All I Need ✔️

Chapter 58

Safania's POV

"Go take a bath," Cassius told me. "I'll be waiting for you here when you're finished."

I looked at him trying to assess how much trouble I was in, but it was impossible to tell. When Cassius was upset, he would get even more quiet than he normally was, which made it hard to get any sort of clue as to exactly how upset he was. 

Instead of trying to figure it out, I grabbed a simple robe from the closet, thankful that I hadn't taken all of my clothes with me. I'd have to get my bags from Ari later.

"Could you help me take this armor off?" I asked Cassius quietly.

Cassius walked over to me and began untying the back of my armor. "How did you get the Lieutenant's armor?" he asked.

"I borrowed it."

"How did you manage to do that?"

"Like your father said, I'm very persuasive," I replied vaguely. 

I was hoping Cassius would let me leave it at that. At first, I had just asked Ari to borrow the armor. His exact response had been, "If I help you enter the tournament and you end up dying, the prince will skin me alive and turn me into a rug."

I took that as a no.

So then I helpfully suggested that if he wanted to change the social structure of Peria, like I suspected he did, having a future member of the royal family owing him a favor would be a good place to start.

That had persuaded Ari to change his mind.

But despite how much time Cassius and I had spent together, we hadn't really discussed Perian politics. From our discussions about philosophy and how he treated lower class people, I got the sense he would be okay with shaking things up...but now did not seem like the right time for that conversation.

"There," Cassius told me, as he undid the last tie. "You're free."

Relieved at not having to give more of an explanation, I went into the bathroom, took off the rest of my clothes, and drew myself a bath. I scrubbed the grime and sweat off me until my skin was raw. Finally clean, I dried myself off with a towel and threw on the robe I had chosen. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out to face my new fiancé.

Cassius looked up at me when I stepped out of the bathroom. He had taken off his dress clothes while I was taking a bath, leaving him in a loose-fitting shirt that hung nicely on his well-toned frame. He seemed to similarly appreciate my robe, which was a thin, light blue material that left little to the imagination. We looked at each other for a moment until he spoke.

"What were you thinking?"

"That I wanted to be with you," I responded, without hesitation.

"I thought we were going to be honest with each other. After I found out about you being marked, I thought we were finally done with the lies and the secrecy."

"If I had told you about the tournament, you would have said no."

"Of course I would have said no!" Cassius said, raising his voice. "Do you have any idea how I would have felt if your lifeless body had been dragged out of that arena? People die during Oske, Safania. At least four died today, and thank the lord you weren't one of them."

"There are some things worth dying for," I said firmly.

"Listen to me..." Cassius began.

"No, you listen to me," I interrupted. "You still see me as this frail, weak little girl who you had to nurse back to health. I survived on my own for five years Cassius. The most you had seen me do before today is throw a knife into a painting. You weren't there when I defeated four of your best soldiers. You weren't there when I took on entire gangs of men and singlehandedly beat them. Before today, you had never even seen me in combat. This wasn't just some crazy whim. This was me thinking I had a legitimate shot at winning, taking a risk, and having it pay off. I won the tournament Cassius! You seem to be forgetting that."