Chapter 231: The weight of the world on your shoulders
Thankfully, everyone was wrapping up the meal and the Head Priest was telling them that the ceremony wasn’t a big deal. It was just congratulatory. They wanted to celebrate how far they had come. Blah blah blah.
Just a bunch of bullshit fluffery coming from the old man’s mouth. He’d lost a considerable amount of Cass’ respect and the mark on his shoulder was fucking burning as everyone climbed into carriages and started to make their way towards the temple proper.
Lady Ava was travelling with him, while Fiona was with the Head Priest, Lord Ridgewood and Vespertine. That meant Lady Ava was with him, Lucian, and Sir Forsythe. Lady Ava sat next to Cass, trembling like a ghost.
"C-Cass? Can I ask a favour?" She whispered as the carriage began to move. Cass looked over at her, taking in how scared she looked and blinked. She met his gaze, her own brown ones watering. "Can you hold my hand? At least until we get there?" She asked and Cass stared at the girl.
Something was scaring her. Cass wondered if it had to do with her powers. She was the one who wanted to come here, after Cass had suggested it. Fiona wanted her to come here, and it wasn’t like Cass didn’t know the source of her fear. She was worried she was losing favour with the gods.
That was a big deal to someone like her. He didn’t really like her, but unlike Lucian and some of the other men, she had asked. So, Cass flipped over his hand, offering it to her and she reached for it, letting out a shaky breath as she squeezed his hand.
"Thank you." She whispered. "I didn’t tell him anything." She confirmed after that quietly. Lucian was staring at Cass like he had two heads, and so was Sir Forsythe, honestly. Cass ignored them. He gave her hand a squeeze.
"Good." Cass said. It was her obligation to not tell that man anything, not something she should get praise for. Lady Ava swallowed, nodded, and squeezed the hand that she was holding.
"What if...I don’t..." She trailed off. Cass knew where her thoughts were going, but could tell that the other two had no clue. They probably thought that she was threatening him from the way that they had both tensed but Cass let out a sigh. He placed his other hand on top of hers.
"That’s not going to happen, Ava. Why the hell would they turn their back on you? Hmm?" He asked her, meaning it and she let out a shuddering breath.
"I’ve been mean to you. That’s a good enough reason." She said solemnly and Cass blinked, before he felt a smile split his face.
"Well, I can’t exactly argue with that, since it is true, but it’s going to be okay. I don’t really care about it anymore, and you’re attempting to make it up to me." Cass told her and she nodded, her eyes losing some of the hopelessness and gaining some determination to them. She clenched her other hand into a fist.
"I am going to make it up to you. Even if I keep putting my foot in my mouth." She said and damn it if Cass didn’t find that pretty cute. She was kind of like a squirrel to him. Small, potentially dangerous, but overall, pretty harmless to him.
"So just keep that in mind. They pretty much hear everything." Cass told her and she met his gaze, then nodded. Her smile was bright, the same Lady Ava that others expected back in her expression.
"You’re right. Thank you, Cass." She said, but she didn’t let go of his hand. The small tremors he felt told him that she was just putting on a brave face. Cass wasn’t sure if he wanted to learn this about her. That she was trying to fake it as much as everyone else was.
~
Cass had thought that he’d seen some pretty elaborate churches in his day, but they had nothing on the main temple.
They weren’t even able to get close to it in carriages, and had to stop at the base of a sloping hill with large, stone steps leading up to it. The walkway up to the temple was long, drawn out, and totally a statement of power.
Everything was a bright, pale grey tone. Dove grey, pure. Clean, organised, perfectly maintained. And that was just the steps up to the temple. The temple itself?
Cass wondered if he’d ever seen a church like it before in his old world. Even in pictures.
It was huge. Elaborate. Probably took a hundred years or more of craftsmen carving, planning, sculpting each piece of stone put into place. The windows were soaring planes of glass depicting stories Cass and Lord Blackburn had probably never read. The doors to the temple? Probably so big that Lucian could walk in as a dragon.
It was just a monolith towards the gods.
Which explained the heavy weight that Cass felt as soon as the carriage stopped. The weight that told him he wasn’t meant to be here. There was a reason Lord Blackburn had avoided the temple thus far. Cass wasn’t even sure that without the ring on his finger that he would have been able to take a single step forward.
"Cass? Are you okay? You look...more pale than normal." Lady Ava whispered and Cass swallowed.
"It’s...a lot." Cass admitted quietly. "I think I’ll be fine but without the ring..." Cass muttered, before he sighed. He shook his head as the door to the carriage opened and a priest stood there, all smiles.
"Welcome saintess and her companions! Come, the Head Priest had to head out first, and has asked that a few of us lead you to the waiting room for the ceremony." The Priest smiled and Cass felt the weight grow heavier. Shit.
He had severely underestimated how greatly this was going to affect him simply because Lady Ava was a calming presence most of the time. Only nips and stings on occasion. This wasn’t good.
Lady Ava got out first, followed by Lucian, then Cass and then Sir Forsythe. The man was on high alert, as he should be. Anyone could tell that Cass wasn’t feeling well, and that alone wasn’t good.
Cass was going to have to fight for his life to make it through this blessing. What a damn asshole. Cass was beginning to think that he’d always known that Cass had demon blood and was just flexing that knowledge now because he could.
Fiona and Lady Ava were signaled out immediately. As the obvious hero and the saintess, they were going to get special treatment. Cass didn’t mind, since it meant that he could hang back. Or, so he thought.
Instead, it seemed like because he was a Blackburn coming to the temple for the first time in a few decades, it was a rather big deal. Cass was doing his best to pass off his paleness as he just hadn’t eaten that morning, but then he got showered with offers of food. Cass was overwhelmed. Everyone was so helpful and kind that it felt a little too culty.
The mark on his shoulder flared with heat and Cass hissed out through his teeth. Sir Forsythe noticed around the same time that Lucian did, both men turning to him but Cass waved them off.
Walking around the grounds, around all this holy power, Cass had a hard time taking in the beauty of this place, which was tragic. Cass was sure it was stunning, and the part of him that liked historic buildings wept since he could barely see straight. It was so heavy on his chest that he wasn’t even sure he’d be able to make it to the ceremony.
All the while, Cass could feel how Lord Ridgewood was watching him, and how Lord Ridgewood was keeping Vespertine away from him. Cass hadn’t noticed it at first, but it became obvious when Vespertine turned to say something to Cass, and then Lord Ridgewood grabbed him by the upper arm and pulled him away, trying to speak to him about something else.
Cass had witnessed it, as had Lucian. Even Vespertine seemed confused. Lady Ava and Fiona hadn’t because they were getting special treatment so practically left the men to their own devices, but that all changed when they were finally shown to the waiting room.
Lord Ridgewood kept Vespertine away, dragging him away to have a word with him, with Cass collapsed onto the couch of one of the gaudiest rooms he’d ever laid eyes on. If he didn’t already have a headache, the room alone would have given him one.
What, was the room designed by Lord Blackburn?
"How are you doing, Cass?" Fiona’s voice was soft, careful. Cass felt his lips twist up as he laid his head back, his eyes closed as he just tried to breathe.
"Like 10 000 pounds is pressing down on my chest at all times. I’m fine." Cass finished and Lucian let out a deep sigh.
"I hate this place. It feels too...stuffy." Lucian said and Cass laughed. Stuffy? That was one way to put it.
"I’m sorry you two are having such a hard time." Lady Ava said. "Really. I’ve always thought of this place as warm and inviting. I hate that you two are having a bad time. Especially you, Cass. I’m sure once you speak to the gods, they will be able to alleviate some of the issues you are facing." That would be a bonus if that was the case, but he wasn’t getting his hopes up.
Something for free? So far, he learned that nothing came for free. Even getting more powers had temporarily cost him some of his emotions. He just wanted to get out of here in one piece without the whole world branding him a demon and hunting him down.
"Maybe." Cass muttered quietly, waiting for the actual ceremony to begin.
Lord Ridgewood only brought Vespertine back a minute before they were summoned. Cass pulled himself together, Sir Forsythe adjusting his clothes so that he looked perfect, his expression full of worry and fear.
It was time to put on a show.