A feeling of trepidation blossoms in my stomach. I press my hand to my chest, waiting for any hint that a blade vision is about to consume me.
“You didn’t know,” Cassia whispers.
I give a small shake of my head.
Her eyes become hollow, and my dread is unbearable when she says, “Antony’s mother was slaughtered with the rest of the Vividari.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Thyra
Antony’s mother was murdered?
My heart hurts, and my stomach churns. “He told me his father killed the Vividari.”
Cassia’s face is blank, expressionless. “Our father ensured the Vividari were butchered.”
“But how…?” I struggle to comprehend how it could have happened. “How could any soldier carry out a command like that when the Vividari kept your kingdom safe?”
“Oh, no Iron Fae would ever touch a Vividari.” Cassia’s face is pale, her grimace brutal. “Our fucking insane father went into the bloodlands, captured a vampyr, and set it loose on the tribe. That starving creature tore through the tribe so savagely that their starlight power couldn’t repel it. When its work was done, Father killed it. Heroically, of course.” Her lips twist. “What a tragedy he didn’t get there in time to save the tribe.”
My hand claws at my heart. I find myself recalling every moment that Antony spoke of vampyrs. Every moment when he talked about his father. The way he demanded that I breakthe curse, the unyielding determination in his eyes. And finally, the way he told me not to look away right before darkness spread across the sky.
Don’t look away.
I can’t hear him in the other room, but he has the ability to move so quietly, he could be pacing furiously, and I wouldn’t know. I’m also certain that, if he chooses to listen, he can hear every word we say.
Cassia lowers herself onto the bench beside the dress, seeming not to care about the other clothing she sits on.
She rests her palm on the dress, a reverent touch. “Her name was Aeliana Vividari. She was more powerful than any Vividari before her, but she wasn’t conceited or cruel. She was kind. Far, far too good for a man like our father.”
Cassia clears her throat. “Mymother, the woman who now sits at the head of the Starlit Court, her name is Galla Vividari. Our father took Galla as his mistress a mere day after Antony was born. He didn’t hide his affair, and worse, he refused to allow Aeliana to go back to her family. He kept her here in this fucking Constellation, taunting her, belittling her?—”
Cassia’s voice chokes, and now her entire body is tense, her fingers scrunching in the silver material before she takes another deep breath and relaxes her hand. “Victor was born barely nine months after Antony. He was illegitimate. Hadrian and I were, too. When Aeliana was killed, our father took Galla as his second wife, legitimizing us.”
“How old were you,” I ask quietly, “when Aeliana was killed?”
“I was nine. Antony was eleven. It happened not long after the Ember Fae attacked Victor. It was a terrible time.”
She runs her hand along the silver material again, gentle sweeps now, her face downcast.
“You miss her,” I say, waiting for Cassia to deny it.
“Aeliana was always kind to me. Never hateful, even though she could have been. I sensed the pain in her eyes when she looked at me, but I was too young to understand it at the time. I understand now.”
Cassia raises her eyes to mine. “Antony calls GallaMotherbecause she hates it.”
I recall every twist of Antony’s lips when he uses that word, even the derision in his tone when he refers to ‘our mother’ while conversing with his siblings.
“Mother wanted this material for her coronation,” Cassia says. “She intended to deconstruct the dress and use its threads for her own gown. Antony hid it from her for as long as he could, but when he feared she’d find it, he gave it to me and asked me to burn it. He wanted to make sure Galla could never get her hands on it.”
No wonder Antony said that wearing this dress wouldn’t be wise.
Cassia’s green eyes suddenly burn with a fire I wasn’t expecting. “If you wear even a shred of this material, Mother will recognize it.”
Her dark smile grows. “You should do it. If you present yourself publicly in this gown, dressed like a fucking Lethian Queen, it will drive her crazy. She won’t be able to do a thing about it. For once, someone can beat her at her own game.”
I take a sharp breath. “You hate her.”
