“Your dress was... um, soiled, so we took it to clean, sorry. I don’t think we have any other red dresses. You can wear that nightgown for now, I guess. It’s mine.”
“Oh…thanks.”
Cassandra felt a bit flustered. How many times had she changed clothes today? She took the nightgown from Nebora. The knee length dress was simple and white, knitted in a thicker fabric than what she was used to, but it was agreeably warm considering the cold here.
“You’re welcome. But you should really ask His Highness for more clothes. You can’t have only one outfit, it’ll be a pain to wash every day.”
“I don’t know if I’m in a position to…”
Nebora rolled her eyes and got up, speaking before Cassandra finished her sentence.
“You’re a concubine. Trust me, even the servants here have around ten outfits to change into. Don’t bring up the slave thing, he obviously doesn’t give a damn about that. His Highness is very rich, so just ask for it!”
Cassandra nodded as she thought about it. Indeed, she couldn’t walk around naked or borrow Nebora’s clothes all the time. As she started to braid her messy hair, Nebora took a step back, showing her a little plate full of food.
“Oh, are you hungry? I brought this up just in case. Everyone else already ate, but I figured you might have been too…busy to get a bite. His Highness ate before leaving, but you were still asleep.”
“Thanks…”
Indeed, after all that intense activity, she was hungry. It was still so new to her, to be able to eat without begging or having to hide. Instead, she could enjoy plates full of fresh food, just for her. Cassandra started eating some of the little pieces of cheese and fruit as Nebora joined her, sitting on the floor next to the bed.
“How many servants are there?”
“There’s six of us in the Castle, plus two more for the stables.”
“That’s it?” asked Cassandra, surprised.
From the size of the Castle, she had thought there would be at least a hundred people here! Nebora shrugged.
“Well, you’ve seen how it is. Everything is pretty much empty, and there is only the Prince to take care of, so…”
“What? What about his entourage or other concubines?”
Nebora almost choked on the cube of cheese she was eating, and turned to Cassandra with surprised eyes.
“What are you talking about? You’re the only one!”
Cassandra was speechless. The only one? She had figured a Prince like him would have at least a dozen concubines! Maybe even a wife... After all, wasn’t one of the Princes infamous for having a harem of over two hundred? But, to think a man like the War God actually had none…
“Well, to be honest, it’s not like you’re the first one.”
“What do you mean?”
Nebora smirked.
“The Emperor and two of his brothers have tried offering him concubines before. But His Highness didn’t like them. He killed them. Well, to be precise, he killed three and his dragon killed the others.”
Cassandra stood, completely speechless. He actually dared to kill someone sent by the Emperor himself? What kind of man would do that! Was she just lucky to have survived until now? She wasn’t sent by anyone from the Imperial Family though. Cassandra suddenly remembered Shareen’s words to keep herself alive. Did that mean she actually suspected Kairen could kill her as well? That was really too frightening to think about.
“Don’t worry,” said Nebora. “I don’t think you’re anything like those women, you know. Actually, two of them even tried to kill him.”
“What?”
“Well, some say they went crazy, but a lot of people think they had orders to kill the War God. It’s not like the Imperial Family is a very warm household, you know. Everyone knows some of the Princes are just dying to take the Golden Throne.”
Cassandra had noticed that too, at the banquet and the arena. It was obvious the siblings, Princes and Princesses, didn’t like each other much. Some didn’t even bother to hide their hatred for one another. The rivalry had been just barely contained, probably because of the Emperor’s presence…
“Anyways, all that is quite far from us. If anything happens, it will most likely be at the Capital. Nothing happens around here,” sighed Nebora.
