Kairen’s face had gone white as soon as Vrehan touched Cassandra. She heard the Second Prince laugh horribly, catching the attention of not only Kairen but his sister, too. Shareen let go of the dead body she was holding and glared at Vrehan.
“You rat face.”
“Oh-oh, be careful, Shareen. I already killed one of them, I’ll happily make it last longer for the other one.”
Cassandra’s blood went cold. Killed who? Who had he killed? She felt like she was missing an important piece of information, and her eyes searched around the room.
Then she saw it. She hadn’t even seen it when she was so close. Missandra, laying in a pool of blood right at their feet. Cassandra immediately screamed in horror. No, no, not her younger sister, not Missandra. Not Mie. She couldn’t even stand that horrible vision. Her sister was lying, not moving, her body circled and covered in red. She couldn’t even see her face, as she was lying on her stomach, her face in the blood and covered by her hair. Cassandra couldn’t stop crying. She couldn’t even check if Missandra was really dead! She couldn’t stand it, she kept shaking her head and struggling against Vrehan.
“Enough!”
On her right, another figure appeared. Cassandra glared as she had never glared at anyone before. Lephys, with his neck perfectly fine. The Fifth Brother chuckled, amused by her glare, and walked over. He pushed Missandra with his feet, looking bored.
In horror, Cassandra saw her younger sister’s body roll down the stairs. She gasped and cried, fighting Vrehan to try and go see her. Across the room, Shareen was just as horrified.
“Lephys, you son of a...”
“Shut the fuck up, Shareen,” protested the Fifth Brother. “You are not in charge anymore, and if you don’t want that bitch of a witch dead yet, shut the fuck up, for once.”
The Princess glared at him, but for once, she truly had no choice. Vrehan was holding Cassandra, a blade clearly held against her throat, and they knew he wouldn’t have the slightest remorse over killing her.
Kairen was facing his worst nightmare. He was too far to do anything without risking Cassandra being killed. From far away, they heard the furious growls of Krai adding to those of the two dragons already present. Kian, who had flown to Kairen earlier, looked worried too. The Baby Dragon began retreating behind Kairen’s legs, but still growling a bit.
This situation was a nightmare. Cassandra knew Kairen would kill his brother if she wasn’t there. It may even explain why her sister had been... like this already. She gasped, and struggled again, furious.
“You won’t be Emperor,” she hissed, her eyes full of tears and her voice hoarse.
“Oh, I already am, little bitch. The council agreed to make me the Emperor just an hour ago.”
“You are no Emperor,” she protested. “And you won’t become one. You’ll be dead. This Empire doesn’t need an Emperor like you, no one would allow that. Not the Council, not the former Emperor, not your siblings, no one. The Gods themselves will punish you. You have no rights but those of a cheater, a coward!”
“Shut up, damn witch!” yelled Vrehan.
Out of anger, he raised his blade, and cut a long line down Cassandra’s back, making the young woman scream in pain. She had tears in her eyes, but compared to everything she had experienced before, this was nothing. She couldn’t allow this.
She had come here to make sure Vrehan wouldn’t be the Emperor. She knew this would mean her son’s death, Kairen’s death, and if she was the obstacle to ensure their safety, Cassandra didn’t care.
“I am the strongest Emperor! Kairen is nothing but an idiot!”
“You’re about to die, you asshole,” hissed Shareen.
“You can’t be Emperor when your dragon is weak,” added Cassandra. “Everyone will know the Emperor had the weakest dragon out of his brothers. You can’t fight Krai, and you can’t fight Kairen! You even locked up the Emperor’s Dragon because you couldn’t see that!”
Behind them, a horrible ruckus suddenly rose as Glahad broke free from the Vault. The door exploded behind them, and everyone near the throne lost their ground. Cassandra pushed Vrehan, and instead of trying a run she could never make, she jumped to get down the stairs. Her body violently hit the stairs, one after another, but finally, she found herself above Missandra’s body, just in time to protect her.
The exploded door sent rocks raining down on them, and she tried to protect her head. She felt vivid pains assaulting her body, but she tried to withstand it.
It only lasted a few seconds, after which she found herself covered in dust, and more importantly, caught between the fight of two dragons. Glahad, finally free, attacked the Red Dragon furiously, despite the little space. She turned her head around, trying to spot Kairen in this mess. The first one she saw was Lephys, screaming something she couldn’t understand. His eyes were riveted on the two dragons fighting.
Cassandra knew she had to make use of every second she had. She touched Missandra, and much to her relief, her sister seemed alive. Barely. The younger sister was still breathing weakly. Cassandra tried to stand up next, but a sharp pain kept her still. She turned her eyes and realized her left leg was stuck under a large piece of rock. She couldn’t even move it! How come she hadn’t felt the pain earlier? She tried to stop her tears and looked around for help through the cloud of dust.
“Kairen!” she yelled. “Shareen!”
She called, again and again, even coughing when she breathed in too much dust. Cassandra was absolutely desperate. With the stones of the door exploding in all directions, and the dragons fighting, this room had gone from a war zone to complete chaos. She saw Imperial Guards running in all directions, and she couldn’t spot Shareen or Kairen. She couldn’t move Missandra, but she searched her sister, checking all of her injuries and pockets.
“You damn witch!”
Cassandra reacted as soon as she heard the voice coming from behind her. Had he not yelled, he may have avoided this, but the young woman lifted her sister’s dagger at the last second, to protect herself.
