Cassius returned the next day. His face was drawn, his usual composure cracked.
"Lord Valerius knows something," he said without preamble. "He's been asking questions. About Lyra. About the coast. About why I've been traveling so often."
"What did you tell him?" Aldric asked.
"That I'm old. That I need solitude. That Lyra is keeping me company." Cassius paused. "He didn't believe me."
The four of them sat in the parlor. The ocean was loud outside, a storm building over the water.
"The Council gathering is in three weeks," Cassius continued. "I'm expected to attend. Lyra is expected to attend. Marcus will be there. His father will expect an answer about the marriage."
"What happens if she refuses?" Kael asked.
"Politically? The Silvanus family loses standing. The Valerius family has allies. They could push us off the Council entirely."
"And if she accepts?"
Cassius looked at his daughter. "Then she marries a man she doesn't love. And this—what we've built here—ends."
Kael's hands were fists. "There has to be another option."
"There is." Lyra's voice was quiet. "We tell them the truth."
Everyone looked at her.
"Not about us. Not yet. About the creature. About the old alliance. About the fact that vampires and wolves worked together three hundred years ago to bind something that threatened both our kinds. We present it as history. As a reason to reconsider the treaty."
Cassius shook his head. "They won't listen. The Council is built on the treaty. Admitting that we once worked with wolves undermines everything they believe."
"Then we make them listen. We have proof. The scrolls. The symbols. The name chamber. We show them that the old alliance existed—and that it worked."
Aldric spoke. "She's right. If we're going to change anything, we need to start with the truth. Not all of it. But enough."
Cassius was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly.
"I'll arrange a presentation. At the gathering. If we're going to do this, we do it in front of everyone."