“Hm.”
She chuckled and came a bit closer to gently kiss his lips. Kairen smiled, but for once, didn’t give in, letting Cassandra spread her kisses on his lips, on his beard, and on his cheekbones. He could tell she was just having fun teasing him. He let her do that until she got bored and pushed him over to get on top of him. Only then did the War God consent to open his eyes to see the face of his smiling concubine.
“Good morning, my Prince,” she whispered.
“Good morning.”
“It’s still raining,” she said with a smile.
“I hear that...”
Cassandra chuckled. She knew his faint answers were part of his character, not a lack of interest. She kissed him once more and got out of the bed. She was a bit more excited about this than she thought. The gentle music of the heavy rain outside was making her happy and the thought that they could finally do the Ceremony.
As always, the servants came in shortly after they had woken up, bringing a new set of clothes, and disappearing as soon as possible. Cassandra wondered how they always knew. She put on the new dress and tried to sort out her messy curls. The rain had done no justice to her chocolate brown hair. She had to spend some extra time taming it and left it untied, knowing it was no use in that humidity.
“Lady Cassandra?”
Dahlia was gently knocking at the door, bringing in another large tray of food for breakfast. The young girl smiled upon entering.
“Lady Kareen sent me to give you your breakfast! Did you sleep well?”
The young servant was apparently only too happy to be back to her old habits of assisting Cassandra. She even helped her arrange her hair a bit and put on the flower crown they had bought the previous day. As they chatted about the previous evening, Kairen was getting up and getting ready behind them. He walked to Cassandra’s side to give her a quick kiss and grabbed some of the meat on the tray before leaving.
Dahlia’s shoulder relaxed a little as soon as the War God was out of the room, making Cassandra chuckled.
“Are you still scared?” asked Cassandra.
“It cannot be helped, Lady Cassandra. I’ve been raised to always fear the Imperial Family. I understand that Imperial Concubine Kareen, the Third Prince, and Lady Shareen are different, but still...”
“Old habits die hard.”
Cassandra understood that better than anyone else. It had taken her weeks to fully trust Kairen, his sister and his mother, and even now, she was unable to approach any member of the Imperial Family without that fear automatically growing in her stomach.
She had no idea where he had gone, but Cassandra enjoyed the bit of time she had alone with Dahlia. Apparently, she and Missandra had gotten quite close and stayed together late into the night to chat. Her sister was still asleep, but the rest of the inhabitants were all up already. Most couldn’t sleep well because of the storm from the previous night. The thunder had only calmed down late in the night, but Cassandra was among those few people it hadn’t bothered at all.
“Lady Kareen has been very busy preparing everything for the Rain Ceremony!” explained Dahlia, her hands busily braiding some of Cassandra’s hair. “She said she wants to have it done before the rain stops. I don’t think it will stop so soon, but...”
Cassandra nodded while eating breakfast. She didn’t think so either. She could recognize when a downpour was going to last, and this was definitely one of those. The actual storm was over and the wind had calmed down, leaving only regular sounds of heavy rain.
She closed her eyes, letting Dahlia finish her hairdo while eating in silence, just listening to the rain. This sound was so familiar. She was born during a storm like the one on the previous day. Now that she thought about it, her baby had been conceived during a snowstorm. This was such a cute coincidence. Maybe it would take another of those for him to be born.
“Lady Cassandra? What are you smiling about?” asked Dahlia.
“I was just thinking a little. Are we finished?”
“Just a little bit more! I want to see if I can adjust this...”
“Hinue!”
Missandra showed up at the door looking tired, but tightly wrapped in a big fur cloak. She looked a bit cold, but her cheeks were of a rosy shade. She walked up to them, looking happy.
“I love those flower crowns.Hinue, did you have your breakfast? Do you want more? Prince Anour showed us where to find the kitchens yesterday!”
Cassandra chuckled.
“Aren’t you close to Anour now? For him to show you around?”
Missandra pouted.
