Chapter 33: Chapter 33 - Rules
"Well, aren’t you going to do it?" Lilith inquired, finally looking up from the cat to Cassian. Her fingers lingered on the creature’s soft fur. "I am serious. It just might lower my guard, and I might have a stroke of love for you."
"I am not a fool, Lilith. You would only laugh at me," Cassian replied, unwilling to go so low.
"Well, we’ll never know until you get down on your feet. I don’t believe you having this cat is a mere coincidence. I am more likely to believe that you have been watching me all along," Lilith concluded, certain Cassian was her stalker.
Lilith wondered how long Cassian had harboured this interest in her. "Have you always admired me in secret? What drew you to me? Was it my wit or my beauty? Or were you like one of those men who merely wanted to lie with a princess?"
"Don’t compare me to other men. You have a special personality compared to your family. That is why I felt drawn to you," Cassian confessed.
"Is that so? I recall you saying that I was like the other Beauforts," Lilith said, unable to forget the sting of his words. "You insulted and wounded me with that."
"I meant that you can be heartless just like your family. Just as you don’t have any regrets about what you did, I don’t have any regrets about what I said. I meant it," Cassian said, standing firm.
Lilith set the cat down on the floor, letting it explore its new surroundings. "At least you have a backbone. It would have bothered me if you bent to my will, though I do love controlling a man. We’re both allowed to disagree, speak, and move forward."
"Promise me that we won’t spend days lingering on arguments. The castle is not yet settled, so to be distracted arguing with each other would only get us both killed," Lilith said, ready to move on.
"As long as you can share your plans with me, we won’t have to argue. We should set some ground rules for this marriage, just so we understand each other and know our places," Cassian suggested, determined not to let the incident repeat.
Lilith nodded as she walked back to finish her breakfast. The aroma of bread woke a hunger which needed to be filled. "Now we are getting somewhere. I’ll hear your demands first."
"No poisoning and no lovers," Cassian started, his voice firm.
"I have already promised you that neither one will continue. As for me, I don’t care if you poison yourself, and you must be careful with any lovers, should you have any," Lilith said, repeating what she had stated earlier.
It ticked Cassian off to hear about lovers.
"I won’t have any lovers, Lilith. I plan to be loyal to my wife," Cassian assured her. "And I’m not suicidal like you."
"Not yet," Lilith corrected him, her lips curling faintly. "We both have duties to fulfil. We won’t need to turn to lovers as long as we are satisfying ourselves with each other. We’ll need an heir eventually."
"Are we to arrange the nights we shall be intimate?"
"What are you, a priest? We’ll be intimate whenever we are in the mood. I only hope that you aren’t the kind of man who wants to have sex at every hour of the day. It shouldn’t be all that you think about," said Lilith, her tone dry as it annoyed her to think he would always want sex.
"I am not some kind of beast, Lilith. I know how to control myself," Cassian promised.
Lilith picked up her fork and continued to eat, the crunch of bread filling the silence. "I hope you stay true to all that you say. That should make this marriage work well for us. Are there more rules?"
"If you are facing trouble, then tell me. I will respect you and do the same. If anyone from my side bothers you, inform me before you plot to kill them," Cassian said, needing Lilith to wait before she acted.
"I can do so. I would rather you take care of them than have to bother myself with them. I’m curious what kind of man you are. If I ignore those on your side, but they bother me, what would you do? Would you speak to them, or are you too cowardly to get in the middle?" Lilith questioned, studying Cassian’s expression, her eyes narrowing as she read him.
"I am a fair man," Cassian spoke as he walked towards the bed. "And I happen to like peace, so I send away anyone who doesn’t know how to act."
Lilith smiled, amused. "You are saying all the right words. My hopes for you are high. I hope that when the moment calls for you to back me, I will not be disappointed. It only takes one instance for me to lose faith in you."
"And what of you, Lilith? If one of your people troubles me, would you defend me?" Cassian questioned, taking a seat on the bed, the mattress creaking under his weight.
"Fortunately for you, I don’t have too many people on my side. My servants won’t trouble you, and as for my family, I hate most of them, so I would kill them for the pleasure of it if they trouble you. Happy?" Lilith asked before taking a bite of bread.
"Hearing you would kill for me warms my heart," said Cassian, his tone softening.
"If I manipulate you, it is because you make it too easy. Whenever I say what you want to hear, you sit there smiling like a fool. If you’re gullible and get used, you only have yourself to blame. How did you win wars?" Lilith wondered, staring at Cassian.
Her gaze soon fell back down to her plate. "You’re not like I imagined you."
"You thought of me?"
"Why wouldn’t I? To kill my father, I would have needed to kill every man loyal to him, who would have hunted me. I thought of how I would kill you. It’s not personal. It’s war," Lilith said before Cassian could take it personally. "You are simpler than I imagined."
Mary’s words came back to Lilith. That Cassian was terrifying.
Lilith still didn’t see Cassian that way, but then again, she hadn’t seen all sides of him.
What was Cassian like when he was with others?
’He killed them with ease,’ Lilith thought of Michael and her father’s deaths.
Lilith stared at Cassian, trying to understand why he was holding back with her.
