Chapter 80: A fly on the wall
Dressed to impress, Cass was ready to go harass the creatures who sent him here after he’d had a bit of food, and a lot of tea. Between Sam and Byron, he was well taken care of, and ready to face whatever chaos he was going to come face to face with in the mansion.
He was sure that because of the disturbance this morning, several of the people in the mansion would be on their guard now. Cass hadn’t left his chambers, but when Sam came back with his food, he had a rather stern expression on his face.
Cass could take that one of three ways.
One, everyone was pissed at him. The people who were spies were angry and were going to lash out. The people who were innocent would be mad because one of their fellow employees was getting punished.
Two, everyone was afraid of him. The people who were spies were terrified and were going to try to suck up to him to prove they were an asset. The people who were innocent could potentially try to run or hide from him.
Three, a mixture of one and two combined. The snakes would try to hide in the grass, while the grass trembled and shook. Cass had a feeling he already knew what the answer was, he just didn’t like it.
Alright, time to head to the temple.
Cass pushed open the doors, and the guards outside stiffened at the sight of him. Cass didn’t pay them any mind, and continued down the hall without speaking to them. Byron had insisted on coming with them, not wanting to leave him and Sam alone while the animosity in the mansion was high.
Cass couldn’t exactly argue with him, even if he knew that Sam was probably more dangerous then Byron. But, he was big, and that sometimes was a deterrent all on its own.
Sam held his head up high, following after Cass as he took the main staircase down to head to the temple. There wasn’t really another option, but with the direction he was going, he was going in the opposite direction that he had told Sir Forsythe to put the stablebitch on display.
Really, he was potentially walking into the eye of the storm, but also, it was the safest route. Unless someone fucked that up.
Halfway down the steps, his henchmen holding their breaths, the front doors slammed open and wailing could be heard. Several fast footsteps followed suit before the doors slammed shut behind whoever had entered.
"Ava, please calm down!" Well well well. If it wasn’t the wonderful brother and sister duo.
Lady Ava swept into the main hall, sobbing into her hands as she stumbled into the mansion. She was wearing a similar brown dress as she had been when Cass had first woken up in this world, but her hair was a mess around her shoulders, and the sobs actually sounded like they hurt. Cass winced, making a face as he heard the sounds come from her.
Vespertine looked worse for wear. His normally princely attire was in disarray, his hat was barely on his head, and he looked as if he had bags under his eyes. He simply looked exhausted, and worn out, and Cass assumed that Lady Ava looked much the same, but her hands covered her face.
"I cannot! This is just too cruel! Not even Fifi agrees with me!" Cass halted, surprised at that. What? Lady Fiona didn’t agree with her? Had she already spoken to Lady Ava? Or had that just happened? Or was it something else entirely?
Odd. Cass didn’t expect that from her. Maybe he should have. She was, after all, the heroine of this story.
Vespertine’s sigh could be heard from where he was and he ran his hand over his face.
"There is a very good reason for why Cassian is doing this, Ava! I don’t understand why you aren’t listening to me when I’ve told you this over and over. He has every right as a noble to persecute people who commit crimes against him and his family name! Just because you view it as an injustice, does not mean that it is! You can’t jump to conclusions without knowing the whole truth!" Cass quietly snorted. That was rich, coming from him.
Had he not jumped to a conclusion just yesterday? Hypocrite.
"That’s not what the temple teaches! Any form of violence is against the teachings!" Lady Ava protested. "This is wrong. He’s a human. We should not be treating our own kind this way. We should...we should sit down and talk this out. Not behave like-like savage beasts!" Uh oh. That could take a turn. Cass didn’t think Lady Ava was racist, but that sounded very suspiciously like something one could say if they wanted to discriminate. Vespertine groaned.
"What doctrine have you been reading, Ava? Violence has never been outlawed in the teachings, especially after the third rewrite of the teachings! Are you talking about that god you speak to all the time? The one who preaches purity? Ava, you know we don’t listen to just one god, right? We can’t. It would go against the basic teachings that have never changed, especially since multiple gods made up our origins." Cass felt like he was hearing something he shouldn’t.
He hoped they didn’t notice him any time soon.
"But if I am able to hear the voice of gods, then what am I supposed to do? Ignore what they are teaching me? I don’t like what he is doing, and Fifi won’t stop it! I thought he was a friend, but he is clearly against the temple if he behaves this way!" Vespertine snapped.
"No, Ava, you are acting against the temple with your actions! I have warned you, over and over, that yes, you do have an incredible gift, but you need to be honed and taught how to use your gift. You refused to go to the main temple to be taught because you wanted to travel with Fiona. Father only accepted that if you were to be taught the proper teachings from me. So far, you have made almost no progress, and you refuse to read anything that doesn’t pertain to this...this honestly, Ava? Discriminatory God that speaks to you. It worries me, Ava. Do you know what you sound like? A demon worshiper." Cass covered his mouth, shocked.
Holy shit. This was almost better than television.
Lady Ava whipped towards him, uncovering her face and showed the anger in her expression.
"How dare you! I am supposed to be the next High Priestess! I am supposed to be the leader of the temple! Who are you to tell me that I am not doing the right thing when it comes to what I believe?" Cass was surprised by the anger, and vitriol in her voice. It also appeared to surprise Vespertine, but he set his jaw.
"I am the son of the current High Priest, and the only reason I am not inheriting the position is because Father wanted to give you a chance. Do you honestly think that you can inherit the position without my consent?" He bent, and Cass swore he could see Vespertine’s blue eyes glow from where he was standing. "If I said so, Ava, you would be stripped of everything you were given. Your title, your position, your safety. It would be wise for you to realise the mistake you are making before someone less kind than Cassian shows you the truth. I have babied you for too long, and I now see I need to change my ways quickly. Or else a spoiled brat will take the throne and run the temple into the ground with bigotry and hatred." Vespertine sniffed, staring down at Lady Ava. He honestly looked like he was staring at filth under his shoe, and Cass shivered.
Fuck. He might need to get lessons from Vespertine on how to look at someone like that. It was certainly villainous.
Lady Ava let out another sob, before covering her face and fleeing. Vespertine covered his face with both hands, while Cass tried to remain as still as possible on the stairs.
Oh fuck.
That was intense, and something he had never expected to happen.
Previously, Vespertine had never had this kind of conversation with Lady Ava. Cass didn’t think he ever had to. Was it because they hadn’t encountered any human-like monsters yet in the dungeons? He didn’t think that was the case.
Cass could understand why Vespertine was getting all worked up, but why did he bring up Lord Blackburn’s name at the end? Cass wasn’t trying to prove anything to her. He was just trying to scare his grandfather’s people that a cleansing was coming. As far as he knew, it wasn’t Lady Ava who was affiliated with him, just her blood related brother.
That was also a lot to process. Lady Ava was speaking to a god? Kind of like Cass, he guessed, but it did explain why the ’gods’ told him that they were similar or some shit. Was she speaking to the same ’god’?
Pity, if that was the case, and he could understand why her beliefs were twisting. They didn’t exactly seem ’normal’. Pretty unhinged, but Cass had to wonder, was anyone who called themselves a ’god’ truly sane?
He didn’t think so.
Cass wondered how long Vespertine was going to stand there, forcing Cass to remain in the middle of the staircase, but as soon as he had that thought, Vespertine groaned before he swept out of the main hall, not even glancing in Cass’ direction as he moved to a part of the mansion Cass never bothered to go to.
Where the rest of the men stayed.
Cass took this as his chance, and scurried away, off towards the ’gods’ that Lady Ava worshipped, and Vespertine clearly tolerated.