Cass was stepping down from the last few steps of the stairs, adjusting his sleeves with Lucian and Edgar trailing behind him, when he caught sight of Fiona and Lady Ava.
Lady Ava looked miserable, all while fully dressed to the nines. She wore this pretty, frilly pink and white thing that made her blonde hair shine. It suited her, probably because she was fair skinned, blonde, and the saintess. Did it escape him that it kind of looked like a wedding dress?
No, and that was probably what had both of them in such a foul mood.
Fiona was in a light purple dress. A hint, a slight dig at the fact that she was related to the King. Purple was normally a colour worn by the royal family. Cass kicked himself suddenly. He should have worn purple too. That would have been a good dig.
Cass was a little suspicious about why the two of them were wearing outfits that they so clearly hated, and Fiona didn’t leave him curious for long. She was frowning, angry, and she let out a harsh breath when she saw Cass’ curious gaze.
"The King sent the dresses. Said things would get worse if we didn’t wear them. Even specified which dress was for who." Fiona snarled, kicking at the ground with a heeled shoe. Cass felt his shoulders drop as he sighed.
"He still thinks he’s in control." Cass said thoughtfully, before smirking. "Well, despite everything, you both look good." Cass told the girls who had put hours into getting ready. Cass had put probably 45 minutes into getting ready. He felt just as frilly as they were, but in a masculine way.
Black coat trimmed with silver lining, silver hand sewn shapes in the jacket itself. A frilly white dress shirt, some stiff fabric that held everything up and in place. Red and gold buttons with the crest of his family on it, red floral designs accenting his vest on the back panel of fabric. His pants were plain, his shoes clean but also black. He had a collar on? Cass wasn’t familiar with the fashion trend, but it certainly felt like one. That was dark in colour and held the fluffy white thing covering his neck in place.
Cass felt a bit like a peacock, but Edgar when he compared himself to Edgar, he was nothing.
Edgar was in a cream suit, more tan than cream, probably champagne if Cass was to put it to a true colour match. Similar white fluffy undershirt, but his patterns were light. Silver, light blue flowers. They were the exact fucking opposite of each other, and he even had a matching hat to go with everything.
He looked like the prince of light and holiness. Cass was the prince of darkness. He looked pretty. Handsome. Like if they handed him a bouquet of flowers he would step out of a romance scene.
It was a little bit annoying, honestly, that everyone around him was so handsome and beautiful. How the hell was Cass supposed to keep up?
Then there was Lucian who could just wave his hand and he would be handsomely dressed. He changed his outfit a bit today. He still wore the tight, tight pants that he liked to wear, but he had a nice jacket over top and a tighter white shirt that clung to his skin and outlined every damn muscle group the man had. The jacket had buttons that when Lucian did them up looked like they were fighting for their life.
They were dragon shaped, of course, but it felt like Lucian had chosen a slightly too small black jacket just to bother Cass. He couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering over to those damn buttons.
Cass kept his gaze on the two women who were in the lobby. Sir Sanders was going to go with them tonight, as well as Byron. Byron was arriving with Lord Ridgewood, which was who they were waiting on. Sam was going to stay behind, anxiously, but they had Lucian who knew everything, and Edgar, who now also knew everything. So in Sam’s mind, he had a little less to worry about.
At least, that was what Sam had whispered when he’d had a moment with Cass alone without the men around. Sam seemed worried for him, worried about what was going to happen, and had made sure that Cass took his little pouch. He told Cass that he’d put some of the wine that Edgar drank in the bag, and a few silver goblets to drink out of in there as well.
The mention of silver worried Cass. Cass still hadn’t had that conversation yet with Sam, so the fact that he’d brought up silver on his own...Cass had pushed that worry to the side, remembered that he was a cautious man no matter what, and nodded.
Sam had remained quiet after that as Cass had tied the pouch around him, under his jacket. He knew where it was, and it made the outfit look a little strange, but what did he care? He already had a poor reputation. So what if he brought his own food and liquor?
"Thank you, Cass." Fiona said, her shoulders dropping slightly. "You look...sufficiently like yourself." She said, and Lucian snorted.
"Fifi, that’s rude. At least tell him he looks handsome." Lucian scolded and Fiona waved her hand dismissively.
"Cass knows that he’s handsome. Otherwise he wouldn’t dress like that." Cass blinked. What? It was Edgar’s laughter, and the way that the man approached Cass from behind and wrapped his arm around his waist, pulling him against Edgar’s side, that had him flushing.
"Cass is a little on the shy side, Fiona. He doesn’t think he’s handsome." Lady Ava startled, raising her gaze from the ground to look at Cass with confusion.
"What? Fifi wouldn’t marry anyone who didn’t meet her standards." Lady Ava said that like it was a compliment, and maybe in her mind, it was. Fiona went red like a tomato and Lucian let out a bark of laughter.
"I didn’t realise that was how you viewed us, Fifi. Then again, what are a few trophy husbands to a hero, hmm?" Lucian said, staring at Fiona with open amusement before turning his gaze to Cass. Cass and Fiona were both blushing at the implication, and Cass pushed Edgar’s hand away. He could feel his body warming at the simple touch.
He glared at Edgar, and then glared at Lucian.
"Limit your touching, for everything holy. I need to be normal tonight." Cass warned. Edgar chuckled, thinking he was joking, until his expression sobered. Fiona looked confused while Lucian stared at Cass.
"Are you serious? I was planning to start rumours tonight, Cass." Lucian protested and Cass snorted.
"You don’t need my help to start rumours, Lucian, and yes, I’m serious. Edgar just touched me and things are already becoming a problem." Cass told them and Lady Ava stepped towards Fiona, curious and worried as the two listened in on them.
Lucian stepped closer, scanning Cass from head to toe as the teasing expression left him completely. His eyes had gone back to ’normal’, looking more human then the dragon that he was, but now he looked furious.
"What if someone bumps you? What if you brush against someone else? This is dangerous, Cass." Lucian warned, upset, and Cass felt a strange jolt inside of him. He wasn’t really used to people other than his sister actually voicing their concern for him, and given the fact that Cass, Edgar and Lucian had been intimate, Cass felt his stomach dip further.
It felt...complicated. He wasn’t used to this.
"I already knew that it was going to be dangerous, but I need to be there." Cass said calmly, and Lucian grumbled. He reached out, about to grab Cass’ upper arm before he halted. He then made a deeper, more sinister rumbling noise.
"Gods grant me strength." Lucian muttered to himself as he pulled his hand back, his fist clenching tightly. Cass swallowed. "What if someone upsets you? What if I can’t comfort you because we’re in public?" Lucian asked and Cass flushed.
"What makes you think you need to comfort me?" Cass asked back and Lucian gave him a look. Cass felt his face flush as the look was filled with pity and concern.
"Sweetness, you always need comfort, whether you say it out loud or not." A gasp from one of the girls, Lady Ava, and Cass felt his body tense.
"Sweetness?" Lady Ava whispered, and Fiona hushed her.
"Lucy, we just have to respect Cass’ wishes. If he needs help, he can ask. He needs to do this, and honestly, I’m really looking forward to Cass putting the nobles who have been walking around with inflated egos down. They don’t listen to us, they don’t listen to Fiona, and we all know that will change completely as soon as Cass walks in. Have faith in him. He’s gotten better at asking for help when he needs it." Edgar spoke up from Cass’ side and Cass turned his gaze to him. That was...an unexpected vouching for.
When Cass met Edgar’s gaze, the man smiled warmly at him.
"Admittedly, this is going to be hard for me, but it’s not like I have been able to touch you for long. A few hours isn’t going to kill me, and it isn’t going to kill you either, Lucian." Edgar warned, a threat hidden underneath his words. Lucian rumbled and Edgar turned, facing Lucian more. "Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve gotten more possessive of Cass. You and I both know that if you aren’t careful, Cass will push you to the curb. Tone it down." Edgar warned and Cass felt his jaw nearly drop.
This was...Cass had noticed it as well but he wasn’t going to warn Lucian. The man could make his own bed. The fact that Edgar was the one stepping in to warn him, then put him in his place, surprised Cass.
Lucian, for his part, snarled at the other man but it felt more like he was frustrated at the situation at hand, not at being called out.
"Shit. I thought I had it under control." Lucian grumbled, and Cass felt like he was in a completely different world.
"What...is going on here?" Cass asked softly and Lucian and Edgar froze. Fiona looked gleeful to be a witness to this, while Cass felt embarrassed they were having this conversation in front of everyone, but it was clear that he needed to have this conversation. "Why are you two working together like this?" Cass asked and Edgar blinked, then his face went red, and then white.
"You don’t-oh no." Edgar muttered. "Was Cass never at the meetings?" Edgar asked, turning to Lucian. Cass felt like he’d taken a blow. Meetings? They had meetings?
Cass swung his head to look at Lucian, and he’d raised a hand to cover the lower half of his face, looking thoughtful. His poor buttons were straining.
"I...don’t think he was ever at one, no. I think we approached him once, and he didn’t let me finish my sentence." Lucian muttered. "We did them without him after that." Did what without him after? The meetings? What the fuck were these meetings?
Cass looked at Fiona, worried, but she seemed confused as well.
"What are these meetings?" Cass asked, getting more upset as the silence dragged on. Edgar finally let out a sigh.
"It was a meeting between Fiona’s husbands to...be on common ground. So that we knew, that we know what Fiona needed, and now, you." Cass felt his mouth fall open, and so did Fiona. She looked shocked.
"No fucking wonder you three seemed to be on the same page. You were scheming!" Fiona cried, and Cass had to agree with her. This had Edgar written all over it, and Cass had to admit, he was impressed, and pissed. They were having meetings about him now?