“A residence? Since when did my son have a residence in the Capital to gift Cassandra? When did he buy it?”
Evin cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed by the next bit of information.
“Well, His Highness didn’t exactly... buy said residence. I would classify this as...forcefully retrieved compensation from Lady Cassandra’s former... owner.”
“Oh, now that makes more sense,” said Shareen, nodding. “Anyway, do you know where that residence is?”
“I do not have an exact address, but I certainly have enough of a description of its facade and neighborhood for someone who knows the Capital City well enough to find out, Your Highness.”
“Good. Go get one of my servants and have them send a courier in my name to the Capital right away. We can’t lose any more time. I’ll make sure our Cassie and her sister get everything they need, and some extra protection too. If Vrehan wants to make another attempt on my beloved grandson’s life, he’s going to have to kill me first!”
Evin bowed once again and left quickly to follow Kareen’s orders and send the courier right away, making a clear detour around the bodies still scattered in the Palace garden. Meanwhile, Shareen turned to her mother with suspicious eyes.
“Aren’t you going to go there yourself, Mother?” asked Shareen, crossing her arms.
“What are you talking about? I’ll go with you and your brother once you’ve retrieved him from whatever battlefield he is on! Besides, now that Vrehan’s little mutts are handled, I need to interrogate his useless sister some more.”
“You think you can be more convincing than me?” asked Shareen, placing a hand on her sword.
“Shareen, I am your mother. I was dealing with the Palace’s schemes and snakes long before you were born, dear. This isn’t my first fight and she isn’t the first person I’ll be interrogating. If I couldn’t make a girl like her talk, I wouldn’t be worthy to be called the Emperor’s Favorite anymore!”
As Kareen walked back to the garden, Anour grimaced.
“She’s really scary sometimes.”
“Well, that’s my mother. Come on Anour, let’s get going before Kairen gets himself killed like an idiot. Mother is capable of burning the Capital down if anything happens to him or her new grandson.”
Chapter20
The little dragon crouched in the grass, its eyes set on the target. Its long, thin tail waved in the air while its little hips swayed a bit, getting ready to jump, and its little snout twitched as those big, green eyes focused on its prey, waiting for the perfect moment.
Suddenly, the little rodent moved and the dragon pounced on it. The little creature squeaked at the sudden attack, but it was too late. The fierce hunter had caught its prey. The little paws had it trapped and it was watching the rat trying to escape from its grasp with wide-eyed wonder. The Baby Dragon was far too hungry to wait any longer though. It was time to eat! It finished his meal in four bites, licking its chops and paws carefully to make sure nothing was missed. Then, it turned around and trotted back, very pleased with itself. What a fierce hunter it was!
“Kian, did you eat again?” asked Cassandra, seeing the little dragon bounding back to them.
The dragon scampered over to her side, rubbing its head against her hip. Cassandra smiled, caressing the young dragon. She was seated against a tree, busy breastfeeding her son. Just like Kian, Kassian had a ferocious appetite. Both never seemed to have enough. Whenever Cassandra saw Kian walk away to go hunting, she knew her newborn was probably hungry as well. Though it was tough caring for the two of them, there were some advantages as well. The only problem they really had was that a hungry dragon could get very fussy and would bite pretty much anything. While Kian would never hurt Cassandra, Missandra had quickly needed to buy a pair of very thick shoes.
“Hinue, I’m back!”
Missandra appeared between the trees, carrying a bag with some recent purchases. They had agreed that she would need to do the shopping alone, as Cassandra was afraid someone would recognize her in town. Moreover, Kian was never far from her, and the little dragon hadn’t quite grasped the concept of staying hidden.
The younger sister kept a watchful eye on the little dragon’s movements as she approached. Kian had a bad habit of trying to hunt her fingers or toes as a game, but the young dragon hadn’t quite caught on that the playful biting was really quite painful. She had several bandages on her little digits to prove that.
“Kian’s done eating already,” chuckled Cassandra. “They are probably just going to nap next.”
Indeed, Kassian wasn’t really drinking anymore, and his eyes were starting to close. They were still dark, but Cassandra suspected they might lighten a bit as he got older, and she could see hints of green in them.
“Good,” said Missandra. “Because I won’t be able to keep walking much longer if that little guy keeps chewing on my toes.”
Kian’s head raised up, turning to her with knowing eyes as if the dragon could tell what she was talking about.
“Yes, you!”
The Baby Dragon let out a little grumble that resembled a cat’s husky meow more than a scary growl. Missandra shook her head. She actually liked the little, mischievous dragon, if only it would hold back on the biting and chewing on her.
“I still don’t know how Lady Kareen handled two or three of these,” sighed Missandra, opening up her bag.
Despite her complaints, she had of course bought some more dry meat to help fill the little dragon’s stomach. Kian had only begun to hunt recently, and was still perfecting it. From what Cassandra had learned from Lady Kareen, a dragon’s parent would share its food until their baby could hunt well enough on its own. The thought made her feel a bit sad. If only Krai was there, Kian would have learned how to hunt properly by now.And to bite less too!
