The Order of Masks

Chapter Forty-One

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Mira

Rhythmic drumbeats reverberated through me as I entered Caleah Fortress, the overhead lanterns casting everything in a scarlet haze.

It felt like stepping into my dance from the first Trial, except infinitely more primal. Shadows of performing acrobats ghosted across the walls, and I looked up to see half-clothed men and women suspended from the ceiling, their bodies contorted within golden hoops. Red cloth hung down around them, rippling in time with their movements.

Cassius was holding court in the centre of the ballroom, a crow-beaked mask concealing his features. Scantily dressed sycophants and masked nobility surrounded him, a far cry from the preening courtiers I had seen the last time I’d been here. From what I’d heard, he often held parties like this – for his amusement, I suspected, but also to increase his influence and uncover secrets. Most of the younger nobles attended regularly, preferring Cassius’s darker brand of entertainment and debauchery to the stuffy functions at the palace.

Right now, his eyes were on one of the dancers. To anyone else, his attention might have been mistaken for keen male interest – but I saw the boredom in his posture. He was sprawled across his throne, his chin cupped in his hand. His other idly stroked a woman’s long hair, a gesture similar to that of a master patting its pet.

‘Wishing it was you up there?’

Even if Odessa hadn’t been wearing the mask of a beautiful maiden, I would have recognised her. Everything about her was meticulously perfect, from her elaborate periwinkle gown to her flawless porcelain skin. Her sheet of blonde hair was so light it resembled snow.

‘I’m perfectly happy where I am, thank you.’

Though I kept my expression blandly polite, she didn’t believe it for a second. Odessa’s instruction as a Mask was very different to my own; it was all about strategy, seduction and politics, using her access within the court to test loyalties and gather information. I supposed it only made sense she would be suspicious of my motives.

‘My betrothed is off limits,’ Odessa said coolly, not bothering with subtlety. ‘You would do well to heed my warning where he is concerned.’

‘Worried about keeping your man?’ I retorted, a taunting smile curving my lips.

Odessa moved closer, the silk sleeves of her dress brushing my arm. ‘It doesn’t matter how many Trials you win,’ she said, ‘or how many people you butcher to prove yourself to the emperor. I know what you really are. Yet another rat, scavenging for scraps.’

I met her stare evenly. ‘I hate to break it to you, but I don’t care what you think of me.’

Her lips tightened into a thin line, the only sign of her irritation. ‘Do you think you’re the only one who has tried to seduce the prince?’ she asked, her sharp nails enclosing over my wrist. ‘Cassius has had his fair share of lovers, and it’s never ended well for a single one of them.’ She released me abruptly, smiling a disconcerting smile. ‘But do enjoy the party. It’s important to savour every moment; you never know which might be your last.’

With that, she turned and wove her way through the hot press of bodies. I stared after her, marking her every movement.

‘If looks could kill,’ a smooth voice drawled from behind me, ‘poor Odessa would already have one foot in the grave.’

I shifted to face Cassius, who removed his crow-beaked mask. For once, he had forgone his usual black – opting for a tunic the same shade of dark red as the wine in his hand. He took a sip, absently adjusting his jagged high collar. Given the various stages of undress around me, it seemed strange he was so well put together.

‘You don’t sound concerned about your fiancée’s welfare,’ I observed.

Cassius shrugged. ‘Odessa and I have a complicated relationship. Neither of us are what I’d describe as sentimental .’

I suppressed a smile. It was impossible to imagine Cassius being the sentimental type.

But my smile quickly faded, thinking of the last time we had spoken – down at the docks, after Roran and the Imperial Fleet had sailed off into the distance. There was a great deal riding on this alliance, and while Cassius’s terms had been impossible to resist, I had the unsettling feeling I had strayed too far from the path of good sense.

‘I’m glad you finally decided to accept my offer,’ he continued. ‘After a week with no contact, I was beginning to wonder. You know, it’s considered rude to keep a prince waiting.’

I didn’t dignify his comment with a response. Instead, I said, ‘And yet the Warriors let me through without question. Apparently, they had standing orders to grant me entrance, any time of the day or night.’

A faint smile upturned his full lips. ‘I live in hope, it seems.’

Cassius steered me through the crowded ballroom, until we were surrounded by gyrating couples, their hands and lips ghosting over each other’s skin. Two bare-chested men pressed in closer, with an ease born of familiarity.

‘Care to join us?’ one asked Cassius, his skin glistening with gold paint. I flushed as his partner ran a teasing finger across my collarbone.

The prince smiled, utterly at ease. ‘Not tonight.’

His arms wound assertively around my waist, and the various couples fell away before us, though I felt their eyes boring into the back of my head. I hesitated when we reached the central staircase, acutely aware that he was taking me in the direction of his chambers – and doing so in full view of everyone.

‘Perhaps you could be a little less obvious,’ I said, raising an eyebrow. ‘Or do you want to put a target on my back?’

He smirked. ‘Scared, are you?’

‘Of Odessa? Hardly.’

But Cassius’s expression turned serious. ‘You shouldn’t underestimate her. She’s been playing the game as long as I have; she might surprise you.’

‘You seem pleased by the possibility.’

‘Quite the contrary,’ he said, but I didn’t know whether to believe him. There was an unsettling gleam in his eyes, as if he enjoyed the thought of Odessa and I pitted against each other.

We reached the end of the hallway and entered the set of rooms where I’d stolen his crown. Heat rushed to my cheeks as my gaze landed on the bedchamber, with its four-poster bed and mountain of satin pillows. The last time I had been here, he had pushed me back against those very pillows—

‘You know,’ Cassius said, watching me closely, ‘our arrangement doesn’t have to be purely professional.’

‘I don’t see how it can be anything else,’ I said, looking up at him. ‘Your family are reprehensible – I should hate you on principle.’

‘ Do you hate me, Mira?’ he asked, his lips suddenly against the shell of my ear. ‘Because it didn’t feel that way last time we were here.’

‘That was—’

‘An act?’ Cassius finished, an edge of amusement entering his voice. ‘I don’t think so. I felt the way you responded to my touch. I can feel the way you’re responding to me now.’ His smile curved against the sensitive skin of my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. ‘Maybe a part of you hates me, but hatred isn’t all you feel.’

As if my silence was permission, he removed the pins from my hair, sending it tumbling down my back. At first he ran his hands gently through the strands, but then his grip tightened, drawing my chin upwards. Baring my throat to him.

Cassius’s midnight-blue eyes glittered as he pressed his lips to my neck, directly above my pounding pulse. As he pulled back to look at me, I could almost hear his smooth, ironical voice: You hate me, do you, Mira?

And maybe it was the pulsating beat echoing from the ballroom, or the memory of those couples writhing in each other’s arms, but my traitorous eyes dropped to his lips. Those full, arrogant lips that I should hate, but instead—

Cassius kissed me like he was staking a claim. Powerful and sure, stoking the fire between us.

His touch cut through my defences, and in that moment, I didn’t care that he was a ruthless Ravalian prince. Even though it was dangerous and wrong, I craved the distraction he offered.

My eyes fluttered closed as Cassius pressed me against the wall, only to flash open again when his clever fingers started undoing the laces of my gown. A distant, logical part of me warned that this was escalating too quickly, and that I should stop .

I opened my mouth to say as much, but he took my parted lips as an invitation, kissing me until I was breathless and aching. When he released me, I found myself leaning into his strong arms for support, even as I braced myself to pull away.

But why should I tell him to stop? a mutinous part of me murmured. Cassius was the perfect distraction: attractive, discreet, and seasoned in meaningless flings. Unlike Aric, there was no chance of him demanding more from me than I had to give.

All rational thought left my mind as Cassius undid my bodice, my nipples hardening in the cool air. His fingers brushed over the sensitive skin of my breasts, toying with a peaked nipple before his mouth—

A gasp left my lips at the sensation, at the way his mouth and tongue worked in tandem, until I felt like I was burning on a fuse for him. Impatient, I reached for him, but he merely smiled, sliding a hand down my stomach, my abdomen, and then lower, parting the material of my dress until—

I arched convulsively in his hold, my bare shoulders hitting the wall. A soft, feather-light laugh met my ears.

As his fingers trailed up my thighs, slow and explorative, I reached for his high-collared tunic. Soon the buttons were undone, and I was running my hands across his lean, muscular chest. Cassius stiffened when my hands brushed his neck, but it wasn’t until I saw the scar that I understood.

‘Who did this to you?’ I breathed, tracing the raised red line with my eyes. It started at the base of his throat and continued up the left side of his neck, snaking around to the base of his skull. It reminded me of the criminals I had seen whipped on Aldara, but those wounds had never come up this high—

Cassius stepped back, absently touching his scar as he did. ‘Father often asked Roran to punish me as a child – considered it a good lesson for us both. But Roran was always a little too enthusiastic.’ He smiled thinly.

I swallowed, watching as Cassius did up the silver buttons of his tunic. It had never occurred to me that the high collars he wore were a kind of armour. Not until now. ‘You don’t have to—’

‘I don’t want your pity, Mira.’ His voice was calm, but in the space of a few heartbeats, the entire mood had shifted. ‘I never intended to take things too far anyway. I just wanted to prove a point.’

‘What point ?’ I asked, some of my sympathy dissolving.

Perhaps that was what Cassius intended, because when he smiled at me, there was no trace of his earlier vulnerability. Only masculine satisfaction – and arrogance. ‘That you want me,’ he murmured, reaching over to tighten the laces he had loosened.

The silken invitation in his voice – and the knowing edge to it – infuriated me. I slapped his hand away.

Cassius laughed but let his hand fall. ‘Back to business, then,’ he said. His attention didn’t stray from my face as I secured the bodice of my dress. ‘I trust you remember the bargain we struck?’

‘Of course.’

‘Well,’ he continued, ‘in order to help you , there’s something I need you to do for me.’

‘And that is . . . ?’

‘Nothing too difficult, I assure you.’

His comment didn’t inspire me with confidence. I followed anyway as he entered a library filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, moving to stand over a table filled with miniature figurines. They were divided into sections, each inhabiting a particular area on the map.

‘I thought it was time we discussed strategy.’ Cassius nodded at the board. ‘The red pins represent my father’s armies. The others I’m sure you recognise.’

My gaze landed on the miniature wooden figures. One of them, clearly the emperor, wore a crown of spikes. The figure beside him had long hair and a delicate circlet. There were others, too – imitations of Cassius, the two other royal heirs, and the generals. Behind the figure of the emperor were clusters of red pins. The continent was dotted with them, but there were others too.

‘What do the black pins represent?’

‘Ah.’ Cassius smiled, as if he’d been waiting for me to ask. ‘Those are the people loyal to me. Nobles and soldiers, a few Warriors.’

I took in the map with new interest. There weren’t as many black pins as red, but they were still substantial. I turned to look at him, my unspoken question obvious.

‘I make a habit of formulating my own alliances. They’re all committed to my rule, ready to support me in taking the throne.’ He paused, then added, ‘As you can see, my father is very well protected. But not even an emperor can account for every eventuality – and now that my father has sent Roran to Kalure, we have the opportunity to strike.’

I stiffened at the casual mention of Roran, but Cassius didn’t notice my reaction. He was tracing one of the figurines with his finger – a man standing at the emperor’s right-hand side.

‘General Tiran,’ he said slowly, ‘is the main obstacle in my way. It would be very difficult to get to my father while he’s around.’

‘And what about Odessa?’

He shrugged. ‘We were betrothed since before we were born. It’s a union meant to demonstrate strength – a merging of the emperor and the military. But Odessa and her father are in my way. If I intend to take the throne, they will need to be removed.’

‘You mean . . .’ The words stuck in my throat. Despite my dislike of Odessa, I didn’t wish her family dead. ‘You’d kill them?’

‘There’s no need for me to do that. Not when I have your help.’

‘My help?’

‘Yes, Mira.’ His voice turned indulgent. ‘As a member of the Order of Masks, you have access that I don’t. You can help me discredit General Tiran, leaving the path open for me to take my father’s place.’

I stared at him, my heart pounding so hard that I felt sick.

‘And what happens to his family?’

‘Nothing final,’ Cassius assured me. ‘Though I don’t know why you’d care. Odessa isn’t your friend.’

‘I know. It’s just . . .’

There’s been too much death already.

A frown pulled at his mouth. ‘Don’t tell me you’re still feeling guilty about the third Trial. Dozens of Kalurians die in skirmishes each day. What does one more matter?’

I stiffened, my hand tightening on the table. The prince noticed the movement and his smile turned hard, almost cruel.

‘Oh, sorry,’ he said offhandedly, ‘does that bother you?’

‘You told me,’ I replied with careful calm, ‘that once you took the throne, you would give them their freedom.’

‘And I will,’ Cassius said, the brief flicker of cruelty gone as quickly as it had appeared. ‘As agreed, you will be the Queen of Kalure. But don’t forget – I will be the ruler of the Ravalian Empire. I need you to remember that.’

I said nothing. I didn’t like the idea of relying on Cassius’s word or trusting a Ravalian prince to be merciful. But what other choice did I have?

The prince seemed to find my silence satisfactory. His hand brushed my cheek, his expression abruptly softening. ‘You did what you had to. There’s no shame in that.’ He smiled faintly. ‘You’re a lot like me, actually.’

‘I’m nothing like you,’ I retorted.

Cassius tilted his head, his striking eyes intent on mine. When he spoke, his voice was filled with certainty. ‘You are, Mira,’ he said, pressing something cold and heavy into my hands. ‘You just haven’t recognised it yet.’

I ignored the stares as I descended the central staircase, weaving my way through the wild party and into the tranquil gardens.

‘You’re in a hurry.’ I whirled to face Sabine, who was sitting on a moonlit bench, her turquoise dress pooling elegantly around her crossed ankles. ‘Didn’t you enjoy the party?’

‘Not enough to stay all night.’

‘Fair enough,’ she replied. ‘These things can be tiresome.’

‘Yes, they—’ I stopped as something occurred to me. ‘How did you get past the Warriors at the entrance?’

‘I am an Order member now, same as you,’ Sabine reminded me. ‘Perhaps I was invited.’

‘ Were you invited?’

‘Well . . . no.’ Sabine flashed me an impish smile. ‘But the guards aren’t much of an obstacle for me. I can get in almost anywhere, no invitation necessary.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Don’t you remember from last time?’

Last time. During the first Trial.

‘It seems like a lot of trouble to go to,’ I said. ‘Even with your illusions.’

She shrugged. ‘I was curious. The prince’s parties have a reputation for being . . . interesting.’

‘Right.’ I stared at her, wondering if there was more to this than she was letting on. It should have been easy to read her, but as hard as I tried, I couldn’t even guess at her motives. ‘Well, I was just leaving—’

‘Because you’re about to complete whatever task the prince gave you?’

That gave me pause. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I like to observe people, Mira. Particularly interesting people – which, by definition, means you and the prince.’

‘And what exactly,’ I asked cautiously, ‘do you think you know?’

Sabine’s green eyes locked with mine. Past the amusement, there was a deep intelligence there that unnerved me. ‘I know enough. You didn’t listen to any of my warnings, did you?’

The prince plays games with people, and they rarely end well.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I told her firmly, glancing quickly around the garden to make sure we weren’t being observed. ‘I know what I’m doing with Cassius.’

‘That’s debatable,’ Sabine said, standing. In her heeled sandals, her eyes were level with mine – and uncharacteristically serious. ‘Listen, Mira – whatever task he’s given you to complete, whatever deal you’ve made, there are other ways to achieve your goals. Better ways.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ I said. General Tiran’s seal burned a hole inside my dress.

Sabine’s gaze shifted to the concealed panel of my dress, as if she knew exactly where it was – and what it was hiding. Though she had never spoken outright about her feelings towards the Ravalian Empire, when she looked up at me, there was a rebellious glint in her eyes. One that reminded me of Aric and Darius.

‘I could help you, Mira. If you let me.’

Her offer sounded sincere, and I hadn’t forgotten how Sabine had helped me before the third Trial. It was thanks to her that I was still alive. But she was also right about Cassius – our plans were dangerous. Treasonous .

It was one thing if Cassius and I were discovered and killed. We knew the risks, and we’d made our peace with them.

But I wasn’t willing to risk Sabine’s life.

‘Thanks,’ I told her, ‘but I don’t need any help.’

A shadow crossed Sabine’s face. Without her usual airiness, she seemed older and harder. Unfamiliar.

Then the moment passed, and her smile returned. ‘Maybe I came to you too soon.’

Sabine turned, her brunette curls bobbing behind her. But before she reached the path, she glanced back over her shoulder.

‘We made a good team during the Trials,’ she reminded me. ‘Just imagine what we could accomplish now.’