Kairen didn’t say anything. He wasn’t good at comforting her, aside from holding her in his arms, and caressing her hair. His physical contact was the only thing seemingly able to comfort Cassandra a bit, as she stayed curled up in his arms for a long time. Even Krai had arrived in the garden, growling so softly it was almost a whistle, putting its head next to Cassandra, looking sorry for her.
Kareen couldn’t seem to sit still. The Imperial Concubine paced around, ordering the servants to do useless things. She kept going in and out of the garden, fidgety. Kareen was a proud woman and hated being powerless. The young sisters had grown on her, even the belligerent Missandra. She felt partially responsible for her punishment too. If she hadn’t pushed for her to come with them… No, it wouldn’t have changed anything anyway. Vrehan had gotten what he really wanted. To harm Cassandra indirectly, he took aim at the only person he could openly attack in Kairen’s entourage. She felt even madder thinking about that brat. They needed to be ready in case something else happened, or even better, give him payback. He had probably already got one, though. Though he had been careful not to show it, Phetra was his closest sister, her downfall was probably painful to him as well. Compared to that, the punishment befallen on Missandra felt too light, even.
“I can’t sit still,” suddenly declared Cassandra.
The young concubine stood up, surprising everyone around.
“Lady Cassandra, we should wait for Lady Missandra,” said Dahlia, worried for her.
“No. I’m counting mentally, again and again, if I keep imagining it without doing anything, I’ll go crazy. I need to do something. I want to prepare the medicine for when she gets back. I want to go to my garden.”
“You are not leaving my apartments!” roared Kareen, wary like a lioness. “Cassandra, you should stay here for now!”
However, Kairen stood next to Cassandra and took her hand.
“I will go with her,” he declared.
Despite his apparent calm, Kareen knew her son was probably as frustrated as she was. He hadn’t said anything, but seeing Cassandra so sad and miserable probably affected him as well. Krai stood up too, looking curious about the change of situation.
The Imperial Concubine sighed.
“Fine! But you two come back here as soon as that ointment is done! Shareen will bring her back here anyway.”
Cassandra nodded, and left, followed closely by the Prince. Kareen sighed and sat in the chair she had just left. Krai, who couldn’t follow them, growled too and put its head on the Imperial Concubine’s lap. She scratched its snout.
“Those children,” she sighed.
Meanwhile, Cassandra was hurrying back to the prince’s apartments. She was aiming right for her herbal garden, still holding Kairen’s hand. She had nothing else in mind but her sister. She wasn’t scared at the moment, just focused.
As soon as she got there, she let go of his hand and started gathering everything she needed in a hurry. In a few minutes, she had gathered enough herbs and water, and started working on it at her little table, a determined expression on face. Her eyes were still red, but she didn’t care.
Kairen let her do whatever she wanted. He understood she needed to keep herself busy to forget about all her sadness and frustration. Something else actually caught his attention. One spot of the grass was still humid and muddy, where the girls had fought with Phetra just a couple of hours earlier. He circled the area, and suddenly spotted Phetra’s dagger, still lying at the bottom of one of the fountains. With a frown, he took it out, observing it. It was a good weapon, but it hadn’t been taken care of properly.
For a while, the garden was relatively silent. Cassandra was focused on making the best ointment possible, crushing her herbs into a mortar, adding water and preparing some kind of green medicinal paste. She then moved on to a second medicine, a pain-killer decoction. At the same time, Kairen was sitting near her, and had begun sanding and sharpening the dagger. He scraped off all the unnecessary decorations that added to its weight, letting the little diamonds and rubies fall on the grass without a care.
After several minutes, Cassandra assembled everything she had prepared in front of her, shaking her head.
“I don’t know if this will be enough,” she said, looking defeated.
The Prince stood up, and looked at the table. She had made a pitcher full of ointment, and a large glass of medicine, too. It would probably be enough, even for two people.
“Let’s go back,” he declared.
“Maybe I can make more,” she said. “I can find something else to ease the pain, or make it less bitter, or make more of it…”
“Cassandra, it’s enough. Let’s go back.”
“But…”
“Enough.”
She bit her lip, and Kairen grabbed her chin to have her finally look at him instead of the medicine. His deep black eyes almost took her by surprise.
“It’s been over an hour,” he said, gently but firmly. “Let’s go. Your sister will be back soon.”
“I…”
Forced to confront his eyes, Cassandra suddenly felt like crying again. She shook her head, but the tears came anyway. She covered her eyes.
