“He’s quite nice,” said Cassandra.
“Nice? I saw that dragon eat ten men at once! It didn’t even chew! And you’re petting it like some cat… What kind of woman are you?”
Cassandra couldn’t help but chuckle. Indeed, she had seen Krai kill people, quite gruesomely, in fact. But, for now, the Black Dragon just laid down in the inner court, closing its eyes and letting her scratch its head.
“I wonder why His Highness didn’t come back as well?” Cassandra asked.
“They are not always together. That dragon pretty much does whatever it pleases most of the time,” said Nebora. “Our Lord is probably still at the Military Camp. ”
“Is it far from here?” asked Cassandra.
“By foot, it would take a few days. On the dragon’s back, maybe an hour or so. The Military Camp is quite large, almost like a city itself, and right at the Empire’s border too. Around two hundred thousand men.”
That was a rather large number considering this Castle appeared quite… empty. For such a large beast, that number of soldiers probably didn’t even compare, though, as Krai could probably protect the castle on its own. Cassandra looked down at the dragon that was about to doze off under her pets.
No wonder this Empire was so powerful compared to the others. With seven dragons, they could probably take over any country on a whim.
“I don’t know how you can stay so close to it. It could eat you in one bite and use your bones as toothpicks!”
Nebora was still being very brave, standing a few paces away while all three of the others had literally run away. Cassandra, however, wasn’t scared at all. Despite its gigantic size, the hot breath, and sharp fangs, she didn’t feel any animosity coming from the dragon. She waited until it seemed like Krai was asleep and snoring in the middle of the inner court, to walk back to Nebora, who had her arms crossed.
“I don’t know if you’re insane or lucky.”
“I could be both? Come on, we should get to work,” chuckled Cassandra.
The two women went back to the kitchen, cleaning the dishes, and talking. Compared to the cold shoulder she had given her the previous day, Nebora’s attitude had completely changed. She was still very blunt and a bit rude at times, but as she showed Cassandra everything they did in the Castle, all hints of hatred were disappearing. Instead, she seemed to treat the young woman like a peer and explained to her how everything was handled patiently.
“There aren’t many rooms to take care of,” Nebora explained as they were bringing clean sheets upstairs. “But there are only a few of us and Patrina is always making sure everything is spotless. She will even have us clean a room three times a day if she sees a little speck of dust.”
“Has she always worked for His Highness?”
“No, she used to work for His Highness’s mother at the Palace. Her daughter was murdered in one of the jealous schemes between the concubines. After that, she asked to be sent away from the Palace and ended up here.”
Cassandra was shocked to hear such a story. Seeing a woman as resilient as Patrina, she had no idea.
“You’re lucky to have been brought here,” continued Nebora. “You would have been killed within a week back at the Palace. It’s famous for being a nest of snakes.”
She nodded slowly as they placed new sheets on the Prince’s bed. She had already seen it herself. The violence, the death… Not only for the slaves. Even a concubine like Lyria, who was untouchable in the Capital, had been killed on the spot only a week after entering the Palace. It was truly a scary place.
“So, no one comes here?”
Nebora seemed to think for a bit, while folding a fur cloak.
“Aside from his sister, not really.”
“Princess Shareen?”
“You know her?”
“I’ve…met her.”
Cassandra couldn’t help blushing as she remembered the incident. That Princess Shareen was truly one of a kind! Thankfully, Nebora didn’t notice her cheeks going red as she was taking care of the dust on the curtains. Meanwhile, Cassandra changed the candles and added a batch of herbs in a basket.
“Those two are close, from what I’ve seen. Even if she is a total weirdo… Don’t get close to that woman, she’s really dangerous. There are some crazy rumors about her, and I wouldn’t be surprised if half of them are true. But that’s pretty much it for visitors. Our Lord isn’t the social type…What is that?”
She was pointing at the basket of dried herbs Cassandra was putting next to the window.
“Just so the room will smell good. I’ll open the window a bit, too, so it’ll smell even better.”
