“Don’t worry,” whispered her Prince. “You don’t have to apologize. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
Cassandra could have argued she wasn’t alone, but in that case, it probably wasn’t what he actually meant. Kairen seemed relieved to see her fine, as he kept gently caressing her, refusing to let go of her for one second.
After another minute, Kareen suddenly returned, followed by Dahlia and Missandra. The younger sister looked deeply sorry, looking down and with her eyes all red and puffy. It broke Cassandra’s heart to see Missandra in such a state, but she couldn’t do anything at that point. She had no choice but to let the Imperial Family deal with it.
“Let’s go,” said Kairen.
“What? I am not going!” suddenly claimed Missandra. “You said this woman would have me dead!”
“Missandra, enough!”
It was the first time Cassandra got mad at her or even raised her voice. The younger sister was speechless. However, she saw in Cassandra’s green, angry eyes that this time, she wouldn’t idly sit by and let her act however she wanted. Missandra finally understood. She had gone too far, and she couldn’t oppose her sister or anyone there. She nodded, defeated.
To Cassandra’s surprise, Kairen carried her out, and even refused to let her walk by herself as they left the Imperial Concubine’s apartments.
“I’m fine,” she said, trying to convince him.
“Cassandra, you could barely stand earlier,” Kareen reminded her.
Cassandra felt embarrassed nevertheless. Thinking about it, she probably hadn’t eaten properly earlier. With all the discussion about their secret ceremony, she had barely touched breakfast, and her appetite was unpredictable these days. Plus, with the earlier fright, her nerves had too much for one day.
Kairen was getting more protective of Cassandra any time something happened. His eyes had a murderous glare since Phetra had been mentioned earlier.
Their little group, including Missandra, Dahlia, and some of Kareen’s servants, walked quickly through the Palace towards the Imperial Chamber. Seeing Kareen, Kairen, and Shareen altogether was a way to make any servant turn around and leave as quickly as possible.
For a while, Cassandra thought they were going towards the garden where the New Year Celebrations were still being held, but she soon realized she was wrong. Their group was heading to the inner part of the Palace, where the Emperor gathered all the ministers, generals, and scholars to officiate and discuss the Country’s future. Despite the ongoing event, the upper ranks probably still had to work and make sure everything in the country was going smoothly.
Once they arrived, Kairen finally put Cassandra down, letting her stand by his side, and brutally opened the large gold doors. Everyone inside the room jumped in shock, and all eyes converged their way. There were at least fifty people inside, all men. All of them looked shocked to see the War God making such a brutal appearance, and their glances went back and forth to the Emperor and his son, trying to figure how bad this situation could turn out to be.
The Emperor probably had his mouth open the widest of them all. His eyes went to Kairen, Shareen, Kareen, Cassandra, and Kairen again, as his son was leading the group.
“Son, what is…”
However, the War God made his way towards the men gathered, and without warning, grabbed one of them by the collar. Cassandra recognized, a bit late, the Second Prince Vrehan, struggling to get away from his younger brother’s grip.
The strength difference was painfully obvious. Kairen held him by the collar, at arm’s length, well above the floor. Despite his pitiful attempts, Vrehan didn’t manage to make him move one bit.
“Where is your damn sister?!” roared Kairen.
Even Cassandra had never seen him that furious. As if to support his Master, Krai made an appearance with a terrible growl, making the whole building shake. The terrified scholars went white, as the black-scaled head appeared above, in the usual open roof.
The Emperor had absolutely no control over the situation. His eyes went from Kareen to her son, again, and he tried to step forward, looking unsure.
“Kairen, son…What is…”
“I said, bring out your damn sister!”
“Let me go,” hissed Vrehan.
“Your sister. Now.”
He didn’t even need to ask precisely which one he was talking about. With an annoyed look, Vrehan gestured for two servants to run out of the room. Meanwhile, Krai was trying to get inside, the growling getting louder and louder. The room wasn’t exactly too small for the beast, but the opening definitely wasn’t made for a dragon to squeeze through. It could only get one front paw inside and with just that, the closest wall was dangerously scratched.
The Emperor slammed his hand against his throne.
“Kairen, enough! Put your brother down this instant!”
“I’ll put that vermin down as soon as I get his sister.”
