Edgar was the first to rush to him as he emerged. He was waiting near the doors, looking anxious as he held onto his own wine glass. His big blue eyes were wide as he reached for Cass’ shoulder, grabbing him with enough force that Cass stumbled back and he looked immediately guilty.
"I’m sorry. Are you alright?" He asked and Cass nodded, chuckling.
"I’m fine." Cass told him, taking a sip from his champagne flute. The bubbles in the wine washed over his tongue, chasing away the bitter taste left in his mouth from any interaction with his grandfather.
"Are you sure?" Edgar asked, shaking Cass a little and Cass felt his body relax. How could he remain tense in the face of such open concern? He wanted to pull the other man close, hug him, kiss him to assure him that he was fine but they had too many eyes on them.
Instead Cass reached for the hand on his shoulder, giving Edgar’s hand a squeeze.
"I’m fine, Edgar. I promise. Besides, I’m not the same person who lived in the Blackburn manor and begged for his affection anymore. I’m better. Stronger." Cass told him and Edgar’s expression was so full of worry for Cass that it was very endearing. Edgar let out a shaky breath, nodding, and with great remorse pulled his hand away from Cass’ shoulder.
"As long as you mean it." Edgar muttered, still looking conflicted. That really made Cass want to pull him against him and pet him, but Cass couldn’t. Cass felt the eyes on them, everyone watching, waiting for them to slip up and do something that was against societal norms here. Cass clenched his jaw.
Fuck homophobic laws.
He should be allowed to soothe the man he cared for after a tense interaction.
"How is the ball for you so far?" Cass asked instead, pivoting away from anything related to Cass to ease Edgar’s worries. He knew it was only a temporary stopgap. The man was very good at hiding his feelings until he was close with someone. Then he was terrible at it.
Edgar pulled himself together quickly, the worry remaining in his gaze but he hid it enough that others wouldn’t be able to detect it as well. He stood at his full height and a perfect smile touched his lips. He was back into Lord Vespertine mode. Cass empathised with him since he did the same exact thing.
"It’s been good. Everyone’s been kind." Edgar told him. Cass assumed that meant that everyone had been giving him answers to his questions. Cass nodded.
"Good." Cass told him, meaning it. Edgar hesitated before he spoke. He glanced around, and Cass did the same.
Gideon hadn’t come over. That alone was concerning, and Cass was worried that even after his last warning his family would not take the hint.
"Have you seen Gideon?" Edgar asked and Cass shook his head.
"Not since he danced with the Queen." Cass commented. They both sighed in unison at the reminder and Cass felt his face warm. His eyes darted to Edgar, who was also flushed. They each met their gaze, surprised, before both men looked away.
Cass had the distinct feeling that maybe...just maybe they were feeling the same about Gideon dancing with the Queen. However, Cass was feeling too much like a coward to actually do anything about that.
"You don’t think that his family would be so foolish, do you?" Cass asked Edgar. Edgar coughed, taking a sip of his glass of wine and Cass watched him secretly.
Cass knew that his heat was coming, it wasn’t like the others couldn’t feel it either. Cass’ eyes lingered on the strangest things right now. Like how Edgar’s throat worked as he swallowed the wine. His adams apple bobbing and Cass felt a tingle start in his core. He’d done the same thing when he’d been drinking his blood, and Cass was sure that his blood tasted better than the wine he was drinking.
Embarrassed at the direction his own mind was going after the conversation he’d just had with his grandfather, Cass darted his gaze away. He should stop drinking at this point. Any more and he might stop being a respectable member of society and turn into a damn slut. They were supposed to be in mourning, lost without their wife around.
Cass had to control his lust.
"What wine are you drinking?" Cass asked, trying to get his mind off of his damn thoughts. Edgar lowered his glass, licking his lips and that only made Cass tense next to him.
"Oh. It’s a light blend from one of the counties that we’ve helped. Did you want a sip?" Edgar asked. Normally in this kind of situation one would offer to get them a fresh glass. However, Edgar just offered Cass his glass.
Cass knew that it was an unusual action. He knew that this was going to start a rumour, but damn it, Cass couldn’t exactly say no when Edgar had that look on his face. Cass reached his free hand out, taking the glass and then taking a sip. He did his best to control his expression, but from the bright laugh that left Edgar’s lips, he hadn’t done a good enough job.
Edgar took the glass back, his blue eyes dancing.
"Not to your tastes, hmm?" He teased. Cass opened his mouth to tell him what was exactly to his tastes, and stopped himself. Cass cleared his throat, looking away from the handsome, smiling man, and knew that Edgar was probably smiling even bigger.
"We should go look for Gideon. I can’t have him being beaten up by others again. Or worse, seduced." Cass muttered. Edgar snorted.
"Gideon? Being seduced by others? He barely lets us do that." Edgar whispered quietly. Cass coughed.
"Edgar." Cass warned, sliding a glare in his direction. However, Edgar was in too good of a mood to be affected by Cass’ glare. Instead he just smiled, shrugged, and took another sip of his drink. He then tilted the glass back entirely, finishing off the glass. He passed off the empty glass to a waiter moving about the room and slid his gaze to Cass’ glass.
Cass grumbled, but finished off his own flute and gave the flute to the same waiter. Then the duo headed off.
They didn’t go out of their way to avoid the fairies, but Cass knew he would get caught up in a conversation with them if he got too close. So he stayed near, but not too close as they began to look for Gideon. It did not bode well that he disappeared as soon as Cass was pulled into a room with his grandfather.
The good news? The Dukes were still visible and his grandfather had emerged since they had spoken on the balcony. The King and Queen were visible, so Gideon hadn’t snuck away with the Queen of all people.
It was looking more and more like Gideon had been taken away by his brothers again and Cass was feeling himself getting worked up again. Had they not learned their damn fucking lesson yet? Damn idiots.
Cass found himself moving towards the rooms that he had found Gideon in before, and Edgar followed him. Both were rather strained, annoyed at what was going on, the vibe around them making others keep their distance.
However, as soon as Cass got to the hallway, he found himself at a loss. It wasn’t like he had heightened scent or anything, he could just see well and hear well. He turned to Edgar, who was sniffing like a fool. It seemed to be working, though.
Edgar led the way towards not the same room that they had found Gideon in last time, but two doors down. Cass didn’t even knock, he just opened the door.
Edgar and Cass were frozen in the doorway, unsure how to process what they were seeing before them. Cass had thought that it would be impossible that someone would take Gideon away to try and seduce him, but it appeared that Cass was very, very wrong.
Gideon was pushed down onto his back on a chaise lounge with several people all around him. Cass knew some were nobles, but he could also tell that a few of the members around him were servants, knights, everything.
Gideon looked very flustered and also like this was not what he wanted. He was struggling, fighting to get away but the others were too strong as a force to let him do so. Plus, he was probably trying not to cause a scene. Cass wanted to laugh.
"What do you think you are doing?" Cass’ voice was sharp and rang out over the group that were trying to get a piece of Gideon’s ass. Cass and Edgar stepped into the room, closing the door tightly behind them as the people who had been trying to get a bite of Gideon froze.
They turned as a unit to look at Cass and Edgar, and Cass felt something strange overcome him. They didn’t look...sane. Something was clearly wrong, but Cass had no idea what it was. There was a glossiness to their eyes that Cass couldn’t quite place. It was...not normal, but it didn’t feel like magic.
Cass had a feeling he would know that, but he wasn’t sure. After all, he could detect several types of magic, but...
"Lord Blackburn." One of them mumbled, and it was clear that there was something wrong. Intoxication was a good guess, but Cass didn’t think that fit. "We were simply dealing with the problem." It was a woman who slurred her words, standing up on shaking feet to give Cass a wobbly curtsy. She nearly fell over, but none of those around her stood up to help her. Instead they stayed still and Cass had no idea what to make of it.
"Dealing with the problem? Gideon? He’s mine. He belongs to me. What right do you think you have to interfere?" Cass’ tongue was sharp and the people in the room flinched at his anger. That was a rather surprising turn of events, but Cass didn’t back down. He took another step into the room. "Leave. Get out of here before my anger spikes further." Cass snarled and the group pulled away from Gideon, stumbling and swaying as they left.
There had to be at least ten of them, no wonder Gideon felt like he couldn’t do anything. Cass wouldn’t have known what to do when faced with so many people either. Edgar stood by the door, watching as they all left while Cass moved towards Gideon. The man was stunned, his face pale and his clothes were askew. He clearly had no idea what had just happened, but had been fighting for his life.
When he met Cass’ gaze, that strange back-glow behind his green eyes was there again. Not quite like what Cass, Lucian and Edgar did, but not so dissimilar that it could be dismissed. Cass frowned, grabbing his wrist to hold him in place as Cass began to fuss over him. Cass brushed his hair out of his face, checking for any marks or bites that could have happened but Gideon’s skin was strangely clear.
What had the group been trying to do with him if they were trying to undress him, but not mark him? Cass was rather confused, and it wasn’t until Gideon spoke up that Cass got a clearer picture.