“Who knows. A long part of our history was forgotten, the other comes from tales and legends. It’s hard to tell how much is true.”
Cassandra didn’t care much for their ancestors’ secrets at that moment. She kept staring at her sister, hoping she could heal fast, and feel as little pain as possible.
“Anyway, with Missandra punished, that should settle it for Father,” said Shareen.
“Your Second Brother won’t be satisfied with that,” retorted her mother. “This was only a small payback for how we insulted Phetra. He won’t stop there. A servant came earlier to tell me the Princess has several bones broken and is suffering hell. He will want to pay that back.”
“I’m getting Missandra out of here as soon as possible,” said Cassandra. “I don’t want my sister anywhere near where she could be hurt again.”
“Don’t worry, we will make sure she can leave quietly.”
Cassandra stood up, shaking her head.
“She needs to rest for now. The journey to the Diamond Castle would be too much to handle for her in this state. Hopefully, she will be fine by the end of the Celebrations, and we can all leave together.”
“Only four days to go,” said Kareen. “Missandra won’t leave my apartments until then, so she can rest and stay safe. I promise nothing can happen to her here.”
Cassandra weakly nodded. She didn’t feel like going back to the Celebrations for the day, anyway. She didn’t care what the Emperor would say, she didn’t want to indulge a man who had inflicted that to her younger sister, no matter what.
“Can I dine here tonight?” she asked.
“Of course, Cassie. That old fart won’t dare protest if we say you feel unwell. Let’s just have you rest here and do a little dinner together, alright?”
For the rest of the afternoon, Cassandra stayed by her sister’s side, with Dahlia. She didn’t want to leave her side until she woke up, and everyone understood that. Kairen, Shareen, and their mother gave the sisters some space, finding their own occupations in the Palace, though they stayed nearby.
At some point around the end of the afternoon, Cassandra needed to use the bathroom. She had stayed next to Missandra all this time and couldn’t take it anymore. She left Dahlia to watch her in her stead, and went to the closest bathroom.
Kareen’s apartments were vast, and among the prettiest in the Palace. There were many, many rooms for her to use, though she only seemed to use a few. Cassandra hadn’t gotten accustomed to the place yet. She was used to the Diamond Palace, but inside the Palace, a lot of corridors and doors looked the same. Somehow, she got lost on her way back to the room Missandra had been taken to. She might have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because, after a few minutes, she still wasn’t back. She knew she was still inside the Imperial Concubine’s apartments, she just had no idea where.
There was something strange in this area. Actually, she had thought about asking a servant for the way back, but this corridor was completely deserted. Cassandra was lost. This part of the Palace looked abandoned, nothing like Kareen’s rooms full of plants and life. In here, there was a deadly silence floating around, like a cathedral.
As she was trying to figure the way back, she came across what might have been a dining room, long ago. It was all dusty, and less refined than the one they actually used. Some cutlery had been forgotten in an old buffet, along with spiderwebs and dust.
Cassandra frowned. She didn’t understand why Kareen, who loved clean and decorated spaces, would leave a wing of her apartments empty like this. She kept walking until she found another corridor with rooms. All the doors looked alike, but one caught her attention. It was torn down. Not like it had crumbled naturally, but like some beast had attacked it. The room was open, and, pushed by curiosity, she stepped in.
It was a child’s room. There was a bed a bit smaller than the norm, some old furniture, and toys. She collected one that looked like a dragon plushie, left on the floor. It was cute, but old. Whose room was this? There was such a nostalgic feeling hanging in the air. Something deeply sad, too. Cassandra glanced around. There were toy blades, three of them, on top of a chest. So it was probably a boy’s room. The desk still had some old books piled up, collecting dust. The library next to it as well. A bit further, something like a large couch made of straw was in a corner, a shape still visible in its center. Was it for some pet to sleep in? A dog, or…
“Cassandra.”
She jumped and turned around. Kairen was standing a few steps behind her, outside of the room. She sighed in relief after that scare.
“Sorry. I got lost…”
“Come.”
“Kairen… Whose room is this?”
The Prince hesitated, looking inside the room. He wasn’t stepping in, which intrigued Cassandra even more. His eyes fell on the stuffed toy she was holding.
“It was mine.”
Cassandra was surprised, though she was suspecting it already. The straw couch’s indent was too large and deep for a regular animal. The size of it would be fitting if it was for a dragon… A young dragon.
“It’s your…childhood bedroom?”
He nodded. Was it really? She thought it might have been one of his brothers’, but... Cassandra couldn’t imagine a Prince’s room would have been left like this, even less if Kareen was in charge. Yet it felt completely abandoned, forgotten.
However, the way her Prince was standing outside, instead of coming to her, intrigued her as well. Something in his attitude didn’t feel right, like he was wary of the room. He…loathed this place. She could tell just by looking at him. He had the same look as when he was glaring at Vrehan, or the women who had tried to approach him before. Something about that place disgusted him. Why would he hate his childhood bedroom? It looked like it used to be a warm and nice bedroom for a child to be in. She looked at the damaged door again. Something had happened here. As if someone had gone berserk on it.
