Seraphine sent word to Cassius at ten.
His response ca back in twenty minutes later. Which was itself an information, because a man who took twenty minutes to respond to a request from Seraphine was a man who had been expecting the request and had already decided his answer.
He’d see her at noon.
His territory. His rooms.
Eve spent the two hours between in Seraphine’s study going over everything Seraphine had on him. Not his public record....she’d read that already. The texture of him. How he operated. What he’d built.
Cassius had run the rchant faction for thirty years. Had tripled their Court influence in that ti not through political maneuvering but through making himself structurally necessary. His faction controlled the financial infrastructure of the Court....banking, trade agreents, the movent of resources between supernatural communities across four continents.
He didn’t need the throne.
He needed the throne to need him.
"He backed Malachai’s petition initially," Seraphine said. "Three months ago. Signed on as a supporting faction."
Eve looked up. "Why."
"Because at the ti Eve Seraphim was a na on a docunt and Malachai was the functioning power structure." Seraphine paused. "That calculation has changed. You’ve been here thirty-six hours and you’ve already moved three pieces he didn’t expect to move." A pause. "Cassius is watching."
"He wants to back the winner," Eve said.
"He wants to back the winner before it’s obvious who the winner is," Seraphine said. "Getting in early is worth more to him than getting in safe."
Eve closed the file.
"I know what to offer him," she said.
****
Cassius’s rooms were warm.
That was the first thing. After the stone corridors and the formal cold of the Court’s older sections, his territory felt almost dostic....actual rugs, actual light, the sll of sothing being cooked sowhere deeper in the space.
He t her at the door himself.
Shorter than she’d expected. Sixties, maybe, in the way supernatural sixties looked....which ant sowhere between a hundred and two hundred in real terms. White hair, dark eyes, a face that had smile lines deep enough to be structural.
"Lady Evangeline," he said. "Co in."
The sitting room had two chairs angled toward a low table.
Tea already poured. The specific deliberateness of a man who had set this up in advance and wanted her to know he’d set it up in advance.
She sat. He sat.
"You wanted to see ," he said.
"You knew I would," she said.
He smiled. "I had a feeling. After last night." He picked up his tea. "Neat work, by the way. The extraction. Small team, no engagent, clean exit." A pause. "Malachai is annoyed."
"I know," she said.
"He filed the acceleration this morning."
"I know that too," she said.
Cassius looked at her over his cup. "You’re going to ask how I’m voting."
"I’m going to tell you why it should be yes," she said.
He settled back slightly. Listening.
"You backed Malachai’s petition three months ago," she said. "Because the succession question was theoretical and he was the practical reality." She held his gaze. "It’s not theoretical anymore. I’m here. I have Seraphine and Katerina and I’ve been in this building for thirty-six hours and Malachai has already lost two moves." She paused. "You’re too smart to back the wrong side because you committed before you had full information."
"That’s an argunt for reconsidering my position," Cassius said. "Not an argunt for yours."
"The throne needs the rchant faction," she said. "Not as a courtesy. Structurally. The Court’s financial infrastructure runs through your people....it has for thirty years and it should continue to." She paused. "I’m not going to dismantle what works. I’m going to build on it." A pause. "Formally. In writing. rchant faction as the Court’s designated financial authority. Not dependent on whoever holds the throne. Institutional. Permanent."
The room was quiet.
"Malachai has never offered that," she said. "Because Malachai wants everything dependent on him. That’s how he operates." She let that sit for a mont. "I’m offering you sothing he structurally cannot."
Cassius looked at her for a long mont.
"You’re twenty-three," he said.
"Yes," she said.
"You’ve been awakened for less than a year."
"Yes."
"You’re asking to vote against the most powerful man in this Court based on thirty-six hours of observation and a promise."
"I’m asking you to vote based on thirty years of watching Malachai consolidate power that should have been distributed," she said. "And on the structural offer on the table." A pause. "The thirty-six hours is just evidence that the promise isn’t empty."
Cassius set down his cup.
He looked at her with the specific attention of soone running calculations she couldn’t see. Adding things up. Weighting them.
"The fifth seat," he said.
Eve went still.
"You found it," he said. Simply. Not surprised. "The vacancy. The panel vote." He looked at her. "You want to vote yes on an appointnt before the hearing."
"Vassin won’t," she said. "I already know that."
"No," Cassius agreed. "He won’t." A pause. "But you’re still here asking."
"Because you might," she said.
"It would look like interference," he said.
"It would look like the rchant faction taking a position," she said. "Which you’re about to do anyway at the hearing. This just does it three days earlier."
Silence.
Cassius looked at the table between them.
"Who," he said.
"Soone Malachai can’t object to on the record," she said. "Neutral. Qualified. No existing faction allegiance." She paused. "Seraphine has a na."
"Of course she does," Cassius said.
He was quiet for a mont.
"The financial authority provision," he said. "I want it drafted before the hearing. Not a promise. A docunt."
"Seraphine’s people can have it by tomorrow," Eve said.
"My people draft it," he said. "Seraphine’s people review."
"Fine," she said.
Another silence.
"You have your mother’s directness," he said. "And your father’s patience. That’s an uncomfortable combination to sit across from." He picked up his cup again. "I an that as a complint."
"I know," she said.
He looked at her for one more long mont.
"I’ll vote yes on the appointnt," he said. "And at the hearing." A pause. "Provided the docunt is correct."
"It will be," she said.
She stood. He stood.
"One question," Cassius said.
She waited.
"If Malachai had offered you a fair deal," he said. "A real one. Stepped aside cleanly, let the succession proceed properly, no leverage." He watched her. "Would you have taken it."
Eve considered this.
"No," she said.
"Why not."
"Because he killed my parents," she said. "And called my mother collateral." She held his gaze. "A fair deal doesn’t fix that."
Cassius looked at her for a mont.
Then he nodded. Once. The nod of soone who has just finished making a decision and is done reconsidering it.
"Seven days," he said.
"Seven days," she said.
The she left.
***
Damian was outside the building when she ca out, exactly where he’d said he’d been before she went inside, he was leaning against the wall opposite the entrance, arms crossed, eyes on the door. He straightened when she ca out.
He looked at her face.
"Well?" he said.
"We have Cassius," she said.
He exhaled, then he fell into step beside her.
"The fifth seat?" he said.
"Moving before the hearing," she said.
He was quiet for a mont.
"Malachai doesn’t know yet," he said.
"No," she said. "He will by tonight."
"How long do we have before he finds another move," Damian said.
"Hours," she said. "Maybe less."
Damian nodded.
"Then we better be faster," he said.
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