After the long and tense dinner.
Cassian was fast asleep between silk sheets in the spacious, high ceilinged room reserved for him in the guest wing.
The bed was so soft and the pillows so full of goose down that Cassian did not even feel the weight of his body.
The last time he had such luxury was when he was a guest in the Inferna Duchy.
As the morning sun began to filter through the heavy velvet curtains, filling the room with a dim light, there was a gentle knock on the door.
"Mr. Cassian?" said a soft, respectful female voice. "Are you awake?"
Cassian struggled to free himself from the sweet arms of sleep. "Come in," he murmured, his voice still carrying the grogginess of sleep.
A young maid in a uniform bearing the Evershade crest entered.
"Good morning, sir. Lady Calyra asked me to inform you that breakfast will be served in the main hall in half an hour."
