Cassandra focused on him for the next few minutes while her younger sister checked her hair for her once more and braided it.
“Alright, it doesn’t really suit you, but it should at least deceive the guards unless they are make-up experts, which is highly unlikely.”
“Can we just go already?” Verna huffed.
“Ready,Hinue?”
“Ready,” sighed Cassandra.
The wait in the line was awfully nerve-wracking and there were a lot of people waiting impatiently to get inside the Capital. Cassandra and Missandra did their best to keep their heads low, the younger sister trying her best to mimic her older sister. The big rings of metal around their neck were actually old slavery collars that Verna had retrieved from girls that had bought their freedom. The locks were broken so they could easily be opened, but that wouldn’t be visible to the guards, as they were also wearing shawls and covering their napes with their hair.
Verna was the worst actress of the three. She kept glancing down at Kassian, looking very awkward. The baby didn’t seem to care much about who carried him as his eyes were constantly following his mother. Meanwhile, the one who was supposed to be pretending to be his mother looked like she was horribly embarrassed to be carrying a baby at all. Thankfully, Kian was quietly staying in the forest. Cassandra was worried, though. After several attempts, she thought she managed to lull the Baby Dragon enough to stay put and hopefully take a nap while they made their way inside, but she was still afraid it would come out at any moment and give them away. She was counting on the crowd though - Kian had never been around so many people at once and tended to stay away from strangers. Hopefully, the little dragon would find something in the forest to distract itself with for long enough before she called for it to fly over.
When they were only a few people away from the entrance, both sisters tried to pay extra close attention to the guards. The men were obviously bored with the job and not paying much attention. People were getting angry about the wait and several officials didn’t even hold back and were complaining and scolding them. Therefore, the soldiers were doing their best to check the people quickly and move on to the next one. This was good news for the girls, they probably wouldn’t be checked too long either.
“You, with the baby,” one of them called when Verna stepped forward. “Is that yours?”
“It’s my niece, I’m bringing her back to my brother. His wife couldn’t take it anymore and left him alone with the kid. Can you believe that?”
“What a bitch. Your niece is cute though! My wife just had twins and all they do is cry. You look lucky, she’s quite behaved. Can I see your bag?”
“Sure, here,” she stated as she handed over her bag, “So far so good, but it’s almost her milk time. Gotta get her back to her dad soon.”
“Oh, sure. Wait, are those slaves with you?”
Missandra and Cassandra, kept their heads down and stepped closer to Verna. They could barely breathe, but everything had been going well so far.
“Yeah. Is there something wrong?”
“You have two slaves? You don’t look that wealthy.”
Missandra felt a pearl of sweat glide down her spine. Stupid guard, couldn’t he just mind his own business!
“Hey, I might not have the looks but I work hard. The Red District pays well, hun. I actually got those two from their Masters, and at a good price, too. Just check the bag, you’ll see I have plenty left.”
“Oh, I see. Be careful though, they’re getting stricter on the laws about slaves. Well, those two look pretty fat, probably not too bad, eh?”
Cassandra went red. This was her first time being called fat! She had just given birth, but still! Missandra, making sure to keep her head down, couldn’t keep herself from rolling her eyes - stupid soldier.
“Alright, you’re free to go. Come on people, let’s keep it moving!”
Finally, they made it in, making sure to get away from the crowd as quickly as possible and slide into one of the narrower side streets. Cassandra let out a long sigh of relief.
“I can’t believe that worked.”
“Me neither,” said Verna. “Here, just take back your kid.”
Cassandra happily opened her arms. She was glad to finally have her son back and the baby immediately gripped a strand of her hair. She checked him over, but Kassian really didn’t look upset in any way, his eyes stayed riveted on the strand of black hair with his familiar little frown on.
“Good one, making him pass for a girl,” chuckled Missandra. “Guess you’re smarter than you look.”
Verna glared at her while snatching the bag from her hands, furiously rummaging through its contents.
“Oh, shut up. Now, where the fuck is my money! You better...”
Before Verna could finish her sentence, a sudden ruckus was heard behind them. Cassandra went white. People near the gate were screaming and pointing fingers towards the sky while someone yelled something about a horrible, flying monster. Missandra grimaced.
“I guess the other baby decided not to wait for the cue.”
