Chapter Fourteen – Mira
Chapter Fourteen
Mira
This banquet was nothing like the last one.
It was a feast and a celebration – a rowdy, enthusiastic celebration, the Kalurian clansmen already deep in their cups.
V?lund and I surveyed it all from the main table, the heavy drumbeats making talking difficult.
But I preferred it like this: there was a quiet ease between us, and I knew we were both enjoying the sight of our people – warriors and priestesses alike – finally united.
Then V?lund stood, and the hall went abruptly silent.
‘As you know,’ he said, addressing me rather than our audience, ‘the Kalurian custom is not to exchange rings and vows. But I would like to offer you an engagement gift all the same.’
Velanthe had told me about this custom. I braced myself for V?lund to call one of his warriors up to the main table, and offer me their sword. Instead–
I went still as he slid his own blade free of its sheath.
‘I had modifications made,’ V?lund said, extending it to me.
I took it with reverent fingers, testing the weight and balance – lighter than I would have expected. Given the significance of a sword to Kalurian warriors, I could barely believe that he would be willing to part with it, let alone have it altered to better suit me.
‘You are a warrior too,’ V?lund said, ‘and deserving of a proper blade. These runes–’ he indicated the symbols along the sword– ‘tell of my previous battles. They are your victories now. As your victories will in turn be mine.’
I gazed up at him, unexpectedly touched. But–
‘I don’t know how to read them,’ I admitted.
To my surprise, V?lund smiled. ‘They’re ancient symbols, only used in the Wilds. I will teach you how to read them.’
I ran a finger over the indents of the runes.
No one had ever given me a gift like this before.
But here V?lund was, a proud Kalurian clan leader, entrusting something intensely personal to me – and showing all the warriors in attendance just how much he held my abilities in esteem.
For no warrior would give their sword to an inferior fighter.
‘I watched you,’ V?lund said softly, offering me his arm. I took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet. ‘Every morning in the training courtyard. You fight well – even if your technique is a little too Ravalian for my liking.’
‘Perhaps you would like to join me next time,’ I said, keeping pace with him as we strode back through the hall. The drums started up again, almost drowned out by a roar of laughter and overly loud conversation. ‘You can teach me a more Kalurian approach.’
‘I look forward to it,’ V?lund replied.
We stepped out into the courtyard. Before the doors shut behind us, I caught a final glimpse of the feast – or what was left of it.
The Kalurian warriors clearly cared nothing for cleanliness; the food had been devoured, wine goblets spilled, and I was startled to see a few priestesses in their laps.
I had never thought – never dared hope – that the tension between our peoples could be resolved this easily.
‘Perhaps tonight is something of a new beginning,’ V?lund said softly.
I glanced up. Under the colonnades, his face was cast in shadow – but the firelight played across his jawline, highlighting the strong angles of his face.
I took in his solid fighter’s build, his steady gaze.
Gods, what would it be like to rely on V?lund?
To rule – not by myself, floundering and afraid, but with a seasoned leader at my side?
‘You’re no longer alone, Kasmira,’ V?lund murmured. Because he knew , didn’t he? He knew the weight of that loneliness, that responsibility–
‘Neither are you,’ I murmured back.
His fingers brushed the hair back from my face. Fingers that were strong and calloused and used to killing, yet achingly gentle against my skin.
My shoulders hit the doors of the banquet hall as V?lund leant in, his face inches from mine. I had kissed him before, but not like this. What would it be like to close the distance between us? To take the leap from a polite, political arrangement to something more?
V?lund smiled, his muscular arms pulling me to him–
Footsteps. They rang loudly against the cobblestones, and as the clan leader turned, I looked past him to see–
‘Oh, sorry,’ Cassius drawled, not sounding sorry at all. ‘Am I interrupting something?’
‘You are, actually.’ V?lund’s voice was measured, but there was a hint of steel in it.
My lips twitched. V?lund wasn’t one of Cassius’s courtiers from Ravalia; wasn’t the type to be intimidated or mince words. Though Cassius’s expression was one of bland disinterest, I could see the calculating way he studied the clan leader, as though he was sizing up an opponent.
V?lund considered us both for a moment. I waited for him to dismiss Cassius, but then I realised he wouldn’t. What had he said about his clansmen? That he didn’t want to impose his will on them. And he wouldn’t impose his will on me, either.
‘I should return to the celebrations,’ V?lund said with a wry smile. ‘Kasmira, you know where to find me.’
The doors groaned open, affording me a flash of light and noise and the heady smells of cooked meat and spiced wine. Then they slid shut again, leaving me in quiet darkness.
‘I didn’t realise that you and V?lund were so close,’ Cassius remarked, the words lightly mocking.
‘That’s what happens,’ I said, turning to face him, ‘when an engagement is based on mutual trust and respect.’
‘And here I thought that he planned to hand you over to Roran for execution. He makes me seem positively merciful in comparison.’
I didn’t deign that worthy of a response. Not after watching General and Lady Tiran lose their heads. But was I behaving any differently to Cassius? I had thought he was a monster for the lives he’d taken, yet my plans would cost lives too. Chief amongst them–
‘Tell me, Mira. Are you as close with V?lund as you were with me?’ Cassius moved closer, his footsteps – that had previously been so loud and jarring – now completely silent.
Cat-like. ‘You blushed so sweetly. So innocently . Would V?lund still believe you’re so innocent if he knew how you seduced me during the First Trial?
Or how completely you surrendered yourself to me the night of my masquerade ball? ’
‘I didn’t surrender myself to you–’
‘I could have had you that night, and we both know it.’ His hand traced its way up my bare leg, exposed through the slit of my dress. Slow, deliberate, making a point. Reminding me of how he had touched me that night, of how I had wanted him to–
My hand enclosed over his, stopping it on my upper thigh. I was breathing faster than I should have been, and I was furious with myself. But mostly, I was furious with him.
Somehow, we were still playing that game. That ill-fated, deadly game I had started during the first Trial.
‘You can’t stand it, can you?’ I said coldly. ‘ Losing .’
‘I haven’t lost anything. But you’ve lost your mind, Mira, if you think that V?lund will be enough for you.’
‘What’s the matter, Cassius?’ I taunted. ‘Jealous?’
His grip tightened on my leg, forcing me up against one of the colonnades, his muscular thigh settling between mine. Trapping me between the hard lines of his body and the stone.
The heat of him seared into me, and this was so different from V?lund’s careful advances – not so much a flicker of desire, but a heady pulse, an ache that reverberated through my entire body. It made no sense. Absolutely none , that he would affect me this way.
Cassius held me there, his hand still against my skin but not wandering any further south. His voice was calm, contemplative, as he said, ‘Tell me what you promised V?lund to change his mind.’
‘Maybe my charms are just that good.’
‘Believe me, Mira, I have a great appreciation for your charms .’ A wicked smile curved his mouth. ‘But V?lund isn’t the sort to place personal desire above political advantage. The promise of marrying you wouldn’t be enough to dissuade him from taking Roran’s offer.’
‘Not even if it saved his sister from being chained to a psychopath?’
‘Not even then.’ His breath ghosted across my throat as he whispered in my ear, ‘Why else would I have advised that you kill Nari? Contrary to what you seem to think, murder isn’t my opening gambit.’
I narrowed my eyes, unconvinced. Cassius might not do the killing himself, but he was talented at manipulating situations – usually in ways that conveniently ended with his enemies dead.
But he was right about V?lund. Marrying me wouldn’t have been enough. Not without the promise of ruling an empire one day.
‘This isn’t the Ravalian Court, Cassius,’ I said firmly, staring up into his dark gaze. ‘You don’t have to be so distrustful all the time.’
It was impossible to tell what Cassius thought of my words. He seemed content to let the silence linger – a tactic I’d seen him use in the past, when he wanted to tempt someone into confessing something damning.
Was it possible that he knew? That he’d guessed what I offered V?lund in exchange for this alliance?
‘Old habits die hard, I suppose,’ Cassius said pleasantly, and I felt the tension drain from my shoulders. ‘If you tell me there’s nothing else, I’ll let it go.’
What had he said once? If you want to survive in this Court, you’re going to have to hide your emotions.
‘No,’ I lied, my voice impressively steady. ‘There’s nothing else.’
I had finally learnt his lesson.
Yet Cassius’s grip tightened on my thigh, his left hand rising to toy with my hair. Before I could pull away, he claimed my mouth.
Passion exploded between us as our lips met, making me gasp. Cassius had always reminded me of contradictions – controlled on the surface, but with explosive potential underneath.
There was something demanding and almost angry about the way he kissed me, his hands tangling in my hair, his body pressing against mine. I was so focused on his lips and the feeling of his body that I forgot all about his hand. His hand, pushing my undergarments aside and–
All words and thoughts and common sense left me. I arched against him, gripping the lapels of his tunic as a satisfied sound of approval left his lips.
That sound was enough to return some of my sanity. To remind me exactly who I was allowing to touch me like this, in full view of anyone who left the banquet hall, where my betrothed was waiting.
Tomorrow I would be married . I clung to that thought, placing my palm against Cassius’s chest and preparing to push him off me–
But his mouth was insistent and sinful and entirely too talented. A perfect match to his fingers as he thrust two into me with delicious force, making my hips move against him and drawing a gasp from my throat.
Ruinous. The way he touched me was ruinous, and as my eyes locked with those wicked midnight-blue ones, I realised that was the point. He wanted to ruin me. To watch me fall apart beneath his fingers.
‘You think you need V?lund to rule this country,’ he said, voice velvety soft and far too intimate, ‘but you don’t. You already have me.’
‘I don’t have you,’ I bit back, ignoring my quickening breaths. ‘I never did. The only reason you’re toying with me is because of the power I might give you. The moment I’m not useful, you’ll turn on me.’
‘Are you sure of that, Mira?’ Cassius asked. ‘Sure enough to chain yourself to some Kalurian brute?’
‘V?lund offers my country stability. And he offers me protection from Roran.’
‘I could protect you from Roran,’ Cassius murmured, this time against my mouth. ‘He would never get near you. I would kill him first.’
A shiver darted down my spine at his words – and the deadly promise within them.
I should have pulled away then. No – I should have run for my life. But my body betrayed me, leaning into Cassius even as I willed myself to stop this now . To do whatever it took to banish that self-satisfied smile from his face–
His thumb circled the most intimate part of me, an almost nonchalant gesture, like one of his throwaway witty lines. A feather-soft laugh left his lips as my hands tightened around his arms, fighting back the jagged moan building in my throat.
Too much. Having Cassius touching me like this was too much , and I knew I was a fool for ever believing I could dally with a prince who was darkness itself.
‘Surrender,’ he told me, those calculating eyes intent on me. Delighting in the sight of my trembling body, the power he had over me. ‘Surrender to me, Mira.’ Soft and persuasive.
Like what I imagined a demon’s voice would sound like. Surrender and let me take your soul.
My mouth opened, forming the words: No. Never .
I thought I saw Cassius smile. But it was difficult to be sure it wasn’t a hallucination as his fingers thrust into me a final time, right as his thumb found the perfect spot. Pleasure – aching, blissful pleasure – raced through my veins.
A kind of haziness settled over me as I collapsed against Cassius’s chest, his fingers ghosting along my spine.
A paralysing, drugging touch that made me wonder if I was dreaming.
It was the look of masculine satisfaction on his face that convinced me I wasn’t.
That this was real, and I had just allowed him to–
‘Oh, don’t look so upset.’ Cassius’s tone was nonchalant once more. As if what we had just done meant nothing to him.
Except there was a definite curve to his full lips, and his hold on me was too tight to be anything other than possessive.
I did what I should have done in the beginning: I pushed him firmly away.
Cassius didn’t resist, his gaze raking over me as I tried to regain my composure.
Contemplative, and . . . something else.
Something that matched the tightness of his hold, the gleam in his eyes as he had told me to surrender.
‘Why are you smiling ?’ I demanded.
‘Because you’re still mine, Mira.’ His voice was low and dark and filled with sensuous promise. ‘I wanted to make sure – but now I know for certain.’
He was still smiling as he turned and strode into the darkness, leaving me staring after him with mounting apprehension – because Cassius had smiled at me like he knew something I didn’t.
He had smiled at me like he’d won .