There was a gasp.
To swear by Panthera was not a light oath. Everyone knew that. The women looked at each other, stunned, their hearts pounding now not from laughter, but from conviction.
"She's serious…"
"She wouldn't dare invoke Panthera unless it was true."
"I can't believe this is real, but it has to be…"
Cassius gently continued.
"Believe me, I didn't want to believe it either. But when we tried it, when we poured a little into the lake, the Leviathan came."
One woman, breathless, whispered. "I saw it...I thought I imagined it...but it really was the Leviathan that came near the shore today…"
A chorus of murmurs, spreading faster.
"The rumors were true."
"Then what he says is real…"
"But still…" One woman blushed furiously. "He wants that fluid? That's the job?!"
Cassius, despite himself, laughed softly.
