“The last letter I received was already two weeks ago, but the concubines were saying Prince Sephir was well. My remedies were helping with his Dust Disease, there was nothing alarming about his current state. Maybe something happened since, or he had a bad flare up.”
“Or maybe someone pulled some dirty strings,” said Kareen. “Anyway, there is no use thinking too much about it, it’s all happening in the Capital for now. Let’s see in the upcoming weeks what becomes of it. However, be careful, dear. My spy also told me Phetra was getting back on her feet, and able to walk already.”
“What! Already?” exclaimed Missandra, shocked.
“She is of dragon blood, just like Shareen. It’s not that surprising that she can heal fast. It would have been more of a fuss for Kairen to throw her out the window if she’d died!”
Cassandra didn’t know if she should be happy or sad about this. She certainly didn’t like the idea of Phetra getting back to her old self. The Princess was definitely waiting to pay them back for what Kairen had done to her. She may be healed, but this kind of pain wouldn’t go away so easily.
The young concubine sighed, and after breakfast was promptly eaten, she went back to her room. She needed to be alone for a while, and write to her Prince. She had no idea if Kairen received her letters at the front. She hadn’t gotten any answer from all the letters she had sent, but she was hoping he was only too busy to answer. No matter if the Prince received them or not, those letters had become her personal therapy. Writing to Kairen every day, to let him know about what she had done that day, how she felt, how their baby and the dragon egg were growing, about her project of the medicinal box, they all made her feel so much better. It was her only getaway from the Diamond Palace. Anytime Cassandra tried to imagine what her Prince could be doing at that moment, she imagined him on a throne, like the one in his tent in the North Camp, talking military strategies with some old General. She could only pray that he was doing fine, safe, and unharmed, and winning this battle bit by bit.
The news received by Lady Kareen was all leaning that way, too. The Eastern Army was slowly losing ground to the War God’s men, and his fierce dragon. Cassandra even heard about it when she’d go to the markets in the Diamond City. The locals all knew who she was and admired her a lot. Cassandra never went alone, and was always in a pink dress, but the merchants liked her very much. They were impressed to see a young concubine so graceful, gentle, and nice to the ordinary people, and would give her some extras at any given chance. Somehow, they had heard about her doings in the North Army Camp, too, and her Lady of the Mountain nickname was now used here as well.
Just like that, Cassandra was building her own reputation around the Diamond City and she was told some rumors of how the war was going. Some merchants would congratulate her when it was known that the War God had freed another City. Some of the women would tell her to take care of herself and her baby, for when her beloved would come back. Truth was, under Kareen’s impulse, the baby’s room was already finished and full. The Imperial Concubine was eager for her first grandchild to be born and was overdoing it a bit, in Cassandra’s opinion.First, the nursery was way too big, and full of toys for both the baby and the young dragon. It was almost ridiculous. Second, there were no less than three maids already hired to take care of her son, no matter how many times Cassandra argued that she wanted to take care of her son by herself, with maybe Dahlia’s help from time to time.
However, as the weeks passed, Cassandra was slowly getting used to the idea that Kairen wouldn’t be able to keep his promise. The war would still be raging when her baby would come into this world.
Chapter18
Cassandra realized something was wrong a few days later, when, at dinner time, Lady Kareen barely ate anything, and looked extremely preoccupied. When she asked about it, the Imperial Concubine sighed.
“I don’t like this. I haven’t heard from the spy I sent to the Capital yet. He was supposed to be back last night, and he is usually never late. I sent another one to investigate, but I’m afraid Vrehan took this opportunity to purge his surroundings. I haven’t received any non-official news from the Imperial Palace in a while, and I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.”
Missandra and Cassandra exchanged glances, worried. For Kareen to be this upset was not reassuring at all. What if something bad had happened in the Imperial Palace? No matter how she thought about it, Cassandra knew the worst that could possibly happen was the Emperor’s death. If the Dragon Emperor passed without having named an official heir yet, the eldest son would have to take over until the ministers elected the right heir. However, no one was blind. With Prince Sephir dead, Vrehan was the next in line, and while Kairen was away, he would definitely secure his position on the Golden Throne before his younger brothers could react. Cassandra was terrified just to think about this possibility.
“Don’t worry,” said Lady Kareen. “I will go there myself if necessary, but I won’t stay still! I already sent news of this to Shareen and Anour, just in case. Kairen is stuck on the battlefront at the moment, but even so, Vrehan won’t be stupid enough to try and act if Shareen is around.”
“Aren’t you afraid he’ll try to harm her?”
“He can try! My daughter is not so weak that she would submit to that snake!”
Cassandra sighed. She didn’t believe Vrehan would have acted if he wasn’t sure of himself. What was the point of killing Sephir now? Was it because Kairen was away? This felt terribly wrong. Things were not in the best state right now, and even at the Diamond Palace, they weren’t fully safe. Cassandra put a hand on her belly. She really didn’t need any additional stress right now. She took a deep breath. Anyway, the Second Prince wouldn’t be able to do much as long as the Emperor was alive and well. Prince Sephir’s death was truly sad, but for now, they had yet to confirm the cause. Perhaps they would hear it was a natural cause soon, and Kareen’s spy would return with a good explanation.
Despite Kareen doing her best to act normal and not show how uneasy she was, Cassandra knew this was only to keep them from worrying too much. For Lady Kareen to be worried meant something was really wrong, and Cassandra felt it too. She tried to convince herself that there was nothing more she could do, as she walked to the little garden where, as always, the dragon egg was steadily growing.
Her project with the medical boxes was going well too. Cassandra could just oversee it and let Missandra take care of managing the flow of supplies sent, their people, and the stocks coming in and out. There really wasn’t much to do for her, aside from taking it easy for the last weeks of her pregnancy and taking care of her plants. Thankfully, the baby was doing well. Kareen had hired a midwife from the City to take care of Cassandra, and be ready for when the day would come, but once again, the young concubine didn’t like all the extra attention. She could feel her son, very well, alive and kicking. It was probably what rejoiced her the most these days. Feeling her baby move. Every time he did, Cassandra took a minute to caress her belly. Sometimes, she would even talk to him. So much so that even Kareen, Missandra, and Dahlia had started talking about the baby as if he was here too.
Shareen’s answer arrived a few days later in the form of a letter, around dinner. A servant brought it to Kareen, who put her cup down and opened it right away, reading the content quickly.
“Apparently, Shareen is busy in the North, too. The Barbarians heard of the Eastern Republic attacking and thought this would be an opportunity for them. Hpmf! Anyway, Shareen says she will have settled this soon and will arrive here in ten days. Oh, that letter is from four days ago, so less than a week now. Fine!”
Cassandra felt a bit better after hearing this. Even if it wasn’t Kairen, Shareen’s presence would definitely make her feel more secure. These days, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen. However, now it would only be a matter of waiting a few more days and...
“My Lady!”
One of Kareen’s servants rushed into the garden, out of breath. He almost fell on his knees at her feet, sweating and looking panicked.
“What is it?” asked Kareen, unhappy.
“The... The... His Highness the Second Prince just arrived at the Diamond Palace! He is here to arrest the Lady of the Mountain.”
Next to Cassandra, Missandra jumped on her feet like a cat, all her senses alert. All the servants around too exchanged glances, and a couple of them ran inside to go and check.
“What is this nonsense?!” roared Kareen, slamming her cup on the table and getting up too.
“Th... They say she is an accomplice in the First Prince’s murder! I... I don’t have the details yet, but Madam, the Second Prince will really be here any second!”
“Cassandra, let’s go,” said Missandra, grabbing her sister’s hand.
