Chapter 78: Falsely accused
BANG BANG BANG
"Lord Blackburn is still resting! He is not awake yet!"
"I don’t care! What he is doing is cruel and needs to be put to a stop! His damn guard won’t even listen to me!"
"My Lord needs his rest! He only has three days till-"
"I don’t care! I need to speak with him!" Cass rustled against the black sheets, his vision a little blurry as all the loud noise right outside his door made it hard for him to remain asleep. What on earth was all that shouting about? What was going on?
Was that Lady Fiona?
The door flung off its hinges, surprising everyone, even Lady Fiona. Her face, which had been contorted into an angry, aggressive face, turned to one of surprise, before it shifted to shock.
Cass couldn’t understand why she was looking at him like that as he sat up, rubbing his eye of sleepy cats. He ran his hand over his face completely, before pushing his hair out of his face with a yawn.
"There were more polite ways to go about that." He muttered, still sleepy. Sam was beside Lady Fiona, his expression worried, and behind them was Draken, and Lord Ridgewood. Draken was staring in shock at Cass, while Lord Ridgewood didn’t look surprised in the slightest.
Sam rushed forward, towards Cass, but Lady Fiona thrust her arm out and nearly clotheslined the man. Sam choked, falling to his knees, and Cass felt a tinge of anger at her actions. Sam did not deserve to be treated that way.
"No good morning? Hello? What has brought all three of you into my chambers at this ungodly hour?" Cass demanded, yawning again before he stretched. Lady Fiona cleared her throat, her face falling back into anger as she looked him over.
"You truly have no idea? Do you not reflect on your actions after you make orders?" She was very angry, and Cass glanced at Sam. Vespertine wasn’t here, so maybe...
Was she mad that he kissed him yesterday?
It was valid, but like, was now the right time to get so angry about it? And to bring an entourage?
Cass was still tired from how late he’d stayed up reading. It had really done something to his anger levels to just lay down in bed and read a new romance. He had a feeling that Lord Blackburn, if he hadn’t read romances during when he had control of his body, he was enjoying them now that Cass was reading them. At least, that was what he hoped considering how quickly the anger had faded after he opened the book. That, and he had made sure to pick away at the food remaining in the basket.
He couldn’t seem to forget the taste of the...drink that he’d had yesterday, and it was really fucking up his ability to eat the food Sam had made him. He’d felt guilty, so he’d tried to eat as much as he could while filling his head up with the story plot.
Whoever had written it had done a pretty good job.
"Lord Blackburn!" Cass jerked, his cheeks warming as he realised that his thoughts had wandered too much, especially for the situation. He sighed, glancing at the fuming Lady Fiona, before he shook his head and tossed the blankets off of his legs and turned to get out of the bed.
"What? You woke me up from dead sleep. I’m not awake enough to deal with your anger, Lady Fiona. I have never stormed into your chambers when you were asleep, now have I?"
"It’s past time for breakfast, Lord Blackburn. You are sleeping in." She was fuming, and Cass was honestly a little upset that he had slept in so late. He had planned to use that time they went to breakfast to go pester the ’gods’. Now he couldn’t without running into Lady Ava.
"Ah, well, I did have a rather chaotic day yesterday." Cass said, covering his mouth as he yawned again. He could feel Draken’s gaze on him, but he refused to look at him. He could also feel Lord Ridgewood’s’ gaze on him as well, but he turned his attention to Sam. "Sam, are you alright?" Cass asked and Lady Fiona stomped her foot, hating being ignored. Honestly, she was behaving like a petulant child, and Cass did not find it amusing. "Lady Fiona, throwing a fit because I am not speaking to you is highly inappropriate for someone of your standing." Cass chastised and her face heated. Her eyes were alive in her face, and Cass shook his head.
"Don’t you dare speak to me that way. You do not get to belittle me after what you are up to! Do you think just because I’ve left you alone for a while that you are allowed to do whatever you wanted? I thought you were better than your family name, but it was clear that I was wrong!" Cass was sure his face was creased with confusion as he stared at her.
He let out a laugh, throwing his head back as he did so.
"Better than my family name huh? Is that what you truly think of me? Tell me, are you actually upset because it’s something you believe that I have done wrong, or is it because Lady Ava is upset?" He could see it now. Vespertine was with her to comfort her for whatever Cass had done, while Lady Fiona came to confront him.
What a fucking liar.
Draken paled as Cass continued to laugh, shaking his head.
"You lot fucking disgust me." Cass told her, and Lady Fiona stumbled, like she had been hit. Her eyes widened, and her angry expression shifted to one of shock before shifting back to anger. Cass shook his head.
"L-Lady Ava has-"
"Don’t lie to me." Cass cut her off, shaking his head. "At the very least, don’t do that. You clearly already think I’m guilty of some horrendous crime, while I am practically telling you I have no idea what it is that you are accusing me of. How I put up with this behaviour for so long is actually blowing my mind." Cass told her and she swallowed as Cass shook his head. "Sam, go fetch me something to wear. By the time you come back, I am sure that this will be sorted out one way or another." Cass’ tone held a finality to it that had Draken stepping forward. Sam raced off, not glancing back at his Lord.
"It’s about the stablemaster, Cassian." Draken said, and Lady Fiona cast him a hard look. Cass was actually surprised that he had stepped forward to tell him what the issue was, but now that he had, he could understand why Lady Ava was having such a hard time dealing with it. Cass laughed.
"Oh, I had no idea that punishing my employees was something I had to discuss with the rest of the group." Lady Fiona gasped.
"Punishing? It’s downright torture, Lord Blackburn! He’s screaming and crying for mercy!" The rage that Cass had worked on controlling all night yesterday lit up in a heartbeat. The smile that touched his lips was twisted, he knew it, and the laughter that left his lips was downright sinister. Lady Fiona took a few steps back as Cass moved towards her, his arms crossed.
"Oh, is he begging? That’s good to hear. I am actually showing him a great kindness, Lady Fiona, by not having his limbs removed and keeping him alive. Whipping him for a full 24 hours is actually a blessing I am bestowing upon him, especially given the infractions he has committed against me." Lady Fiona, faced with the pure, unaltered rage that was inside of Cass, flinched.
"T-That is still a bit-"
"What kind of infractions are you speaking of?" Lord Ridgewood asked, and Cass glanced at him. He was being serious, and again, he couldn’t fight the fact that he had liked him the most for his practical views on everything. Sighing, Cass ran a hand over his face before he grumbled.
"Some of you won’t believe me without evidence, so let’s go to my study." Cass breezed past the trio and moved down the hallway. He didn’t bother telling Sam that they had moved since he was sure he could hear the group moving behind him. They certainly weren’t quiet.
When Cass opened the door to his study, he was surprised to find Byron inside, moving some stacks of papers around. He paused when he saw them, before bowing to Cass deeply.
"Forgive me, my Lord. I was just bringing in some more stacks of paperwork they had given you. I have not touched any of the stacks you had moved yourself." Lady Fiona stuttered in her steps as she realised how much work Cass had prepared for him, while Cass was more focused on the fact that it didn’t smell like urine in here.
He heard Draken sniff loudly behind him, before he made a quiet, disgusted noise and Byron’s lips twitched.
"Well, that’s alright. I assume Sam gave you permission?" He asked and Byron nodded. Then everything was fine. He also had a feeling that Byron was checking to make sure someone else hadn’t used the passage again. How cute. He was making sure he was useful to him. "Then that’s fine. We’re only going to be a few minutes. Go let Sam know we’ve changed venues." Byron nodded, glancing at Draken, before he shuffled away.
"I trained him for a week and already he forgets who took care of him." Draken huffed as soon as Byron was out of the room. Cass smirked.
"No, he has not forgotten who takes care of him in the slightest." Cass commented, and Draken shut up while Cass went for his desk and grabbed the piles of paper he had been looking through before they had arrived with the main cause of this whole damn issue last night. When he was too wound up to read anything for enjoyment.
He passed over the papers to Lady Fiona, but it was clearly lost on her. Lord Ridgewood took the papers when offered to him and he looked through them. His eyebrows shot up as he continued to read, flipping through the papers slowly, methodically before glancing at Cass. Cass had his arms crossed, defensive. He knew that whatever Lord Ridgewood said would be taken as the truth, no matter what was written down.
It was frustrating, but it was the reality he was in right now. Being a villain didn’t have many perks when it came to defending yourself, and keeping relationships intact.
When Lord Ridgewood put down the papers, he shook his head, his expression grim.
"Lady Fiona," he began, and everyone but Draken tensed, "Lord Blackburn is completely in the right. Not only has the man embezzled thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of gold from the Blackburn family, it is clear from these papers that he has been up to something quite nefarious. He is letting him off lightly with the discipline he is enacting, and I am actually upset that he is letting him off so lightly after reading such a detailed list of crimes committed." Lord Ridgewood’s’ jaw hardened. "It does not reflect well on us if the common folk think that they can take us so lightly." Lady Fiona’s jaw dropped while Lord Ridgewood turned towards Cass. "I am actually quite impressed with your organisation method. Is this a new method you were taught? Is it exclusive to the Blackburn family?" Cass flinched.
"Uh, no. I just...thought of it on my own?" Lord Ridgewood froze, before a slight smile touched his lips.
"Ah, you thought of it on your own? But of course. You are a genius in magic after all, who is to say you aren’t a genius in other areas, hmm?" Cass felt a shiver run down his spine. What the hell did he mean by that?