[color=f26522][h2]Cassandra[/h2][/color]
[@Achronum][@WeepingLiberty]


[color=ed145b]“Save your fire for the Sinnenodel snake, Countess.”[/color]


She had been talking to Amaris, but the use of Cassandra's element as a euphemism made something click in her head.  She was right.  Fire wasn't the right tool here, not figuratively and certainly not literally. And until she had taken some arcane lessons, fire was all she had.  What did Cassandra mean to do?  Burn Princess Nox Noila to death?  It was ridiculous.  

She stood up straight, realizing for the first time that she had been standing almost as if ready to fight.  

[color=f26522]"Countess,"[/color] she said, speaking clearly, but quietly.  [color=f26522]"I think we [i]should[/i] go inside."[/color]

She hated to sound like a coward, but this wasn't the time or place to make this stand.  She was not going to forget the mage, thrown about like a rabid dog.  But Princess Nox was giving them exactly the right advice; this was a situation where they would be better leveraging her family's political power.  She was doing exactly what Master Valius had always told her she would do, trying to fight people head on, even when she knew she couldn't win.  

[color=f26522]"[I]I'll[/i] invite [i]you[/i] in for some tea. Er, blood?"[/color] She made a conscious effort not to cringe at that suggestion. But wasn't she Countess Miriavaldi's mage now?