"They probably aren’t going to come back right after we legalise marriage between the same gender, are they?" Edgar asked, his expression pensive. Cass sighed.
"I honestly didn’t think that was going to be the case from the beginning, but I’m glad you at least believed them." Edgar flinched. "That’s not a slight. I’m sure they both thought that they could as well, but I had a feeling with both of their innate desires that it just wasn’t going to happen. I’m still mad that they left, but...I can’t help but agree it was probably better that they went instead of me." Cass admitted bitterly. "I wouldn’t have given a fuck about the demons." Cass said.
His Aunt laughed, loudly.
"Serves the humans right, as far as I’m concerned." She said with a shrug. Sam gave her a look, as did Byron, but she wasn’t remorseful in the slightest. Cass also didn’t blame her. She had a deep hatred for humans and Cass couldn’t blame her. He did too.
He just also happened to be one, so it was a little awkward.
"I wonder what will happen to my human side when we merge souls?" Cass wondered out loud and Gideon squeezed him.
"It won’t go to the demons." Gideon said with conviction so true that Cass turned, meeting his serious green gaze.
"How do you know that?" He asked and Gideon met his curious red gaze seriously.
"Faith."
Cass paused, blinked, and then wanted to reach out and pinch his cheeks. That was a very cute answer, even if it was very wrong. Aunt Alysora gave a hard exhale.
"Well, I can’t agree with his faith argument, but I do agree that the demons won’t get your blood. We probably will." His Aunt said. Cass turned back to look at her.
"You personally, or...?" Cass asked and she grinned.
"The fairy blood in your veins that is keeping the demon blood at bay. Who knows? You might even get prettier." She teased, winking. Cass rolled his swollen eyes.
"I’m grateful you’re joking, but now is not the time." Cass deadpanned and his Aunt’s teasing expression faltered slightly. She stared at Cass, as if she was trying to see if he was serious, and when she realised that he was being serious, she frowned.
"Cass, is Cassian not attractive in your world?" She asked and Cass flinched.
"Well, uh, I wouldn’t know. I just know that I don’t find him particularly attractive. Someone like Edgar would probably be considered god tier where I come from with his blonde hair and blue eyes. Even Gideon is considered handsome. I uh, wouldn’t be considered attractive. My looks would be too jarring for most people." His Aunt frowned deeply.
"Cassian is objectively very handsome. Very, alarmingly handsome. You need to consider this, Cass. He’s a mixture of demons who usually need to attract humans to them to sign contracts, and fairies, who already have an otherworldly nature to themselves. His Mom, your Mom is considered one of the prettiest fairies out there. There is no way that Cassian isn’t attractive."
"You just couldn’t tell how pretty for a long time because you were malnourished." Sam piped up, and Cass flushed.
"That’s not-"
"Cass, you need to stop denying how handsome you are. Even if you don’t believe it, others do. The only reason people avoided you was because of the rumours about you and the scowl you always had on your face. That softened considerably once you took over Cassian’s body. If you didn’t have Lucian around you would have been approached a lot. If memory serves me right, if Fiona hadn’t been at your side at the ball you would have been hounded by people who considered you attractive enough to disregard the rumours." Edgar told him and Cass blinked.
He had to be lying.
"Plus, with the rumour that Fiona is pregnant, I am sure there are several rats around that would be happy to be impregnated by you specifically." Cass felt his whole face warm at Edgar’s bitter, jealous tone. He wasn’t even hiding it.
"Y-You’re lying." Cass stuttered, shocked. Edgar scoffed, rolling his eyes and pushing his hair out of his face. It was a motion of dismissal, but Cass couldn’t take his eyes off of him.
"I’m not. Those damn vermin were salivating at the sight of you. Especially after you punished Gideon’s family and called him your dog." Edgar said. "There are several people who are into that kind of thing." Cass’ face was on fire.
"Well, regardless, I have no interest in women and even less interest in adding anyone else into this messy situation. I can barely handle one person, let alone three. Any more than this and I’ll have to run away." Cass told them and Edgar smirked.
"Good. I’ll make sure they know that moving forward." Edgar sounded smug, like he’d won something. Cass had no idea what he was going to do with him.
"Cass." Gideon said suddenly, drawing Cass’ attention towards him.
"Yes Gideon?" Cass said, meeting his serious green gaze.
"I have something to tell you about, and confess." He said seriously. Cass stiffened, wondering what the knight could want to tell him. "I...used us taking you to the temple to make it seem like Fiona was miscarrying our fake child." Gideon admitted, sounding upset. Cass blinked.
He did what now?
"Oh. Uh, good job?" Cass said hesitantly, unsure what kind of response Gideon was looking for. "It’s a little early, but then it also explains why she wasn’t in the dungeon and why she didn’t stay at her house this last little bit." Cass said. Gideon hesitated.
"You aren’t upset that I made a choice without consulting you?" Gideon asked and Cass shook his head.
"It would have been far worse if they thought I was in distress and going to the temple. We haven’t told anyone that I’m the hero yet, remember? This is a good thing. Smart thinking." Cass told him, raising his hand up and gently patting Gideon’s cheek affectionately. Gideon looked a little surprised at the reaction, but not upset. In fact, he melted under Cass’ touch.
Edgar who was beside them, reached over and pinched Gideon’s cheek. Gideon winced, colour touching his cheeks.
"What did I say? He wouldn’t be upset at all, right? Now you know that Cass wouldn’t hate you for that." Edgar told him warmly. Gideon was still flustered and flushed.
"I just...wanted to make sure. I know it was the plan, I just also knew we had limited options. That and I haven’t exactly proven myself capable of making smart decisions." Gideon muttered. Cass rolled his eyes.
"Hush. That’s in the past, and I know you have a good head on your shoulders when you aren’t being brainwashed by an entire religion. You can speak directly to the gods now, so you don’t need to worry about the other parts." Cass told him and Gideon nodded.
"They were the ones who told me to bring you to the." Gideon told him and Cass smiled.
The atmosphere in the room shifted back into a pleasant one. So pleasant that Cass felt it was time address the elephant in the room.
"So, do fairies hold a big ceremony when they marry?" Cass asked and Aunt Alysora gasped.
"Yes! They do!" She said excitedly and Cass nodded. He could feel how the two men next to him tensed.
"Cass?" Edgar asked, concerned and Cass chuckled.
"Then we better get planning. Byron and Sam can’t continue on living like this without the proper blessings." Cass said and a pin could have dropped in the room for a few seconds.
"What?" Sam squeaked out eventually and Cass grinned.
"What what, Sam? You expected to bond with Byron and not have a big ceremony? Where I come from, that’s relatively normal. Is that not the same here?" Tense air once more.
"Cass, you know that’s not the case for same sex couples." Edgar said carefully and Cass shrugged.
"Who else can break the mold then the grandson of the true hater? We’ll have a huge, big, elaborate traditional fairy wedding ceremony for Sam and Byron, and maybe do some research on dragon customs to incorporate those as well. Anyone who protests, well, Byron can take a page out of his mentor’s handbook and eat them. I’m sure Lucian would be thrilled to hear you did that." Cass said, giving them a thumbs up.
Sam was as pale as Taniora and Byron looked shocked. Aunt Alysora let out a soft laugh.
"We were far more subtle with our probing, Cass." She teased, her eyes sparkling. Cass shrugged.
"Well, I’ve had several shitty reactions to this all due to my own issues. I want to make it up to them with this. We can even make it confusing, thinking a female and a male servant are getting married when in truth, it’s two men." Cass could see it now. "Of course, you’ll both be heavily protected by me the whole time. Oh, I’m actually excited to see what kind of outfits we can design for your wedding apparel. I was pretty good at design in my old life." Cass said with a wink.
Sam looked dumbfounded before he burst into tears.
Everyone panicked.
Cass tried to fall out of Gideon’s lap to go to Sam, while Byron scooped up the man and tucked him against his body. Sam continued to sob.
"He’s not mad." Byron told them, peering into Sam’s emotions. A soft, tender smile touched his lips. "He’s very moved that you would offer this to him. He didn’t expect it." Byron said. His eyes said the same thing. He hadn’t anticipated that Cass would do something for his people. Cass was a little offended.
"Byron, I taught you how to read. Did you think I would freak out over a wedding? You’re my two most loyal aides. If Sir Forsythe ever gets married, he’s getting the same treatment." Cass said. Byron’s smile was bright, his grip firm on his bond partner.
"Thank you, my Lord."