Chapter 72: The consequences of your damn actions
When the carriage pulled up in front of the mansion and rolled to a stop, Cass felt even more exhausted than when he’d left with Vespertine into town. Cass exhaled slowly, his shoulders sagging.
Fuck.
Draken hadn’t left him alone. He had kept him wrapped up, chatting away to him in the same damn way that Sam or Lady Ava did, and Cass hated it. He didn’t hate when Sam did it, because Sam was at least providing him with information that he actually wanted to hear.
Lady Ava? Well, he felt that people were beginning to understand his feelings on that one. Draken, however? Fuck that guy.
He was uncomfortable, upset, and he’d had a long day. This was the last thing he wanted.
He knew he needed to speak to the stablebitch, but he couldn’t be bothered to go to where they were. He guessed that he could have Sam or Sir Forsythe summon him to his office and he could rip a strip off of him in private, but he felt a small tinge of regret. He had wanted to do it in public, give him a proper dressing down, but Cass didn’t have the energy to do that anymore.
Draken had drained every last ounce of it like a damn greedy kid with a juice box.
Fuck.
Was he a dragon, or a damn fucking dog?
Sam knocked on the door, opening it slowly to meet Cass’ exhausted gaze, and Draken’s happy demeanor. Sam winced, looking very apologetic as he reached for the precious basket and took it out first.
Then, he turned to Cass, wincing, before he offered him a hand.
"My Lord, do you need assistance getting out of the carriage?" Never had words sounded so sweet.
Cass, with every last bit of his power, reached for Sam’s hand.
"Yes, I would." He said, ignoring the way that Draken was about to speak for him. Sam, having been given permission, grasped Cass’ hand and much to everyone’s surprise, Sam yanked him from Draken’s grip.
Draken let out a sound of surprise, while Cass nearly stumbled out of the carriage. He shouldn’t have worried, since Sam caught him, looking even more apologetic before he carefully handed him off to Sir Forsythe, who made sure that he was presentable. Sir Forsythe dusted him off, his expression somber as he looked over Cass. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but held his tongue. Cass kind of expected that from him. Sir Forsythe, while he was disciplined, and also a little unhinged, did try his best to keep up appearances in front of others.
And they did have others watching them.
The guards at the front doors were here, along with another, very familiar carriage pulling up at the same fucking time. Vespertine’s carriage came to a halt just as Draken stepped out of Cass’ carriage and Cass could feel a headache brewing.
He didn’t want to deal with what felt like a giant fucking mess that was about to start.
Especially when Vespertine flung the door to his carriage open, forgetting about manners, and raced out of the carriage, his expression tight, his hat in place as he marched towards Cass. He stopped just inches away, not grabbing him like Cass felt he wanted to.
"What happened when you went to go select your own carriage, Cassian? And why is Draken with you?" His tone was accusing, and Cass was too tired for even his anger to flare. What fucking right did this man have over him? In fact, what rights did either of these men have over him?
"That’s none of your concern, Lord Vespertine." Cass told him coldly and Vespertine’s jaw dropped.
"None of my concern? None of my concern?! Are you serious? Of course it’s my concern!" Cass snorted, crossing his arms across his chest and glanced towards where Draken was watching them interact.
"I feel, Lord Vespertine, you should be more concerned about your ’sister’ when she comes back. She’s probably going to be crying." Cass told him and Vespertine’s eyes widened.
"What do you mean sister? Wait, are you talking about Ava? What did you say to her?" Cass let out a bark of laughter. What he said to her? Fuck. Way to ruin any good opinions or feelings Cass might have had for him.
Thanks for saving Cass the worry.
Cass felt his lips turn up, a dark sense of humour filling him.
"What did I say to her?" Cass repeated, and Vespertine, who had been staring at Draken, not even looking at Cass as he stood before him jerked. His already pale features turned a lighter shade and Cass could tell that he was going to try to backtrack. "No. Don’t even start. I won’t believe you, even if you do make excuses. I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted, because I will never be close to you like that again." Cass declared, and watched as Vespertine went even whiter.
Cass shook his head, done with these men.
"Cassian-" Vespertine started and Cass raised his hand, silencing him.
"Don’t even fucking start. Did you not hear me? I’m done with both of you. While I am appreciative of some of the things you both did today, it is not going to outweigh the shitty things you’ve done today as well. I want to see hide nor hair from either of you for a while." Draken’s eyes went wide.
"W-What did I do?" Draken asked, and Cass gave him a scathing look.
"Think back about what you spoke about in the carriage, and your actions, and maybe you’ll understand where you went wrong. I am not like you, Draken, so don’t try to think from your damn perspective. I was raised as a human noble. Act like one for once." Cass growled, before he turned towards the main doors. Sir Forsythe had been waiting behind him, ready to defend him if either of the others had reacted negatively to Cass’ words.
He appreciated it, while he was sure a human like Sir Forsythe wouldn’t be able to hold a candle against either of them. But the thought was what counts, right?
Sam was waiting by the door with the precious cargo. The basket was being guarded with the same gusto it had been in the morning, and Cass felt his lips turn up. He was appreciative of that behaviour, while also still impressed that Sam had been able to yank him from Draken’s grasp when Cass hadn’t been able to.
"Shall I escort you two back to your rooms before I bring the carriage back to the stables?" Sir Forsythe whispered to Cass and Cass hesitated for a second.
"No. Sam and I should be perfectly fine getting back to my chambers. While you are there, make sure to bring the stable master with you. We need to have...a long chat." A look crossed Sir Forsythe’s face before his eyes warmed, and his lips turned up slightly.
It seemed that Sir Forsythe was all for whatever Cass had planned. Good. Cass would have hated it if he had attempted to talk him out of yelling at the idiot.
"Understood, Sir." Sir Forsythe gave him a quick bow before he left Cass’ side. He just had Sam now, and the guards, after Cass gave them an intense glare, opened the doors.
Cass was ignoring the two men shouting and yelling behind him. He even tuned out when they called his name. Fuck them, truly. What an eventful, mostly awful day.
Sam was quiet as he led the way through the hallways. Cass didn’t mind. His head was full of thoughts, mostly of things he didn’t want to think about, but what could he do? There was a reason he filled his free time reading.
He didn’t like being in his head much.
"Do you plan to get some work done while we wait for Sir Forsythe to come back?" Sam asked carefully and Cass sighed. Sam had spoken up at the right time, his mind about to spiral about what had happened at the orphanage. Cass glanced around the hallway, taking in how nearly empty it was, but not completely. He could feel the eyes on him, even if he couldn’t directly see them.
His lips turned up slightly.
"No. I’m not going to get any work done. I am, in fact, going to do some light reading instead." Cass declared loudly, and Sam glanced at him, his brows furrowed.
"Are you sure? I am sure that the aide brought quite a bit of work for you." Sam said. Cass knew it was because he had been working diligently recently, but Cass chuckled.
"I had a rather exhausting day, don’t you think? Shouldn’t I be able to take a small break before I deal with even more exhausting issues?" He suggested and Sam looked a little uncomfortable before he smoothed out his features.
"Of course my Lord. I only suggested it, but you are right. Forgive me." Cass rolled his eyes, turning his gaze away again to smile to himself as he stared out the windows on the way to his chambers.
"It’s alright, Sam. I appreciate you looking out for my work as the next Duke." Cass hoped that the big ears listening reported everything back, because Cass was going to fucking get rid of everyone soon.
They rounded the last bend of the hallway, able to see the guards stationed outside of his doorway, as well as another, rather large form. Cass nearly stumbled as he realised who it was, while Sam gasped.
"No. That shouldn’t be possible." Sam whispered, clearly attempting to speak to himself. Cass’ hearing was just too good, and he caught what he said. Cass was in shock too.
The thing that gave away who it was was the sharp, vibrant shade of blue of his hair. Everything else felt...foreign. He looked up, sensing that they were approaching and Cass felt like he was looking at a different person. While he had been a decent height before, he had been small, like a child.
Now? Now he had truly grown up. What the fuck had Draken done to him?