The sound of her bone breaking and the scream that followed, resonated for a few seconds. Anour couldn’t watch, it made him a bit uneasy, even though he knew how merciless his family could be. But until now, there hadn’t been many occasions to witness it himself. However, he was also livid about what happened.
“What do you have to say about Vrehan?” he asked, finally stepping forward.
“He... He’s... prepared a trap... for... Kairen,” whimpered Phetra, holding her broken leg.
“What kind of trap?”
“I...I don’t...”
“Damn, you really are useless,” sighed Shareen.
While her daughter was still glaring at Phetra, Kareen stepped forward, grabbed her sword, and without warning, slashed Phetra’s hand. Another scream echoed within the Palace’s walls as the severed hand fell to the ground. The Princess held her bleeding stump, her face white and deformed from the pain.
“Try to heal that,” hissed the Imperial Concubine.
No one else could bear to watch the scene. Dragon Blood could heal a lot of injuries, but it certainly couldn’t regrow a limb. The blood continued to flow and Phetra clumsily tried to wrap it in her clothing, desperate. Meanwhile, Kareen handed the weapon back to her daughter so Shareen could carefully clean it.
“That was for slapping Cassandra and killing my servants and my men,” said Kareen. “I strongly advise you, never to use your remaining hand like that, or I’ll cut it off too. I am not as merciful as my children, and I have no problem killing a bitch like you.”
Though she raised an eyebrow at being called merciful, Shareen didn’t say anything.
“So you’re not going to kill her now?” asked Anour.
“First, she doesn’t deserve a quick death,” replied Shareen. “Second, she’ll still be useful until I can get my hands on Vrehan. The bitch probably knows more than she lets on.”
“How will we find Cassandra and Missandra now?” he asked. “Is there a chance that they’re still within the Diamond City?”
“They couldn’t be, Vrehan searched everywhere,” replied Kareen with a sigh. “He even tortured some of my people and found the hideout under the waterfall. Thank the Gods, the girls were long gone by then, but they left some fake clues that sent those idiots towards the North. Brilliant girls. But no, from what my people have told me, the girls decided to go to the Capital with the babies.”
“By the Great Dragon, I can’t believe they’re born already. Kairen will go crazy when he gets back!”
“I know, and I haven’t even seen them since their birth! I’m going to kill them for making me miss that!” growled Kareen, while glaring at Phetra and her guards.
“Is Brother Kairen going to be okay?” asked Anour, worried.
“I’ll go and check on him first,” volunteered Shareen. “I don’t want to be presumptuous, but that rat is smart, and if he planned a trap for my brother, it’s probably pretty serious. Everything about this war sounded off from the start.”
“What about the girls? Shouldn’t we find them first? If they’re going to the Capital by themselves with a baby and a Baby Dragon in tow.”
“They don’t have an adult dragon to fly with, it will take them days to get there. They are smart enough to stay out of sight until they reach the Capital, and if those girls are hiding from Vrehan and his Dragon, it will be hard for us or Roun to find them as well. No, I’d better go save my brother’s ass and get him there as soon as possible. Krai should be able to find his baby or Cassandra.”
“I’m worried about your father,” said Kareen. “I don’t think that old man is senile enough to have given that order willingly, not if everything was alright with him. Something must have happened in the Capital, Vrehan would never have dared to act so boldly otherwise.”
“How long will it take you to send new spies to the Capital, Mother?”
“I can send people right away, but it will take longer for them to come back than for you to return from the Eastern Front with Kairen! Also, aren’t you going to help me clean up around here?” Kareen said, while pointing out all of the soldiers who were still waiting by Phetra’s side. The men, suddenly getting nervous about what was going to follow, exchanged glances.
“Seriously, Mother? You want me to take care of them before I go? Don’t we have more urgent matters?”
“I’ve cut enough hands off for today, I’m tired. Plus, are you really going to leave your poor defenseless mother to deal with these men? Do you know how many Vrehan left here? I can’t even walk around or take my brunch quietly!”
“What about recruiting them?”
“Are you kidding me? Vrehan’s army of little mutts? I wouldn’t even allow them to scrape dragon shit off my floors!”
The men were still confused at the situation, and shocked by the women’s words, as Shareen rolled her eyes and took out her sword once again. While Anour sighed and had to look elsewhere, sure enough Roun appeared over the walls, willing to help the Princess do the bloody work.
Between Shareen and Roun, every last one of Vrehan’s soldiers were killed in less than ten minutes, even the ones who desperately tried to escape. He really hadn’t left many behind to protect his sister. After all was said and done, only Phetra was left standing with her half-healed stub, and Roun remained behind in the garden to guard her, even though it seems highly unlikely she’d be able to go anywhere in her current state. She was still white as a sheet, both from the fear and loss of blood.
