Chapter Twenty-Two – Mira
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mira
The tide of blood pulled at me.
Its thick warmth was like a cocoon around my body, except no matter how much I thrashed, I couldn’t seem to get free–
‘It’s alright,’ a voice murmured in my ear.
But when I tried to inhale, warm liquid flooded into my mouth. Blood. I was choking on it – I couldn’t breathe –
‘For Gods’ sake, Mira!’ Smooth hands took hold of me, and I was dimly aware of leaning back against the hard muscles of a man’s chest. ‘You’re fine – you’re safe. Just take a breath!’
This time I inhaled air. Hot, unexpectedly humid air, with a faint edge to it – sulphur?
My eyes shot open. I wasn’t submerged in blood – I was floating. Floating in the hot springs beneath the Temple, priestesses lining the cavern walls around me, vague outlines in the flickering light of the sconces.
And the body I was pressed up against, his arms holding me carefully above water . . .
‘That’s better,’ Cassius said, his midnight-blue eyes intent on mine. He stroked a strand of damp hair back from my face. ‘Just concentrate on me. Ignore everything else.’
But it was impossible to ignore the sounds. They echoed through the cavern – not quite as loud and shrill as screams, but not as soft as gasps. I’d never heard anything quite like them before.
‘W-what–?’
‘Don’t try to talk,’ Cassius soothed, but the fact that he was being so nice only made me tenser.
Then I realised – the sounds had stopped when I’d spoken. Were they – had I been making those noises?
‘That she’s conscious is a good sign,’ one of the priestesses – Velanthe – murmured, directing her words to Cassius. ‘Physically, she should be fine. It’s the mental consequences we need to assess.’
Cassius’s grip tightened slightly before he softened his hold. When I shifted, I saw that his back was against the stone wall. How long had he been holding me like this? And more importantly, why ?
‘The high priestess,’ Cassius drawled, ‘believes the hot springs possess healing powers.’
He didn’t sound entirely convinced of this, but the fact that he had gone along with it . . .
I cast my mind back, desperate to remember what had happened. Desperate to understand exactly how injured I had been. But no – Velanthe hadn’t been concerned about my physical condition. Just my mental one.
Icy fear raced through my veins and I shivered, despite the steam coming off the water.
Yes, I remembered now. Nari’s ultimatum.
Using blood magic to kill her warriors. Then that final, desperate push to secure the alliance, even though my whole body had been screaming at me to stop. I am your queen.
I pulled away from Cassius and stood, conscious of the way the water barely covered my bare breasts. I folded my arms across my chest as I looked up at the high priestess. ‘Did it work?’
A faint, reassuring smile. ‘Nari and the clan heads are loyal to you. They know that Cassius was responsible for V?lund’s death, but thanks to your blood magic, they have accepted your judgement as their queen. All three voted to make you clan leader.’
Because I took away their choice . That knowledge settled into me like a leaden weight, and I remembered V?lund telling me how he refused to impose his will on the people under his command.
How I had admired him for that. How deeply I had wanted to be a similar kind of ruler – a true leader, who inspired loyalty and respect in her subjects. Now, less than two days after his death, I was already defiling his legacy. Claiming a title I hadn’t earned and didn’t deserve.
A slight pucker appeared between Velanthe’s brows. Concern – because I had taken too long to respond to what she considered welcome news. No doubt she was assessing my mental stability even now.
‘That’s a relief,’ I told her, but the words lacked conviction. ‘At least one crisis has been averted.’
‘Not exactly,’ Cassius said, and I didn’t miss the glance he exchanged with the high priestess. ‘It’s not official yet. It won’t be, not until the Council of Ancients give you their blessing.’
‘We discussed this.’ Velanthe’s voice was cool. ‘The Council of Ancients despises Kasmira–’
‘They despise the Temple,’ Cassius interrupted. ‘There’s a difference.’
Velanthe stared at Cassius for a long moment, her dark eyes as hard as river stones. Then her attention returned to me. ‘The Council of Ancients will not meet with you unless they wish to. If you seek them out uninvited, it’s unlikely you will survive the encounter.’
‘Then I’ll lose the clans,’ I said, the realisation filling me with heavy finality. ‘It doesn’t matter what Nari and the clan heads tell their warriors; certain traditions are too entrenched. They will stand against me, refuse to accept my leadership.’
‘Not if you influence them with blood magic. You’ve already proven what you can accomplish with your powers; you only need to use them on a larger scale. If you can convince the clans to overturn their traditions, they will follow you regardless of the Council of Ancients.’
‘That would involve Mira influencing thousands of warriors,’ Cassius broke in, his jaw clenching.
‘ Look at her,’ he ordered Velanthe, stabbing a finger at me.
‘Do you think she has the strength to do that? She nearly died a few hours ago, and that was after influencing, what – fifty clansmen? Forty?’
‘The more Kasmira practises,’ Velanthe countered, ‘the stronger she will become. In time, she will be capable of feats beyond your imagining. Her blood magic could allow her to turn the tide of this war–’
‘Wars shouldn’t be dependent on one person.’ There was something almost angry about the way Cassius looked at the high priestess. A sentiment that Velanthe clearly shared, given her thin lips and the lack of her usual serene expression.
A headache built in my temple. ‘Can you give us a moment alone?’
Velanthe’s eyes lingered on Cassius. But she nodded and turned on her heel, the other priestesses hurriedly following her out.
I reluctantly returned to my attention to Cassius, who was leaning against the lip of the hot springs with irritating nonchalance. As if he hadn’t been in the midst of a heated argument minutes earlier.
‘You deliberately antagonised her,’ I accused.
Cassius merely shrugged. ‘She’s used to you taking her advice without question.
That’s dangerous in politics. You can have favoured counsellors, but the moment you start relying on only one person, you make yourself vulnerable.
And Velanthe has gone to great lengths to ensure she’s the only person you can turn to. ’
‘I trust Velanthe implicitly,’ I said, stung by the implication.
Cassius moved through the water towards me, smooth, liquid and compelling.
His golden-blond hair glistened, water droplets sparkling.
A few rolled invitingly down the hard planes of his muscular chest. ‘And yet,’ he said, ‘you sent her away in order to speak to me . Because you know a queen needs more than one adviser – and like it or not, I’m far more useful than your precious high priestess. ’
He was close – so close that he towered over me, a shadowy figure even in the firelight. I went still as his finger brushed my upper lip, only understanding when he held it up to me.
I stared at the ruby liquid. When I touched my face, my fingers came away wet with blood.
‘Someone,’ Cassius said softly, ‘needs to look out for your interests. As strong and fierce and compassionate as you are, Mira, you have a blind spot where court politics are concerned. You don’t understand how selfish and cut-throat people can be.’
‘What does a nosebleed prove?’ I asked, drawing back from him. ‘Velanthe said that I would get stronger with practice–’
‘Forget what Velanthe believes. Whatever loyalty and affection you feel for her, her greatest desire is to win this battle against Roran. Have you ever considered that victory might mean more to her than your life?’
‘No.’ I took another step back from Cassius. ‘I’m her queen. She is sworn to protect me.’
‘She has also been ruling over the Temple for decades, without a queen to answer to. Do you remember what I told you once?’
‘It’s difficult to relinquish power once you have it,’ I murmured.
A sharp nod. ‘No one is immune from that particular pitfall. Not even a high priestess.’
I didn’t want to believe that. Didn’t want to, but the charged intensity behind his stare made it difficult to doubt him.
The water lapped at his lower abdomen, and I realised that Cassius had jumped into the hot springs half-clothed. A glance over my shoulder showed me a pile of my clothing, tattered in a way that suggested he had ripped them off me.
Something tightened in my chest. ‘You helped save my life.’
‘You saved mine.’ Cassius’s full lips turned up at the corners, reminding me of the way he had smiled just before I turned my blood magic on Nari’s warriors. Like we were sharing a secret.
‘Did you think that was wise?’ I asked. ‘That you could nurse me back to health, and I would forget that you killed my husband ?’
‘Fiancé,’ Cassius corrected. ‘Unless you had time to consummate the marriage in the hedge maze.’
‘Stop it.’ I narrowed my eyes at him. ‘Stop making light of this. No matter how you try to justify it, you still murdered two people. And you can tell me your life was at stake, but I had other plans for you, and anyway, while Roran was alive–’
‘I’d be safe?’ Cassius finished with a mirthless laugh. ‘Did you ask V?lund what he thought about that?’
I said nothing.
‘Do you know what the hardest part was, when you chose to lie to my face? It was that you almost convinced me to trust you. I wanted to – I wanted to believe that my instincts were wrong. But I couldn’t lie to myself hard enough.
’ Midnight-blue eyes met mine. They were almost black in the shadows, and far from inviting.
‘You’ve learnt more from me than I think you realise. ’
‘Maybe I have,’ I said dully, thinking of the clansmen I had killed. ‘But you have learnt nothing at all.’