Page 92 of Ties of Dust

“I’m not going to my rooms.”

No one was listening to her, however, the queen already issuing orders to the servant who’d fetched the former ambassador.

“Cassius.” Flora was looking up at him anxiously, her quiet words tumbling over each other. “Don’t let them separate us. Don’t let them hide me away somewhere, or they’ll never let me back out.”

“Flora, they can’t, remember?” He squeezed her hand, his voice as low as hers. “It’s not physically possible.”

Realization came into Flora’s eyes, and he felt her relaxagainst him. She’d actually forgotten. It seemed that being reinserted into the environment she’d fled from had made her forget a lot of who she’d become in the intervening five years.

“I never thought I’d be grateful for the tether,” she murmured.

Cassius gave a tight smile. “It doesn’t matter,” he assured her. “Even without it, I wouldn’t let them separate us.”

It was time to assert himself.

“Please do not make preparations on my account,” he said loudly. “I’m not interested in accommodations or state dinners. I’m here because Flora wished to come, and I accompanied her. But I need to return to my own kingdom urgently, to prevent the schemes of the men who abducted me—men who were not representatives of either Torrens or Siqual,” he added for good measure.

“Floriana, what were you thinking to interrupt the prince’s journey?” scolded the queen.

She nodded to a servant, who moved forward to whisk Flora away. Flora clung stubbornly to Cassius, and he drew her fingers through his arm and into his hand.

“Let me speak more clearly.” His voice was cold and austere. “Flora is my affianced wife and the future queen of Carrack. I will not allow her to be bullied.”

The queen looked offended, but the king cleared his throat before she could speak.

“Your Highness, we were not aware that Carrack sought to make a marriage of alliance with Dernan. We are willing to discuss the possibility, but naturally negotiations will be necessary to establish terms.”

“Naturally,” Cassius agreed coolly.

“We are not in a position to offer our daughter Floriana’s hand,” the king continued. “But we have another unmarried daughter who would be more fitting for the honored role you propose.”

Indignation swelled within Cassius, but Flora jumped in before he could say something he might regret.

“No.” She was scowling at her parents. “Alianora can’t have him, because he’s mine.”

“Floriana,tryto behave in accordance with your station,” the queen hissed.

But Cassius was fighting down a laugh. “She’s entirely right,” he said. “I have no interest in a marriage alliance with Flora’s sister. My interest is solely in her.”

The three other royals stared at him, apparently struggling to believe that the foreign prince could really want to marry the thorn in their side.

“It seems the advantage of an alliance would be all on Carrack’s side, then,” the king said dryly. “We have something you want—two things, I imagine—but I’m yet to discover what Carrack would offer Dernan in the alliance.”

Cassius took a moment to compose himself. His anger was flaring, both at the slight to his much more powerful kingdom and at the way they spoke about Flora. She hadn’t exaggerated when she called herself a resource rather than a daughter. But losing his temper wouldn’t help.

“What’s the second thing?” Flora asked her father. “Let me guess—chameleon steel?”

“We are aware that the Carrackian king has been eager to get his hands on our stores for some years,” her father said coolly.

Flora gave a mocking laugh. “Well go on, then. Show Prince Cassius what he has to gain from an alliance. Give him a tour of your large stores of chameleon steel.”

“Floriana.” Her brother’s hiss caught Cassius’s interest. He sounded alarmed as well as disapproving.

Cassius looked between Flora and her family. “What is it?”

“A private matter, Your Highness,” the queen said firmly. “If you truly wish to form an alliance around a marriage between yourself and Princess Floriana, your father will undoubtedly make contact with us once you return to your home. In the meantime, the princess will of course stay here, where you can be sure she will be well cared for.”

“I flatly refuse to stay here without Cassius,” Flora said. “And we don’t have time for proper process. The Peninsula is on the edge of a crisis. Cassius and I wish to marry.” She glanced up at him and corrected herself. “We’re determined to marry. But Dernan can’t offer the military support Carrack needs if the continent is planning aggression. What Carrack really needs is an alliance with Siqual. And that’s what we’re here to broker.”

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