Her Assassin's Heart - Book 2

Chapter 1

(Sorta how I imagine Cassandra)

The flash of golden lights and sparkling gems danced about the room among the tantalizing blur of colors and laughter. The heady smell of fine perfumes almost made her lose herself into the aching pain of her headache. This must have been how Lavinia felt, Cassandra thought to herself, pressing her lips into a firm line. Poor Livy had been dragged to every social event of the year against her wishes, and now, Cassandra finally knew how it felt.

    Painfully shifting her weight from one aching foot to the other, she struggled against the yawn rising in her throat at an almost irrepressible speed, vainly attempting to appear present and cheerful despite her desire to run out of the Drummond ballroom as fast as her heeled slippers would allow. But, she thought with a sigh, she couldn't do that. Papa was counting on her to be here when he got back, and besides, she couldn't let them think that their snide remarks were getting to her. Oh, no, not in a million years.

    Grinning suddenly, she wondered what Lady Giselle Montague's response would be if someone were to drop a live mouse down the gaping neck of her bodice. Forcing herself to keep her laughter down, she imagined waving a fat field cricket in Lady Cecilia Marie's face. Unable to resist, she broke out into a full smile at the thought of piling a fresh cow pie on Kitty Morgan's head. She would most certainly be banned from every social gathering of note, but it would be beyond worth it.

    The flirtatious vipers had once claimed to be her best friends, and now, it was they who spread the most malicious stories about her, they who, with their finely dressed groups of friends, snubbed her as best they knew how, and they who mocked Livy for running off to Scotland with a man who had nothing to offer but his love. Oh, yes, they had been her friends once, but she despised them with cold fury now.

    "You're looking unusually happy tonight, Cassandra." The smile slid from her lips as she looked up into Benjamin Morgan's drooping face.

    "As though I'm planning my next conquest already?" She raised a coldly imperious brow. No one had tried to hide the gossip from her, and she knew full well what they were saying of her. Wasn't she suffering because of it?

    "No—that is—er—you just look happy." Benjamin stuttered, his features turning a blotchy crimson. "Look, I know you and Kitty didn't part well—"

    "Part well?" Cassandra scoffed. "She called me a sloppy paramour directly to my face and asked her group of friends how they thought a woman with such a vulgar reputation dared show her face in a church."

    "And you called her a trollop who thinly veils her behavior with a coating of prudish slime and our father's title, and you asked her if she were still counting the number of men she had taken to bed just like her over-exaggerated ego demanded." Benjamin replied dryly, raising a tufted brow. "You never were one to mince with words."

    "I never saw the point. Either speak your mind to someone or don't, but never go in between; it's sloppy and ill-bred." Cassandra shrugged. "Besides, how was I to know she'd set her heart on wedding Frank Miller. Really, I think it was for her own good. For a clergyman, he certainly has a heightened awareness of his good looks. Has she never seen him pause before every mirror he passes for a quick glance at himself?" A smile touched her lips. "I take that back. I believe I did her the greatest disfavor the world would have to offer by chasing away the only man who could possibly be as stuck on himself as she. I've never met someone who thought they were such a rare gift to mankind."

    "Look, Cass," Benjamin's voice turned serious. "You and she aren't friends anymore; whether you have good reason or not is beside the point, but is there really any reason that the two of us can't get on in the same, old way? Perhaps better?" Cassandra looked up into the hopeful eyes and felt a sharp dart pierce her heart at Benjamin's expression. Could this be another victim to her foolish flirtations.