Page 196 of Golden Queen
"How?" I said, noting the daylight bathing the chamber.
Cassius paused and looked up, his smile only becoming more delighted. "Magic!" he said, raising his hands, including the one of mine he still held. He beatifically gestured towards the false sky. "Magic is a wonder, my dear. But you must see, come. Come!"
He pulled me along into another smaller room where little trays and paper cups lined a long table. I saw Io trailing behind us looking highly amused as he grinned at me from the doorway.
"Here, here," Cassius said, lifting a small white cup, gingerly. "Look!"
I moved closer to see a tiny, delicate-looking sprout that had just emerged from beneath the soil in the cup.
The stem was a light tan, almost white, but the two leaves jutting off from the plant—one of which still had its seed husk cradle around it, were shimmering gold.
"Godsgrass!" I said, stunned. Chills raced down the length of my arms.
"Indeed!" Cassius agreed happily. "We have done it! This is the first sprout to ever grow outside of your kingdom! The very first, since I'll wager those southern fools are still arguing about where to plant it."
"You grew it from a seed?" I asked.
"Indeed! From your coronation! I have a particular friend at the Presarion who sent me three of the precious things by bird. We planted it only yesterday, and this is the first of them to sprout, though I have no doubt the others will as well."
I shook my head. "I half thought it was a trick—that someone had thrown the seeds out at my feet!"
Cassius laughed. "They were real enough, as you can see. We have long wondered how the godsgrass sprouts from the ground and yet has no bulb and never goes to seed. I have spent many years personally trying to uncover the secrets. Was your blood truly the key?"
I shrugged. "That's what it looked like, though I don't pretend to understand."
"Then I must have your blood!" Cassius said excitedly.
"Absolutely not," Io said before I could answer.
Cassius looked slightly abashed. "Only a little, my dear. Just a few drops, really. And if I am to confirm your mating bond, well it will only be a bit more than that."
"I would be glad to give you as much as you need, especially if it means your research here could lead to less hunger in the world. Don't mind the very serious looking man over my shoulder," I told the master, giving Io, behind me, a dirty look.
Io tilted his head, though I saw the corners of his mouth threatening to rise.
"Tread carefully, Master Cassius," Io said. "I would not like to have it even more widely known that my mate's blood is the key to the godsgrass mystery."
"Oh, of course not, of course not," Cassius said seriously. "We will keep it strictly confidential whatever we find. Though you must know the story of her coronation miracle has already more than crossed the continent."
I did not like the sound of mycoronation miracle. It made it sound like I set out to do it when it had been no more than me submitting to the same ceremony every ruler of Windemere had undertaken since Edgeon, the First, had been crowned.
"Yes, Master, but stories are only stories until the Citadel confirms them," Io added.
"True, true. That is true enough. But there are elements to this story that we must speak of. And we should perhaps do so in a more private area."
That sounded rather ominous. I couldn't help the apprehension that dogged my steps as we followed Master Cassius to his office.
It was a cluttered, but warm and inviting space with a large desk piled high with papers. Several well-worn leather armchairs were shoved in amongst the mess.
Books covered every wall and every table surface. They were stacked on the floor nearly to my shoulders, tumbling down in piles that forced us to pick our way gingerly along a trail through the room.
When we were seated across from him at his desk, Cassius leaned forward and steepled his fingers. "Your note said you have some questions for me regarding the Arkyllan prophecy. I have compiled everything I have on it and taken the liberty of making some annotations here."
"I sent him a note last night," Io said, from the chair at my side. "To be sure he wasn't too deep in the tunnels."
Cassius nodded. "To be sure! Some of them are nearly a day's journey away even by the rail system we have in place."
"What do you look for in the tunnels exactly?" I asked, curious about their work in the mountains.
