Chapter 241: Lady Ava gets what she wants
Cass was a hot, flustered mess when they finally opened the doors back into the temple. The girls were all smiles, giggling and happy even as their faces told a different story, while Cass was flushed, red faced, his eyes darting around as if looking for escape routes.
Lucian, Sir Forsythe and Edgar had been rather stone faced, expecting to have to deal with a serious situation instead of what was in front of them.
"We’re going back to the main temple hall. Lady Ava needs to speak to the gods." Cass ordered, grabbing Edgar’s shoulders and turning him, pushing him. "Lead the way please!" Cass said, clearly fleeing the other women who were still giggling.
"Come onnnn, Cass! Why won’t you let us?" Fiona begged, batting her eyes all sweet and cute. Cass flinched.
"No, Fiona! I’m not a doll!" He couldn’t recall how many times he’d said that to her already, and Fiona’s eyes just curled up at the edges, all warmth and kindness and a complete trap.
"Awe, come on Cassy. You’d be soooo cute! And with how you’re blushing right now, it’d be soooo sweet. Why won’t you let us? Do you not like Ava’s fashion sense? We can pick out something for you too!" Cass wouldn’t meet Edgar’s or Lucian’s gaze. Not even Sir Forsythe’s.
"I’m not going to wear a damn dress. Fuck off, Fiona." Cass growled, his tone harsh but Fiona just laughed.
"Awe. Someone’s all embarrassed. How cute." Cass wanted to flee this whole situation. So it was not a good moment to run into the Head Priest and Lord Ridgewood, but of course he was going to run into them.
He could see how shocked they were that they were still here, and he could also see how quickly the gears were turning in the old man’s head. What he could say to get in on his side, what he could do to get Cass to speak to him again, bullshit like that. What he could do to manipulate Cass to support him.
Sucks to suck, Cass wasn’t in the mood for it. At least Lord Ridgewood still looked stricken to see him. He was pulling a great Jasper Cullen.
"Not right now!" Cass practically shouted, pushing past the idiot duo. "Ava needs to speak to the gods." Cass shouted, not even looking back at them because honestly, they didn’t deserve it, and he wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t trip over his feet given his current emotional state.
Cass kept moving, not even sure if he was going in the right direction, but he didn’t have to worry long. Edgar caught up to him, gently leading him in the direction that he needed to go.
"Almost." He whispered to Cass. "You just took a wrong turn, but we can correct it." He told Cass calmly. Cass felt his heart racing in his chest, his palms were sweaty, he just wasn’t having a good time. He hadn’t been teased like this, without any malice in their words, for a long time. It was quite shocking, and frustrating. It didn’t help that Lord Blackburn’s emotions were also mixing with his own.
The man was flustered, making Cass even more flustered. He couldn’t even look Edgar in the eye. He thought he was going to have a heart attack. It was clear that the man was in total shock that the ladies would suggest that he wear non male clothing.
It made sense, since the man was a demon, and apparently that was something that they worried about? That, or the noble society standards were like that. Both were possible.
Edgar paused at the priest entrance, waiting for the others to catch up. It gave Cass a second to catch his breath and soon Lady Ava followed by the others approached. Her face was bright, and so was Fiona’s. It had dimmed slightly, but that was okay. They had run into her father, and the Head Priest.
Lucian looked like a damn storm cloud, and Sir Forsythe wasn’t any better. Lucian looked like he was ready for a fight, and Cass wondered how much damage control he was going to have to do. Lady Ava arriving distracted him from his worry as Edgar pushed open the door and they all spilled out into the main temple hall again.
It was very different from the first or the second time that Cass had walked towards the statues. To Cass, it felt like he was just walking. It felt like before had been a weird nightmare. A mistake.
The tightness, the weight on his shoulders, the inability to breathe...all of it was gone. Cass would have thought he was losing his mind if the others hadn’t been checking up on him, making sure he was okay. Lucian was the worst for it. The man practically shoved Lady Ava out of the way to hover around Cass.
It was annoying, but he couldn’t exactly say it was uncalled for.
The walk to the front steps was way faster this time since he was able to walk on his own. Soon, they were face to face with the statues in person and Lady Ava looked petrified. She turned to Cass, practically begging him with her eyes for his help.
Cass sighed, before he stepped forward and offered her a hand.
"I think you’ll be fine, but I’ll hold your hand." Cass told her and Lady Ava beamed.
"Thank you. I appreciate it." She said and Cass nodded. They moved towards where Cass had knelt to speak to the gods and she slowly got to her knees. She stared up at the gods, before she placed her free hand over her heart and bowed her head.
Cass turned to face the others. He’d already prayed to them once. He didn’t need to do it again. Lucian came closer first, examining Cass from head to toe, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly. Cass was surprised by the volume. He would have expected the man to be raging.
"I’m fine." Cass told him, and his face scrunched up. He didn’t look as if he believed him. He examined Cass more, before he crossed his arms and leaned back.
"I don’t know if I believe you. How would anyone be okay when someone they trusted, even briefly, told a big secret?" Lucian was being rather aware and Cass felt his eyes widen slightly. Fiona, who had been left out of the loop because she’d been upset for different reasons, gasped.
"What?" She asked and it was Edgar who grabbed her and pulled her off to the side to explain everything to her quietly. Cass turned back to Lucian, and now Sir Forsythe who had approached, his expression grim.
"I am fine. I kind of expected it, so I was prepared for it. Well, as much as someone can be prepared for that." Cass told him and Lucian frowned. He was staring at Cass in a way that had the man beginning to sweat. What was he seeing that Cass couldn’t feel? What was he able to sense from him? Because Cass genuinely felt...okay.
Eventually, Lucian sighed, shaking his head.
"I was kind of expecting a bigger reaction, but then again, he was practically painting a sign on the back of his head that he was going to be a fucking weasel." Lucian said and Cass found himself snorting without meaning to.
"A weasel?" Cass repeated and Lucian nodded.
"Yeah. I want to pluck his green eyes out of his skull." Lucian rumbled and Cass rolled his eyes.
"Enough of that. I don’t want to start a problem with one of the other Duke households. The Vespertine’s are already going to be pissed at me." Cass said and Lucian shook his head.
"They should be groveling for forgiveness. They’re the ones who fucked up, who didn’t understand the gods’ mission and words. You did nothing wrong. They’re the ones with their own biases. Honestly, I think it’s pretty normal for the gods to do some shit like this. I remember one of the heroes from another time. They were from a persecuted group and after they saved everyone from the demon king of that era, the group was accepted more." Cass was surprised by Lucian’s insight.
"What group was it?" Cass asked and Lucian gave him a sly look.
"They were were-people. You can see how they have taken over almost every city. That wasn’t the case before that hero was chosen. They’ve been doing shit like this for a long, long time." Lucian shrugged. "Still makes me pissed that they haven’t changed in any good way when it comes to this. I can’t believe that they planned to hurt you. Fuckers." Lucian grumbled and Cass got an idea.
"I give you permission to pull a harmless, but annoying prank on them." Cass said and Lucian froze, before he turned dragon eyes towards him.
"Harmless?" He asked and Cass nodded.
"Like, pouring dye on them or something. Harmless, annoying, and gets a point across." Sir Forsythe stared at Cass, before his dark expression shifted into a smile.
"We can do that." Sir Forsythe said, glancing at Lucian. Lucian let out a rumble that sounded suspiciously like a purr.
"Harmless. Got it. At night, I’m assuming?" He asked, turning to Cass and Cass nodded.
"It’s best to do it at night because that’s when they expect it, but also think they are well guarded enough to protect themselves. Ask Ser Hune. I just have a sneaking suspicion she might be good at these kinds of missions. Would be great if we had Byron with us." Cass lamented and Lucian looked a little disappointed as well.
"It would have been great if he was here, but I’m sure you left him behind for a good reason. He seemed rather focused on whatever task you had given him." Lucian said and Cass nodded. He did have an important task. Cass was almost a little worried about what he was going to come home to.
Fiona let out a horrified gasp just as the hand Lady Ava was holding twitched. When Cass looked down, she was crying. Cass grew concerned before Lady Ava opened her eyes, meeting Cass’.
"They were all there." She whispered and Cass, not knowing what to say to that, just nodded. That sounded like his own fucking nightmare, but he was glad that she liked hearing them all. She could have them.