Cassian Nightwhisper's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

The rival did not stay beaten for long. The next morning he returned to the market square with a crowd behind him. Cassian stood beside Isabella when the man in green silk pushed through the onlookers. His mustache twitched. His voice carried loud and thin. "You knelt in the dirt for her," the rival said. "Words are cheap, fae. I say we settle this before everyone. A contest for her hand. Unless you're the coward she thinks you are." Cassian's wolf pup growled low at his heel. The word landed hard. Isabella had used it once, and it had moved him then. Now the rival threw it like a stone. Cassian saw the trap. Fight, and he proved himself a brute who won her by force. Walk away, and he wore the coward's name forever. "Name your contest," Cassian said. The rival smiled. "Strength. A test of the arms. First to pin the other wins." It was a cruel joke. Cassian could break the man in half. Everyone in the square knew it. The rival wanted him to win ugly, to look like a bully in front of her. Cassian did not step onto the ground the rival marked. He turned to Isabella instead. Her brown eyes searched his face, waiting. "You told me flowers die in a week," Cassian said. "You said I brought you nothing." He lifted his arm. His serpent familiar uncoiled from his shoulders and slid down, her crystal-flecked scales catching the light. Pink and purple gems shimmered along her length. She curled once around Isabella's wrist, gentle as a bracelet, then returned to Cassian. "My familiar chooses one soul to guard," Cassian said. "She has never chosen anyone but me. Today she offers her guard to you. That is not a thing I can win by pinning a man in the mud. It is not a thing he can ever give." The crowd went quiet. Isabella touched her wrist where the serpent had wrapped it. The rival's face went red. "That proves nothing! Fight me, or admit you're afraid!" Cassian stepped close to him. He did not raise a fist. He spoke low, so only the front row could hear. "I refuse your contest," he said. "Not because I fear you. Because she deserves a male who wins her heart, not a wrestling match. If that makes me a coward, then the whole square may say so." He waited. No one said it. The rival looked around for support and found none. The crowd had turned. Someone laughed at the man in green silk. He spat on the ground and shoved his way out. Isabella stepped to Cassian's side. "You didn't fight him," she said. "No." "Good." She almost smiled. Then her voice dropped. "But my father gave that man his word. He won't take it back for a serpent's trick. If you want the bond, you'll have to face him next."