“You unruly child! Getting to the North will hopefully cool your wild ideas!”
“Of course, Mother. When you send me to an army full of hunky soldiers…”
Kareen clicked her tongue again and tried to slap her shoulder, but Shareen was quick to move and get away from her reach. Cassandra couldn’t help but wonder how the Princess would do at the Camp. She remembered Evin, Orwen, and all the soldiers that had helped her put together the Red Room there. Even her friends at the Onyx Castle. If she hadn’t been pregnant, she probably would have gone there instead. However, it was best for her to stay here until her son was born, under Kareen’s protection and where she could easily have access to a doctor and servants to tend to her.
“Shareen, could you deliver letters if I give them to you?” asked Cassandra.
“Where to? I’m not a courier!”
“Don’t worry, it’s for the Onyx Castle and the Army Camp. If you can even just give them to the servants there, they’ll know what to do.”
“Fine then.”
Cassandra felt a bit relieved. She would at least be able to write to Nebora and the girls, and to Evin and Orwen, too. The two men had been such help to her at the camp. She hoped they both were doing well.
The servants started bringing in dinner, as grand as usual, with lots of meats, fish, fruits, and everything Cassandra loved. After living together for a few weeks previously, the Imperial Concubine was well aware of her tastes, and the Diamond Palace was more than ready to satisfy the pregnant lady’s appetite. The smell of the cooked meat actually even attracted Krai and Roun, who started bickering again on the side when Kairen threw a big piece at them. The two young dragons obviously had more fun fighting about it than actually eating the meat. Thankfully, the garden in the open room they had dinner in, was wide enough for the two to get wild without risking injuring the humans present.
Missandra and Dahlia appeared a few minutes later, having smelled the delicious food all the way to the bedrooms. As they had all skipped lunch for various reasons, they were all more than happy to start eating early.
Cassandra was amazed a bit more every day about her tremendous appetite. She still had about three months of pregnancy ahead, but her baby had her eat almost as much as her Prince. Of course, it didn’t bother anyone around her, and actually, Kareen wasn’t surprised at all, and kept encouraging her to eat more.
Missandra too was starting to look a bit better. She was eating, and somehow, Dahlia and she seemed to have gotten closer, chatting about the herbs they could pick for the healing decoction Missandra wanted to try making.
“Lady Kareen, would it be alright for us to go out tonight?” asked Cassandra. “Missandra has never seen the Diamond City, and their Celebrations are still going on in the streets.”
“Would it be alright for… people from the Imperial Family to go out?” whispered Missandra, a bit surprised.
“Of course!” said Kareen. “People are used to seeing me. What do they expect, that I stay locked up in my Palace all year long? I may be an Imperial Concubine, but I am a free woman and the owner and ruler of this place. Of course, we shall go. Let’s have some fun for once.”
Cassandra smiled. She was a bit excited to participate in the Celebrations in the streets like regular folks. It was something she had never been able to do as a slave, and the ones in the Palace were different from all the food stalls in the streets and the livelihood of the ordinary people.
They finished dinner calmly, only interrupted a few times by the two dragons that were trying to steal some meat as a game. Even the shy Srai showed up, and Kareen gave him the most meat, making his younger brothers sulk and try to steal from him next. The little dragon was quick to escape though, as he could crawl into small spaces they couldn’t follow.
It was fun for everyone to watch until dinner was over. Even Missandra and Dahlia, amused by their antics, seemed to forget about being scared.
Once everyone was full and ready, they prepared to go out at sunset. As always, Kareen refused to bring many servants, only a few of them. But with Anour, Shareen, and Kairen with them, they didn’t need any guards.
As they left the Diamond Palace, a whole new world opened to them. The Palace was elevated compared to the street and wasn’t echoing all of the noises properly. Everything was much more busy and chaotic down there, but Cassandra loved it. She was wearing a fur cloak over her pink dress, as the nights were a bit colder than in the Capital. However, Kairen was walking so close to her, she wouldn’t have been cold anyway. The young ones were excited to be out. Missandra had never been to the Celebrations of any other city but the Capital, and she obviously loved them. Anour, Dahlia, and her, kept running from one stall to another like children, trying the unique foods and seeing the little street shows here and there. One man was demonstrating some dancing monkeys, and a woman was doing a belly dance with some folklore music played by her children.
Somehow, the streets were actually so crowded that a lot of people didn’t notice the Imperial Family right away. The road was cleared in front of them as the passersby recognized the purple outfits and quickly got out of the way, but all of their little group was so cheerful and acting normally that a lot of people didn’t pay attention to them. Some small children even ran into Lady Kareen at one point, but she didn’t care and gently helped one of them up.
It was nice for Cassandra to be able to have fun with her sister in the streets without worrying. Missandra and her laughed together and tried some new spices, before she took it to Kairen, amused. If he was having any fun, the Prince wasn’t showing it, but he stayed close to her, talking with her and touching her when he could. His hand on her shoulder, around her waist, or simply holding hers were small demonstrations of affection she loved most.
For the first time, she was hanging in the streets with her lover, almost like a normal couple. Cassandra wondered what kind of life they would have lived if they had been of normal statuses.
She sighed, and seeing the young ones were having fun at some game stall, while Kareen and Shareen were also watching, she turned to her Prince.
“What is it?” he asked.
Cassandra smiled, getting on her toes to kiss him softly.
“Nothing. I’m just really happy here. Being here with you. I want us to enjoy this as much as we can before you go.”
Kairen kissed her forehead gently, wrapping his concubine in his arms.
“I didn’t know you liked these kinds of things so much. The Celebrations.”
“It’s just… I never really got to stand among the people as a free woman or enjoy any of this before. I’m happy when I see my sister acting like the young girl she is. I’m happy when we get to stroll like this, without any threats, any plots, or any rivals.”
