucien could ask anything else, Muffin suddenly stopped moving.
His ears perked up. He stared toward the door.
Cassiane noticed the change immediately.
"What is it?"
Muffin remained perfectly still.
Then came the sound of footsteps outside.
Slow. Heavy. Approaching.
Everyone in the room fell silent.
A knock echoed through the bedroom.
Lucien's expression changed instantly.
"Quick. Hide in the changing room."
He pointed toward the adjoining room.
"I'll see who it is."
Cassiane nodded and hurried inside with Benedict and Miss Ann.
Muffin, however, had apparently decided that following instructions was beneath him.
The moment Cassiane picked him up, he began struggling violently, twisting in her arms and trying to reach the door.
"Would you stop?" she whispered.
Muffin answered with an indignant little sound and continued trying to claw his way free.
"Absolutely not."
Benedict reached over and helped restrain the fox.
"He's remarkably strong for his size."
"He's also remarkably determined to get us killed."
Miss Ann quietly closed the changing-room door.
Outside, Lucien waited until the room was silent before composing himself.
The knock came again.
He took a breath and opened the door.
Theo stood on the other side.
The Archmage stepped into the room, his expression unusually grave.
"We have a new situation at the southern border."
Lucien closed the door behind him.
"What happened?"
"The Solithium power stationed there has been completely destroyed. The soldiers nearby reported something even stranger."
Theo paused.
"They claim a miraculous hurricane swept through the area."
Lucien stared at him.
"A hurricane, huh?"
"Apparently, it carried several Veiled Thorn mages along with it."
For a brief moment, neither man spoke.
Lucien's mouth twitched.
"Well..."
He glanced toward the changing room.
The door slowly opened.
Cassiane stepped out first.
Behind her came Miss Ann and Benedict.
Theo froze.
His eyes moved from Cassiane to Benedict, then to Annabeth, before settling on Cassiane again.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
The stern expression he had worn moments earlier slowly disappeared.
What replaced it was unmistakable.
Relief.
Then pride.
A broad smile spread across his face.
"Hello there, Cassie."
Cassiane remained where she was, watching him carefully.
Before she could respond, Benedict's face lit up.
"Theodore!"
He crossed the room and pulled Theo into an enthusiastic embrace.
"My old friend!"
Theo laughed as he returned the hug.
"It has been far too long, Benedict."
"Far too long indeed."
When they separated, Theo turned toward Annabeth.
She gave him a small nod.
"Annabeth."
"Theo."
Their exchange was brief, but something passed between them that Lucien could not quite identify.
It was familiarity.
Trust.
And perhaps the understanding of two people who knew far more about the situation than they were willing to say aloud.
Then Theo looked back at Cassiane.
She stood with her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.
He studied her for a long moment.
"I see you have found what you were meant to find, child."
There was genuine pride in his voice.
Cassiane's expression did not soften.
Instead, her eyebrow rose higher.
"Don't think I'm sparing you, old man."
Theo's smile faltered.
"Cassiane..."
"You have a lot of explaining to do."
The amusement in her voice had disappeared.
"About me. About what you knew. And especially about Rhaevan."
Theo's gaze shifted briefly toward Annabeth.
She gave him a small nod.
It was subtle, but the message was clear.
She knows.
Benedict, standing behind them, let out a quiet chuckle.
"She has been saying that for quite some time."
Cassiane turned toward him.
"You're not helping."
Theo sighed, though there was still a faint smile on his face.
"I suppose I deserve that."
"You do."
Lucien watched the exchange in silence.
He had entered the conversation expecting to hear about the southern border.
Instead, he was beginning to realize that the people standing inside his bedroom had been carrying secrets far greater than anything written in the military reports scattered across his desk.
Cassiane finally turned toward him.
Her expression grew serious.
"But we can argue about secrets later."
She looked around the room.
The lightness that had filled the chamber moments earlier had vanished.
"We need to plan."
Her gaze settled on Theo.
"They know someone breached the southern defenses. They will respond soon, and when they do, we won't have the luxury of improvising."
Theo's expression became equally serious.
"Then we need to decide our next move before they make theirs."
Cassiane nodded.
She looked at Benedict, Annabeth, and finally Lucien.
For the first time, they weren't merely a collection of people who had found themselves caught in the same conflict.
They were a group.
An alliance.
And every person in that room had a reason to fight.
Cassiane drew a slow breath and straightened her shoulders.
"They're preparing for war."
Her eyes hardened.
"So are we."
The words settled over the room.
There would be no more running.
No more waiting for the enemy to decide their fate.
Whatever happened next, Cassiane intended to meet it on her own terms.
The war of Varynthar had begun.
And this time, she would not be fighting alone.