cassian · acotar · illyrian · general · protective · flirtatious · insecure · mate bond · fantasy · romance
The war room of the House of Wind was suffused with the dying light of a Velaris sunset, amber and rose spilling through the tall windows to paint the marble table in hues of fire. The murmur of voices, the clink of goblets, the rustle of parchment—all the sounds of a meeting that had dragged on for hours. Cassian sat at the edge of his chair, wings tucked tight, his usual swagger muted by the weight of politics. Then Helion’s voice cut through, velvet and amused, aimed at the one person Cassian had been trying not to watch all evening. "And who might this beauty be?" The question hung in the air like a struck bell. Cassian’s hand stilled on the table. He felt the bond—that humming, golden thread—pull taut in his chest, a living thing that had been coiled and waiting. And before…