a skid of Diana’s back hooves, I pressed well forward as my mount’s noble head, mighty chest and front legs reared up.
She struck at the night with her front hooves.
And the shimmers in a grand swoop up my back soared into the air, flying above the podium, only to burst right above it into thousands of magical butterflies that flitted peacefully away, disappearing into the night sky.
Diana and I dropped.
The air split open as the crowd boomed their accolades.
I looked up.
And that was when I saw Prince Cassius Laird, heir to the throne of Airen, sitting on the high podium, wearing black leathers, half his daunting face inked, staring darkly down on me.
And I fell instantly in love.
17
The Reception
Prince Cassius Laird
Royal Podium at the Coliseum, Fire City
FIRENZE
“Outrageous,” his father hissed.
Cassius sat in his baronial, intricately carved chair on the high podium with his head turned left.
Away from his father.
The crowd was still thundering their applause for the Nadirii performance.
But as the Sisterhood trooped out of the coliseum, its upper echelon was assembling at that side of the podium.
He noted with approval the first thing they did was care for their horses, leading them to the barrels of water set about for that purpose.
He also noted that as her roan bent her muzzle to the wet, Elena rubbed her cheek down her mount’s neck and drifted her fingers over the crest.
Watching this, oddly, Cass had to fight shifting in his seat.
And he had to do it again when she turned.
He had often seen the Nadirii fighting uniform, such as it was. And such as it was, was a body stocking under a leather breast plate stamped with an oak leaf and leather thigh, calf and arm shields. The only uniform he’d seen adorned in any manner during battle was Serena’s, and her breast plate held a wide oak leaf formed of gold.
Cassius had never seen their ceremonial uniform.
It consisted of front-lace, slender moccasins that rode up the calf. Above this, stockings made of leather dyed purple that came up to a point edged in gold on the upper thigh. These held tight with silver ribbon casings criss-crossed about the thigh.
On the top they wore a silver tunic that came down to the knees, but it was split up the front of each leg, all the way to the pubis, exposing a silver body stocking at the join of the legs.
The tunic was topped by a hard-leather, fawn-colored, close-fitting bustier that covered the breasts and came down in a split plate, the front edge over the pubis, the sides over the hips. These slits exposed skin from upper thigh to inner hips.
On the front of the bustier were deep reliefs of swirls of gold that came up the ribs and rounded the breasts, bringing attention to that specific area. A Nadirii trait. They took every opportunity to glorify anything female.
Then there was a trim, dark-brown suede belt with a gold buckle at the navel emblazoned with a white oak leaf.
And from the chest and around the shoulders and upper arms, the coral mantle of the royal house of Nadirii fell down the back to the ankles.
Around Elena’s forehead, as was around Ophelia’s and Serena’s (but it was only a band of suede with an oak leaf stamped disk at the front for all the other sisters, gold for the lieutenants, silver for the rest of the warriors), starting with a gold oval set with an oak leaf formed of amethyst in the center. This fed to smaller gold ovals that went around her head over her hair.
And Elena’s hair was golden, falling past her shoulders, the ends of the thick locks mingling with the gold swirls at her breasts and midriff.
“That was an entirely obnoxious display,” Cassius heard his father grouse as he watched Ophelia move up the steps to the podium.
But Cass froze, as behind the Nadirii queen, he saw Elena, who had been following her mother, turn abruptly.
Her face then lit with a bright smile and her arms opened wide right before a young girl with Elena’s golden hair crashed into Elena’s slender frame.
They wrapped their arms around each other and Elena gazed down dotingly at the girl who was jumping up and down, jarring Elena’s body, the girl’s mouth moving quickly in her excitement.
“She has a daughter?” he murmured, and felt Mac, who was standing at his back right, bend to him.
“Not that I know.”
“She’s right now embracing a daughter,” Cassius replied.
“We’ll find out,” Otho grunted over his left