Cassian pulled at the stiff, pressed collar of his dress shirt. The candled ends of the satin ruffle brushed against his skin as a maid folded the fabric under the collar of his dress shirt.
"Would you like for me to unfasten the button, Your Highness?" One of the maids helping him dress asked politely.
They had been deployed as soon as the news of Cassian's return to the palace without the Princess consort had reached the Queen's chambers.
Cassian learnt the moment he stepped inside the palace that Rowan had been unsuccessful in his mission of covering for him. A single sharp order from the Alpha King and Rowan was laying down Cassian's whereabouts in great detail.
The Chief Royal Butler, Reginald, visited him in Cassian's study with a letter from his mother requesting her son to join his parents for breakfast. Cassian knew what that meant - excessive questions until he came clean. He heard the whispers run free in the palace.
In fact, Cassian heard the murmurs and quiet whispers as he passed through the hallways to the dining hall.
"Jessy waited the tables and she swore that the Prince found his lunar mate just as the commotion began."
"They're staying separately and it hasn't even been an entire week yet."
"Maybe she heard of the rumors..."
"Or she already has somebody waiting for her elsewhere."
"Do you think-"
Cassian's chest rumbled so harshly in warning that the maid who spoke last, dropped the tray from her hands. The glass teacups and teapot shattered into a hundred glittering pieces. Scalding hot tea splattered on the hardwood path and over her stockinged feet. She yelped in pain but didn't dare move from her spot.
"One more word out of any of you and you will find your head perched bloody on a spike in the courtyard." Cassian warned.
"Disperse. And clean this mess at once." Reginald ordered. He had arrived just in time to witness Cassian's outburst.
"We should go, Your Highness." Rowan urged quietly from behind Cassian.
"Find out the origin of the whispering and extinguish it. That is an order." Cassian said tone frigid.
Cassian fidgeted with the collar as a guard announced his arrival. He sucked in a breath and smoothed his coat.
"I will wait outside." Rowan informed him. Cassian nod barely hearing his words.
'Let's get this done with.'
The soft clinks of cutlery against porcelain plates hung in the room with an intensity that matched the thick tension that coated the back of Cassian's throat with a bitter aftertaste.
"We heard you found your mate on the last night, dear." Luna Queen Tatiana started carefully.
"Yes, Mother. She was almost taken by the rogues that night-" Cassian said.
"Goddess! She must have been so frightened." The Luna interuppted.
"-but she managed to hold her ground until the guards arrived along with Rowan and I." Cassian finished.
This seemed to catch the Alpha King's attention. "She is a soldier?" He questioned.
"No." Cassian replied setting down his knife and fork. "She is from the town."
"That is sweet. I just cannot imagine our Cass with a prim and proper noble lady." The Luna laughed. "What is her name?"
Cassian noticed his mother lean forward with bubbling excitement. Her smile grew infectious and Cassian found himself smiling along.
"Rhea. Rhea Willow Delaney." Cassian said.
He couldn't help but slip in a tad bit of affection as he said it. He reached for his water glass and downed it in one go. As a servant stepped forward to immediately fill it, Cassian noticed that his parents had gone silent.
"What is it?" He enquired looking between them.
His mother startled lightly but plastered a smile on her face. Even from his distance, it seemed forced to Cassian.
"It's a beautiful name." The Luna said glancing at the Alpha.
"Does she live with her parents?" His father questioned.
"She lives with her sister." Cassian said carefully.
"A sister." His mother echoed looking deep in thought.
He left out the part about it being Rhea's twin. Not like it mattered. His parents were never going to meet her given how much Rhea despises being his mate. Cassian hesitated wondering if he must continue.
"Her sister has been ill since very young and therefore the medical bills have caused a debt on them. Rhea works to pay off their debt and also pays for her sister's school tuition." Cassian informed his parents. It wasn't the entire truth but it will have to do.
"What does she do? Make dresses? Help in the bakery, perhaps?" The Luna asked.
Cassian hesitated. "Rhea works at a brothel named Wildflower." He said carefully. A clatter of cutlery rattled noisily in the room.
"Leave the hall." The Alpha called. The servants and maids at once scurried out of the room.
"Cass-" The Luna began but the Alpha cut her short.
"Are you telling me that the Princess Consort is a brothel-" The Alpha started to say. Cassian growled cutting him off. He knew what every wolven called the workers of the brothel as - a whore.
"Working at the brothel doesn't have anything to do with Rhea being my lunar mate. And she is not involved in the business if that is what has got you so worried." Cassian snapped.
"I will not-" His father said temper rising. The Luna placed a hand on his arm calming the King before speaking.
"Cass, we understand and respect that she is still your lunar mate. Like I said the other night, I am sure Rhea made her choices after much thought." The Luna said in that serene tone Cassian knew too well. It was the same tone his mother used when she was displeased.
The King muttered something incoherent under his breath earning a sharp glare from his mate. "What Rhea does for a living gives us no right to have a say in it. It is her life. If you, her lunar mate, is alright with it then your father and I will learn to accept that over time."
"I am." Cassian answered without hesitation.
"Now I am not aware of the reasons for her refusal to stay here with you after the ball but I am sure the both of you have come to a decision regarding it. Your father and I would like to meet her as soon as possible. After all, you are not a normal common boy. You are the Crown Prince of Waenn. And like your father always says, duty comes before family."
Cassian remained silent. He wasn't sure where his mother was going with this. He watched her glance at his father again before continuing.
"As you know, to break your curse, your lunar mate has to accept you wholeheartedly and bear your mark under willing terms." She said.
Cassian wasn't sure why his mother was repeating any of it. He knew the story like the back of his hand. Cassian was six when the curse inscribed itself in his blood with a time limitation of sixteen years.
If his curse isn't broken by the eve of his twenty second birthday, the darkness inside will consume Cassian whole. And in his wake only bloodshed and despair will awaken. It was the price Cassian had to dearly pay for his actions on that dark fateful night when everything turned for the worse. One selfish mistake had snatched away everything he held dear.
"Under willing terms means your mate has to know about you, son. You cannot hide your curse from her. We are running out of time." The Alpha explained.
Cassian looked down at his plate. None of it is possible if Rhea didn't want him. He wouldn't be bothered if it was only his life dangling on the edge of a cliff. He would gladly welcome it as a punishment for his actions. The curse wouldn't rest until it destroyed his entire kingdom - starting with his mate and family.
"The palace will hold the winter ball just as we do each year in a week's time. Rhea needs to be present alongside you as Crown Princess Consort. There are several rumors going around as we speak. It will not take long for it to leave the doors of the palace." The Queen Luna said.
"I understand. She will be present at the ball." Cassian promised. "I will personally introduce her to the guests as my princess corsort and lunar mate."
"How did it go?" Rowan questioned the moment the heavy wooden doors shut behind him.
"They want Rhea to be present at the Winter ball." Cassian sighed.
"I still don't hear the problem." Rowan said. "And aren't you supposed to be staying with her at the brothel until her birthday? A very careless decision if you ask me but it's like the saying goes, love makes the most frightening of men blind to the world around."
"What?" Cassian frowned displeased. "No, actually don't elaborate. I don't want to hear it."
Rowan pursed his lips. "Well?"
"She doesn't want me." Cassian said quietly. He sat on the bed while Rowan occupied the setteé across it.
"Little Luna does not want you to stay with her. Smart decision. I don't-"
"She does not want me as her mate." Cassian snapped angrily. "Do you understand now?"
Rowan swallowed with a curt nod. "Did the both of you have a fight? Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing. I'm sure she didn't mean it. Go speak to her again. You know how important she is, Cass."
'Of course I do.'
"Get her a present. Something she likes. That might soften the blow." Rowan suggested.
Cassian frowned. "You think she will hit me? I doubt it would do any harm. Have you seen her body? She's tiny-"
"Little Luna also took care of all the rogues before we even got to the scene. I bet if she hadn't been drugged, we would have reached to find their carcasses laid out for us to pick up." Rowan chuckled. "She's an interesting one. I like her."
Cassian's chest rumbled in warning. Rowan rolled his eyes. "What? She doesn't want you. Who knows, maybe with my skills I might just woo her and accomplish the feat of getting her to bed-"
Cassian moved before Rowan completed his sentence. His fist connected with Rowan's jaw in a loud crack. Blood dribbled from the corner of his lips. Cassian snarled and raised his fist to strike again but this time Rowan blocked him.
"So what if your mate doesn't want you?" He said turning his head to the side to spit blood. Rowan's eyes burned with challenge. "Make her want you. Show her why she needs you when she can easily accomplish things well without you being there as a hindrance. If she does not accept. Try again. And again. Prove yourself to her as a mate."
Cassian mulled over Rowan's words from earlier as he sank deeper into the water. The bathing chamber stood eerily quiet let alone for the occasional splash when Cassian moved. He toyed with a stray rose petal blissfully lost in thought.
The water bath was vast, almost like a pool with a fairly large marble statue of a nymph carrying a vessel on her shoulder through which water poured down on one end of the pool. It was a strange enchanted piece of ornament that kept the water circulated and clean so it didn't have to be cleaned manually. The path beyond the nymph statue gave way to a secluded balcony.
'Should I try like Rowan suggested? There's nothing to lose...' Cassian wondered.
A light crash from his bed chamber followed by a string of curses had Cassian out of the pool and reaching for his dagger in seconds. He grabbed a robe on his way out and fastened the rope loosely around his waist.
The stench of blood washed over him as he neared the entrance. Water droplets dropped from his hair and dribbled down his neck and exposed chest.
"Who goes there?" Cassian called. "Show yourself before I find you."
"A dagger won't help if there are too many attacking you at the same time, Your Highness." A voice rasped from his left.
Cassian froze. He knew that voice. "Rhea?" He whispered almost like he couldn't believe the name that left his lips.
Rhea groaned softly as she lifted herself from the shadows of his bedside table. The stench of blood grew thicker as she staggered closer to him covered in the dark sticky liquid from head to toe. The dagger slipped from Cassian's hand onto the floor in a dull thud. He caught her as she lost balance and tipped forward.
"Did you know that silver hurts like a bitch when you're stabbed with it?" Rhea chuckled. She cursed a second later and clutched the side of her abdomen.
Rhea sucked in a sharp breath as Cassian lifted her up in his arms. He lowered her on the bed and turned to move but Rhea caught his sleeve. She struggles to get up but eventually achives the task.
"I'll get blood on your sheets." She mumbled.
"Don't move. Keep pressure on the wound." Cassian replied, pressing her back into his pillows. He bent to rummage through the drawers of the bedside table.
"I know that, princeling. This is not my first time getting stabbed." Rhea grit her teeth as the flesh around the wound burnt like ice cold fire. "Fuck."
Rhea glanced at Cassian. "I haven't stolen anything. Pinky promise." She said drowsily.
Cassian gathered the bandages, a half filled bottle of alcohol and cotton gauze in his arms. "Stay awake, Buttercup. Don't die on me."
A small crack sounded as Rhea's right wrist popped back into place. Rhea coughed, tears burning her eyes. "Why do you care?" She grumbled.
"Because you climbed three floors to get to my room and because you are my mate." Cassian said. "I'm going to discard your blouse and treat your wound. Here, use this cloth to bite. This is going to hurt."
"I told you already that I didn't want a mate. You are free to reject me." Rhea said, accepting the rag that Cassian offered her.
Cassian paused to glance at her as his hands gripped the collar of her blouse. Their eyes met for a brief second. "So are you." He replied.
Rhea fell quiet at his words. Cassian tried to keep himself calm as the fabric ripped under his fingers. A small dami pouch fell from the lining. Cassian pushed it away and Rhea's scent filled him at once. He paused to suck in a deep breath, instant comfort flooding through his veins.
He bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from asking Rhea the mutt behind her state so he could tear them apart into pieces.
'It will come later.' Cassian promised himself. 'I will make sure they die the most gruesome death ever seen on these lands.' But first, he needed to fix his mate so she didn't bleed out in his arms.
Cassian winced as he removed the torn fabric. Rhea's skin was covered with bruises and small gashes. Some fresh and the others half way through healing. The stab wound stood gnarly in contrast. The flesh around the cut burnt and gushing blood.
Cassian's jaw clenched as he cleaned the blood. For her part, Rhea only winced but didn't make a sound. He unscrewed the alcohol bottle and poured some into the gauze. Rhea's skin scorched to touch. Sweat littered her face and neck.
Cassian gently pushed her hair aside so it didn't stick to her skin. He swallowed when his hand stained red. He will have to check her head for injury as soon as he was done with her abdomen.
"What is your happiest memory?" Cassian asked her softly.
"Not the time for it, princeling. Just get it over with." Rhea groaned. Her breathing grew ragged and Rhea winced when she tried to breath in deeply.
Cassian glanced at the angry reddish purple mark just below the swell of her breast. 'That is two ribs broken at the very least.'
"What is your happiest memory, Buttercup?" Cassian repeated. Rhea growled in annoyance.
She blew out a stuttering breath. "The day Addy came back from her first day of school. We were eight then. She-"
Rhea screamed as Cassian pressed the alcohol drowned gauze over her wound. Her body lurched up involuntarily. Cassian's free arm draped over her trembling body as he held the gauze in place. He felt her tears on his neck as Rhea clung to him like he was her only tether in a stormy sea.
The doors of his room swung open and two guards rushed in. "Your Highness we heard-"
"Get out." Cassian growled at them.
Another figure pushed past the hesitant guards. Rowan's familiar for appeared pausing as he took in the scene before him.
"Get out before I tear apart each of you before you blink." Cassian snarled. His pupils widened, black clouding over meadow green.
"Leave." Rowan ordered as one of the guards opened his mouth. "The Crown Prince is unharmed."
Rowan's eyes traveled from the medical supplies by Cassian's feet to the blood covering his bed to the trembling girl in his arms. His eyes hardened.
"I'll fetch a healer." He said quietly. "Link me if you need anything else."
Cassian's arm loosened over Rhea's body as the door shut behind Rowan.
"For a princeling, you lack basic manners." Rhea muttered, punching her mate on the shoulder. "I was in the middle of a story."
"Sorry, Buttercup. I had no other choice. You can tell me about it now, if you'd like." Cassian coaxed. "Can you hold the gauze in place while I wrap the bandages?"
"Addy was very excited when she got back. Excited is putting it lightly. She practically glowed." Rhea smiled, eyes glazing over as the memory resurfaced in her mind. "I didn't understand what was so fascinating. Just kids being shaped into moulds that the society crafted with their etiquette and polite mannerisms. But Addy seemed to like it."
Rhea absent mindedly brushed Cassian's hair away from his eyes as he finished with the bandages. He stilled, eyes meeting Rhea cautiously, afraid that she would pull away if he moved. But Rhea seemed preoccupied with relaying her memory. Her fingers pressed against his scalp and Cassian couldn't help but find comfort under her touch. He let her play with his hair as he moved to the wounds on her legs.
"She would come back each other and tell Kai and I everything she learnt in school, word for word. She has a brilliant memory, my sister. Addy taught me how to be graceful, the different types of curtsy - there is an obnoxious amount of them." Rhea paused to complain.
Cassian laughed and instantly regretted it when Rhea snatched her hand back in realization. "Did you learn all of them?" He asked curiously. He could almost imagine it - a little eight year old grumbling as her twin tried to teach her the proper ways of a lady.
Rhea snorted and winced. "Obviously not. I had better things to remember than the various poses of a damned curtsy."
"Like what?" Cassian asked curiously.
"The vital points on a body that ensured instant death." Rhea replied nonchalant. Cassian stared at her and almost waiter for Rhea to burst out laughing and say it was a joke but Rhea only glanced at him in question. "There are too many and I was only a child." She said sounding defensive.
Cassian turned away to hide the smile that threatened on his lips. Only his mate would get defensive over something like that.
"Did she teach you how to dance as well?" Cassian said, steering them back into the topic.
Rhea glanced away. Cassian spot her cheeks coloring red as he cleaned a particularly deep gash on her thigh. Her pants lay in a bloody heap next to her blouse. Cassian tried not to think of his mate in only her undergarments but it was getting harder to keep his desires locked inside.
"Well, she certainly tried her best. Let's just say I have two left feet when it comes to dancing. I just don't have the talent for it." Rhea admitted.
"How about this? Why don't I try my luck with your two left feet once you feel better." Cassian offered. He bandaged the last of her wounds. "Hold still, I need to check your head for injuries."
"Why would you put yourself through that torture? Besides I have no use for it, Princeling. Even if you proved useful and I magically learn it, who am I going to dance with? You?" Rhea chuckled.
Cassian remained quiet as he applied the salve and bandaged her forehead. Rhea's hair was sticky and matted with blood but not all of it was hers. Cassian felt a strange sense of pride rush through him at that realization.
He sat down beside her when he finished. "I would love to dance with you." He began carefully, looking straight at her. Rhea regarded him quietly. Cassian hesitated. "My parents hold a winter ball every year." He started.
"A grand waste of money if you ask me." Rhea snorted. Cassian faltered. "Sorry, no offense. I'm sure it's fun." She quickly added.
"It's not, really. Just a bunch of nobles trying to auction their daughters to become the future Queen." Cassian rolled his eyes. "I had a talk with my parents during breakfast and they wish to meet you. I was wondering if you would attend the ball with me this year. As the Princess consort." Cassian said. 'And my lunar mate.'
"I will gladly assist you in taking down a noble if you wish for it but staying quiet and pretty like a porcelain doll beside you when all the stuck up wolven nobles talk behind my back is where I draw the line, Princeling." Rhea said.
Cassian opened his mouth to press further but decided it wasn't the right time as he looked at Rhea's tired face.
"I promise this won't turn into a habit but can I borrow some clothes?" Rhea asked looking extremely embarrassed. "And some warm water to wash away all this blood. It's starting to itch."
Cassian smirked. "You can take as many of my clothes, Buttercup. I like seeing you in them." He leaned in closer, breath fanning her cheeks. "And love seeing you without them more."
The corner of her lips quirked up in amusement. Rhea wet her lips and Cassian shamelessly followed the movement with his hungry gaze. His heart sped up as Rhea leaned in closer to whisper. She slowly traced a finger on the hem of the robe sitting on his thigh.
"You are aware that you're naked as the day you were born underneath this robe, aren't you?" She breathed.
Cassian jerked back as if suddenly aware of the fact. His face felt hot as the tips of his ears turned a deep shade of pink. A knock on the door before it swung open slowly broke the tension. Cassian wasn't sure whether he wanted to thank or curse at Rowan.
"I brought the healer." Rowan said, gesturing to the wolven behind him. The she-wolf bowed in respect.
"Lira, at your service, Your Highness." She said looking at the floor.
"She has a silver wound on her abdomen." Cassian informed the healer. "I need her back without a scratch on her body or you are not leaving this room in one whole."
"Cass!" Rhea hissed eyes wide. She turned to the healer. "I'm sorry about him."
"How about you put on some actual clothes and let the healer do her job." Rowan suggested steering Cassian away. "And for heaven's sake wipe that foolish grin off your face. You look like an idiot. What are you even smiling for?" Rowan questioned as he pushed Cassian into his dressing room.
"She called me by my name." Cassian replied.
Rowan paused giving him an incredulous look. "Lovesick fool." He grumbled under his breath. "Get dressed quickly. I'll assist the healer in the meantime."
It hit Cassian as he scratched at the dried blood on his wrist that he wasn't wearing gloves. He had used his bare hands to hold Rhea, clean her and touch her skin. Cassian glanced at his reflection in the mirror. Her bare skin had pressed against his chest when he bandaged her and held her close when she was in pain.
And for the first time in a very long time, Cassian hadn't felt the least bit bothered or disgusted. Or even aware. In fact, Cassian almost wanted to feel Rhea's silky smooth skin under his rough hands again.
Although now that he was conscious of it, Cassian felt the need to cover up every inch of his skin and take a bath all over again.
'I must take a bath later.' He decided sniffing the air, the stench of blood and dirt thick and heavy.
He wanted - no, he needed - to overcome his past, shattered piece by piece so Cassian can be the mate Rhea might accept some day. And he dared to think, a mate she might love one day.