Cass and Fiona, now that the King had arrived, were being approached by people. Cass, much like how he had treated the Duke, forced them to introduce themselves to him. He knew their names, but he was an asshole, and was proving a point.
Everyone knew his fucking name, but no one was approaching him. He was going to make them realise that was a poor choice. The nobles who had been to his mansion only a few days before went out of their way to approach him and greet him. They were nervous, shaking creatures, and Cass was happy about the fear that he had struck into their souls.
Did it play into his demon bloodline? Oh absolutely. Did he care?
Fuck no.
Things only got strained for Cass when he ran into him.
His grandfather.
Cass didn’t even recognise him at first. How would he? Most of his memories were blocked when it came to him, and it wasn’t as if Fiona had mentioned him a lot in her retelling of this story. Why the fuck would she? He wasn’t her grandfather, not really. Even as a villain he wasn’t mentioned in detail.
Not until after Lord Blackburn had betrayed the party, and then he was brought to some kind of justice. Cass was pretty sure that was what happened.
"Cassian." It was an older man’s voice and a shiver ran down Cass’ spine. Cass blinked. The voice came from behind him, and he could feel how the room stilled as soon as they heard that elderly voice call out. Fiona even froze before she made them both turn around.
Cass didn’t really realise what he was staring at right away. It took a moment for his eyes to register what he was staring at.
An old man. Weathered, but still strong. He had a cane, but stood with his back mostly straight. Wrinkles covered his face, and he would have looked kind if the shiver of fear didn’t make Cass’ legs want to collapse. His eyes were burnt orange, not red and his hair had to be dyed. There was no way at his advanced age that it would be coal black.
It was at that moment that Cass realised that...they didn’t look much alike. Did he have that much of his Mother in him that he didn’t resemble his grandfather at all? He had a hawkish nose, while Cass had this cute button-like nose. It shouldn’t have inspired as much fear in others as it did, but he supposed it was the combination of his red eyes, and everything else that made others afraid.
He was dressed, oddly enough, in a similar fashion as Cass. Maybe that was where the family ties came from. Terrible fashion sense.
"Grandfather." Cass said stiffly, faced with the man that was probably the most angry with him right now, but was looking at him like a concerned older family member. The fucking snake. He approached, two guards flanking him on either side and Cass almost wanted to laugh. His hands were shaking out of fear, yet the old man had guards with him.
Like Cass was going to hurt him? Like Cass could hurt him? Cass was a feeble man, Lord Blackburn was even worse! Yet this man was putting on the mask of concern he’d probably always worn in public when it came to Lord Blackburn, while showing even in the back of people’s minds that he couldn’t trust him. Insidious fucker.
The man came to a hobbling stop, putting on a grand performance of an older man checking up on his younger heir. Cass was not going to let it fly.
"How come you didn’t let me know when you arrived back in the capital? I had to hear from others that you were here." He sounded upset, but Cass knew why he was asking. He was pissed he didn’t get a chance to embarrass him. Cass blinked.
"You never have my rooms ready for me, and we arrived rather late into the evening. I thought it was best not to bother you at your old age." His expression didn’t shift at Cass’ words. He let out a wary sigh.
"Your words are hurtful. I never have your rooms ready because you never let me know when you’re going to arrive." He was blaming Cass, but Cass was ready for this. He was ready to battle him. Passive, terrified Lord Blackburn was here, but Cass was in his body. He wasn’t going to let him get away with this.
"The King knew we were coming back, and given how much you’re hanging out with him right now, wouldn’t you have known? You also could have sent me a message, like Lord Ridgewood received, and Lord Vespertine." Cass’ words were pointed, and he watched as the older man’s hand clenched on the handle of the cane he carried. Underneath his hand was a ball, probably glass in nature. Floating inside of the ball was a spider. Probably poisonous, or venomous. Cass couldn’t remember the difference.
Cass almost wanted to see him shatter it.
"That’s not very fair of you, Cassian. You know I don’t-"
"You have access to all of my books, my study materials, and my people. Were you not the person who told me that magic is important to the Blackburn family? Were you not the person who told me to jump higher, achieve brighter so as not to disgrace the Blackburn family name?" Tension filled the room.
Cass, at first, thought that he was angry because of Cass’ words, but slowly, Cass realised that wasn’t the case. The man was angry, he could tell in the way his eyes were tense, his nostrils flared. Cass was just wrong about the source of it. It became clear when he spoke.
"Do not, cut me off." The old man said softly, dangerously. Cass let out a chuckle.
"Or are you going to beat me?" Cass joked, and the room chilled by three degrees. Cass smirked. "We aren’t back at the estate, grandfather. I don’t think the King would appreciate you doing that in the ballroom of all places. Oh! Maybe he’ll offer another room for you. I’m sure you’d know the way to a more private place." Cass wasn’t sure what exactly he was implying, but it was clear it was not appreciated by the way the orange in the other man’s eyes flared.
It was funny, actually, how similar his gaze was to Lucian’s, but how seeing those eyes flare did nothing to him. Not in the same way Lucian’s did. Cass actually felt....cold staring into that raging gaze.
"I would never raise a hand against you." His grandfather said, his tone full of emotion. A foolish person would think he was deeply upset that Cass would even imply something like that. Like he was devastated his grandson thought he wanted to beat him. Cass knew better.
He was upset that Cass was attempting to air their family’s dirty laundry.
"Mm. You’re right. Your age has increased quite a bit since I last saw you. Did you have one birthday, or two? It must be rather hard for you, in your advanced years, to continue to run the Dukedom, right grandfather? I mean, after I fulfilled all of the things you wanted from me to have a stable Dukedom in comparison to my father, should I not take the load, the weight off of your shoulders?" Cass was good at acting concerned too.
Gods, he sounded so genuine. So concerned. So full of care for the only last living family member he had. Cass even squeezed out a tear, wiping it away with his free hand.
"It hurts me to see how hard you’re working for the Kingdom, grandfather. I just think that you’ve done enough for the Blackburn family. You’ve brought us such honour in the face of my father’s failure. I just want you to be able to rest now. Trust the younger generation. You raised me, after all. You should be able to put the Dukedom in my hands. I promise I’ll take good care of it." Cass was emotional. His speech was moving.
His grandfather was vibrating.
He was able to read between the lines. Able to hear what Cass was saying. He was calling the man out for what he had done, and what he was doing. How Cass knew he was involved with this deal, with this plan, and how Cass was not going to let it fly.
"Cassian, we’ve already spoken about this. There is one thing I would love to see before I-"
"I know. You want to see grandchildren." Cass glanced at Fiona, a mischievous look crossing his face as his mind immediately came to one thought. A great way to back this old man into a corner, and maybe stop this fiasco from happening. Fiona, sensing what he was about to do, about to say, began to panic.
"Cass, no-"
"Well, there is no need to worry any longer, grandfather." Cass declared loudly, and it felt like the band stopped playing. "The Blackburn family line shall continue." The old man looked like he’d eaten something sour, and he was unable to control himself.
A shocked gasp sounded from the crowd and Cass knew who exactly it was from. Lady Ava.
Fuck. Cass could feel how hard Fiona was squeezing his arm.
"You did not discuss this with me." Fiona hissed, her expression tight, annoyed, and Cass smiled at her.
"Why, my dear wife, isn’t this the perfect time to let everyone know? What joyous news. The great line of the hero mixing with the line of the Ducal families. What more could the Kingdom want? Any more and they might be getting greedy." Cass was grinning, and Fiona looked ill. Cass used that immediately. "Forgive us, grandfather. I think my wife is not feeling well. We’ll have to go make sure she’s okay with the help of our healer." Fiona seemed surprised as Cass grabbed her, dragging her off.
Cass could see Edgar and Lady Ava making their way to somewhere quiet, while Lucian stood guard already. He had a grim expression on his face, and Cass couldn’t care less where Lord Ridgewood was at the moment.
For now he had to put out the fire that he had just lit. Thankfully, Fiona continued to look ill, fully, like she was going to throw up, and Cass tried not to take offense to that.
Hopefully she wasn’t thinking about how disgusting it was to carry his child. It was mildly hurtful. What if he asked her to be a surrogate or some shit? He was fairly certain that it didn’t exist in this world, but still.
It was hurtful. Probably about as hurtful as it was to Lady Ava hearing those words from Cass’ mouth.