“Don’t you give me orders. You may wear a pink dress, but you’re still under me. As any slave. You’re under anyone here. Don’t think this color will...”
“Step back.”
As she said this for the second time, the concubine frowned, annoyed. Who was this bitch to give her orders?! She had been a concubine for over five years here! She wouldn’t listen to the orders of a mere…
Before she could add another word, a sudden flap of wings was heard, and she retreated in a hurry. She barely had time to move before a giant claw ripped the grass she had stood on a couple of seconds ago.
If the concubine had been a bit more aware of her surroundings earlier, she would have seen the dark shape that had been growing bigger in the sky, coming their way at a scary speed. Cassandra had seen it coming from far away. Had the dragon gone hunting before looking for her?
Krai growled, wrapping its large body around Cassandra, putting its head right where her hand was, as she gently patted and scratched the dark scales. The dragon was happily growling, glad to be reunited with her, but to the three terrorized women, those sounds were horrifying. Moreover, the woman who stood unaffected at the center of those mountains of scales was still staring at them, completely fearless.
“You got interrupted. Please continue.”
“I… I…”
Before she could gather her thoughts, Krai’s large tail whipped in the pond, splashing them. All three women got drenched, and yet, they didn’t even dare scream.
They tried to retreat, but to their surprise, Cassandra smiled softly.
“I believe you weren’t done talking. Please stay.”
For the first time, they realized how scary this woman was. Because she could utter those words with the softest voice, the gentlest smile, while a murderous beast was standing right next to her.
Cassandra hadn’t really planned on cornering them, but Krai had come at the right time, and in a few minutes, she had decided she shouldn’t let such women make easy prey of her. They would be an example, to show others she was no toy to play with. Like Kareen had told her, it would be better to teach them she wasn’t going to be someone to take lightly. She would have her hands full dealing with the worst people already.
She had no spare time for the childish games of bored concubines.
After that episode, no other concubine dared to bother Cassandra for the next few days. It was made known within a few hours how scary the gentle-looking woman could be. She had kept all three women alone with her, making them cry, beg, and tremble in fear of being devoured at any given moment, for over an hour. Cassandra had only insisted they told the same stories over and over, but all three concubines didn’t dare disobey and anger her or the beast. It could have seemed like a short time, but anyone who had ever been in the presence of one of the Imperial Dragons knew it wasn’t.
Truth was, Cassandra had only intended to scare them a bit, and only caressed or scratched Krai during that time, but it had worked beyond wonders. It so happened that the Black Dragon still had fresh blood on its maw, and the concubines saw those ruby eyes shine their way in a scary manner for longer than they could endure. Even if she would never give the order to bite or injure, unless she was in a death-threat situation, that sight was engraved in those women’s minds. They had cried for hours after that to anyone who would listen, about how merciless the War God’s concubine was, threatening to have the Dragon eat their poor defenseless selves.
After that, even if most concubines still held some doubt about how things really went, the fact that she was often followed by the Black Dragon was enough of a warning, and when Krai wasn’t in sight, most feared the beast wasn’t too far away.
It was actually a bit of a funny sight.
Krai kept following her like a dog, growling to get her attention, glaring at anyone who came close, and growled even more when she walked inside a building its large body couldn’t follow her into. It actually caused a bit of worry to the servants that the Palace’s architecture wouldn’t be able to withstand the beast’s reckless climbing on the roofs to follow her scent.
Cassandra was doing her best to get used to the Imperial Palace, though it was difficult.
Firstly, that place was way too big for her to get used to. She got lost many, many times and would only realize once she asked someone how far she had drifted away from her initial destination.
Secondly, she wasn’t with Kairen as often as she had hoped to be. The Emperor called for his son almost every day at dawn, and she helplessly spent breakfast and lunch alone, with the Imperial Concubine Mother, or in the Concubine’s gardens, only to be reunited with him right before dinner with all of the Imperial Family.
Lastly, this daily buffet was a torture for her. She hated being confined in a room full of people who glared at each other, no matter how vast that room was. Since she had demonstrated she had the backing of an Imperial Dragon, and when Kairen was in the room, no one dared to defy her too much, but she still hated that atmosphere. The only good part of it was that they would listen together to minister reports and news about what was going on in the country, and after a few days, Cassandra realized those dinners were also a way for the Emperor to test his sons.
While the youngest brothers were usually fooling around with their concubines, enjoying the shows, and were annoyed by those topics, the three oldest Princes were deeply involved.
The oldest Prince, Sephir, was an obvious bookworm and knew every topic by heart. At first, to Cassandra, he seemed to be the smartest of them all. However, after a while, she realized his decision-making was mostly based on past occurrences, and if no similar situations had happened in the past, he was usually at a loss.
The only one who truly rivaled Kairen was the Second Prince, Vrehan. Cassandra didn’t like him. He had a face like a rat, tiny eyes, and a mean expression. More importantly, he glared at Kairen anytime he would say anything and seemed like he was about to explode if their father agreed with him. Plus, his sister Phetra supported anything he said unconditionally. Since their last meeting, Cassandra had managed to avoid that woman, but Phetra made sure to glare her way any chance she could over dinner.
“What do you think, White Lily?”
Cassandra was surprised to hear the Emperor suddenly ask her opinion. This nickname he had given her had become sort of a title for her, whenever he addressed her, like she was some precious treasure.
It was the first time he openly asked for her opinion on a matter. Until then, Cassandra had listened and whispered some of her ideas a couple of times to Kairen, but she had never dared to interact with the Imperial Family Members while they had their talks. Also, it didn’t seem like any other concubine was ever involved in those talks, as only the Princes and, more seldomly, the Princesses answered. She couldn’t hide her surprise, but Kairen soon caressed her back, spreading his warmth to her and making her feel a bit more confident. This topic was about some medical issue she knew about, an epidemic that had risen in the South.
“I support the confinement idea, Your Highness. Until the real cause is found, nothing should leave or enter that village.”
