"I don’t know." Cass admitted honestly. "I don’t have the same powers that Fiona has." Lucian made a soft noise of agreement in his throat.
"Maybe." He said. "However, would the gods tell you to do something without having the tools to do so?" Lucian asked curiously.
"Yes." Cass said immediately.
"Absolutely." Edgar agreed quickly as well. Cass glanced over at Edgar and made eye contact with him. Edgar gave him a soft smile before he looked away quickly.
"Okay....You two don’t have a lot of faith in them, do you?" Lucian asked and Cass sighed.
"Well, given their current fucking track record, Lucian, yeah. They have as much of my trust as my grandfather right now." Cass told them and Lucian winced.
"Well, I can’t exactly argue with you about that." Lucian muttered. A moment of silence rang out as no one seemed to know what to say after that. Even Cass was trying to think about what to say. When Cass glanced over at Edgar, he looked completely torn.
"Cass I...I want to ask this again, but I’m really not asking this because I’m accusing you. I’m really not accusing you at all. I just...I want to ask...what did Fiona mean when she said that you encouraged this?" Edgar asked and Cass froze.
"I didn’t." Cass shot back, a little angrily, and Lucian slid his hand up and down Cass’ back. Edgar flinched immediately, dropping his gaze, and that actually made Cass more upset than the question. Why was he so damn scared of Cass’ response?
"Hey, he’s not trying to accuse you of anything." Lucian said softly. Cass felt annoyed at his gentle touch, and let out a harsh breath through his nose.
"I didn’t encourage her to just...up and leave." Cass told them, before he sighed heavily. "I was trying to encourage her to divorce me." Cass told them. That seemed to surprise all of them.
"What? Why?" Lord Ridgewood asked, and Cass was a little surprised that he spoke up before the other two.
"Why would you want to leave?" Edgar asked, and Cass flinched. Was it that fucking obvious?
"What part of Fiona and I had our places switched did you not understand?" Cass asked, sounding pretty harsh even to his own ears. Edgar flinched, and damn it, it was like kicking a pretty puppy.
"Cass." Lucian’s voice was warning him, and Cass spun to glare at him.
"Don’t try to temper my anger right now, Lucian. So what if I’m a little sharp-tongued? That’s an upsetting question!" Cass snapped and Lucian gave Cass a look.
"You were planning to leave us, Cass. We’re allowed to be a little upset about this. Why didn’t you say anything to us about the divorce? To me?" Lucian asked and Cass paused. He hadn’t really spoken to anyone about it, not even really Sam. Sam had to have an idea of course, and slowly, Cass glanced between them and then felt his face warm.
"I...I thought you would follow me. Or, more accurately, bother me." Cass muttered. "We weren’t close at the time I decided this, and it made sense at the time. I have things I need to do, and I need to do it when I’m not attached to the hero party." Cass said. Lucian’s grip on Cass tightened, before he released it. Cass worried he was going to completely let go of him, but Lucian just tilted his head back and closed his eyes.
Cass felt a strange, swirling emotion in his gut. It was strange enough that it made looking at Lucian and Edgar hard. It was...complex, similar to the emotion that sometimes filled Cass when things didn’t go the way that he wanted. Frustration, annoyance, fear, anger. It was something similar to all of those, but Cass just didn’t anticipate that he would feel this cocktail while speaking to Lucian, Edgar and Lord Ridgewood.
Cass couldn’t look towards Edgar, couldn’t look towards Lord Ridgewood, and couldn’t really look at Lucian. He was afraid of what the other man was going to do, especially as he felt his body stiffen under him. Cass pulled his hands into his lap, picking at the skin around his thumbs, cleaning his nails with his fingernails as he waited. He jumped when Lucian sighed.
The sigh that left his body changed the temperature of the air around them. Cass felt worry fill him more, but when Lucian looked back at him, he wasn’t upset. Not in the way that Cass worried about.
"I’m sorry that I wasn’t someone you could trust." Lucian said, surprising Cass. "And I’m sorry you’ve had to do all this planning on your own." It was a complete shock to Cass to hear Lucian say that. In fact, he was so shocked he looked over at Edgar, surprised as Edgar looked upset.
Edgar was staring at Cass, a mixture of pain and confusion on his face. He looked so damn pretty upset that it was a little bit of a startling revelation.
"Cass, I knew that you had to leave, you could have told me that you needed to divorce Fiona to do so. I wouldn’t have been upset." Edgar said. "You don’t even like her, and especially not as a woman." Edgar pointed out and Cass was suddenly confused. Why were they...being understanding? Cass was expecting anger, maybe a ’we are a team!’ kind of speech. This? This wasn’t what he was expecting.
"None of us were married to her because we wanted to be." Lord Ridgewood spoke up softly from the back, and Cass slid his gaze towards him. Out of all of them, Lord Ridgewood met his gaze head on. The green gaze stared back at him, filled with an understanding that honestly confused Cass a bit.
"I...I couldn’t trust you back then." Cass repeated and Lucian let out a heavy sigh.
"That is a devastating blow, honestly. My sweetness couldn’t trust us with one thing. Did Fiona know that was what you were looking for?" Lucian asked and Cass flinched.
"Admittedly, I was subtle about it at first. The last time though...I was upfront. She said no." Lucian hissed.
"Why would she say no? She married you for it to benefit you. As far as I am aware, it has not." Lucian muttered, sounding pissed. That was when Cass remembered something that was also supposed to benefit him. He gasped, covering his mouth.
"Oh fuck." Cass whispered. "She’s supposed to be pregnant right now." The men froze.
"Oh no." Lord Ridgewood said, and Cass groaned, closing his eyes.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Cass asked no one in particular. "How are we going to-"
"-She’s gone off with Avie to recuperate. The shock from the ball has put her pregnancy in jeopardy. We can reveal whenever we want that she is traveling around later. Hell, we can even say that she lost the baby due to the King’s actions. That would really roast his goat." Edgar said and Cass turned towards him.
He might be in shock and not feeling good emotionally, but it wasn’t like he was an idiot. He knew this court better than Cass did.
"That’s a good idea." Cass told him and watched as Edgar glowed a little at the praise.
"Thank you. I’ve been thinking about things that we could do to cover up her pregnancy for a while. It’s a bit unfortunate, but in that regard, this will benefit us. I forgot about it in the craziness of her and Ava just...leaving." Edgar said. Cass couldn’t exactly deny it either.
"Um, just to be clear, Fiona isn’t pregnant, correct?" Lord Ridgewood asked and it was Edgar who laughed and responded.
"Who would dare touch her right now, Gideon? Avie certainly can’t get her pregnant. They have the same parts." Edgar told him. Lucian sighed.
"Careful, Eddie. Dear Gideon might not know that. You know, temple education and all." Edgar nodded, turning a dancing look towards Lord Ridgewood, who was slowly turning pink as he realised they were ganging up on him.
"Riiight. Forgot that. So strange that a group that runs brothels doesn’t teach their own people that well. I can guarantee that the brothel workers get a thorough regimented training procedure."
"Oh? Would you know the same, Edgar?" Cass asked, joining in on the teasing and Lucian let out a laugh as Edgar snapped his attention to Cass, his mouth open. He closed it, his eyes sparkling as Cass teased him.
"That was a good one." Edgar admitted. "You got me." He said, pleased for some strange reason. "However, I wasn’t educated exactly the same way, I just learned from listening. I had big ears." Edgar said, tapping one. Cass grew curious.
"Are your ears pointy too?" Cass asked and Lord Ridgewood jerked.
"Too? Are yours pointy, Cass?" Lord Ridgewood asked. Cass blinked before he felt a hand gently brush some of his hair to the side and show off his lightly pointed ears.
"Yeah. Don’t know from which blood though." Cass admitted and Edgar showed off his pointless ears.
"I don’t think so, unless you notice when I have more vampiric characteristics?" Edgar asked, serious and Cass felt his stomach lurch. The tingly feeling started low in his belly as he remembered what Edgar looked like, and how sharp his teeth were.
"I-I haven’t noticed." Cass tried so hard to be normal, but stuttered over the first word. Lucian’s grip on Cass’ lower back tightened, telling Cass that he noticed but true to his word, he didn’t say anything. Edgar didn’t seem to notice anything, and neither did Lord Ridgewood.
"Huh. Then it must be from your fairy blood. May I touch them?" Lord Ridgewood asked, cautious. Cass wondered how a conversation about what they were supposed to do now that Fiona was gone had derailed so easily?
"Sure." Cass said, and Lord Ridgewood moved for the first time since he’d been beating up Lucian. Cass was a little surprised by how cold his hands were, and even Lord Ridgewood seemed mildly intrigued. He squeezed the shell of Cass’ ear in between his fingers. Not painfully, but with enough force that it wasn’t ticklish either.
"Interesting. It feels the same as regular ears, but just...pointed." He sounded rather intrigued and Lucian let out a growl.
"Watch it, Gideon. Don’t get too fucking curious." He warned and Cass gave Lucian a puzzled look.
"Why are you getting defensive?" Cass asked, and regretted it immediately when Lucian was honest.
"Because I’m still trying to figure out if he’s a threat to me or not." Lord Ridgewood looked befuddled, and Cass felt the same.
"What? Why the hell would he be a threat to you?" Cass asked and he slid his gaze towards Lord Ridgewood, and then to Lucian.
"Cass, you’re pretty, and he’s showing interest. He’s not a bottom like Eddie, so I-"
"Hey!" Edgar called, pissed off. "I’m not just a bottom!" He protested and Lucian gave him a look.
"Yeah, but are you honestly ever going to consider topping Cass?" Lucian asked and watched as the man floundered for a response. "So yeah, my position is fine. As soon as Gideon here thinks of joining, I have to worry you might like someone else’s dick more than mine." Cass’ face was warm, Lord Ridgewood’s face was warm.
Lucian was dead serious.
"I beg your pardon?" Lord Ridgewood asked, as if he couldn’t believe his ears. Cass wished that he could say the same thing. It was, tragically, too much like Lucian to say some bullshit like this. No holds barred. No punches held.
"Why are you saying this as if I would show interest in Gideon and allow that kind of behaviour?" Cass asked, and then regretted it immediately. "Don’t...Don’t answer that." Cass choked, begging Lucian not to.