Somehow, the night ended peacefully and Cass woke up the next morning with puffy eyes, but determination in his heart. He had a lot he needed to do, a deep ache of loss inside of him, but hope for the future.
Now that he had gotten through the hardest part of it all, the approval of everyone that he cared about here, he now had to get through the second hardest part. Making a list that was long enough to convince Cassian to merge souls with him.
To be honest, Cass wasn’t sure there were a lot of pluses for him. The biggest one Cass could think of was the fact that if they merged souls, Cassian would be there the whole time when he joined with Lucian for the first time.
It was embarrassing to even think about that, but he would be a fool to think that it wasn’t going to happen. Cass had willingly sucked the man’s cock in a back alley. They were going to go the whole way. Cass was going to make sure of it, heat or no heat.
Other perks, he would also be there when Cass slept with the other men too. Again, a little embarrassing to admit, but Edgar was not about to let Cass escape. Cass could see it in his eyes.
The man wanted Cass’, er, Cassian’s dick. He was going to get it, consensually of course.
There were less sexual things that Cass could offer. Like being able to watch the fairies grow and love him, or the downfall of the kingdom that had treated him poorly. There was also the beatdown Cass had planned for his grandfather.
So far the list was mostly sex and revenge, but maybe that was something that would appeal to Cassian. Cass wasn’t sure.
As much as Cass was in the other man’s body, and had most of his memories, that didn’t mean he knew the man. He was still a mystery to Cass, so this list felt a little...empty. Strange. Cass was sure that Cassian had a lot of desires, he just repressed them. He had to. To be able to survive the house of Duke Blackburn, he had to make sure that no one knew what he actually wanted.
Revenge was an easy thing, something that his grandfather watched and didn’t really care about because that kind of proved that he was a Blackburn to the core. He didn’t care about Cassian accumulating money either, not really, it was only when Cassian or Cass started interfering with his political connections that he started to step in.
So, Cass wasn’t even sure what Cassian wanted. Hell, Cass wasn’t even sure what he wanted. He just knew that he wanted Cassian at his side as it happened.
So he wrote that down too. It was a heartfelt plea, and that didn’t mean nothing, right? Cassian would feel it, he could feel it as Cass wrote it down, right?
That was Cass’ morning, followed up by Cass writing a completely different kind of letter. Cass knew that the King had finally started to acknowledge that the fairies were coming, completely unaware that they were already in the city.
How did Cass know? Well, a little birdie named Mr. Collins let Cass know that the city streets were being cleaned and plants were being brought in and planted. Cass almost wanted to laugh at the simple act, but he didn’t. His Aunt didn’t laugh either.
So, with the King preparing for the fairies to arrive with the Matron of the South, Cass needed to finally begin his plan to get the King in more fucking trouble with the fairies.
It was time to ask about Taniora, and say that he had been reached out to by the fairies as the son of one of the great fairies from the Southern forest. Cass wasn’t going to let him know that anything was wrong right away, but instead send out a letter letting him know that the fairies were asking about a descendant of theirs, a Lady Taniora.
That would get the the flies buzzing, and hopefully would reveal the fuckers that dug up and harmed Taniora’s remains. It might also reveal who had changed her original resting place to that of a shitty hut on the side of the lake instead of the grand resting place meant for someone with her status.
Especially since it was the original King of the Kingdom who had made that eternal home for his lover.
Cass’ letter was polite, concise, and he knew it would strike fear into his heart. Especially hearing that communication between Cass and the fairies already existed. That would have the King sweating, and also make it clear to him that Cass had the support of the fairies.
They thought Cass was a fairy, ergo, Cass was a damn fairy. That would cause problems if the fairies heard how he had been treated, and doubly so once they found out how Taniora had been treated.
Taniora was completely in agreement with this plan, as was Aunt Alysora. She even thought it would be fun to send another letter to the King letting him know that her nephew, Cassian Blackburn, had even offered to give her a tour of the capital since he was still residing there. Otherwise she would have delayed her travels to spend time with him in his new home on the edge of her territory.
It was a power play, and Cass knew that his Aunt would come out on top.
Cass was delighted to watch it all happen.
Mr. Collins didn’t just bring news of the city being cleaned and fresh plants being planted, he also brought news of what the sighting of Cass and the others had done to the public. Like Gideon had said he would do, with the help of Byron and Edgar, they had spread a rumour that Fiona had to be rushed to the temple suddenly.
Something about holy power, draconic power, and fairy blood having a harsh clash inside of Fiona’s body. They even made it sound like that was the reason she hadn’t been at the previous dungeon, and why Cass had taken control in her place.
That was the same reason that Cass and Lucian weren’t spotted, only Edgar and Gideon with Cass’ aides. They had been busy holding down the fort while they rushed off. Edgar had purposefully said things that were hard to hear around some priests as they were leaving. Sobbing like a beautifully sad person as they left.
He’d even muttered something along the lines of ’unspeakable loss’ and the people were eating it up. Mr. Collins was a little worried about telling Cass this, but Cass waved it off.
No one around them was going through such loss, and Cass wouldn’t even consider that an option right now. Mr. Collins might not know that Ailia was pregnant, and Cass might not be superstitious, but there were just some things you didn’t utter in certain houses.
Beyond that, Cass was glad that it was going so smoothly. It would make the nobles think that they weren’t up to anything, until the fairies arrived, Sam and Byron’s wedding happened, and everything else came together.
One thing that Cass did do was order some of his people to find and follow Ava and Fiona. If Fiona found them out, that was fine. They just needed to keep following them for extra protection. Cass also put aside a fund to offer to them if things got too dire and Ava wasn’t able to take enough donations from those around them to sustain them.
Cass would not have his wife, real or not, living poorly. Especially when said wife reminded him of his sister, and they were spreading rumours about her miscarrying right now. It didn’t sit right with him. It was something to do to help alleviate his guilty conscience, forget what Fiona truly wanted. She might not even need it, but Cass had more money then the temple so it just made sense to give her a little slush fund to pull from.
She couldn’t access her own right now, anyways.
The other thing Cass had to get started was the overthrowing of his grandfather’s shitty, stupid laws. It was going to take work since the King wasn’t the only person he had to convince. Laws nowadays were passed through a vote, with the King having a final say. He didn’t normally say no when the rest of the nobles voted on something, but it could happen.
He certainly hadn’t said no when the bigotry was voted on.
Either way, Cass now had to start working on the nobles with voting powers to get them on his side. Sadly, his grandfather had already used money and threats on most of the nobles with varying success, so Cass had to turn to something else to get their help.
Bribes of a different sort, raising of status or helping out people close to them, that kind of stuff. Dig up skeletons in closets, find out deep secrets. That was something Cass and his people were good at, and Byron was thrilled that he was going to be able to help Cass out with this.
He had wanted to start spying this whole time, but finally Cass was going to let him do that kind of job. Did it mean that Cass was going to have to employ other knights and guards?
No. Not outside of the family, at least.
Aunt Alysora had actually called a real delegation up from the southern forests, and she had requested guards for Ailia and the nursery tree beyond the few fairies that were already here. Cass had no problem with that, and fully agreed that it was about time that the nursery tree was protected properly.
Did it mean that he was showing his hand a bit next to his grandfather’s estate? Maybe, but they already knew that something was going on. Especially after hearing the rumours that Fiona might have miscarried, it would make sense to buff up the guards on the mansion.
Gideon had given them a perfect excuse to be a little more cautious, a little less secretive in a different way. It was an easy way to get more people into the building, even if his grandfather and other nobles thought that they could sneak their own spies into Cass’ home.
Cass almost welcomed it. That way he would have an idea of who was taking a special interest in him and he could either befriend them, or chase them away with a stick.
Either way, Cass was a little exasperated that he was staying in the city for a longer period of time, but that was okay. He sent another letter to Sir Forsythe, triple encoded since he didn’t want to send Byron off on a mission again, and let him know what was going on.
He did say that they would have a lot that they would need to speak about in person once he arrived back at the estate, but that their return had been delayed for several important reasons. He also warned Sir Forsythe that the forest might move strangely around the estate as his family passed through.
He was just teasing him though. He didn’t think that was the case, but he just wanted to see how much Sir Forsythe knew about fairies. After all, he had known his Father. Lord Blackburn, formerly Duke Blackburn.
Sir Forsythe was loyal to him, no question, but he was curious what he thought of his Father. He didn’t think Cassian had ever asked. Maybe that would change once Cass arrived back at the estate. Back home.