“I know...”
She wanted to tell him the same, to stay safe and healthy, but the words didn’t come. Instead, she started tearing up, and raised her eyes to look at him. She was going to miss him so much, again. Finally, she put her hands on his face, and kissed him longingly. This was going to be their last kiss for a long time. She needed that taste on her lips to linger for as long as possible.
“By the great Golden Dragon, how much cheesier and mushier can you two get? Alright, that’s it, I’m out of here,” declared Shareen.
The two lovers separated slowly, and Kairen put one last kiss on her forehead.
“I’ll be back soon,” he repeated.
Cassandra nodded sadly, and took a couple of steps back. Kareen came to her side, putting an arm around her shoulder as they watched Kairen, Shareen, Anour, and the two dragons fly away, leading the Army.
Cassandra broke down in tears a few minutes later. After Kairen’s departure, Cassandra was sad for a couple of days. However, she knew she couldn’t stay like that forever. Once she was done crying, she tried to spend time with Kareen, Missandra, and Dahlia, and keep herself busy. Somehow, they all cooperated to keep her occupied.
Lady Kareen was used to her children being gone and having to find hobbies for herself. As it turned out, she was rather busy as the City’s owner and Mayor already, but she still found time to have other hobbies. She liked painting and tried to talk Cassandra into it. Though the young concubine wasn’t fond of it, Missandra was interested, and even proved herself to be a good student. Eventually, Cassandra was used as a model a couple of times, as it allowed her to rest yet spend time chatting with them.
There was something else Lady Kareen did for her, however. Somehow, the Imperial Concubine was well aware of Kairen’s present for Cassandra in the Imperial Palace, and decided to give her a little garden in the Diamond Palace, too. This was probably the most successful attempt at cheering Cassandra up.
Once she started taking care of her plants, studying the books she was given about them, or writing herself, Cassandra didn’t notice the hours pass by. Missandra would join her often, to learn from her, as well as share her knowledge on the matter. Somehow, the two sisters started working on new hybrid species, trying to grow sprouts that would survive in the Shadelands. This little project was keeping Cassandra busy, and also helping her remember that, sometime soon, she would be able to go back to the Onyx Castle with Kairen. Anything was good to keep herself busy. She’d write, chat with Kareen and Missandra, work on her plants, write about new medicines, go to the local markets, study more books, and find more things to keep herself busy with.
That workaholic behavior of hers started worrying Kareen and Missandra a bit, as it never seemed like the young concubine took a break, despite her belly growing quickly. Cassandra was busy, too busy. She’d spend all day working on one thing and then another, only stopping to eat. The Imperial Concubine was starting to dislike this obsessive behavior and insisted on Missandra and Dahlia watching her more closely.
However, one day, Kareen unexpectedly found her napping in the Dragon Egg’s garden. Cassandra was wrapped up in a warm blanket and had fallen asleep with some of her notes, right next to the egg. The discreet Dahlia was watching her from afar, making sure she wouldn’t get sick. She silently smiled at Lady Kareen when their eyes met, meaning she already knew about Cassandra’s little naps. After that, the Imperial Concubine decided not to be on Cassandra’s back so much. When she wasn’t constantly watched, Cassandra would eventually take breaks by herself, always agreeing to Dahlia’s suggestion for some tea, or a stroll in the gardens.
Unknown to Kareen, however, the hardest times for Cassandra were at night. The young concubine hadn’t imagined she would have so much trouble falling asleep by herself. The idea of going back to an empty bed haunted her every day after dusk. She would drag on the time to go back to her bedroom, find excuses to stay up late with Lady Kareen or her notes, and when she had no choice but to go, she’d turn sad and silent. Dahlia had set up a little routine for her, where the young concubine would take a long hot bath in her bedroom, and chat with her about her day. Helping Cassandra bathe, wash her hair, and brush it before bed, somehow helped her get sleepy and fall asleep more easily. The weather was getting a bit colder, so Dahlia brought in little scented candles, finding the ones that supposedly helped with insomnia.
Her pregnancy was also a big help in keeping Cassandra from doing too much and tiring herself out. Somehow, reaching the seventh month made her more tired than ever before, and she started taking naps by herself. Her growing, large belly was incapacitating her in several ways, giving Dahlia and Missandra more excuses to stay around and help her.
Eventually, Cassandra’s sadness passed. She wasn’t over Kairen’s absence, but at least she had reverted back to her old self and didn’t look as sad or on the verge of crying anymore. Truth was, Cassandra had spent many nights crying silently, but she couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t stand being a shadow of herself. She was even more worried it would impact her baby negatively. From then on, she started every day with a big breath, something to look forward to, and did her best to live her days eating well and resting well, as she had promised her Prince. When she missed him, she’d caress the little bracelet of hair around her wrist, or go to see the dragon’s Egg. Somehow, Cassandra got a bit better by herself, and life went on for everyone at the Diamond Castle.
After a few more weeks, however, Cassandra could tell something was wrong. There was no way Kareen hadn’t gotten any news about the Eastern War yet. It had been more than two months already. When she mentioned it to her, the Imperial Concubine always pretended like she was going to ask about it soon, or was waiting to hear from some of her spies. Cassandra couldn’t take it anymore. After a while, she had even received answers from the people at the Onyx Castle and the North Army camp by a normal message-carrier service. There was no way Kareen had absolutely no news about the war against the Eastern Republic!
That morning, she insisted once again, and this time persisted until she got the truth, with Missandra’s support. After half an hour of arguing, Kareen was exasperated.
“You’re so stubborn!”
“I need to know the truth! I know my Prince is out there fighting! I can wait but I can’t stand not having any news, and I know you must have some information! That is all I ask, Lady Kareen!”
The Imperial Concubine looked like she was about to throw her cup of tea across the room. Instead, she slammed it on the table, and rolled her eyes.
“Gosh, I didn’t think you could be as stubborn as my children! Fine, I will tell you!”
“Really? So you know something?”
“Of course I do! Who do you think I am? There isn’t a city in this Empire I don’t have a spy in! Anyway, I did get some news half a month ago. While Shareen is perfectly fine in the North, on Kairen’s side, the Eastern Army somehow got further into our territory than we thought. The Capital was actually notified very late of the attack, someone there didn’t, or couldn’t, do their job correctly. By the time Kairen got there, the situation was very messy, and you can’t have a dragon simply burn everything down when your enemies are spread in your own city, among our people.”
“Oh God, no...” whispered Cassandra, shocked.
She hadn’t imagined the situation was that bad! All this time, Shareen and Kairen had made it sound like this would be a simple task that would be solved easily. Cassandra had no idea the frontline was in such a bad situation, even before Kairen had gotten there.
“That’s why things are complicated. He has to wipe out the enemy and push them back to the frontier, but those imbecile Republicans have realized that Krai won’t attack, or at least fire, while they are still inside the Dragon Empire. So all of their strategies seem to focus on staying in.”
“Since when does the Eastern Republic know so much about dragons?” asked Missandra. “Those tactics don’t sound like theirs at all.”
“I know,” sighed Kareen. “That is what worries me. I wouldn’t be surprised if a little rat had gone ahead to give them those bad ideas.”
“Lady Kareen, do you think... The Second Prince could have...”
However, the Imperial Concubine raised her hand to stop Cassandra.
