“My chambers. Luckily for you, I happen to be living not far from Vrehan’s apartments. I don’t know where exactly our father was taken, but at least from here, you shouldn’t have any trouble accessing his place. If you can get past all the guards, that is.”
Cassandra’s throat tightened a little. It would have been stupid to think the Second Prince would have left his Father completely unguarded. Not only the Imperial Soldiers, but it was very likely that his own militia would be keeping the Emperor locked in there. She sighed. They had found where the Emperor was and got closer to his position, but the hardest part was still to come.
Opheus walked back inside, and the girls naturally followed, as they were completely lost on their position within the Palace. After walking past a few rooms, Cassandra couldn’t help but notice a strange detail.
“It’s very... quiet here,” she said. “You don’t have any Imperial Servants in here?”
“No. I hate noise and noisy people. I don’t trust any of those little rats either, they are all working for someone in there. I’d rather take care of myself.”
Cassandra was impressed. Besides his excessive attitude they had witnessed earlier, he actually seemed like quite a sensible being. Everything inside the rooms and corridors they walked across seemed strangely bare. Actually, it reminded Cassandra of her first days in Kairen’s apartments in the Imperial Palace. Just like his older brother, Opheus didn’t seem to spend much on decorations or filling his apartments with luxurious items. The bit of furniture they saw was in pastel colors, adding to the quiet atmosphere around. Cassandra spotted a couple of instruments, too, meaning he probably liked music more than noise.
“Opheus? What’s going on?”
Two women suddenly emerged from a room on their left. Both looked around their thirties, and were very pretty. The first had short brown hair, almond eyes, and thin lips, and was wearing a long purple dress. Behind her was a younger girl, in purple too, who was almost hiding behind her.
Opheus frowned.
“We have guests,” he sighed.
“Guests? Are you kidding? Aside from your crazy mother, you never...”
She stopped talking, frowning at Cassandra.
“I know you. Aren’t you the Third Prince’s Favorite? The White Lily. Why do you look like that?”
Cassandra wasn’t sure what to say. Should she confirm her words, was there a danger in unveiling her identity to that woman? It seemed a bit late, though, she had clearly recognized her. As she hesitated, Opheus sighed.
“Relax, darling. This is my wife, Mariana, and my younger sister is hiding behind her. They won’t talk. Yes, Mari, that’s Kairen’s woman.”
Cassandra was a bit surprised to hear Opheus actually had a wife. He was probably the only one among the Princes, and she had forgotten that one of the actual princes had a wife at all. Was it recent? Before she could wonder more, that woman, Mariana, glared at her husband, looking shocked.
“Are you kidding, Ophe? Didn’t you say we should lay low? With the Emperor being sick and all? And now you bring that woman here? Are you crazy!”
To Cassandra’s surprise, before the Fourth Prince could even answer, Mariana turned to her.
“No offense to you, really, but the situation is freaking tense here, and that idiot said it himself!”
Opheus rolled his eyes.
“I know what I said, but I found those two in Father’s apartments! The little one basically threatened me into helping them, mind you!”
Mariana glanced towards Missandra, and put her hands on her hips.
“Awesome, so now you get bullied around by teenagers? Really, Opheus? I already have to handle your crazy bitch mother, give me some slack!”
“We are not staying,” declared Cassandra, stepping up. “His Highness just helped us not get caught, but we only want to get to the Emperor. We won’t bother you any longer, we don’t want to put you in danger.”
Hearing her actually speak seemed to calm that woman a bit. After one more glare at her husband, Mariana turned to Cassandra, crossing her arms.
“Sorry for the yelling, I have nothing against you, Lady Cassandra. I’m just worried about that crazy Vrehan. He’s fucking lost it. He killed Prince Sephir, no one here is blind enough to think you’re guilty. I remember seeing you with the other concubines, I thought you were a smart but harmless woman. We also heard about the Lady of the Mountain, all the concubines talk.
Cassandra was somewhat touched to hear that most people didn’t believe in her being an assassin. That woman, Mariana, seemed to have a lot of common sense and nothing in common with the other Concubines Cassandra had met. After scratching her head, Mariana turned towards the Prince again.
“So, what was the idea here?”
“They get out of here and try to find and help my dad, that’s it! Nothing I’m going to concern myself with... hey!”
Before he could end his sentence, Mariana had slapped his shoulder with an angry look.
