Chapter 146: Welcome Home

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Welcome Home

Marian had not expected today.

The realization continued to unsettle her.

She had known Cassian was returning.

Soon.

That was what the letters suggested.

That was what the rumors suggested.

Soon.

Soon was manageable.

Soon allowed preparation.

Soon allowed dignity.

Unfortunately, today appeared to be something else entirely.

Because one moment she had been attending Lord Evermont’s reception.

The next—

Cassian had walked through the doors.

And Marian had apparently forgotten how to function.

The transition felt unreasonably abrupt.

Even now, she could still remember the moment.

The announcement.

The turn of her head.

The sudden shock that had raced through her.

And then—

him.

The memory remained devastatingly effective.

Across the ballroom, Cassian stood surrounded by guests.

The sight should have been ordinary.

Instead, it felt impossible to ignore.

Five months.

Five months of letters.

Five months of waiting.

Five months of wishing she could simply see him.

And now he was here.

Now.

Tonight.

Not next week.

Not sometime soon.

Now.

The realization continued to send excitement fluttering through her chest.

Their eyes met.

The situation deteriorated immediately.

Because after that, looking away became remarkably difficult.

Unfortunately, Cassian remained on the opposite side of the ballroom.

A circumstance Marian considered deeply unfair.

The distance between them was not particularly large.

Marian immediately hated it.

The realization arrived with startling force.

She wanted to go to him.

Not later.

Not eventually.

Now.

Cross the ballroom.

Close the distance.

Reach him.

The impulse felt so natural that for one alarming moment she nearly obeyed it.

Only years of training prevented the mistake.

The realization was deeply inconvenient.

Because the desire remained.

Persistent.

Unreasonable.

Entirely impossible to ignore.

And Cassian, unfortunately, remained Cassian.

The problem only worsened the longer she looked at him.

He was unfairly handsome.

The realization was neither new nor useful.

Unfortunately, it remained true.

The dark formal coat suited him.

The candlelight suited him.

Even the slight smile lingering at the corner of his mouth suited him.

Marian was beginning to suspect that the universe had been unusually generous when creating Duke Ashford.

The thought was deeply unhelpful.

Particularly because she loved him.

The realization made everything worse.

Five months apart had apparently done nothing to improve her resistance.

If anything, the situation had become significantly more dangerous.

The memory of him had been bad enough.

The reality was catastrophic.

"Lady Marian?"

Marian blinked.

Someone had spoken.

The realization arrived slowly.

Far too slowly.

Because she had absolutely no idea what they had said.

"Oh."

The response escaped before she could stop it.

A pause followed.

The lady waiting for an answer appeared mildly confused.

Marian could not blame her.

Because she was equally confused.

The problem was that Cassian was still looking at her.

A fact considerably more important than whatever question had just been asked.

"I’m sorry?"

The lady repeated herself.

Marian nodded immediately.

Then realized she still had not heard a single word.

The situation was deteriorating rapidly.

The lady stared.

Marian smiled politely.

The lady continued staring.

Eventually she left.

Marian considered that a victory.

The worst part was that everyone seemed determined to speak with Cassian.

One nobleman stopped him.

Then another.

Then a third.

Each delay felt increasingly unreasonable.

Cassian remained perfectly polite throughout the ordeal.

A fact Marian found mildly irritating.

Surely this was one occasion that justified rudeness.

Apparently Cassian disagreed.

The realization was unfortunate.

Particularly because every conversation delayed him several more seconds.

Marian was beginning to develop surprisingly strong opinions about half the ballroom.

At one point Cassian finally escaped a conversation and took several steps forward.

Hope immediately surged.

Then someone else intercepted him.

Marian nearly closed her eyes.

The gentleman appeared delighted by his good fortune.

Marian strongly disagreed.

Nothing currently happening in the Empire could possibly be that important.

Certainly not compared to the fact that Cassian was standing only a short distance away.

The gentleman continued speaking.

Marian considered several solutions.

None of them were socially acceptable.

This was unfortunate.

The situation became steadily worse.

Every step Cassian took closer made Marian increasingly aware of herself.

The position of her hands.

The position of her shoulders.

The fact that she was smiling.

The fact that she could not seem to stop smiling.

The fact that Cassian was still looking at her.

The realization sent another wave of heat rushing into her face.

She was twenty-one years old.

A grown woman.

Perfectly capable of conducting herself with dignity.

The evidence currently available suggested otherwise.

By the time Cassian finally escaped the last conversation, Marian had completely forgotten how to stand normally.

The realization was unfortunate.

There was nothing she could do about it.

Then he started walking.

Not toward the refreshments.

Not toward another group of nobles.

Toward her.

Directly toward her.

Marian’s heart immediately abandoned all attempts at cooperation.

The crowd parted almost unconsciously.

Perhaps out of courtesy.

Perhaps out of curiosity.

Possibly both.

Marian barely noticed.

Because suddenly he was coming closer.

One step.

Then another.

Then another.

The distance that had felt unbearable moments ago began shrinking.

At last.

The realization should have been reassuring.

Instead it somehow made everything worse.

Because now he was actually here.

Actually approaching.

Actually looking at her.

Marian briefly considered whether it was possible to forget how to breathe.

The evidence suggested yes.

Then Cassian stopped before her.

Not across the ballroom.

Not inside a letter.

Not hundreds of miles away.

Here.

For one brief moment neither spoke.

Five months.

Dozens of letters.

Hundreds of miles.

And suddenly neither of them appeared capable of producing a coherent sentence.

An unfortunate development.

Marian stared.

A deeply unfortunate decision.

Because seeing him up close proved every bit as dangerous as she remembered.

Possibly more.

His eyes were brighter than she remembered.

His smile was warmer.

Or perhaps she had simply missed him too much.

The realization did absolutely nothing to improve her composure.

Five months.

Five months of waiting.

Five months of wishing.

Five months of imagining this moment.

And suddenly he was here.

Real.

Smiling.

Looking at her as though she were the only person in the room.

Marian forgot every sensible thing she intended to say.

An alarming development.

Because she had prepared several.

Cassian appeared to be experiencing similar difficulties.

The discovery was unexpectedly comforting.

For a moment neither moved.

Neither spoke.

The ballroom continued around them.

Music played.

Conversations drifted through the room.

None of it seemed particularly important.

The smile never left his face.

Neither, Marian suspected, did hers.

Then Cassian finally surrendered first.

"Lady Marian."

Marian laughed.

Softly.

Helplessly.

Because after five months—

after dozens of letters—

after all that anticipation—

that was what he chose to say.

The sound seemed to relax him.

Just slightly.

As though he had been holding his breath too.

Her smile widened.

"Welcome home, Your Grace."

Something changed in his expression.

Not dramatically.

Not enough for anyone else to notice.

But Marian noticed.

The warmth.

The happiness.

The unmistakable tenderness.

And suddenly she understood.

He had missed her too.

The realization settled softly somewhere inside her chest.

For months she had waited for letters.

Waited for news.

Waited for his return.

And now he was here.

Looking at her exactly the way she had hoped he would.

Cassian’s gaze lingered.

For one brief moment, neither looked away.

Neither seemed particularly interested in trying.

And for that one perfect moment, the rest of the ballroom ceased to exist.