Chapter 28: Chapter 28 - At odds
"Now, do you mind getting out of bed? Wasn’t one night of lying beside me enough to satisfy your fantasy?" Lilith asked, her patience for the closeness finally at its limit.
"No, it wasn’t, but I am grateful I didn’t wake up with a dagger at my throat."
"It is because I don’t have one. I must get out of this chamber," Lilith said, yearning for the comfort of her chamber. "The smell of medicine is unbearable. I need to go to my bedchamber."
"Don’t you mean our bedchamber? I meant what I said last night, and you will not succeed in changing my mind," Cassian said as he sat up, his hand still holding her finger. "Your belongings are being moved to my bedchamber as we speak."
"Wonderful. Have me be seen as your spoil of war. The bastard princess was taken by the murderous duke before they could even wed. I’m quite certain the kingdom will enjoy speaking of how I have been sullied by the tyrant," Lilith said, her voice flat as she laid out the story others would construct.
"Lilith, I am not the first man you have been with," Cassian reminded her.
"No, but the kingdom doesn’t know that. Until we wed, I will stay in a bedchamber beside your own, but not with you. A woman must protect her reputation. If you haven’t noticed, being a bastard already puts me in an awful position," said Lilith.
Cassian said nothing. The silence stretched between them.
Lilith broke it. "I’m not going anywhere. With Solomon gone, I imagine it seems easy to push me around, but I assure you it is not. Try to control me, and one of us won’t be waking the next time there is poison in the room."
"Lilith!" Cassian’s voice came out sharp.
"For a man who went off to war, you become so unsettled when death is mentioned. How disappointing," Lilith said, her gaze moving away from him. "When I accepted this marriage, I thought I was getting a man I wouldn’t need to tiptoe around. I was wrong."
"Must you always be this way, Lilith?"
"What way? Honest?" Lilith questioned. "I hope you didn’t think that one night lying side by side changed anything between us. Did you expect me to suddenly be warm?"
Lilith pressed her lips together against the smile threatening to show. "Please tell me I am not the first woman you have been with. I would hate to have to hold your hand through the entirety of our marriage."
Cassian released her finger and rose from the bed. "No, you are not the first, but you will be the last. You are in no position to dictate what happens between us, Lilith. I hold all the power here, and you will be moving to my bedchamber."
"I tried to work with you at first, remember? Then we started over, and with that, you became my captive who will become my wife. Pull any more reckless stunts, and there will be consequences," Cassian said, his voice dropping to something dangerous.
Lilith chuckled. "Like what?"
"I can start with that maid you’re so fond of. Her name is Mary, is it not?" Cassian asked, watching the laughter leave Lilith’s face. "You might be ready to face death, but is she?"
The room felt smaller for Lilith.
"Wonderful. I’m marrying a replica of my father. Threatening to hurt the people you think I care for. Let’s see how far that takes you," Lilith said, implanting this memory in her mind so she never forgets.
"You pushed me to it, Lilith. Your dangerous little stunt last night was my breaking point. Why should I do things your way when I am the one in control of the castle? I own you, Lilith."
"My father made the same mistake of thinking he owned me. As did Michael and many other men in this castle-"
"Those men are no longer alive, and I am the one who killed them. I admire how sharp you are, and the fact that you don’t back down, but it is time you recognised the position you are in," said Cassian.
Lilith let out a dry chuckle that carried no warmth. "Amusing. You were the one who said you would stand behind me. That I would sit on the throne as queen while you served as my husband. How quickly all of that changes."
Cassian folded his arms. "Well, I didn’t expect my future bride to poison herself."
"At least I shared my plans with you."
"No, Lilith. You kept me in the dark to make your plot more convincing, and I am certain it worked on your enemies, but it doesn’t change the fact that you used me. And in the cruellest way possible by letting me believe you were dying," Cassian said, his voice shaking.
Cassian looked down at the floor. "You didn’t think of how I would react. Why would you, when you don’t care for me?"
"If you already have the answer, why are you asking me, Cassian? Everyone around me has the power to act freely without resorting to harming themselves. I use what I have to get what I want. This is who I am. You are welcome not to marry me," Lilith offered, giving Cassain the chance to change his mind.
"I’m not going back on my plans, Lilith. We are going to be married. You said yourself that marriages in the castle don’t remain perfect. If you plot behind my back, it is bound to be a troubled one," said Cassian.
"I used you," Lilith said, the admission coming out without hesitation. "I did it, and I will do it again. I plotted behind your back, and it won’t be the last time. But what I did differently with you, compared to anyone else I have used, was to tell you in the end."
"I didn’t intend to tell you about Solomon finding the queen’s whereabouts, nor did I intend to confess to the poisoning, but I did. To spare myself the pain of sitting through a lengthy conversation about how I have hurt you, next time I will simply keep my plans to myself," Lilith decided, her voice perfectly composed.
Lilith turned to face the wall. She wanted to be left alone to heal in peace.
"You know, Lilith," Cassian said, his voice low. The calmness in his voice was somehow worse than the anger. "You might not see it, but in some ways, you are just like the other Beauforts."
Cassian walked out of the chamber before Lilith objected.
