The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 117

#117 The Worst Father
There was a horrible silence weighing on them, except for the erratic, raspy.breathing of the Emperor. Cassandra had no idea what to do. His lips were somewhat livid and purple at the same time, his mouth was dry, and the Old Emperor was obviously running a horrible fever. He had lost weight, too. Was there even something she could do when he was already like this? She looked around, but there was only a little basin of water. It couldn’t be that the poor old man had simply been left to die here! This was the Emperor, of all people!
Next to her, Opheus looked just as shocked and lost as she was. He hadn’t given much thought about his father being sick, and seeing the ever-so-powerful figure now lying in bed like a dying old man was just too much for him. He stumbled back, at a loss for words.
Cassandra couldn’t just sit still in that situation. She looked around, trying to find something, anything to help. She ran to the little basin of water, tearing some of her dress’ fabric to make a compress. The water was just lukewarm, which made her even madder. No one was caring properly for the Emperor, how was that even possible? She walked back to him, trying to wipe away his sweat. He was no longer the powerful Emperor to her, now, he was a patient. A patient in a severe condition she couldn’t allow to die like this. Not when she hadn’t tried anything she could to save him…
“White Lily…”
“Your Highness, what did they give you?” She asked, desperate for an answer. “Did you eat or drink something? Do you remember what it tasted like?”
Cassandra was struggling to hold back her tears. If she had been in a proper medical space, with all of her plants, she may have done something. If she had only a hint for what had been done to the Emperor, anything, she could have tried something, but here, it was just too desperate. She had been too hopeful. She thought she could do something, help move him somewhere, or find a cure to whatever he had. She had never imagined it would be too late already. 3
Her fingers were trembling on the little piece of wet clothes, as she kept asking him, in utter despair. Even Opheus was remaining silent, slowly realizing how bad this really was.
“We have to move him.”
He turned to her, staring at Cassandra as if she was crazy.
“Move him? We will be lucky if we get out of here alive! We can’t move him!”
“But we have no choice!” She retorted, almost crying. “I can’t heal him here, I can’t. I… I have nothing, and he is….
Opheus sighed, and put a knee down, grabbing Cassandra’s shoulder. He tried to ignore his father while doing so, and contain his own emotions.
“Cassandra, you can’t. I am no physician, but I am not blind either. There is nothing you can do to save my father, dear, not here or anywhere else. It’s just… too late.”
She refused to hear it.
Cassandra wasn’t an unreasonable woman, but this truth was too bitter for her to simply swallow. All this time, she had been looking forward to this moment. To when she would be able to heal the Emperor, get his help, and have him set things straight. Make sure Kairen was named as his successor, their family was safe and his brother’s madness was finally put to an end. She really thought they had a chance, as Vrehan was away.
She hadn’t thought things here would have been so bad already. How many people inside this Imperial Palace had rallied his side already? How long had he been planning this? Maybe she hadn’t been able to see the truth, or just couldn’t. However, there had been clues. How poorly guarded this place was. There were fewer soldiers than she had thought, only because there wasn’t any way left to save the Emperor. Vrehan had deserted the Palace,
knowing he had already won this battle. His father was dying anyway.
What had he used? Poison? The purple lips of the Emperor suggested so… She wished she could have gotten at least one answer to her questions. Maybe then she wouldn’t have felt so powerless.
“Your Highness…”
“White Lily, don’t… worry,” muttered the old man. “Just… the Lake…”
Cassandra frowned. The Lake? What about a lake? Was he hallucinating? She tried to get closer to him, but the old Emperor was weakening by the minute. Her heart was getting cold, seeing life leaving his eyes gradually and with no way to help him. She leaned over his bed, trying to listen. Opheus had his hands on her shoulders, but he didn’t dare to get any closer either. Somehow, he was affected by the death of his father, though they had never been close.
“Your Highness, what are you talking about?” She asked, wiping away her tears clumsily. “What lake?”
Was that a dying wish? Or something he had to confess? Cassandra was at a loss once again.
“And… Kareen… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
“Your Highness, you have to hold on, please,” she begged. “Kairen will be here soon. I promise he is on his way back, with the Imperial Army. We can…”
“Kareen… And the dress….
None of what he was saying was making any sense to her. Was he reminiscing some old memories with lady Kareen? She couldn’t tell. Why was he talking about a lake or a dress? Cassandra had no idea. Could she comfort him, or at least find a way to ease his pain? He didn’t look in pain, just…
“Father.”
To her surprise, Opheus stepped forward, grabbing his father’s hand. He seemed about to say something, but just then, his lower lip twitched, and he stayed mute. A veil of emotions covered his face, and Cassandra’s heart broke a little more upon seeing that.
This was the reality of being an Emperor’s child. They had no real bond, not the one that should have been between a father and his son. Yet, this bond was present, now, manifesting itself at the cruelest moment possible. Cassandra felt his pain resonate through her whole body and felt even sadder. Even more defeated.
Opheus simply held his father’s hand, in a long, painful silence. The Emperor turned his head to him, and faintly smiled, closing his eyes with some pain in his eyes. Cassandra couldn’t take it anymore. Some tears escaped her eyes, and she bit her lower lip, devastated. He was truly dying, and she was there, powerless.
…How touching.”
Cassandra and Opheus turned around in the same movement, surprised to hear a third voice.
On their left, coming from another door, was Prince Lephys standing with an annoyed expression. The fifth prince was draped in his purple robe, leaning against the wall with something like a smirk on. He was staring at both of them, shaking his head.
“You really had to do this kind of dumb mistake now, Opheus.”
The fourth Prince placed himself between Lephys and their father, looking furious.
“You fucking knew.”
Lephys rolled his eyes over, shrugging, and stepping closer.
“Of course I knew, you big idiot. Vrehan was always going to need an ally inside the Imperial Palace, and who else but I would have gone along with it?”
“Why?” Said Cassandra, shocked. “This is your father!”
“My father?” Scoffed Lephys. “You call that man a father? Do you have any idea what kind of father he is? He might be nice towards Kairen and Shareen, but do you think anyone else in this Imperial Palace holds any fond memory of our dear daddy? Really? What do you say, Opheus?”
Cassandra glanced at the fourth Prince, but he obviously had nothing to answer to that. Lephys was right, in some ways, and even Cassandra couldn’t say otherwise. The fifth prince stepped a bit closer again. He was acting arrogant and totally unaffected about the dying old man behind Cassandra and Opheus.
“A father,” he said. “I wonder what kind of father doesn’t give a damn about his children dying. How many of our siblings do you think died, over the years? Father had so many concubines, they all gave birth to his children… when they didn’t lose them or died before that.”
“His Highness was not responsible for those murders,” retorted Cassandra. “The concubines…”
“Oh, I know. The concubines are the ones who always dirtied their hands. One of their rivals was pregnant? Let’s kill her. The baby was born safely? Let’s kill it! Who needs more children, anyway? The Emperor already has so many!”
Cassandra glanced at the Emperor, unable to reply to that. She knew very well how rotten this family was. She would never forget the horrible stories of how Lady Kareen had lost three of her children. That was one fear that had been growing in Cassandra’s mind ever since she had heard about it. That one day, sooner or later, Kassian would become a target too. He already was. She couldn’t even stand the idea of a child being injured, let alone hers! None of his children had done anything wrong.
They were born, that’s it. They were conceived, without a say about it, and yet they were already used like pawns and killed before they could even understand the cruel world they had been brought in. Even those who survived had to endure countless scars. The pain of losing their siblings. The constant hatred coming from their step mothers, from their half-siblings. The monsters like the one Kairen had experienced…
“Do you know how many brothers and sisters I lost? I saw five of them die, but there were so many more. My own mother died, poisoned, and yet he didn’t even care. See, to the Emperor, no one but his precious favorite and her children ever mattered. All the other women and children were only there for his own satisfaction. He’s the kind of man who wouldn’t even weep for his own children to die, and yet you are crying for him? You are doing nothing but wasting your tears on some scum!” –
Cassandra felt horribly bitter listening to this.
She understood where Lephys’ hatred came. Even his hatred towards Kareen and her children was somewhat justified, as he had suffered from their mere existence. Yet, Cassandra couldn’t agree to this. She moved slightly, placing herself between the Emperor and Lephys.
“You can’t trust Vrehan either,” she said. “Your second brother will get rid of you too as soon as he gets the throne.”
“I don’t really think so. I am his ally. Do you think Vrehan could have taken control of our Father’s council so easily if it wasn’t for my help?”
“You son of a… What the hell did you do?” Growled Opheus.
Lephys chuckled.
“Oh, I was rather active. Do you know how many concubines I have, Opheus? How many of those women are daughters of ministers, scholars, generals? It wasn’t easy, but if you look carefully, all those women are nothing but pawns for their families. If I just hinted a little bit at making one of them my wife, those whores were so quick to beg their father to support me! I have my own army of little sluts, all ready to do anything I want so that I’d give them a little bit of attention!” (3
Cassandra was utterly disgusted. This man was completely rotten, to use all his concubines like mere tools to get
what he wanted! Was that why Vrehan had decided to include his fifth brother into his plan? It explained so many things! She hadn’t understood how he could have taken control of the Imperial Palace so easily all by himself. However, with three of the Princes absent, and one of the two remaining being on his side, all Vrehan had to do was to get rid of the Emperor, and all of his attendants had no choice but to follow!
“And you call our father scum?” Retorted Opheus, disgusted. “Would you call yourself a saint, perhaps? You’re worse than our father ever was!”
“Am I?” Said Lephys, tilting his head. “I am not doing anything our Father hasn’t done before. Actually, I’m probably nicer than him, as I don’t take any favorites. He used my mother and sisters like pawns for his own entertainment, for nothing but to make his woman jealous. What am I doing that isn’t the same?”
“You’re wrong,” retorted Cassandra. “It’s true that His Highness loved Lady Kareen, but he never wanted your siblings’ death!”
“Oh, are you trying to make me cry for the old man, darling?” Chuckled Lephys. “Don’t worry, I truly don’t care about his death. As soon as he passes, I will have Vrehan officially named at the new Emperor.”
“Just you wait until Kairen comes back and wipes the floor with your blood…” Hissed Opheus.
Lephys chuckled.
“Kairen? Oh, you are so mistaken if you think our precious War God will simply fly here. We have the whole roof trapped, every single wall. As soon as they spot a black dragon, all of our army will fire. He will be taken down like a fly!”
Opheus laughed.
“Is that why you hid Father’s dragon! You and Vrehan are such cowards, you can’t even face Kairen on your own and have to resort to such tactics! Did that coward leave you alone to defend the Imperial Palace, Lephys?”
Saying that, Opheus took out a little dagger he had hidden in his sleeve. Lephys’ eyes suddenly went as cold as eyes as he saw this, and he took out a long whip as well.
“You are defying me, brother? You are many things, Opheus, but you are not a fighter. Are you really willing to die for this woman? For Kairen’s woman?” (1
Cassandra didn’t like how things were going. She didn’t know how strong either brother was, but fighting in such a tight room, a dagger against a whip, did not leave her with any good feeling about this. She kept glancing at the fourth Prince, but his expression was telling her this was not going to be solved with an easy win.
She glanced behind them, at the Emperor. He wasn’t dead yet, but his breathing was definitely slowing down. Maybe a few hours, or a few minutes, but it wouldn’t get any better than that. Cassandra had no idea how far Kairen was, she couldn’t wait for him.
“Don’t,” she suddenly said.
Lephys looked at her as if he was amused.
“What is it? You don’t even want to see me kill my brother? Trust me, it will be over quickly…”
“Don’t fight,” she repeated. “…I want to make a deal with you.”