Chapter 153: A not awful interaction with Lady Ava? In this economy?
Cass bitterly sat drinking tea with Lady Ava and Vespertine like this was the most normal thing in the world.
As if they were always having these kinds of tea parties. As if this was completely normal, and not the strangest grouping anyone had ever seen. The son of a Duke whose wife had been accused of consorting with demons, and the son and daughter of the High Priest of the temple. The daughter who was also practically a shoe in to be the next High Priestess.
Vespertine seemed to be the one enjoying himself the most. He was pleased as punch, especially as Cass drank the tea and didn’t throw a fit. He was sure that Sam had checked on it, as he was known to do, and it wouldn’t have come close to him if he had thought it unsafe. Cass was even more bitter about the fact that this was the second blood-related product that Cass was enjoying, and that it had come from Vespertine.
He didn’t like owing this man anything. He had previously threatened him with kisses, thrown a tantrum to get them, and even then, he now had a looming IOU in Cass’ favour. Or, more accurately, Lord Blackburn’s favour since he was the one who kissed him. Not Cass.
Cass wasn’t carrying that cross.
Eventually, Vespertine put down his tea cup, a smile on his face, and the tiredness around his eyes, in his face, faded enough that he looked...normal. Cass had to wonder when the last time he had fresh blood was, if he was looking this bad?
He then hated that he was even concerned about the man. It was none of his fucking business. Cass had enough problems on his plate. Maybe he was just worried because he didn’t want a blood starved vampire on said plate. That was a reasonable excuse.
Even if Cass knew it was just because he was nosy that he was worrying about it.
"So, you had something to discuss with me? Or us, I should say?" Vespertine asked and Cass nodded, putting down his teacup.
"Yes. I have a few questions I want to ask you first before we get to the meat of the issue." Both Vespertine and Lady Ava nodded, sitting up a little straighter on their couch. "As I have only been to a few parties since I am usually quite busy when they are scheduled, I wanted to ask if you had noticed any strange behaviours when it came to interactions between Lady Fiona and the nobles." Cass said and he realised that he had caught them both by surprise.
"The...other nobles?" Vespertine asked slowly, clearly confused. It was Lady Ava who had an obvious, and clearly upset reaction.
Her grip tightened on her thighs, her hands going white from how hard she was gripping them. Her jaw also tightened, and it was like a fire was lit behind her eyes.
"Have they done something else?" She asked, and Vespertine jerked, looking at his sister.
"Something else? Have they done something in the first place?" Vespertine asked but Cass was ignoring him. It was clear, as her lover, that Lady Ava was going to be quite sensitive to Lady Fiona as a topic. But, like Lady Fiona, she was new to the nobility. If she had noticed something, it was probably when none of the men had been around. The kind of thing that Cass was looking for.
Nobles, by nature, were sneaky. They wrote the rules, they knew how to skirt them.
"Lady Ava, what did they do originally, before I say anything." Cass said and Lady Ava swallowed thickly.
"Uh, well...it was the women we had the biggest issue with." Lady Ava said. "The...The wife of the crown prince was in the same powder room that we had gone into. Just to get a break and refresh our makeup. Mine, actually, since Fiona had refused to let me help her dress up. The women made comments on that. They lavished me with praises, but said awful, condescending things to Fiona. It was terrible. I wanted to bring it up to someone, anyone, but Fiona asked me not to. If they are trying something else, I don’t see any reason for me to keep quiet. If the women are like that, I can’t imagine how the-" She cut off, her eyes going wide before she dropped her gaze. "I’m sorry. That’s out of line." She whispered.
Cass realised that she was worrying about offending either one of them. He didn’t find anything wrong with what she was saying. She was right. The nobles were crazy, and insane, and honestly, Cass was pretty sure Lord Blackburn also agreed.
After all, these were the fools who sided with his homophobic, crazy, lazy grandfather all because he made them promises. They were also the fools that were switching allegiance to Cass because they thought he was going to come out on top, while still rubbing elbows with his grandfather until he wasn’t worth anything anymore.
The men and women were just as bad as each other, they just normally ran in different circles.
"It’s fine, Lady Ava. I’m not offended, and I hope that Vespertine isn’t either." Cass said, speaking for both of them. Vespertine’s expression was thoughtful.
"You said it was the crown prince’s wife who instigated that? Interesting. We’ve never had anything outwardly horrid from the royal family." Vespertine muttered, more to himself than the others and Cass chuckled. He knew the reason, but it wasn’t anything he could say out loud.
After all, it wasn’t like Lady Fiona got her eyes from nowhere . There was also the tiny, teeny fact that the crown prince didn’t have the same eyes as his father, and instead had the eye colour of the Queen’s best friend.
That was none of his damn business. Or was going to be none of his damn business soon.
"Well, not outwardly for us. I think we need to realise that as women, Lady Ava and Lady Fiona are going to face a different kind of scrutiny than we are." Cass said, before he turned towards Lady Ava. "Thank you for telling me about this interaction, Lady Ava. I appreciate you being honest with me about this." Cass told her sincerely, and Lady Ava seemed...shocked? Surprised?
It was almost a little insulting how confused she was, but then she nodded slowly.
"I...of course. Anything I can do to help. You wouldn’t have asked if something else hadn’t come up. What else is going on? Is she being harassed?" She asked, worried, and Cass almost found it cute how worried she was.
"Well, not quite harassment, but a rather serious slight." Cass said instead and Vespertine’s gaze hardened.
"Oh? What have those old coots been getting up to?" Vespertine’s voice was chilly, and Cass smiled darkly.
"They have been writing letters to Lady Fiona for help. The exact same letter. No changes." Vespertine sucked in, while like Lady Fiona, Lady Ava was a little confused.
"That’s a bad thing?" She asked and Cass nodded.
"A serious slight. It shows that you aren’t even worthy of thinking about them, or to put any kind of thought behind the letter. It also usually means that you had a servant write it, instead of doing it yourself. A serious slight if you are asking for help, especially from the hero of all people." Lady Ava’s expression hardened at Cass’ explanation.
"Oh those monsters!" Lady Ava hissed, pissed, and Vespertine wasn’t in a much better state. "What are we doing? Can we report them?" She asked and Cass shook his head.
"No, we can’t. But I’ve informed Lord Ridgewood, and I will be taking steps myself to punish them. First step? We won’t give them what they want until they write a letter. Even the rude letters are going to get a better reaction than they are going to get. It’s quite a few nobles as well." Cass slid the list over, showing off the names and the tallies. "I need to keep the list for reference, but after that you can borrow it." Cass suggested and Vespertine nodded.
"Of course. I will let the temple know we will not be accepting donations from these families." Cass was surprised. So was Lady Ava.
"But Eddie, Father will be-"
"-Also angry that they are treating the hero like this. No matter what. There is also a benefit for these families to donate to us, so if we turn them away and then report them to the higher authorities, things could change." Cass shouldn’t have been surprised. Donating to good causes had always been tax havens. He just didn’t think it would translate to this world as well.
He should have known better. After all, they were dealing with enough issues to summon a demon king. If that was happening on Earth? Would have long been lost to a greater evil, in Cass’ opinion.
"Good. I’m doing something in a similar fashion. Cutting off funding. Who knows how long they have been getting away with this kind of behaviour? I know that Lady Fiona wants to help others, I do, but it shouldn’t be without any damn respect. She’s a very important person, and they should be showing her at least basic courtesy." Cass growled, and the trio was in agreement.
"Agreed. Don’t go so far that you hurt the innocent people, but yes, make them suffer." Vespertine said, reaching out and taking a sip of his tea to punctuate his words. Cass nodded in agreement.
"That isn’t my intention. If it does go that far, I’ll just have to step in and save them. With a large interest rate." Cass said, a smile on his lips, in his eyes. Vespertine chuckled, shaking his head. Even Lady Ava was giving him a look.
"Cassian, that’s..." Cass was pretty sure she was going to say evil, and he would have accepted it. He didn’t expect what she said next. "That’s perfect! Make them lie in the bed that they’ve made!" She declared, steel behind her brown gaze. Cass was a little shocked, but then also remembered that they were serious enough about each other to sneak around. Even if Lady Ava had jumped off the deep end recently.
"Thank you, Lady Ava." Cass said, a little embarrassed from her enthusiasm. "But, now that I’ve told you the news, I am going to head back to my chambers. Have a good evening, you two, and I’ll see you in a few days if not sooner." Cass got to his feet, giving a slight bow. "And...thank you for the tea." Cass said. Vespertine and Lady Ava got to their feet, escorting Cass to the door.
"Thank you for informing us about what has been going on. I am glad that as a group we have collectively decided that this behaviour cannot stand. We might...have to hold Lucy back." Vespertine admitted and Cass nodded.
"I will use my bite mark authority and tell him he isn’t allowed to eat anyone. I’m sure Lady Fiona would second that. Having both of us against it will probably keep him in check." Even that wasn’t a complete control. He was...Draken, after all.
"Unless someone angers him." Lady Ava piped up, and Cass gave her a look. "What? He’s quick to anger. And then things catch on fire. I’ve had to heal a lot of wounds because of that man. He’s almost as bad as-" She shut her mouth, her eyes going wide and she turned, going back to her spot on the couch and sitting down, chugging her drink.
Vespertine let out an awkward laugh, before sighing.
"She’s just being considerate. We’ll chat soon. I’ll let everyone know what my Father says on the issue. Have a good night, Cassian." Vespertine said and Cass nodded.
"You as well."