Lady Mutiny

Twenty-One

The wedding was less than a week away, and Cass was anything but ready for it.

There wasn't much she needed to do by way of planning - that the wedding coincided with the Summer Solstice festival was in her favor in that regard. Anything that a bride would have assumed to be her responsibility was already cared for by the servants and professionals already in Baz's employ.

Granted, they requested her opinion when needed. Food and drink, colors and favors- whenever she found a spare moment of her own at home, there seemed to be vendors and merchants knocking on her door, requesting an audience.

And being not only who she was, but who she would become, she had no other choice but to welcome them in warmly. For it was Lady Cassandra Cortova, heir to the silk empire built by her father and curated by her sister, that was marrying Lord Sebastian Gaylen, diplomat for the City of Lathos. It was not Cass, the potential Second marrying Baz, the leader of the Guild of Assassins.

Even still, that knowledge did not make the time pass by any easier, and Cass was finding her time better spent within the Guild's training room and her private chambers rather than milling around the manor's office waiting for Lucas to summon her for another guest's arrival.

If Lilia was alive, she'd know exactly what to do.

But Lilia wasn't alive.

And the man who all but killed her had already tossed her aside, disregarding anything that may or may not have transpired between them. If the rumors were true, Lilia had wasted her life for whatever she felt for that Lord. And all for nothing...

With a sigh, she finished wrapping her fists with tape before she stepped into the training ring. The day was already growing late after yet another afternoon full of greeting guests and finalizing menus. At least there, within the Underground, no one would ask her what color she'd prefer the servants wear.

At least while she was within the training ring, no one would ask her about the wedding.

"So, how's the wedding planning?"

The punch she was about to throw missed the dummy's straw-filled head completely, and she stumbled forward into it as Wil's voice echoed throughout the empty room.

Whipping around to face him, she clenched her fists at her sides. "I thought I told you I didn't want to see you ever again?" she reminded him hoarsely.

"And here I assumed that was merely your emotions getting the better of you," he mused as he walked around to the other side of the training ring as if to remain at the safest distance.

"Nothing I do or say is purely by emotion," she reminded him, doing her best to ignore his stare as she returned her attention solely to the dummy before her. "Everything is a calculated move with a greater plan."

"You've been hanging around Baz too much," he said with a sigh, and Cass couldn't help the small smile that teased the edges of her lips.

But thoughts of Baz had her hesitate- she was going to be married to him in less than a week before the plutocracy and diplomats not only of Lathos but of its prominent surrounding areas. She was going to be the highlight of the festival this year, and yet...

"What's wrong?" he asked suddenly, daring a step closing with something akin to concern lacing his words.

She didn't look at him. She didn't look at anything but at her hands before her, trying to place the words without sounding like a complete fool. She had grown up a merchant's daughter but was too young to attend any events of importance. Her mother died when she was young, so it was Lilia who raised her while their father was away. And maybe because of that, she missed out on most of the simpler things in life that girls in merchant households experienced. Perhaps that was why she was so intrigued by the Underground, where she didn't need to pretend to be someone she wasn't, especially when Lilia was so much better at it than her.