She was glaring towards the Second Brother, but he didn’t even notice. He was completely absorbed in a heated discussion with his sister, Phetra. Cassandra wondered if he was behind this. The feud between those siblings and Kairen wasn’t to be taken lightly, not if she wanted to survive.
Her Prince too, had his dark eyes sending daggers their way, all the while holding tightly to Cassandra.
“How are you going to deal with her now?” questioned Shareen with a smirk.
Cassandra had no idea. She would have let her Prince deal with it, but if that woman was only a pawn, she didn’t really deserve death.
“I heard Sister Shareen had an interesting outing with Brother Kairen’s Concubine today,” gossiped Phetra from across the hall.
Immediately, everyone else stopped talking. That woman’s voice alone was enough to make Cassandra’s skin crawl. What was she up to now? Her eyes were glancing innocently at Shareen. However, the Princess had an amused smirk, like a cat prepared to play with her prey.
“You should watch your concubine more carefully Brother, she seems to carelessly wander outside the Palace.”
“What are you talking about, Princess Phetra?” asked one of the concubines.
That woman was a poor actress. She had an obvious smile, and Cassandra could tell she was only too happy to play in Phetra’s little games. Cassandra stayed expressionless, but she could feel Kairen’s fingers were restless along her back. Despite his solemn expression, she could tell her Prince was annoyed, too.
“You are well informed, Princess Phetra,” replied Cassandra. “I wonder why my outings with Princess Shareen are of any importance to you?”
Phetra’s face turned sour. One could tell she didn’t expect Cassandra to reply back to her, and was pissed about that. Her expression was torn between anger and disgust.
“I suppose you’re right, it shouldn’t be too surprising to see you two hanging around the whore houses.”
The insult was so clear, even the Emperor slammed his hand on his throne.
“Phetra! Watch your words, Daughter! Or else you will really anger me!”
“There is nothing upsetting about this, Dear Father,” dismissed Shareen turning to her sister. “After all, you knew that place long before we did…didn’t you Phetra? I bet it reminds you of your dear mother.”
Cassandra didn’t expect this. Their mother was a prostitute? Phetra turned red in anger, standing up suddenly. Next to her, the Second Prince, Vrehan narrowed his eyes on her.
“Phetra, sit.”
“What is the meaning of this!” The Emperor roared, clearly pissed. “If you have things to say, Phetra, speak now or shut up!”
“My apologies, Father. But I was upset because of Shareen’s misconduct today. Were you aware she abused our younger sister?”
For a few seconds, the Emperor seemed confused.
“Your younger sister?” he repeated.
“Valeria, Father! She mistreated Valeria!”
Shareen laughed loudly, and even Cassandra felt their situation pitiful. The Emperor had so many daughters, he couldn’t even grasp who Phetra was talking about right away, even after her name was given. He probably didn’t care much for the younger Princesses.
“Oh right, Valeria. What about her?”
Phetra was obviously annoyed that their father didn’t care much about the situation. She clicked her tongue, irritated. As if she had been called, Valeria emerged from the shadows behind Phetra. The young Princess was clearly uncomfortable being there, appearing in front of them on the verge of tears. But Phetra pushed her forward anyway without a care.
“See! Shareen grabbed her arm so violently! Is it fine for her to abuse her younger sisters? Don’t you hate us fighting, Father?”
Cassandra noticed the bandage on Valeria’s arm and shook her head. This was clearly too much of an exaggeration. She had been there, she knew that despite Shareen’s tight grip on her sisters’ arm, she certainly didn’t use enough force to require those ridiculous bandages or even any medicine. Did Phetra have her put it on just for show? This was absurd!
“Aren’t you going to say anything in her defense, Father?” insisted Phetra.
“Well…” sighed the Emperor.
“Are you done, Phetra?” growled Shareen, annoyed. “That child isn’t even injured!”
