“Then we’ll just have to make his son and Sephir’s talk.”
“Kairen, Sephir is dead.”
Kairen stopped and turned around to face his sister. Around her, the high-ranked soldiers that had just heard that news looked shocked, all of them exchanging glances with their eyes wide open. Kairen was focused on his sister. Shareen’s expression was cold and serious, making him realize this was the truth.
The War God was shocked, more than he let on. Though they weren’t particularly close, he had always considered Sephir a real older brother. Maybe the one he was the closest to, after Anour. His fists clenched. Kairen resumed walking, not saying a word on what he thought about that news. That was just another crime added to the already large debt of what Vrehan would have to pay for.
“I need to go back to the Capital right away,” he hissed.
“Your Highness, you can’t!” pleaded one of the Generals, running after him. “I’m most sorry about the First Prince’s passing, but we need to officially end this war, fortify the border, and have the Eastern Army acknowledge they attacked us! We need to make their leaders pay for the damages, and sign a treaty at least!”
The War God suddenly turned around, grabbing the man by the collar under everyone else’s astonished eyes.
“My Concubine and my child are in danger. My older brother just got murdered and you’re fucking talking to me about damn paperwork. You don’t need me for that,” he growled.
“Your Highness!”
He threw the man away, ignored the rest, and kept walking, followed by his sister. No one else dared to follow him.
“Kairen, we have to stop by the Diamond Palace to get Mother,” declared Shareen.
“She can wait. I need to find Cassandra.”
“Kairen, stop a second and listen!” urged his sister. “Kairen, I know you just want to find them, but things are bad. There are rumors that Father has fallen ill, and Vrehan is acting in his stead. That little rat shit can have himself named Emperor the minute Father dies if he wants. Now that Sephir is gone and you’re away on a battlefield, he’ll give no choice to the ministers. No one knows your son is born, and Vrehan will definitely try to kill him and Cassie before it is known. We need to get Anour and Mother to help us deal with all this crap. We caught Phetra at the Diamond Palace. That bitch can still spill the beans about Vrehan.”
“Where is Cassandra?”
They were hurrying outside of the City, Kairen’s eyes on Krai, who was flying a few paces away. His dragon was not done hunting and killing the few survivors trying to flee the battle. Some of them were desperately trying to get to the frontier, but the Dragon wouldn’t even let them anywhere close to it.
Shareen sighed.
“According to Mother, Cassie and Missandra decided to head to the Capital. Thank the Gods, they managed to win some time by making that idiot Vrehan think they were headed North to the Onyx Castle instead. They are on their own with your son and his dragon, though, and we don’t even know if they are there yet. Dahlia was killed by Vrehan, too.”
“Dahlia?”
“That servant girl Mother placed by her side, the one that was always around Cassandra, remember? She died trying to protect your woman... Poor girl.”
Kairen nodded vaguely. He did remember a young servant girl that was always around Cassandra. He didn’t know she was one of his mother’s many spies, though. Not that he cared about that fact at all. His mother was definitely the type to do that kind of thing. All he could think about right now was finding Cassandra and their son, and making sure they were both safe. Anywhere far from Vrehan would be enough.
Roun, who had been waiting at the entrance of the City, stood up as soon as it saw them. Shareen had come on its back, so the Green Dragon had been expecting her to return. Meanwhile, Kairen waited for Krai to arrive, and jumped on the black dragon’s back for their trip to the Diamond Palace. By the time they arrived there, Shareen had just finished telling him in detail everything that had happened on her side.
When they landed in their mother’s garden, Kareen ran out to greet them. She hugged Kairen with a sad and angry look, and he noticed that she was holding something.
“That...”
“Oh, Cassie was working on it before all this happened,” said his mother. “She wanted to give it to your son after his birth.”
Kairen had recognized the little dragon plushie, despite the pretty embroideries his concubine had added to mend it. Even Krai, curious, sniffed the toy a bit before running to another aisle of the Diamond Palace. Kairen ran inside after the dragon. They were both headed exactly to the same place.
In the remote garden, everything had been left as it was. Krai was growling, looking at the scene, its back arched furiously. Kairen, too, squeezed the little plushie in his hand. They were both staring at the scattered remains of a dragon’s egg. The War God’s thoughts at that moment were unfit for words. He was just boiling inside, his eyes dark as obsidian.
Krai, too, kept sniffing the remains of the egg, restless. The dragon had felt the birth, yet the dragon wasn’t there for its offspring. It felt just as defeated as its master. To Kairen, this was a bitter defeat. Though Cassandra had survived and managed to flee his brother’s clutches, she was still on her own and unsafe. He hated not being with his concubine. He wanted her here, right by his side, where he could hold her and protect her. Cassandra was many things, but she was not a fighter, and she would never be. His blood was boiling when he dared to imagine his brother or any other man near her. He couldn’t stand the idea of a single scratch on her soft, fragile white skin. She already had so many scars he could never do anything about. What did she have to go through again because he wasn’t there?
She had been reluctant to send him, yet she knew it was his duty. Kairen had never loathed his title as War God as much as right now. He should have been there. With her, with their child. He didn’t even know what his son looked like!
“Son, come,” gently called Lady Kareen, appearing behind him. “We need to talk.”
He nodded, and though his eyes had a hard time losing the horrible vision of the destroyed egg, he stepped back and joined her back inside. Krai was left there.
