“I… I had promised our mother I would protect her… I can’t believe… I’m such a bad sister… I shouldn’t have brought her here.”
The Prince sighed, and gently had her let go of her tools. He took her into his strong embrace to try and calm her down. It had been a while since she had cried so much.
Cassandra had only really cried three times since he had met her. The first time was out of fear for him, when he was locked up by his father. The second time, it was out of anger, for the slaves, when the slave traders showed no compassion. Now, she was crying for her younger sister. It seemed like that girl always cried more for others than herself, when she was the one who had been going through so much.
Her own scars, from being whipped so many times, added up to much more than a hundred or two. There wasn’t a spot on her skin that didn’t have one of those white, thin lines he hated. Given that Cassandra’s skin was among the whitest possible, the scars were sometimes harder to see, and sometimes very visible, like little silver threads, but Kairen felt it under his fingers anytime he caressed her. That precious, frail body he adored had been mistreated until it got like this. Her legs, her arms, her back, her chest… There wasn’t an area that had been spared. She even had some on the back of her hands, and on her neck, though the spot where she formerly had a collar had been protected by the metal. His blood would boil just thinking about all the pain she had been inflicted.
“What if she dies? Kairen, if something happens to my sister, I…”
“Cassandra, look at me.”
She lifted her head. Her eyes, full of tears, were the most dangerous weapon against him. He put his hands around her neck, his fingers in her hair, and gently caressed her cheek with his thumb.
“Your sister will be fine. As soon as she comes out of there, and can travel, I will send her to the Diamond Palace with my mother. I will get her out of here, and as soon as these damn Celebrations are over, we will, too. It’s my promise to you.”
Cassandra nodded weakly, but her heart wasn’t at peace. She felt like she was going to crumble at any moment.
“Can I be honest for a minute?” she said.
“What is it?”
“I don’t want you to be an Emperor.”
Kairen wasn’t exactly surprised by her words, but it was certainly the first time she said something like that. He frowned, a bit confused.
“I thought you said…”
“I know what I said,” sighed Cassandra, pushing him a bit. “I…There’s a part of me, a selfish part of me, that wishes we could leave, just the two of us, and our family. Go far from all the Politics, the murders, the plots, and everyone who wants to harm us. I want… If I could live in a dream, it would be anywhere but this Empire. I…don’t want to give birth to children and worry about which ones will be killed. I don’t want the jewels, the dresses, the fancy banquets… I just want you, our people, and our baby, living in peace. I want to bear your children, and get old with you. I could hop on Krai’s back and let your dragon take us anywhere. But…”
She took a deep breath, calming herself down, closing her eyes.
“There is also a part of me that wants you to change this Empire. I hate… I hate this Dragon Empire, Kairen. Everything is wrong with it. I hate how you and your brothers can kill people without remorse. How slaves and servants are treated like disposable livestock. How women are seen as merchandise, even Princesses. How you see the destruction of my people as nothing more than some unfortunate event from the past. I… I was raised with the idea that life and death are sacred, and must be honored. Your people don’t care about life, and they don’t even respect the dead.”
“Cassandra…”
She shook her head, asking him to let her speak a bit longer.
“That day, in the arena… I was ready to die. I didn’t care about the Imperial Games. I wasn’t scared, I had no more expectations for life. However, of all people, you chose me. The moment when Krai dropped me at your feet, and you put that little piece of your coat on my shoulders, something in me changed a little. Since we met, every day, I have been seeing what a wonderful, loving man you are. You don’t care about gender when you interact with people. You respect your siblings based on their skills, not their gender. You kill when you have to, not when you want. You protect those you love… and punish those who deserve to be punished. You are not perfect, but… You are the kind of man that could change this Empire into a country I can love.”
The Prince was very still, listening to every word. Cassandra’s voice was hoarse because of all of her earlier crying, softer and huskier than usual. She was almost whispering.
“If a man like Vrehan becomes Emperor, this will go on. People will die unfairly, women like Missandra will be treated poorly. Truth is, if I believed any of your brothers could do this better than you, I would root for them to take the Golden Throne. But… I have seen what they can do, and it isn’t what you can do. They can’t take an abused, damaged woman, forget about her appearance and still be able to see her value. To turn her into an Imperial Physician. They can’t respect their sisters like their equals. They can’t have empathy for slaves, servants, or for their people. They live in Golden Palaces, while you’re fine with eating and sleeping in a camp. You are not like them, my love. This is exactly why you made me fall for you, and why I believe you should be the next Emperor, even if it breaks my heart.”
Kairen gently caressed her arm. He understood everything she said, however, there was one thing that was worrying the War God at that moment, and he couldn’t not say it.
“I am not leaving you,” he said.
Somehow, he felt as if, at one point, all of this was going to be too much for her. That fragile woman, no matter how strong her heart was, would reach her limit, and be unable to follow whichever path he was fated to follow. Kairen didn’t want that. Of all the things he had ever desired, since the moment he had laid his eyes on her, there wasn’t a single one that didn’t include Cassandra.
“I know,” Cassandra chuckled. “I won’t leave you either. Your fate will be mine, my Prince, I promise. I’ve come to peace with that already. Don’t worry.”
He sighed, and once again, hugged her closely. Cassandra felt relieved he had understood what had been hidden in her heart for a while now. Even for her, it had been so hard to deal with the whole situation, and to come to terms with what she truly wanted. However, she knew one thing for sure: she wanted to stay by this man’s side.
She stayed in his embrace for as long as it took for her to calm down. Once her tears were dry, and her heart a bit more at peace, she sighed and took a step back with a chuckle.
“I really want to see our son soon.”
Kairen nodded, caressing her tummy.
