It was almost surprising how quickly the King responded back to Cass after he had dragged his feet before. Cass assumed it was because of the rumours floating around the city about Cass and the rest of the hero party. The King was probably devastated that he’d lost a grandchild. Even if they were fake, and maybe he had some sympathy for what the others were going through.
Cass laughed and laughed after he even thought that up.
No, he was pretty sure it was because the King was nervous about what the fairies had planned, and wanted to know what Cass knew. It was obvious from the letter he received, and the strange slant to the King’s letters. He was scared, writing quickly, and there was even a spelling mistake. That was nothing like what the King normally wrote, to the point that Cass almost thought he’d had someone else write the letter if not for the fact that it still felt like the King.
The contents of the letter proved that Cass’ even second of thoughtfulness was wrong. The man only asked about the fairies, didn’t ask about Fiona, didn’t ask about the others. He only asked about Cass as a cursory detail, because he had to.
God, the royal family was awful. It almost made him happy that his son wasn’t his son. Then again, his wife wasn’t any good either. The Queen and the crown prince weren’t any better people.
The King was clearly asking about preferences of the fairies, what they liked, etc. Cass decided it was best not to lead him astray, and see if he took Cass’ words seriously. So, Cass was honest.
Unlike the image that fairies projected, they were mostly meat eaters. Why? They cared for the environment, after all. Plants and plant-life were sacred. So, they ate less of plants, and ate more of what consumed plants. They lived off of the beasts that ate what was sacred to them.
Cass also explained that they were majestic, of course, but that they liked spaces filled with plant life, they liked to drink and celebrate because that was part of their worship of the world around them. The spaces they occupied felt easier to breathe in because of who they were as a people.
He did mention that some of them were of a status similar to knights and thus would need somewhere to train, but he wasn’t sure that he would be taken seriously.
After all, his Aunt planned to come in with sweeping, floaty outfits made of dreams and gossamer to throw them off their rhythm. She didn’t want them to know how much of a warrior race fairies actually were. After all, it had been years since the wars, and only a group who didn’t remember what fairies were like would have persecuted Cassian’s Mom they way that they had, tormented Cassian, and then stolen Taniora’s body from her grave.
If they had known how ruthless fairies truly were, they wouldn’t have even considered it.
His Aunt had been thinking and mulling over what to do with the humans she caught who had been terrorising her people and bothering Cass and those like Cass and it was the nursery tree who gave her the best advice.
Fertilizer.
Cass could have felt bad for the humans who didn’t know what they were walking into if he wasn’t deeply aware of every little thing that was going on, that had happened, and if the nursery tree didn’t have a deep, harrowing scar that proved that Cass had survived a childhood no fairy should have to deal with.
Aunt Alysora let Cass know that the date that they said they would be arriving in the city was approaching, and she made sure it was before Cass’ monthlies. Did it bother Cass that she referred to them that way? Like he was a woman?
No. Maybe it should have, but it felt oddly inclusive after everything that she had heard from him and the others. It was also very kind of her that she was thinking of Cass, and keeping track of it.
He was a little freaked out about that, but she quickly clarified that the nursery tree tracked everyone’s cycles, and that included Cass. Cass was...happy about that, he thought? He wasn’t sure. He’d never been included in something like this before, so he wasn’t exactly sure how to respond. Either way, it was thoughtful on several accounts, now he just needed to make it to their arrival and whatever shenanigans that the King wanted to do.
Cass in no way thought that the King was done trying to make Cass’ life hard, and he really didn’t want to have to attend a ball while in heat again. That had not been fun.
~
Well, Cass should have fucking expected it. His Aunt came storming into his office while he was doing paperwork to slam a letter down on his desk. He knew from the way her brow was furrowed that she was pissed, and it wasn’t at him.
The fancy letter stock told him who it was from within seconds.
Sam, a smart man, gave them room.
"That damn King!" She roared. "He is doing something idiotic! He is trying to change the date of the welcoming ball!" Cass didn’t even need to look to know what that meant.
"Oh? Is he trying to do it during my monthlies?" Cass asked mildly and his Aunt huffed.
"Of course!" She said and Cass slid his gaze to Edgar. Edgar was sitting with his own pile of papers, a dark smile on his lips.
"Figures. An old dog can’t learn new tricks." Edgar muttered, putting down his papers. His Aunt spun, glancing between the two very unsurprised men.
"He’s always done this?" She asked cautiously, anger radiating off of her in waves. Cass smirked.
"There is a reason that I have a terrible reputation. I was never there to defend myself because he always hosts his parties at the end of the month. Granted, that’s pretty normal, but I do mean always. He makes sure I never have a stage to present myself on." Cass said with a shrug. "But, you have more power here. Just huff and puff a bit and I’m sure he’ll change his mind." Cass wasn’t even upset. This was a simple thing.
Cass reached for a paper that he kept nearby. A letter not meant for him, but also, who else could it be meant for?
It was for the man who was lending the King money. Cass gave a slow, dangerous smile. Edgar blinked as it felt like he was staring at Cassian, not Cass for a second.
"Let the man dig his own grave with his own hands, hmm? After all, I’m a generous man. I’ll allow him a few more gold coins since you’ve requested it." Cass said, winking at his Aunt. His Aunt’s anger was all but gone in the face of Cass’ composure. He’d predicted that he would do something like this, and knew how the man operated.
He was just behind because Cass held all the cards. He didn’t even know some of the cards that Cass held. He had tried to switch to a different lending company, thinking that he wasn’t going to be affiliated to Cass. Fool. If he didn’t go to his grandfather, then everything else was attached to Cass. Who else would have the kind of money to lend to a foolish King who wanted to show off?
That and Aunt Alysora and her people were already in the city, in Cass’ house, and had been for days. He’d never stood a chance when it came to keeping things from Cass.
Aunt Alysora took Cass’ words at face value and did decide to write him back. She made a scathing letter letting the King know that she would not attend any event where Cassian Blackburn would not be able to attend. She would in fact snub him entirely and take it very personally if he didn’t allow it.
She also made it clear that she knew a lot about Cassian, just not about how he was treated. Cass laughed out loud when she called Cassian a ’sensitive boy with a kind heart’. He was sure that the King would have a heart attack upon reading that. He was actually sure that everyone who saw that sentence was going to have a stroke.
Cass was a little excited to see the outcome.
While the day for them to leave and pretend to reenter the city came closer, Cass and the others were working on their own plans. Of course Cass made sure that Edgar, Cass and Gideon had new outfits made that would suit them as a unit when they went to this welcoming ball.
They would have to go. His Aunt made it clear that he would have to, and she wanted to brag about what a good little fairy her nephew was, emphasizing on the nephew part. She was going to make the whole noble society squirm, and the rest of the fairies were itching for blood.
Cass did explain that the last time he was at the palace he had asked Lucian to turn into a dragon and eat a man all while he held up one of the Dukes like he was a puppet because he bothered him, and his Aunt thought that was completely reasonable. Even Byron’s Mom was the same. He tried to tell them that wasn’t very ’sensitive’ of him, but they had brushed it off. Cass was a sensitive soul.
Otherwise he wouldn’t have reacted like that.
Cass couldn’t exactly argue with that.
Either way, the boys would be fashionably dressed, and they all agreed to say that Lucian was back home with Fiona and Ava. Keep his absence a mystery. Sure, if they found out they might think that they could get away with more nonsense, but it wasn’t like Cass had only one dragon around him.
He had two.
One was a man who wanted to bond and uh, fuck him, and the other was a henchman and cousin of a sort. Both dragons would gladly kill for him.
Cass also hadn’t written a response to Fiona yet. He wanted to wait until after his family had arrived in the city so that he could write to her about it officially. He wanted to brag a bit, honestly.
Was it maybe a little cruel? That he was going to brag to a woman who also had no family to support her growing up that he had suddenly gotten a family that condoned almost all of his actions?
Yeah, that was probably the most villainous thing he’d be doing to the hero. Cass also knew that Cassian deserved at least this much. So, he delayed his letter to Fiona but wrote his letter to Ava.
She didn’t need the details that Fiona did, and Cass wasn’t an idiot. He knew that they would read both letters together. His letter to Ava wasn’t short, but he did tell her that he was proud of the changes she was taking to make herself a better person. He also told her to make sure not to listen to just one god again, especially since Cass was certain there was a traitor amongst the gods. He didn’t explain further then that, knowing that the news alone would be shocking to Ava. He also explained that he was dealing with it, and to continue to do what she was doing. It would weaken the demons, exactly as they wanted.
He forgave her for her actions. He knew that she needed that to continue, and it wasn’t any skin off of Cass’ back. Not when he was the one corrupting her brother.