Chapter 158: A looong carriage ride
Cass was boooooooooooooooooooored.
Fucking hell. There was a reason they never wrote about this part in the stories. It was so fucking boring and his ass hurt .
The carriage kept rocking as they bounced down the dirt road, and there wasn’t enough cushion in the world that could save his ass. While his body might have been used to it, his mind wasn’t. Or hell, maybe his body wasn’t even used to it.
Add to the air in the carriage being so damn stuffy, Cass didn’t know what to do or say.
The arrangement of the seating was also something to be desired.
As soon as Cass had shown up, Lady Fiona had latched onto him like a lifeline, not letting him go so he had to sit next to her. Lord Ridgewood was sitting on her other side, and since Vespertine and Lady Ava were practically a package deal, they had to sit together. So the arrangements were, Cass, Lady Fiona, and Lord Ridgewood on one side. Across from them, Draken, Lady Ava, and Vespertine. Draken’s long legs kept getting tangled in Cass’ foot space, and Cass was already at a breaking point about 2 hours in.
It didn’t help that no one was fucking talking.
Not a peep. Not a word. Cass couldn’t tell if it was because everyone was tense from the upcoming dungeon, or if it was because everyone was tense from the current love triangle or whatever the hell it was. A love pentagone? A love star?
Either way, Cass was happy he was going to be out of it sooner rather than later. He had hopes that once this dungeon was clear, Lady Fiona would be open to a divorce. He even had the documents shoved into his side bag, just in case. He wasn’t going to spring it on her while they were in the dungeon, but instead when they were in the capital.
He would set the mood, maybe offer her some kind of advice, get her guard down, and then slide the papers towards her, saying some bullshit about how the ’gods’ wanted him to separate from the group. It was time or something to that effect. He might even shed a tear, looking remorseful.
He was excited. Things were moving and he was positive it was in the right direction.
He just fucking hated that he had to exist with this tense group while things were moving.
Cass let out a deep sigh, unable to even look out of the window because of Vespertine. It was out of consideration, but he hated that he was being so considerate. He was only like this because the man gave him good tea and ’wine’ that had helped him in times of need.
"Is there something wrong, Lord Cassian?" Lady Fiona asked. "That’s the fourth time you’ve sighed since we started this carriage ride." She seemed genuinely concerned, and Cass hated that she was, at her core, a not terrible person. She just went about things without thinking sometimes. If not all the time.
"This is just..." Cass trailed off, looking towards the window. "This is too damn awkward." Cass finally said it, surprising everyone. He turned, facing everyone, his face a little bitter. "If you aren’t going to speak, but are going to let this stew the whole damn time, we are not going to be able to work together well during the dungeon." Everyone stared at him in shock.
"Uh, I know that...I just didn’t expect you to say it." Lady Fiona said and Cass frowned.
"What the hell does that mean? Just because I prefer my solitude doesn’t mean I am going to tolerate such an awful atmosphere. I feel like I’m going to suffocate in this carriage right now. And I have to remain in this carriage for the foreseeable future." Cass said, shrugging. "I am not going to let this remain the way it is. For my own sanity." It was a rather selfish request, but Cass saw the way that Draken’s lips turned up, and felt his face heat.
Was the man going to make fun of him? That jerk!
"I agree with Cassian. I planned to ignore it for a few more hours, but maybe he is right about how soon we need to address this. What the heck is up with this tension? What’s going on?" Draken asked. Cass almost wanted to laugh. As if he didn’t know what was going on.
Lady Ava shifted awkwardly, and so did Vespertine. Lady Fiona looked ill, while Lord Ridgewood hadn’t changed his expression this whole time. He looked distant, but polite. It was only Draken who had been making faces this whole time.
Cass had been ignoring them, but now he couldn’t. Not when the man was tapping his thigh with his shoe, his arms crossed and plumping up the pecs that Cass now knew were quite soft. Supple.
"Draken," Cass started and Draken tsked loudly.
"Not Draken. It’s Lucian, Cassian." He was pouting rather seriously, and Cass was surprised he was pulling this in front of everyone. Even Lady Ava seemed surprised. Lady Fiona seemed the least shocked out of everyone, her lips twitching slightly. "It’s not even that far off from your name." He grumbled, his foot tapping against Cass’ thigh. Cass wanted to move away, but there wasn’t anywhere for him to go.
"We are not having this argument right now." Cass started and Draken pouted, plumping up his chest more. Cass was sure he was doing it on purpose.
"It’s not an argument. You just need to give in and call me by my name. You did a few days ago!" Vespertine butted into the conversation.
"I-I agree! You should call everyone by their first names! You don’t call Fiona or Ava by their last names either. You call them Lady Ava and Lady Fiona. You should at least call us Lord Lucy and Lord Edgar." Cass had no idea why they were teaming up on him about this.
"It’s just a name. Why is it such a big deal?" Cass asked and it was Lord Ridgewood who spoke up.
"Names have power, Cass. You would do well to remember that." It sounded so ominous coming from his mouth, and looking into his eyes only made the feeling creeping up his spine worse.
This was not how he wanted this conversation to go. He just wanted everyone to talk, work it out. Instead, he was becoming the center of attention because he drew attention to the issue.
"Okay. So names have power. Great. What does that have to do with me calling you by your names? I don’t view it as something important. We aren’t really-" Cass cut himself off, sighing. He ran his hand through his hair. Damn it. He was trying to keep things civil, yet here he was, running his mouth.
He just didn’t want to give them the satisfaction that he would bend to their whims. It was a silly thing, but it felt important to him.
Lady Fiona’s hand touched the back of Cass’ and he jerked, turning his gaze towards her. Her expression was soft.
"It’s okay, Cassian. You don’t have to call us by our names. Take your time. Lucy, Edgar, leave him alone. Don’t think I don’t know how you two have been bothering him the most." She scolded the two men sitting across from them in the carriage and Cass was delighted to see them wilt.
Lady Ava, who sat in the center, looked unwell. She looked upset, angry, but she wasn’t saying anything. Cass wondered why she was keeping to herself. Why wasn’t she freaking out? Had she finally learned her lesson, or had Vespertine cast a spell or something on her? To make her behave?
Cass watched as she struggled, opening her mouth before she closed it. Then she swallowed, shaking her head.
"I’m the reason for the tension." She finally said, her voice tight. "I haven’t been a good girl. I’ve been wanting things that don’t belong to me. I have been acting out. This might be my last adventure with everyone because I’ve coveted things that don’t belong to me." A pin could have dropped in the silence after that statement.
Fuck. Cass should never open his damn mouth again if this was the result.
Lady Fiona looked like her heart had been ripped out of her chest, and Lady Ava didn’t look much better. Where it had been tense before, now it was downright awkward.
"What do you mean? You’re the next saintess. You should be a part of the heroes party." Lord Ridgewood said. His tone hadn’t shifted, but you could tell there was some urgency to his tone.
"I’ve been bad. I need some reeducation, as Eddie has said." Lord Ridgewood shot a glare towards Vespertine.
"You dare say that the saintess needs reeducation? Are you daft? She’s the saintess! She’s able to communicate with all of the gods!" It was at that moment that Cass realised something.
Lady Ava was only speaking to one god. Lady Fiona could speak to more than one god. Cass could speak to more than one god. While the whole reason she had been taken in, for her high holy powers was so that she could communicate with more than one god.
Ah fuck. Cass was feeling a bit bad for the girl. If that was her reason for acting out, it made sense. He didn’t agree with it, but it made sense.
Lady Ava bit her lip, fighting tears.
"Don’t get mad at Eddie. He’s...they’re right. I’m not suited for this. Having...having a lot of holy power isn’t enough." Lady Ava muttered and Cass just knew that this was going to become a problem in the dungeon now. Whether she had intended for this or not, now Vespertine and Lord Ridgewood would be beefing.
Cass leaned his head back, crossing his arms as he sighed and closed his eyes.
He should have kept his damn mouth shut.