Missandra took a deep breath in, shaking her head. Cassandra could tell she was trying hard not to break down. A few tears ran down her sister’s eyes, as Missandra nodded frenetically.
“I...I see.”
“Missandra, I’m sorry.”
“Why are you the one being sorry? Dahlia tried to protect you from those monsters,Hinue. Don’t be sorry when she died to protect you! You should be sorry those people aren’t paying a heavy price for that now! How... How did all of this even happen! Everything was fine just hours ago.”
Cassandra still couldn’t believe everything that had happened, either. It felt unreal. She couldn’t understand why she was a suspect in Prince Sephir’s death, or why the Emperor would send Vrehan to get her. The old Emperor definitely knew what was going on between the Second and Third Princes. Why would he send Vrehan, of all people? Something didn’t feel right about all of this.
“For once, I wish Lady Shareen or the Prince were here to slaughter them!” growled Missandra. “Those horrible siblings deserve worse than death, even the God of Death ripping their limbs apart would not be enough!”
Cassandra wished Kairen or his sister were there, too. She missed her Prince more than ever. His baby was brought to this world, and they were already in so much danger. Had Krai felt the egg hatching? Was the Black Dragon on the way back already? The latest news they got from Lady Kareen was not too bad. Her medical kits helped the war efforts a lot, but there was no clue about the War God being able to leave the front. Kairen was probably fighting on the very frontline, not the kind of place one could walk away from just like that. Cassandra didn’t even know if any of her letters got to him. Probably some general was collecting them halfway, but there was no way to call him there now.
Either way, the young concubine had to accept the fact that she would have to survive without her Prince’s protection for now.
“Where do we go, now?” sighed Missandra. “We can’t go back to the Diamond Palace or the Diamond City, this horrible Prince is already everywhere looking for you, and that horrible dragon of his too. Shall we go to the Onyx Castle you had mentioned? You should be safe there, no? We can try to hide while we travel to the North.”
“No,” replied her older sister, shaking her head. “That will be the first place Vrehan will look for me. He will definitely send men to all the routes to the North, thinking I’ll be seeking Shareen’s help.”
“But Lady Shareen will know of the situation by now, won’t she? If we just waited a bit longer.”
“Lady Kareen said Shareen would be coming in a few days, but we can’t wait that long. The longer we stay here, the more we put these people in danger. Even if these people are very nice, there is no guarantee one of them won’t give up and talk about this waterfall. Plus, they will need to do a lot of travelling from here to the City to bring us necessities. What if Vrehan or his dragon find us before Lady Shareen arrives? We can’t stay hidden here, and we cannot do nothing either. Plus, I’m worried Lady Shareen might not be able to stop Vrehan and Phetra, even if she comes here, he’s a Prince after all.”
“What then?”
Missandra was really worried. She understood Cassandra’s reasoning, but how far could they go with a newborn baby and her sister who had just given birth? Moreover, a baby dragon wasn’t small enough to be hidden so easily!
“We can’t stay here. I escaped the Palace from this very waterfall. We are so close, if they think about checking nearby they might find us just like that. Even in Diamond City, they will keep looking through every house to find me. They know Lady Kareen’s people would help me. No, I think we should head to the Capital.”
“The Capital? Are you crazy! Vrehan already controls everything there!”
“That’s exactly why. First, he won’t expect us to go there. Secondly, we both have friends who can help us once we reach the capital. Also, my priority, for now, is to see if the Emperor is fine, and find out what happened there. I don’t believe the Emperor sent Vrehan to catch me, I think there’s something going on. Don’t you think it is strange that Princess Phetra is here too?”
“Now that you mention it... Wasn’t that crazy bitch supposed to be imprisoned or married?”
“Exactly. Something doesn’t feel right about all this. I don’t understand why the Emperor would even allow them to be here, and I’m worried something happened in the Capital. I need to check if the Emperor is okay, and also, he’s the only one, other than Kairen, who can stop Vrehan!”
“But... Lady Shareen, maybe with Prince Anour...”
“We don’t know if Anour will come with her, Missandra, and even if he does, I doubt he can stop Vrehan. He’s less than half his age, and certainly not as cunning as Vrehan. Even Lady Kareen wasn’t able to oppose him! I really have a bad feeling about everything going on. We can’t risk staying here, we don’t know exactly when Lady Shareen will be here, if she will be able to stop them from capturing me, and they can find us any minute.”
Missandra kept shaking her head, thinking this was a terrible idea. It felt like going straight into the snake’s nest instead of running away! However, Cassandra had never looked so determined. Maybe it was because she had just become a mother, with a baby to protect, or because she was pushed to her last resort, but her older sister looked stronger than ever before.
“Listen, Missandra. We need to get out of this territory unnoticed. You and I both know how to survive in the wild, and with a young dragon with us, we won’t have to worry about predators.”
“You’re saying we should travel off-road?”
“Exactly. There are mostly forests from here to the Capital, and it’s less than a week’s journey if we walk fast, this way. Prince Vrehan won’t think two women and a baby will make it without traveling through the usual routes, he will have every road checked. As long as we can get far enough from Diamond City, he won’t know how we got away, and we will be able to rest in smaller cities and villages.”
Missandra nodded, understanding Cassandra’s plan. The two of them kept talking for a while, thinking of how to secure their escape and go unnoticed. Chantra, and her daughter and niece had listened to everything and stepped in.
“Are you sure you will be alright, Your Highness? I wish there was something more we could do for you.”
“Actually, you can,” said Missandra, determined.
She took out her knife and, without warning, suddenly cut off her long hair, leaving only a very short bob cut. Cassandra was speechless, but just like her, Missandra was determined. She watched the big strand in her hand, still tied in a braid, and nodded before giving it to the woman.
“This is almost the same color as my sister’s, they won’t be able to tell the difference. Disperse this in the North, in the river or the forest, anywhere as long as they end up finding it and think we went there.”
