Chapter 27: Chapter 27 - Quiet morning
Lilith didn’t object, since their wedding was still a day away and they would share a bedchamber regardless. She closed her eyes, wanting to rest to be stronger come morning.
The bed dipped as Cassian settled in behind her, and Lilith’s eyes opened at once.
The weight of his muscular arm coming to rest on her waist was what bothered her most.
"If you want to keep that arm, I suggest you move it from my waist. And why are you in bed with me? Aren’t you perfectly well?" Lilith inquired, too weak to remove Cassian’s arm herself.
"I can’t leave you here alone for another intruder to attack you," Cassian answered.
"There is a chair beside the bed. Surely you know how chairs work. You plant your buttocks on it. I’ve seen you do it once before," Lilith said, her irritation evident.
"You shouldn’t speak too much, Lilith. Your body must still be suffering from the poison you willingly consumed. Just rest," Cassian said, keeping his arm firmly around her.
Lilith summoned what little strength she had and tried to work her way out of his hold.
Cassian didn’t loosen his grip by so much as a fraction, giving Lilith no encouragement that she could break free. "Stop fighting this, Lilith. This is not a time you want to be alone. You say you are fine, but you yearn for company when you are left to yourself."
Lilith stilled in Cassian’s arms. Not because she had given up, but because he had read her so easily, and that unsettled her more than his presence did.
"I’m not viewing you as weak, Lilith. You are without the one servant you trusted most, and you can’t bring the others close because you want to keep them protected. Think of me as a large pillow offering warmth so you don’t feel alone," Cassian suggested, his voice low against the back of her head.
Silence settled over the chamber.
"Pillows don’t speak," Lilith said softly, but Cassian heard it.
Cassian smiled. "Very well," he agreed.
He couldn’t stay angry with Lilith for long. Had he killed the queen before coming to the castle, none of this would have become Lilith’s concern.
Lilith stared at the white wall, the chamber dark and quiet around her. She couldn’t deny that she was glad for the company, but she would never say it aloud.
"Could you move your hand? The chamber is dark, and I don’t feel comfortable with it resting on my waist," Lilith said, her voice quieter than before.
Lilith slid her hand beneath the pillow, frustrated at finding nothing there. Just in case Cassian’s behaviours shifted in the night, she needed something to reach for to protect herself.
Cassian moved his hand from her waist without a word, but let his little finger curl around hers to serve as a reminder through the night that he was there.
It took an hour for Lilith to fully relax into his presence, the tension leaving her body as she drifted off to sleep.
Cassian kept himself as still as he could manage. One wrong movement and Lilith could wake, reaching for something sharp. He knew better than to startle her.
Lilith carried a wound that would not easily close.
Even in the years of their marriage, when she had trusted him, Lilith had once woken in the dead of night and lunged at him with her dagger, her eyes open but her mind somewhere else entirely.
She had been remorseful and apologised, promising to do better, but when a life had been filled with countless attacks even in sleep, the body remembered long after the mind tried to forget.
Cassian watched Lilith as she slept. He needed to hear more about the plan she had devised, but for now, he let her rest.
When morning came, the sun’s rays began to ease through the chamber. Lilith opened her eyes to find Cassian still beside her, his breathing slow and even. His little finger still held hers. Their positions had not changed, and Lilith suspected he had not moved at all through the night.
Lilith wasn’t yet ready to rise and walk the castle, but at the very least, she felt well.
"Ready to move?" came Cassian’s voice.
"I thought you were asleep," Lilith said, turning her body slowly to face him. "You should have risen as soon as the sun’s light filled the chamber. Who has been watching over the castle in your absence? Keeping it in order?"
"I have reliable people who can take my place when needed. I would not look well in my wife’s eyes had I left her side while she was ill," Cassian said, but he knew better.
"I am a princess. I understand that the castle comes before me," Lilith said.
"How wrong you are. You come before the castle and the kingdom, Lilith. Always," Cassian said, his voice leaving no room for doubt.
"You were doing so well, and then you had to say something like this. My father was always distracted by women. They came before his duties. It doesn’t impress me as a compliment that you would neglect your duties for me. You mustn’t lose focus," Lilith advised Cassian as she stared directly into his eyes.
Cassian looked at her, a familiar warmth settling in his chest. It had felt like far too long since he had woken to her face in the morning.
"Trust me, I am not losing focus in the slightest," Cassian answered.
Lilith was not convinced. "It seems you are, but you haven’t noticed. Please tell me your soldiers haven’t caught Solomon or Thalia. You must track them to uncover the queen’s whereabouts."
"I’ve done just that. I have a small group of men following their trail. Just a few enough not to be noticed by either of them," Cassian informed her.
"You are wise. There is some hope for you," Lilith said, the faint approval catching Cassian’s attention.
"I shall take the compliment. I hope you have thought this through, Lilith. Solomon won’t be easily accepted by the queen. She will torture him, and if he is unlucky, she will kill him before he gets the chance to prove himself loyal," said Cassian.
"Taking credit for poisoning me will lower Thalia’s guard, and she will want to keep him close. The queen will imprison and torture him, but Solomon accepted that this wouldn’t be an easy task. I have faith in him," Lilith said, certain he would do well.
"And if he truly betrays you?"
"Then, my dear husband, you had better bring me Solomon’s head," Lilith replied, a smile forming.
