“Who cares,” hissed Phetra. “She’s a criminal!”
“She is a suspect, you damn bitch, and she carries a Dragon Prince, too!” yelled Kareen.
Even if her shouts only angered Phetra more, the Imperial Concubine’s stance was enough to terrorize the two guards holding Cassandra, as they realized she was right. Despite their Master being right there, they both eased their grip on her arms, their face a shade paler than before.
Meanwhile, Cassandra was trying to assess the situation as quickly as possible, despite being scared. Because the corridor they were in was rather narrow, there were only a dozen guards, plus Vrehan, Phetra, and Kareen. No large dragon could squeeze in there, and Srai was probably hiding somewhere. Cassandra was not a fighter, but she was sure of one thing: if she left the Diamond Palace with the Second Prince, she wouldn’t be able to survive. No matter what, she had to find a way to escape before they brought her out of the Palace and Kareen’s protection.
“I wonder why a suspect was hiding,” hissed Vrehan.
“Who said I was hiding, Your Highness? This is a storage room, I had come to look for some fabric,” replied Cassandra.
She wasn’t used to lying through her teeth, but those few weeks with Kareen had taught her a couple of things. The Prince was obviously glaring at her round belly, and Cassandra really felt uncomfortable under his murderous stare.
“You damn, little witch,” said Phetra.
“You look like you’re doing well, Your Highness,” retorted Cassandra.
That was an obvious lie this time. Phetra still had bandages all over, and some large scars on her body. She had obviously been in a lot of pain, but if she angered her, Cassandra was hoping to win some more time, or create an opportunity that would allow her to escape.
However, she didn’t expect what happened next. Phetra stepped forward, with a little smile.
“Oh, you think so?”
Then, she slapped Cassandra. The slap wasn’t very strong, but if she hadn’t been held by the two men, she might have fallen down. Phetra was smiling wide, but behind her, Kareen went mad.
“You crazy little bitch! How dare you injure Cassandra, the War God’s Favorite! In my Palace!”
“Injure her? This was merely a little slap!”
With that, Phetra slapped Cassandra a second time before Kareen could react, on the other cheek this time. Cassandra felt the pain resonate from her cheek through her whole body. Even her baby reacted, kicking her stomach. A strange worry crossed her mind. Was her baby feeling her pain? Was he okay? She could handle a few slaps from Phetra, but if anything happened to her baby!
“Phetra, enough! Stop it!” yelled Kareen.
“What? Does it hurt? I think she needs another one!”
However, to her surprise, someone pushed her away from Cassandra, taking the slap a second later. The Princess was so surprised that she stepped back, looking at who she had slapped this time.
“Dahlia!” exclaimed Cassandra.
Her handmaiden was standing in front of her, in a protective stance. Cassandra had no idea where she had come from, but the young maid was obviously resolved in protecting her at any cost.
“Please don’t touch her!” she claimed, despite shivering in fear.
However, Phetra was too furious to listen to the young servant at the moment. She glared at her.
“You want to protect her, you little rat? You think you can oppose me?”
A red flash appeared in front of Cassandra’s eyes. She didn’t understand what had happened. Dahlia collapsed at her feet, her eyes opened wide in surprise, her throat sliced wide open. Cassandra’s ears went deaf, and she started feeling numb. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. She couldn’t speak, only watch the girl dying at her feet. Somehow, the rational part of her brain knew that this was not an injury anyone could heal from. It was cut wide open, and bleeding way too much, way too fast. The shock got her completely numb, her blood leaving her face, and she didn’t even react to what happened next.
It wasn’t until Phetra screamed that she looked up. Vrehan had brutally grasped his sister’s throat, throwing her to the ground, and it was her scream of pain that made Cassandra come back to her senses.
“I said not to kill anyone yet! Are you so stupid that you can’t understand such orders?!” he yelled.
His brutal yelling surprised Cassandra, and she looked their way, still stunned, barely understanding what was going on around her now. Then, Vrehan brutally kicked his sister, who was already on the ground. The incredibly violent situation gave Cassandra another shock, waking her from her slumber. She had never seen Vrehan being violent before, but he kicked his sister’s injured leg twice, making her scream in pain.
“Brother, stop it!” she screamed, tears running down her face, terrorized. “Stop it, please! You can’t kill me, Brother. I know your secret! You can’t kill me!”
“I will kill you if you disobey me again, you useless bitch!”
