The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 107

#107 The Bad News
After one last glance around to make sure they hadn’t been followed, both sisters were pulled inside, and the door tightly closed behind them. Kian, who apparently had enough of being carried by Missandra, let out one of his little high-pitched chirps and jumped out of the shawl she had been trying to keep him wrapped in. He landed on the ground, more in a little tumble than gracefully, but quickly got back on his feet to start sniffing and looking around.
Meanwhile, the exhausted sisters finally let out a long sigh of relief. Cassandra turned to Yasora, confused.
“You were expecting us? How come?”
She knew that, next to her, Missandra already had her hand on her little dagger, just in case this turned out to be a trap of some sort. However, it was very unlikely. Officially, there was nothing tying Cassandra to this residence, Kairen had just gotten rid of its owner and freed all the slaves, but in the facts, probably no one had stopped to take care of the paperwork.
The middle-aged servant lady looked better than the last time Cassandra had seen her, except for her tired eyes. Yasora took her hand, nodding.
“We were so worried! Two days ago, a man showed up at the door out of the blue, saying he had come under the orders of Imperial Concubine Kareen! He told us you would likely arrive here soon, with your younger sister and a newborn, and to be ready to help you! He said we had to do anything we can to help you here as soon as you arrived, and make sure no one found you. Oh, he gave us plenty of money and food to fill our storage, too! Oh, and we have a letter that came for you, carried by a messenger bird, from an Imperial Servant named Evin.”
“Evin!” Exclaimed Cassandra, surprised to hear about him now.
“Someone you know, Hinue?” Asked Missandra, confused.
“My Lord appointed him as my… attendant back when we were in the North Camp. He accompanied me all day back then, he’s a good man.”
Just then, Kassian started getting agitated in his mother’s arms. A bit unhappy, the baby started moving his closed fists and cry a bit, upset.
“Oh, come in! Let’s take care of you first, you must be exhausted! Don’t worry, we have everything ready!”
Yasora guided them inside the residence.
The
Cassandra had lived several years in this place, and she could tell the changes since the last time she had come here. First, the roof that Krai had torn had been repaired, though the place seemed to have been renovated as some storage place. Moreover, the lack of actual master in the house, leaving all the servants in charge, made the house look livelier than ever before. Plants were happily growing in the gardens, with some cats playing around, and a lot of doors were left open, the young servants rushing from one place to another without worry.
However, as Yasora had promised, everyone had been waiting for them. As soon as they came in, Cassandra was immediately surrounded by many familiar faces. The young servants and former slaves she had worked with years prior surrounded her, greeting her and being amazed by her baby. However, Kassian wasn’t in the mood for introductions. The young little prince kept crying and fussing until Yasora yelled for the young ones to clear the area and get to work. She was apparently naturally appointed as the head of the house until Cassandra returned.
First, both girls got to take a bath in one of the large indoor bathtubs of the residence. As if they were some valued guests, the two sisters and Kassian were given every little attention by the servants. After about a week of leaving in the wild, Cassandra and Missandra enjoyed being able to properly relax in some hot water with fancy soaps. They washed off the black ink from their hair too, and let Kassian play in the water a bit. Just like Kian, they had already noticed that the baby liked water a lot. As soon as he would be in, he’d naturally try to paddle a bit with his feet, and wiggle around. Kian was swimming around in the bathtub until they got out, too. His wings were still not fully developed, but he could make short little flights and jump out of the water before diving again.
Once they were done bathing, the sisters were given some big bathrobes, and someone had even gone to buy new diapers for the baby. Kian was a bit harder to take out of the bath, though. Despite Cassandra’s many attempts to call him, he ignored both sisters, and Missandra had to struggle against a mischievous baby dragon that had fun making her chase him around until she finally grabbed hiin by the tail.
“Come, while you were bathing we got some dinner ready for you,” said Yasora. “I feel like you have a lot to tell
us!”
Indeed, a large table had been prepared with food, making them immediately hungry despite their current fatigue. Missandra almost jumped to get some steamed bun. Meanwhile, Cassandra carefully lied Kassian down between in a little basket with a blanket that Mira, the young servant girl, had prepared for him. As soon as he got on his back, the baby yawned, and Kian jumped next to him to curl up for a nap, too. 5
“So?” Said Yasora. “I’m very confused, Cassandra. Last time we saw you was at the slave market, and after that, we barely heard anything…”
“I’m sorry, things got… hectic.”
Cassandra went on to explain everything that had happened to her since the last time she had come here to free the slaves, and Kairen had killed her previous master. It was a lot from when she had left the Palace, and Missandra helped her fill some blanks as well. Both sisters were also trying to eat while talking, as the sight of cooked food was making their stomachs beg for more. With all the stress, Cassandra hadn’t realized how tired and hungry she really was.
Once she was done, both for explanations and eating, she turned to Yasora, worried.
“What about the letter?”
“Oh, right. Give me a minute…”
She left and came back, handing to Cassandra the letter she had mentioned earlier.
“This arrived a couple of days ago, though I didn’t open that letter, as it was destined for you. Just like I said, that letter arrived the next morning after the unknown man that had a lot of gold and food to give us had come by, delivered by another man. He warned us we’d better… Welcome you properly and make sure you were safe.”
Missandra and Cassandra exchanged a glance.
“Definitely one of Lady Kareen’s spies,” said Missandra.
“Probably,” agreed her older sister, opening the letter right away.
Cassandra read the lines so fast that she had to go over a second time before handing them to Missandra.
In this letter, Evin was true to himself, wishing Cassandra was alright as well as giving her a detailed report of the situation in the North Army Camp, how he had persuaded Shareen to bring him back with her to the Diamond Castle, and the situation until he had sent this letter in a hurry. She let out a sigh of relief, though she wished it contained some better news.
“So, Lady Shareen is at least back to the Diamond Palace, with Prince Anour,” sighed Missandra.
“However, they still had no news of my Lord when that letter was sent… What is going on…”
Cassandra couldn’t hide how worried she was for Kairen.
She was happy about Shareen’s return to the Diamond Palace, as now, Lady Kareen had an extra ally by her side. The mother-daughter duo was that strong that it had actually chased the second prince. She didn’t care much about Phetra’s fate for now, but Cassandra was worried to know where that treacherous brother of hers had gone. Did he follow the fake leads into the north? They hadn’t heard anything about the Second Prince’s army on the way there, but this could have been because moving his army was slower. Maybe he was only a couple of days behind…
Missandra gently put a hand on her older sister’s leg, feeling her worry. She then turned to Yasora.
“How is the situation here? We heard some bad rumors about the Emperor on our way here…”
The middle-aged woman sighed and nodded, grabbing one layer of her brown attire with a sour expression.
“I fear it was all true… The piece of news has been all over the streets for a couple of days, now. The Old Emperor suddenly fell very sick. We don’t know what is really going in the palace, the security was increased all of a sudden, there was a big ruckus. They tried to prevent people from coming in, or coming out, which made the people really suspicious. Some ministers and scholars were even executed publicly, people are terrified!” 1
Cassandra went livid. How come so much had happened in just a week? Just because Sephir had died? Now, the Emperor was in such a dire situation, too? People being executed… That sounded like someone was purging. Her heart sank. What if Kairen didn’t come back in time to stop his brother? She exchanged a glance with Missandra. Her younger sister didn’t look worried, but angry.
“That rat face probably put his plan in motion as soon as your man was sent to war,” she said. “What a snake…”
“So no one was able to enter the Palace since then?” Asked Cassandra. “What about the fourth and fifth Princes?”
“I haven’t heard anything about those two.”
Cassandra bit her lower lip. That meant the fifth prince Lephys and fourth prince Opheus were probably still inside the Imperial Palace. The problem was, she had no idea if they would side with their second brother or Kairen. Cassandra had only met the two of them very briefly. Lephys didn’t give her a good impression at all, and she couldn’t even remember seeing Opheus aside from his presence during the Red Moon Festival. He was known to be very secretive and avoided his father’s banquets almost as much as Kairen and Shareen. Could he be a potential ally? She couldn’t approach any of them without being sure…
“What about the battlefront?” She asked, her throat a bit tight. “Tell me you have news?”
Yasora seemed to hesitate for a few seconds and nodded.
“I do, but… they are not much better. The last thing we heard came from some soldiers, yesterday. Ethen went to buy some groceries and heard them… Apparently, they said the War God was ambushed in the last City, and the fight isn’t doing too well. I don’t know if that’s true, but… the Eastern Empire had dragons.”
Cassandra stayed speechless. Dragons? How could the Eastern Empire have Dragons? None of their people had dragon blood! Were those dragons captured? Or conveniently given to them, by another one of the Prince’s schemes? Cassandra tried to remember.
“Vrehan has two sons, but he wouldn’t send his own sons’ dragons to war…” she muttered.
“Maybe he took some of his brothers?” Said Missandra. “Didn’t the first prince had some too?”
“Sephir had one son, and other than Vrehan’s sons, I think the fifth Prince Lephys had sons as well… Oh, God, the first Prince’s Concubines, and their children!”
Cassandra had almost completely forgotten about those two. What had happened to them after Sephir’s death? She clearly remembered the two concubines who had tried to befriend her, back at the Imperial Palace. Kareen had stated those women and their children would be in danger as soon as their Lord died. What had Vrehan done with them, and with the children? Would he use his nephew’s dragon?
She remembered those women, Berissa and Chiara, when they had come to her. Cassandra hadn’t thought too much about it since then… She hoped they were fine. Did they manage to leave the Imperial Palace? Maybe they were fine for now, as the Old Emperor was still alive.
“I hope they are doing alright… You said the man brought gold and food. Did he say anything else?”
“No. He was very discreet, probably a spy.”
It made sense. Cassandra wished Lady Kareen had left more information. At least she had found a way to provide them some assistance.
“Lady Kareen probably didn’t want you to move from here until they arrive,” said Missandra. “Without the third Prince, you’re just a target for them. Especially with those two.”
She was pointing at Kassian and Kian, both peacefully sleeping already. Cassandra sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was put her baby and his dragon in any danger. This house was probably safe for now, but the word that she was hiding in the Capital would definitely spread around now that Kian had been spotted at the gate. Moreover, she couldn’t help but worry about everything going on. The concubines and their children, and the Old Emperor… The battlefront, as well. What was that story about dragons! This was supposed to be an easy victory, but now, her dear War God could really be in trouble…
“Shareen will probably go to help him if she came back to the Diamond Palace,” said Cassandra. “However, I think this sounds too much like a giant trap.”
“Definitely,” sighed her sister. “I told you since the beginning. What do we do though? We should stay still until they arrive, right?”
Cassandra hesitated a bit. Could she stay put, though? The time was planning against them. If that letter had arrived two days ago through a bird. If everything Evin had said was right and Shareen had to go help her brother to the battlefront before they could come back here, her Prince most likely wouldn’t be able to return to the Capital for at least a couple more days. That was only the most optimist estimate, too… 1
Meanwhile, his father was dying in the Imperial Palace, only a few paces away from Cassandra. She bit her lip, making Missandra frown.
“Oh, no, no, Hinue.”
“This might be our only chance to save the Emperor,” she said.
“Or our one mistake to get killed! Why would you go to the Imperial Palace when this is exactly the first place we could get ourselves killed!”
“The second Prince isn’t in the Capital at the moment, right?” Asked Cassandra, turning to Yasora.
“No…”
“See? Missandra, if the Emperor dies, we will be in much more trouble than now. We are losing time, the Old Emperor could die any minute from whatever they did to him!”
“Yes, and maybe that old man is already dead and done for, Cassandra! In any case, I’m pretty sure Lady Kareen didn’t want you to go there expose yourself! They freaking closed the Imperial Palace for a reason, they don’t want you in!”
“Maybe we can find a way around that…” whispered Cassandra,
Missandra was about to retort something, but before she did, Yasora raised her hands, putting an end to their dispute.
“Ladies, I think you are both very tired and in need of some decent sleep. So, even if you want to come up with a plan, I suggest it waits until tomorrow.”