[B2] Chapter 83 — A Reason For Murder (Part II)

“My relationship with Hulle?” Cassi tilted her head. “You honestly don’t know?”

Ria shook her head. “Hulle has never told me anything about himself. He didn’t even tell me he was taking me to meet someone today.”

“And you went with him?” Cassi sputtered in pained disbelief, then pinched the bridge of her nose and changed tack. “Why would you need Hulle to tell you about what was surely one of the most gossiped about events of last year?”

“I only arrived in Crysellia six months ago, and I’ve barely been in the capital two weeks,” Ria defended. “I asked Aldri, but he said the story wasn’t his to tell.”

“Aldri, huh,” Cassi mused. “I’ll have to raise my opinion of him.”

Ria glanced Hulle’s way to make sure he didn’t mind that she was asking, and for some reason, the Novidus boy was lounging in the chair with a leg over the armrest a hefty book with spell diagrams and dense text open in his lap, studiously pretending to ignore them all of a sudden.

To Ria’s side, Ranger seemed to have taken inspiration from Hulle, deciding to do his embarrassingly silly meditation thing.

At the sight, Cassi snickered then apologized, asking with some incredulity, “I know familiars tend to be magical, and appearances deceiving, but is Ranger a mage dog?”

Ria laughed. “He’s trying. He only just became a magic beast—a deepways hound. He was an old farm dog when I bonded with him.”

“You bonded with an old farm dog?” Cassi echoed, aghast. “Why would you do that?”

“Because after the soldiers took away his family, he didn’t have anyone else.” Ria said, thought for a moment, and added with a grin, “Besides, where else would I have found such a loyal and reliable familiar?”

When Ranger’s ridiculous meditating posture straightened with pride, Cassi chuckled quietly behind her hand. “I see, I see.”

“Um, so, your relationship with Hulle and his House?” Ria prompted, her curiosity burning stronger than before.

The girl shrugged. “Currently, I have no relationship with Young Master Hulle or House Novidus other than him having a financial interest in the proceeds from my writing.”

Ria gaped at her. Surely, that couldn’t be the extent of it. How would they have even met as children? And Hulle already spoke of the girl’s family’s service to House Novidus!

Cassi raised a hand to forestall Ria’s protests and continued, “Perhaps it would be best to start at the beginning, yes?”

Her eyebrows rising, Ria slowly nodded and politely gestured for the girl to proceed. Usually, only the most unbelievable or life-defining stories required that kind of preface.

“It all started soon after I was born,” Cassi began. “You see, the Novidus have a tradition of raising their male descendants together with a similar-aged female servant who will be the boy’s playmate during his early years and become the boy’s personal maid as he becomes older.”

“A personal maid?” Ria interrupted, a bit surprised. Did that mean Faris also had a personal maid he grew up with? There had been skilled maids similar to Keira’s maid, Miela, present at the tea party when she met Faris. Had she met his maid and not noticed? “Isn’t that weird? I mean, wouldn’t a boy normally have a page or body servant instead?”

“Yes, it surely does seem fraught with awkwardness and a risk of ‘accidents’ you could say,” Cassi agreed with a laugh. “But there’s a reason for the tradition. As you’ve noted, the Novidus men are very, very physically attractive. This causes a number of problems for the House as you can imagine.

“And it’s not just the ladies’ fault! From what I was told, many young masters gained ‘bad habits’ of incessantly taking advantage of women once they discovered the effect their beauty had. After multiple generations of incidents requiring cleaning up the indiscretions of no-good heirs and branch family members, the elders decided an intervention was needed before the entire House collapsed in scandal.”

Ria nodded, eyes wide.

“The main idea decided upon by the elders was for each male youth to have at least one valued female companion immune to his charm who could counsel reason and restraint. Several ideas were tested until the current approach was settled upon. The training and duties have changed some over time, but this is the important position my parents’ years of loyal service at Lord Lorenis’ estate had earned me.”

Cassi puffed up with pride. “It was no small honor. There was a better-than-fair chance Hulle would be a future head of House Novidus, the greatest of the Greater Houses. Wanting to honor my parents’ achievement, I worked diligently to not waste the opportunity they had earned me.”

“Wow… I couldn’t even imagine the pressure of having to grow up under such expectations,” Ria started to comment, grimacing as she realized it might have been insensitive. Something clearly went wrong for Cassi to no longer be employed by House Novidus. “What was it like? Growing up like that?”

“I was very fortunate. Lord Lorenis provided me with excellent tutors. Except for my maid and attendant training, I shared most of my lessons with Hulle. The tutors were strict, and Hulle and I often made a game of pranking them.” The corners of Cassi’s eyes creased at the memory. “I was always busy, but it was fun.”

Reminiscing, the girl ran a hand along the knit fabric of her blanket to straighten some wrinkles. “Later, as I reached apprentice age, I took up my formal duties. By then, I understood my job was to get in the way of the other servants and young ladies, whether ambitious or smitten, and to help the young master better cope, both teaching him to understand how his masculine charm would affect others and help with building up his own resistance to feminine charm. It was a difficult job since there were a lot of ways I could fail and lose my position as Hulle’s personal maid.”

“Did you and Hulle…? Is that why…?” Ria couldn’t help asking with a gulp and gestured with a circular motion of her hand to include Cassi, the room, and house in general.

Hulle snorted. A rather undignified snort, followed by the sound of a page turning.

Cassi just humored her with a wry smile. “I suppose an arrangement like this house and financial support from a noble family wouldn’t be much different from the usual outcome in such cases. Such is another advantage of the House’s tradition: should the boy lack discipline, the bloodline could be safely kept under House control with a minimum of fuss. But no, unfortunately, I was very good at my job, and that blindness is what led to my downfall.”

Downfall… It was a heavy choice of word, and scenarios of betrayals and bullying rapidly passed through Ria’s mind. Ria let the imaginings run wild for several heartbeats before her still burning interest pushed her to prompt Cassi to tell more. “Your downfall?”

“Indeed.” Cassi nodded confirmation of her use of the word. “Over the years, I had dealt with privileged young ladies offended by the Novidus tradition many times. Many used it as an excuse to ease the frustration of their failure. And so, when Hulle’s older sister joined House Sorrel and Vanessa Sorrel came to live at Lord Lorenis’ estate as Hulle’s fiancée, I thought nothing of it. My duty was my duty, and Young Lady Vanessa’s opinions on the matter didn’t change that.”

Wait. Wasn’t Venessa supposed to be Presius’ fiancée?

Before Ria could ask, Cassi again smiled at her, shook her head in self-reproach, sighed, and continued, “Looking back, it’s clear that I could have been more accommodating and done more to earn her trust, to have been more supportive of her efforts to gain Hulle’s attention and affection. I’m sure having to constantly weigh her relationship with her fiancé against the place that I already occupied in his life must’ve been terribly painful. That Hulle often took my side when Venessa voiced her concerns likely didn’t help matters, and eventually, Venessa’s capacity to endure reached its limit.”

Ria frowned. Wouldn’t actively sabotaging Vanessa to save Hulle be the better course? Why would Cassi even consider helping that bitch? Ria glanced in Hulle’s direction, but he was still pretending to be fixated on the open tome, as if none of this involved him.

Deep in her memory of the events, Cassi’s gaze grew distant and drifted to the city outside the window as the girl spoke on, “I had read of jealousy, of course, but I thought such tragedies and women driven to evil were dramatic exaggerations. Surely, outside of fiction written to spice up the dull lives of women of means, no one would be so overcome by petty emotion to actually act so far outside the bounds of reasonable behavior?”

By this point in Cassi’s story, Ria was on the edge of her seat. What terrible thing would that terrible Sorrel girl do? Clearly, this wasn’t a matter of Cassi messing up; Venessa had done something. Though anxious to know, Ria still intuited that it was better to not interrupt Cassi’s introspection, and she forced herself to wait patiently to hear what the girl would say.

After a few deep breaths, Cassi resumed narrating the encounter. She kept her smile, but it was looking more forced than genuine. “Vanessa asked me to walk with her in the gardens for a bit, and I did, hopeful that she was showing initiative to resolve our misunderstandings.”

A bitter laugh escaped from the former maid.

“If she had been one of the other servants, I might have thought more to worry for my safety, but Vanessa was a noble from one of the Greater Houses and would be the future mistress of Hulle’s household. In fact, rather than wary, I was pleased that she had sought me out, as I still harbored a naive intent to prove… my skill and worth, I guess.”

Cassi paused again, and a growing sense of dread began to knot Ria’s stomach as she nervously gripped her skirt and again waited for the girl to gather herself and continue.

“The conversation started out well,” Cassi eventually said, still smiling wryly. “She asked questions about what Hulle was like when we were younger and what my training had been like. It wasn’t until we reached the most secluded area of the garden that she gave me her ultimatum, demanding that I resign my position as Hulle’s personal maid—that I was in the way, that Hulle no longer needed me, and she would arrange other work for me. She even promised bonus pay for my doing the right thing for Hulle. It was a surprising sum of coin.

“I was proud of the skills I had endlessly polished to be worthy of my job, proud of the trust Hulle’s family had placed in me, and even if I could stomach betraying my parents’ expectations, I still couldn’t do as Vanessa demanded. I took an oath of loyalty and service when I had become an apprentice maid and again when I was officially hired to the position.

“I did understand that my position would become untenable once Venessa became the mistress of the household that I would have to work for, but she didn’t seem unreasonable, and I still thought with time I could win her over. So, I told her the truth that my oath precluded me from abandoning the service I had sworn to.

“The eerily calm smile Vanessa made as she asked if my oath would still require me to serve if I was unable to perform my tasks, it still haunts my sleep to this day. The moment the answer left my lips, she blurred, and two stabs of pain in my lower spine sent me collapsing to the ground.

“The pain was so terrible that I didn’t even realize I was crying and screaming until she stepped into my view holding a bloody blade and said, ‘Accept my gift of freedom and I’ll heal you.’”

“I was too shocked to understand what those words meant. I thought I was going to die and would’ve said anything to make the pain stop, even as my own blood dripped from her blade.

“Even though her strange dagger had disappeared to wherever it had come from by the time the estate guards arrived, I could only think of the blood-coated weapon as she told them I fell out of the tree and landed badly. She sobbed that she tried to heal me but something must have gone wrong with the healing. The guards didn’t have any reason to doubt her, and I didn’t dare speak up to tell the truth.

“It was only because of her words that I later realized her failure had been intentional—Lord Lorenis’ healers couldn’t fix me because there was nothing to fix; I was already healed. By causing me to lose the use of my legs, she had made me unable to do my job, and when I was released from service, I was also free of my oath just as she had promised.”

Listening to Cassi narrate such horrific events with a fixed smile and her voice flat and distant—as if describing events that had happened to someone else—a fury ignited in Ria’s chest. That bitch. Ria knew that if she saw Vanessa during the Grand Games, she would wrap the girl in golden chains and burn her like she had done Rialle. Burn her until-

“Urg, Ria, you’re crushing me…”

Cassi’s straining voice and hands desperately gripped onto her chair’s armrests snapped Ria back from her vision of righteous judgment.

Divine aura bolstered by her seed of Divine Judgment was flooding the room, and flaming chains of molten gold were clutched in her hand, smoldering and ready to bind and sear the offending injustice to less than ash.

Horrified that she was letting her power run wild in someone’s house—in a room full of books!—Ria quickly drew it all back in, gritting her teeth at the twinges the abuse brought her sore pathways.

“Rar-woof,” Ranger chastised her.

“I’m so sorry, Cassi!” Ria apologized, jumping to her feet, worried for her new friend and embarrassed by her lack of control.

“It’s okay! It’s okay,” Cassi hurriedly gasped out while waving to Ria that she was fine with one hand as she adjusted to lean back in her chair with the other, taking deep breaths.

A transient shimmer of fading barrier glyphs caught the corner of Ria’s sight, but Hulle was calmly turning a page, and she might have imagined it… shouldn’t he at least say something?

As if noticing her puzzled gaze, he looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow.

“Ah, Ria, don’t mind it,” Cassi spoke up, having caught her breath. “I’m flattered that you’re angry on my behalf, but… please don’t do anything rash later. Okay?”

“I’ll help, if you want to do something rash,” Hulle offered, his expression unreadable.

“Hulle!” Cassi rebuked.

Hulle kept his eyes locked on Ria’s. “Not all of us are as forgiving as you, Cassi.”

“The Games,” Ria offered, finding metal in her voice, flames and thoughts of judgment rekindling to fill her with each beat of her heart. She had already envisioned such a moment. The Games were almost certainly the vehicle for vengeance Hulle had already chosen when he scouted her. They were here visiting Cassi in lieu of her Games practice and training. Furthering her commitment was clearly the plan all along.

“The Games,” Hulle acknowledged.

“You can’t!” Cassi groaned out. “The Games are dedicated to the gods.”

“What could entertain the gods more than a grudge, a drama between participants,” Hulle countered.

“Argh! Whatever!” Cassi threw her hands up and looked away, not having a way to rebut Hulle’s argument.

Hulle didn’t gloat over his victory. There was no joy to be gained in furthering Cassi’s pain.

“Can you really say that Venessa was wrong?” Cassi almost whispered after an uncomfortable several breaths of silence. “I thought too highly of myself. I was a commoner backing a noble into a corner; how else could it have ended? She warned me, tried to offer me ways to not be in her way, even offered me coin as if I were blackmailing her. But I was too proud, too sure that I was right.”

Ria’s third-year mentor looked even less pleased at the direction Cassi was going with her change of argument. But as much as she hated it, Ria didn’t entirely disagree with what Cassi was saying. The maid girl’s arrogance had truthfully earned her downfall. If viewed honestly, Cassi was in the wrong by both being too close to a noble’s fiancee and by allowing Hulle to continue defending her closeness instead of admitting wrongdoing. It was a common tactic used in annoying romance stories—the childhood friend making appearances at inopportune times to cause doubt in the relationship—and a glaring flaw in the Novidus tradition regarding boys!

But, that still didn’t justify or excuse Vanessa’s cruelty!

Cassi smiled a fake smile. “Maybe our situation isn’t really so bad? I’ve had plenty of time to work on my writing. Your fall from grace has saved you from a life of insufferable politics, obsequious favor-seekers, and endless paperwork. And now that you’re no longer an heir and I’m no longer employed by your House, perhaps there’s even the possibility for me to win you for myself. Though, I suppose that’s wishful thinking with the ‘accident’ making me incapable-”

“I won’t hear you call what happened an accident,” Hulle hissed out, having reached his limit, his voice frosty enough to cut the fake cheer, chilling the room as his breath misted. “‘Accident’ is her lie. A lie my parents accepted because the truth was too much bother. A lie that cost you and your parents everything they had achieved over a lifetime of loyal service to the House!”

Ria wasn’t the only one looking back and forth between the pair as Hulle’s, carefully suppressed tension lashed to the fore; Ranger was swiveling his head right along with her.

Cassielle sighed. “Hulle, when Venessa couldn’t believe you were that upset over a mere servant and told you what happened was for your own good, you froze her in a 10-paces-tall pillar of ice and left her there for your family’s healers to try to revive. It took a full week before she recovered enough to leave her bed. I’m sure she suffered greatly. What’s done is done. Can’t you let it go?”

“Suffered?” Hulle voiced with incredulity. “You know very well that she got everything she wanted and more!”

“She didn’t get you, Hulle,” Cassielle quietly pointed out.

Hulle snorted. “I hardly think that bothered her once she upgraded to Cousin Presius.”

“I’m sure that’s what she tells herself, but Presius is a meathead, hardly your equal in talent or potential.”

“Though Cousin Presius may be an idiot, he’s not without talent. And to make it worse, the gifted fool has an annoyingly obsessive dedication to hard work.”

“And you don’t push yourself to ridiculous extents with your own training?” Cassi challenged. “Besides, isn’t it better for your House if your cousin isn’t a total incompetent?”

Ria blinked as the two continued to bicker. It might have been Hulle’s plan all along, but thanks to Cassi, she had finally learned Hulle’s secret, and she better understood why Aldri felt the incident wasn’t his story to tell—it was Cassi and Hulle’s story.

She was glad to have learned more about her mentor and strengthened her commitment toward the Games. Even so, there was one aspect of what she learned that gave her complicated emotions and did bring with it increased personal frustration: Hearing of the magic Hulle used on Vanessa, Ria couldn’t help remembering the time Hulle had encased her in ice during Grand Games training. If, more than a year ago, he had instantly frozen Vanessa solid with that same spell, there was no way Hulle hadn’t been going ridiculously easy on her during training!

As remembered panic from slowly running out of air while encased in ice replayed in her mind, a horrible thought occurred to Ria. Wouldn’t instantly freezing the Sorrel girl be too kind? What if he had intentionally not frozen Venessa solid, but left her weakened and aware enough to slowly suffocate and freeze, trapped in the pillar of ice as he turned his back on her and walked away...