Hence, when she walked in, Cassandra found Krai already circled up around the egg, rubbing its snout against it.
Cassandra couldn’t describe the warm feeling that filled her heart upon being reunited with the Dragon Egg. She walked up to it, putting her hands on its warm shell.
“Is that…?” asked Missandra.
“Our future nephew’s dragon,” explained Shareen.
Quickly, she explained to the younger sister about dragon eggs and their birth, while Cassandra and Krai were happily re-discovering the egg. It had indisputably grown since last time. It was now about as tall as a young child! Once again, it reacted to Cassandra’s presence, the shiny light inside glowing where she was putting her hands, or where Krai was sniffing.
“You’re telling me the… The Black Dragon is a female?” whispered Missandra, confused.
“Dragons are agender, neither female nor male,” explained Kareen. “Dragons are a unique kind of creature, as they don’t reproduce like humans or animals.”
“They just need to pee and poop.”
“Shareen!”
Behind them, Anour laughed, but was soon interrupted by some furious growls. Roun and Srai, curious, had shown up, the first above and the second from the door, and were brutally growled at by Krai.
The black dragon was fiercely defending its egg, warning the two other dragons from coming closer. Actually, Cassandra noticed that, aside from her prince, Kareen, and her, none of the other people present had walked further than the entrance of the garden. Though she could understand about Missandra and Dahlia standing away from the black dragon, as its size was taking up most of the space, she was surprised that Anour and Shareen had also stayed back. She had thought it was because there wasn’t much space, but seeing how even Roun and Srai couldn’t approach the egg, Cassandra realized Krai would have probably chased them away too.
She gently patted the Black Dragon to calm it down, while the other two gave up and retreated a bit.
“This egg is getting bigger than expected,” said Shareen.
“Is it a problem?” asked Cassandra, worried.
“Of course not. Your son will probably be stronger than the norm, but that’s not so surprising given his lineage!”
Cassandra smiled. How she wished she could see her baby and his dragon soon! She wanted to guess it’s size, it’s color, but she truly had no idea. Would he be black like Krai? Or maybe another color? Roun and the other dragons were all of amazing colors as well.
Krai, too, was affectionately rubbing its snout against the egg, growling softly. Had the black dragon missed the egg as well? After a while of watching the dragon’s affectionate behavior, Cassandra stood up and walked to Kairen, hugging her Prince. Sometimes, she forgot that Krai was an embodiment of his tamer’s emotions.
The War God hugged her, keeping her in his arms, gently caressing her back.
With a gesture from the Imperial Concubine, everyone else but the couple and the black dragon cleared the room in a few seconds to give them some privacy. As they were now alone in the little garden. Cassandra smiled and, with a bit of boldness, stood on her toes to kiss him lovingly.
Of course, Kairen answered her kiss back. For a while, they were alone with his dragon, exchanging tender kisses and hugging. Truth was, Cassandra hadn’t been able to relax like this in a while. Not since they had left the Diamond Palace, actually. Now that they were back in Lady Kareen’s domain, the young concubine could finally breathe a little, and not be on guard at all times. Missandra was there too, so she didn’t have to worry about her younger sister either.
Those feelings transferred into her bold kisses and the hands with which she gently caressed her War God, her man. Kairen was agreeably surprised. He had noticed Cassandra was uneasy during their stay at the Imperial Palace, but he had never thought coming back to the Diamond Palace would free her like that.
For a while, they kept exchanging kisses, hugging and caressing each other. However, they were unwilling to leave this room. As they both ran out of breath, Cassandra chuckled, resting her head on his shoulder, in a way that she could look at the egg and Krai wrapped around it.
“I hope it will rain soon,” she whispered. “I don’t want to part with you yet.”
“I will be back as soon as I can. You can stay here, and rest. Take care of yourself and the baby.”
She nodded, putting her arms around his neck. Cassandra wasn’t worried about staying behind at the Diamond Palace, but she hated the idea of parting with him. She had such fond memories of her time with him in the North, at the Military Camp.
However, things were different this time; she couldn’t follow him into this battle. Cassandra sighed and turned to Kairen.
“We have about a week, right?” she whispered.
“Until the Imperial Army reaches here, yes.”
“Let’s just stay together as much as we can… please?”
Cassandra’s begging voice, when she was pleading like that, was the most desirable thing in the world in the War God’s eyes. Kairen softly smiled, and without saying anything else, suddenly lifted her, taking her into a wild kiss, out of the room and to where they could really be alone.
