The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 80

The Hidden Princess
Cassandra jumped in surprise, while the large golden dragon, though he hadn’t been hit, growled, annoyed. Shareen’s flames had died in the air, way before they reached Glahad, who was flying too high. Yet, it was so impressive! The young concubine was both impressed and frightened.
“I had no idea the Princesses could do such a thing!”
“Not all the Princesses, Sweetie,” replied Shareen with an arrogant look. “It takes talent.”
“What talent,” retorted her mother. “It’s just like how your brother is so good at taming his dragon. It has nothing to do with talent.”
“Do you mean it’s also about their characters?” asked Cassandra.
She had slowly started to understand the bond between a Prince and his Dragon. The more true they were to themselves, the more their own dragons were tamed. Compared to Kairen, who never hid his emotions and acted as he wished, someone like Vrehan was unable to tame his dragon. His cunning nature and how he always hid his real thoughts were what kept his dragon wild. Had the red dragon been able to roam freely, he would have probably gone straight to kill his enemies in a rage.
Krai, however, was free to act. He could kill, growl and attack who Kairen hated, except for the Imperial Family. He was free to express his love for Cassandra, too, making him easier to tame than any of his peers. Cassandra wondered if the red Dragon had no one to show love to…
“Shareen is more gifted than any of her sisters. Only a handful of Princesses can do the Dragon’s breath, or have the Dragon skin.”
“I thought it was mostly about blood?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” said Kareen. “The Princes are born separately from their Dragons. The Emperor’s daughters, however, are half-dragons themselves. There is a theory that they are too weak for an actual dragon to be born, so instead…”
“It… grows in them?”
Cassandra was astonished. Didn’t that mean the princesses’ potential was almost unlimited? They may not have Dragons, but judging from Shareen’s skills, they may not even need to have one! Moreover, her injury was healing even faster than Kairen’s. What else was the Princess able of…?
“Doesn’t that mean Phetra will be healed soon?” She asked, suddenly remembering about that other matter.
“That… I’m waiting to see,” said Kareen with an enigmatic smile.
Cassandra wondered what Kareen had in mind about Phetra. Somehow, she felt like something bigger was at stake.
The siblings resumed their sparing, but Shareen and Kairen were obviously of equal strength. It could take a while, and even Glahad eventually left the skies above them, flying away. Cassandra sighed and caressed Krai’s warm scales. The Dragon had gone back to his nap as soon as the older Dragon was gone.
As they kept dining, some Imperial servants came twice to invite Kareen and the siblings to the Celebrations, but the Imperial Concubine stubbornly ignored them. When another servant showed up, she frowned.
“Didn’t I say no twice already! How many times do I need to get mad for that old Dragon to give up!”
“My apologizes, Imperial Concubine,” said the poor servant. “I am only here to deliver a letter for the Third Prince’s Concubine…”
Cassandra got up to receive the letter, surprised. It came from the outside, and she suddenly understood. It was
the intel Missandra had tried to gather about the abortion potion! She quickly sent the servant away, and opened it to read it quickly. A friend of Missandra from the Red District had apparently asked around, and it turned out, the order was made from the Imperial Palace indeed.
“It ways someone from the Red Wind Pavilion made the order,” read Cassandra, confused.
Kareen sneered.
“That’s the Vrehan’s dead mother’s pavilion. With this, the person who ordered the potion makes no doubt. It was probably Phetra. She is the one in charge of that place.”
“Phetra? Why would Princess Phetra order an abortion potion? If it wasn’t to use against me…”
“Maybe that bitch was dumb enough to get pregnant…” muttered Shareen.
The siblings walked back to join the dinner, ending their duel after over an hour.
“I don’t think that bitch Princess was pregnant…”
They all turned around, surprised to see Missandra. The young woman was standing, looking a bit tired. Cassandra jumped on her feet, almost falling over Krai’s large head.
“Missandra! Why aren’t you in bed! I thought you would be sleeping…”
“Their fever medicine is crappy. I needed some fresh air, too…”
With Dahlia and Cassandra’s help, Missandra sat next to them, grimacing with each movement she had to make using her back. Cassandra helped her drink some fresh water, but surprisingly, she seemed fine.
“Ah… The fresh air feels so good.”
“Eat, child, you need to regain your strength,” said Kareen, putting one of the plates before Missandra. “How would you know if Phetra is pregnant or not?”
“I’m good at that. Back when I was in the Red District, I could tell who got pregnant after only a couple of weeks. All the girls came to me to get my abortion medicine, too, so I got used to finding out who was pregnant… That princess is definitely not pregnant.”
Kareen nodded, though she still looked doubtful.
Kairen and Shareen walked back to their side, too. Kairen, for once, let his Dragon keep his spot behind Cassandra, probably has to not scare Missandra. She was already looking uneasy with the Dragon’s head only a few steps away from her. Shareen, next to their mother, grabbed some wine and shook her head.
“I don’t like that. I wish we knew who that damn potion was for.”
“Can it be one of the other concubines?”
“Aside from you, I don’t see who it could be. Only that idiot Lephys has pregnant concubines that we know of, and he’s too dumb for our father to ever consider him as an heir. No, my guts are telling me it has to be for one of the Princesses.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen anyone wearing purple that was pregnant the other night,” said Missandra. “But I’m not a hundred percent accurate…”
“Not all the princesses were there anyway,” said Kareen. “A lot of them try to be forgotten so that no one will ask the Emperor to marry them. They’d rather remain single than be forced to leave the palace…”
“Will Phetra have to leave if she gets married?” Asked Cassandra.
“That’s the whole point. Once we get married, Imperial Princesses like me lose most of our status. We can still wear the Imperial Purple, but aside from throwing tantrums and making the idiot husband kneel, it’s not that
great. Father doesn’t care much about anything outside of the Palace. It’s less trouble for him if he has less whiny children to handle. Hence, most of the time, our sisters make sure to live their lives quietly. Or they work hard to help their brother get the throne…”
Cassandra suddenly understood why Shareen, despite being over thirty years old, was still single and living in the Palace. If she had been married away, it would have been one less ally for Kairen in the race to the golden throne. Indirectly, not marrying Shareen was a way to show his favoritism once again. Without Kairen born a few years after her, Shareen would probably have led a very different life…
Once again, Cassandra thought the Princesses were very unlucky. Their destiny was closely tied to having a brother or not, and that brother’s actions…
“How many sisters does Vrehan have?” Suddenly asked Cassandra, curious.
“Only three from the same mother… The oldest is already married. Phetra is the second sister, and they have a younger one.”
“Oh, what was her name again?” Asks Shareen, frowning. “We rarely see that child, I almost forgot about her.”
“Phemera,” replied Kareen. “She must be around Missandra’s age now. She rarely goes out though, I think Phetra and Vrehan keep her from attending any banquets…”
Cassandra frowned. It seemed strange they would hide their younger sister… Perhaps to protect her? Or to keep her from spilling their secrets?
“Could she be the pregnant one?”
Both Shareen and Kareen stared at her, confused.
“Phemera rarely goes out,” repeated Kareen. “This child is so fragile, I heard she has to keep the bed all day. She probably never even get a chance to see any man!”
Cassandra nodded. So, who then? Another concubine whose pregnancy could have been a threat to Vrehan…?
“I wish Phetra was the one pregnant,” sneered Shareen. “That would make an excuse for Father to repudiate that vermin…”
“He already said he will marry her off! What more do you expect! Also, don’t wish for a pregnant woman to be in that state. Even if she’s a snake, her child would have nothing to do with it. Watch your words, Shareen. No, actually, eat and shut it!”
After that, the princess sulked, and it appeared the topic was over. In the end, they still had no idea whom could the abortion potion have been destined for. Without any definite answer, the conversation would only keep going in circles. At least, they were sure of who had ordered it, but the culprit was now locked up in the Imperial Prison with several fractures and no reason to answer them… Cassandra felt like they were missing something, though. It was odd that Phetra would go out of her way to get that abortion potion. She hated not knowing who the victim should have been. It felt like another threat was hanging above her head with that unsolved question…
Thankfully, Cassandra soon could forget about that matter. As they were having a quiet dinner, Kareen had fun entertaining them with many rumors about the other concubines from back when she was in the Palace and the many stories she had witnessed. Between the feuds between concubines and her own adventures, she had enough stories to write a full book! To Cassandra’s surprise, she and Missandra had a lot of fun exchanging about their favorite tricks to piss off their rival concubines or prostitutes. The Imperial Concubine wasn’t afraid to talk about some very crude topics, and Cassandra was the one, several times, to blush and try to change the topic a bit, much to Shareen’s amusement.
Somehow, it also became obvious that Missandra had taken in the lesson about her attitude with the Imperial Family. Even if it was only the five of them, plus Dahlia chuckling on the side, Missandra was very careful with her words, and absolutely avoided showing any disrespect for the Imperial Family anymore. Cassandra thought it was
a topic they would have to discuss sooner or later, but at least, it seemed her younger sister had finally understood that her words, if pronounced at the wrong time and place, could have her killed…
It appeared that the Dragon Empire’s fever medicine wasn’t so bad, only late to take effect. Missandra started dozing off at the end of their dinner and had to be taken back to her bed, half-asleep, to finally finish her night properly. Cassandra stayed a while looking at her younger sister’s tired face, unsure.
Somehow, she wondered if Phetra was like her, trying to protect her younger sister from all of the Palace’s
schemes…
Sturdy arms appeared from behind to embrace her gently.
“You should go to sleep too.”
Cassandra nodded.
“If we skip the Celebrations, we might as well rest early,” she sighed.
Kairen gently guided her to their room. For that night, another bedroom had been prepared for them to sleep inside Kareen’s apartments. Somehow, Cassandra didn’t feel safe going back to their bedroom after what had happened in her garden.
As she laid alongside her Prince, tired, it still took her a long while to fall asleep. Her thoughts keep going in circles over all of the evenements of that day, the unsolved questions she still had, and the threat of Phetra and Vrehan’s vengeance. Somehow, she felt like Phetra’s punishment had triggered something much more worrisome…
Cassandra finally fell asleep as the fireworks started outside. The thumps of her Prince’s heart against her back echoed with the celebrations, finally soothing her to sleep…