Chapter 329: v4 - 30: an opening

Chapter 329: v4 Chapter 30: an opening

Marian spent the entire day in the Emperor’s private apartments.

She had no particular reason to leave.

And, if she were being honest, she had no desire to.

Adrian was occupied with the treaty negotiations, which meant she had the apartments mostly to herself.

Normally, she would have considered that a pleasant arrangement.

She had a book.

She had tea.

She had comfortable chairs by the windows.

She had absolutely nothing requiring her attention.

It should have been perfect.

It wasn’t.

Marian sat curled into the corner of a sofa, a book open in her lap.

She had been staring at the same page for several minutes.

She turned it.

Read three lines.

Then stopped.

Her thoughts had wandered again.

To him.

Marian closed her eyes.

Perhaps she had simply been mistaken.

It had been a crowded banquet.

The lighting had been dim.

She had first seen him from a distance.

Perhaps her mind had simply supplied the resemblance because she had once known someone who looked remarkably like him.

After all, Cassian was dead.

She had mourned him.

She had spent a year and a half grieving before finally accepting that he was gone.

She had moved forward after that.

She had married Adrian.

She had built a life she loved.

She was happy.

There was no question about that.

So why was she still thinking about a man who might not even be Cassian?

Marian turned another page.

She read it carefully this time.

Or tried to.

The man’s face returned to her thoughts.

The eyes.

The shape of his mouth.

The way he had held himself.

There had been something familiar about him.

Something that had unsettled her before she had even heard his name.

Marian shut the book.

"Ridiculous."

She set it beside her.

For a while, she simply sat there.

Then another thought came.

If it really was Cassian—

Why had he left?

Marian’s expression tightened.

That was what bothered her most.

She could understand that something might have happened to him.

She could understand circumstances beyond his control.

What she could not understand was why, if he had been alive, he had never returned.

Why had she been left to believe he was gone?

Why had she been allowed to mourn him?

Why had she been forced to move on without ever knowing the truth?

And now, if that man truly was Cassian, he was here.

Alive.

Standing in the same palace.

Yet he had not approached her.

He had not said a word.

He had not even acknowledged that they had once known each other.

Marian folded her arms.

That was the part she found particularly infuriating.

She wasn’t asking him to come back into her life.

She wasn’t waiting for him.

She didn’t want to undo the life she had built with Adrian.

What she wanted was an explanation.

Closure.

Perhaps that was why she could not stop thinking about him.

There had never been any.

Their story had simply ended one day with his disappearance, and she had been left to create an ending for herself.

Now that he might be standing somewhere in the same palace, every unanswered question had returned with him.

Marian sighed.

She could go looking for him.

The thought appeared before she could stop it.

She immediately rejected it.

No.

She would not.

If he wanted to explain himself, he could come to her.

And he could do it properly.

With Adrian present.

There was nothing improper about that.

Adrian was his cousin, after all.

Marian picked up her book again.

She would not seek him out.

She would not ask anyone where he was.

She would simply wait.

If he truly was Cassian, surely he would have enough courage to say hello.

At least that much.

--

The following afternoon, Marian accompanied Adrian to a social gathering arranged for the Imperial and Milician delegations.

It was considerably less formal than the treaty meetings.

There was music, conversation, and enough movement throughout the room that no one was expected to remain in one place for long.

Marian stayed beside Adrian as they spoke with several members of the Imperial court.

She was careful not to look across the room too often.

She had no intention of drawing Adrian’s attention to the fact that she was watching another man.

But eventually, she looked.

Carlo was there.

Marian’s gaze lingered for only a moment before she looked away.

A few minutes later, she glanced again.

He was surrounded by women.

Not unexpectedly.

He was striking enough to attract attention anywhere, and apparently Milicia had done nothing to diminish his confidence.

One woman spoke to him.

Then another joined her.

Soon there were several.

Marian watched from a distance.

Carlo seemed completely comfortable.

He smiled easily.

Listened attentively.

Answered with the effortless charm of a man accustomed to conversation and admiration.

The women laughed.

One touched his arm lightly while speaking.

Another smiled at him in a way Marian recognized immediately.

He was clearly enjoying himself.

Or at least, he seemed to be.

Marian looked away.

She waited.

Then she looked again.

Still there.

Still surrounded.

She frowned slightly.

What could they possibly be talking about?

She couldn’t hear them from here.

That irritated her more than it should have.

She looked toward Adrian.

He was still engaged in conversation with one of the Imperial ministers.

Marian glanced across the room again.

Carlo was smiling at something one of the women had said.

She wanted to know what it was.

Not because she cared about the women.

She was simply curious.

That was all.

And if he truly was Cassian, perhaps hearing him speak would settle the matter once and for all.

Marian looked toward the buffet.

She could go there without making anything obvious of it.

More importantly, it would place her somewhat closer to the group.

She turned to Adrian.

"I’m going to get something to drink."

Adrian looked at her.

"I’ll come with you."

"No."

Again, the answer came a little too quickly.

Marian smiled.

"You were in the middle of something. I’ll only be a moment."

Adrian studied her for a second, then nodded.

Marian walked toward the buffet.

She did not look at Carlo.

Not yet.

She stopped at the table and picked up a glass.

Then another.

She pretended to consider the refreshments while the conversation behind her continued.

The women laughed again.

Marian’s curiosity grew.

She glanced over her shoulder.

Carlo was still speaking with them.

She turned back immediately.

She could feel herself becoming ridiculous.

She was an Empress.

She had better things to do than stand at a buffet pretending to choose between two drinks while secretly listening to a Milician marquess.

Marian took a slow breath.

Still, a small part of her remained hopeful.

Not for anything improper.

She simply thought that perhaps, now that she was no longer directly beside Adrian, Carlo might finally approach her.

She had made it easy.

She was in plain view.

Adrian was still across the room.

There was nothing inappropriate about a visiting noble speaking to the Empress at a social gathering.

If he was Cassian, surely he would understand that.

Marian waited.

Nothing happened.

She looked toward him again.

He was still talking to the women.

Then one of them said something that made him laugh.

Marian’s brows drew together.

Fine.

Perhaps he needed another moment.

She turned back to the table.

Then she heard his voice.

Not clearly enough to understand the words.

But clearly enough to recognize the sound.

Milician.

She froze.

She had heard him speak when Lorenz introduced him during the banquet, of course, but only briefly.

This time, his voice carried farther.

There was something in it.

A particular warmth.

A slight roughness beneath the polished tone.

The kind of sound that memory could recognize before reason had time to interfere.

Marian slowly turned her head.

Carlo was speaking to one of the women.

She couldn’t make out what he was saying.

But she knew that voice.

She knew it.

Her fingers tightened around the glass.

Cassian.

There was no longer any comfortable explanation.

It was him.

Or, at the very least, it was someone who had his face, his eyes, his mannerisms, and now his voice.

Marian looked at him.

He turned slightly.

Their eyes met.

For one brief moment, his expression changed.

She saw it.

Recognition.

Then one of the women beside him spoke, and Carlo turned back toward her.

Marian stared.

He knew.

He knew exactly who she was.

And still—

Nothing.

No greeting.

No approach.

No explanation.

Marian felt the irritation rise again.

She had spent a year and a half mourning this man.

She had eventually accepted that he was gone.

She had built an entirely new life.

And now he had returned after all this time, only to look at her as though she were a stranger.

What was she supposed to make of that?

Marian set the glass down.

For a moment, she considered approaching him.

Then she stopped.

No.

She had given him an opportunity.

A perfectly respectable one.

If he wanted to speak to her, he could.

Apparently, he didn’t.

Marian straightened.

She returned to Adrian with a composed expression, as though nothing at all had happened.

She slipped her hand lightly onto his arm.

Adrian glanced down at her.

"Everything all right?"

"Of course."

Her smile was perfectly convincing.

At least, she hoped it was.

She looked ahead.

She would not ask Adrian about Carlo.

She would not tell him what she suspected.

And she certainly would not chase Cassian around the palace demanding answers.

But if he thought she was going to make the first move—

He was mistaken.

She had already done enough.

Now, if he wanted to speak to her, he could come to her himself.

--

Tbc