The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 81

#81 The New War
“Your Highness! Your Highness!”
Cassandra frowned, waking up from all the ruckus. Next to her, Kairen was just sitting up too, with a pissed expression. What was going on for them to be woken up so early? She could hear several servants outside, desperate to get their attention.
She had a bad feeling about this. What could it be? They wouldn’t have dared to wake up the Prince in the middle of the night if it wasn’t urgent. Kairen left the bed, grabbing his sword as a reflex, and Cassandra took her night robe to cover herself up too, following him to the door.
As they opened it, a handful of imperial servants bowed.
“Our apologies for waking the Third Prince and his Lady Concubine at such an hour! His Highness the Emperor is requesting your presence immediately!”
“Cassandra too?”
The servants exchanged glances, apparently unsure of what to answer.
“Uh… His Highness the Emperor only asked for you and Her Highness Princess Shareen to come at once, your Highness.”
Shareen too? Kairen frowned and turned to her, as, next to him, Cassandra was starting to really worry. What could have happened for them both to be called by the Emperor? Did it have to do with Vrehan, or Phetra? Had something big happened during the night?
till
Kairen clicked his tongue and turned to Cassandra.
O Cassandra
“Go back to sleep,” he said. “I will be back soon.”
“No, it’s alright, I want to come with you.”
The Prince frowned, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“You need more sleep…”
“I won’t be getting any if I don’t know what’s going on. Instead of staying here and worrying, I would rather come along. Please.”
The War God frowned, but indeed, it would be unlikely that his concubine would peacefully go back to sleep after she had heard that. She was awake and looking very concerned already. Cassandra rarely fell back to sleep once she was up. He nodded.
“Fine.”
They both followed the imperial servants out. They had no more information about what was going on. Shareen met them right outside of her bedroom, in her nightgown as well, looking grumpy with her black hair all over the place.
“I can’t believe they dare to wake us up in the middle of the night,” she groaned.
Indeed, it was still a couple of hours before dawn, too early for anything else but an emergency of some sort. The siblings didn’t exchange another word and followed the imperial servants out.
It was a long walk to the Emperor’s chambers, but Cassandra was impressed by how busy the Palace already was. Everywhere they walked back, imperial servants were busy working, silently cleaning rooms and preparing for the day. Everything had to look perfect before the members of the Imperial Family got up…
Once they finally arrived, the Imperial Chamber was still in the dark, but lit by many candlelights. A few people were present. The Emperor, in a gold robe, with dark circles under his eyes, was walking in circles in front of his dragon. The man looked older than usual without his usual fancy outfits and jewelry. By his side, two older men in military suits were standing, along with a man in a minister’s official blue outfit, and some imperial servants.
“Ah, Kairen, Shareen! Finally!” Exclaimed the Emperor upon seeing the trio.
“What is it, Father?” Asked Kairen, while his sister yawned loudly next to him,
“Son, news just came from the border. We are under attack! I can’t believe those damn Republicans have the gut to throw an attack during the Celebrations…”
“The Eastern Republic?” Said Shareen. “I thought brother defeated them already! Where did they find the courage to launch a new attack!”
“I don’t know, I don’t care!” Sighed the Emperor. “But they are making a ruckus at our border, and I don’t like that. We just got the news, they attacked last night. Anyway, while the northern barbarian tribes are contained, Kairen..
“I shall defend the border,” said the War God.
“Yes, yes. I really don’t like this! Losing time over this! So annoying, so annoying!”
Cassandra’s heart tightened. The Eastern Republic’s attack made no sense now! That country was much weaker than the Dragon Empire… However, no one in the room seemed to doubt that this attack could be pushed back without trouble. The Emperor was more worried about his Celebrations being ruined, and for a while, that was all he vented about, while the siblings waited, arms crossed until one of the Generals reminded him about the more pressing topic.
“Oh, whatever! Kairen, you can go and lead the army to crush them! Crush them for good, I’m fed up with those idiots! If it wasn’t so much workload I would just conquer them and that would be the end of the Story! tsk!”
“Father, what about the northern tribes?” Asked Shareen. “Even if the barbarians are quiet at the moment, brother can’t just pull out his army like that.” 1
“You can go and replace him for now. Kairen, you can take the Imperial Army with you, and let Shareen handle the north. One or two Imperial factions should be enough anyway, just go with Krai and handle this quickly!” 2
Cassandra was speechless about how this matter was handled. The War God only had to take a Dragon, a portion of the Imperial Army and that was it? She had known about the strength of the Dragon Empire before, but now, the were talking about the fate of another country as if it was just a small matter to be handled overnight!
“…Let Shareen go to the East,” suddenly said Kairen.
His sister frowned, turning to him.
“Kairen, I’m not the War Goddess,” she said. “What are you…”
Then, Shareen’s eyes fell on Cassandra, and she understood. He didn’t want to take his concubine to another battlefield. Shareen rolled her eyes and slapped his arm.
“Are you an idiot? We will just leave her with Mother! She was supposed to go back to the Diamond Palace with mother soon anyway. You can just take Cassie back when you’re done with that stupid battle.”
“What? Who is going to the Diamond Palace?” Suddenly asked the Emperor.
“Mother wants to go back,” said Shareen, her hands on her hips.
The Emperor turned white.
“Why! The Celebrations are not even over yet! Why can’t that damn woman stay here for more than a few days!
She is so mean to me! She never lets me see her, she even ignores the Celebrations! How much more heartless can your mother be!” ?
While the Emperor kept rambling and complaining about Imperial Concubine Kareen, Shareen sighed and turned to her brother and Cassandra.
“Seriously, Kairen, don’t be an idiot. Cassie will be just fine with mother, and it’s only for a few weeks anyway.”
“A few weeks?’ Repeated Cassandra.
From what she had heard until now, it looked like the matter of the Eastern Republic attack would be solved rather quickly, but to think it would last a few weeks? She felt really unsure about being separated from her Prince for so long, a second time. It would be just like the first time, when he was locked up there in the Imperial Palace while she stayed back with Kareen…
Shareen sighed.
“It’s still about moving an army and pushing the enemy out of our territory, sweetie. The trip itself will take a few days to the East, and even if Brother has his Dragon, the Army will need to get there the old way.”
Kairen was still frowning. The Third Prince didn’t like this situation either. Cassandra was upset, though she did her best not to let it show too much. This was so sudden… She didn’t think they would have to separate so quickly!
The two of them exchanged a long glance. Cassandra’s heart was breaking, but she was well aware that this was his duty as a Prince… Eventually, she gathered her courage and nodded, gently taking his hand. Kairen put his arm around her and kissed her head before turning to the Emperor.
“Father, give me the command of the Imperial Army. I will leave at dawn.”
“Oh, yes, yes,” said the Emperor, interrupted in his rant. “Can someone here write this down? Oh, you there, perfect. As of today, yada yada yada, I hereby confer the power to lead the Imperial Army to my son, the Third Prince Kairen, War God of the Dragon Empire, and dala, dala… Just leave it, I’ll fill the blanks later for the paperwork. Copy this, I’ll make the official announcement later. Alright, son, it’s done.”
Kairen nodded and turned to Cassandra.
“I’ll take you and my mother back to the Diamond Palace before I leave,” he whispered.
“I understand.”
“Father, are we done here?” Asked Shareen, impatient.
The Emperor exchanged looks with the two generals, nodding.
“Yes, daughter of mine, but your mother…”
“Bye, Father!” 3
Before he could add anything, Kairen and Shareen promptly left, pulling Cassandra with them. She could still hear the Emperor’s frustrated yells several corridors away. She sighed.
“I feel a bit sorry of his Highness,” she whispered.
“Don’t be,” retorted Shareen. “Mother is doing this on purpose anyway. I’m pretty sure her two favorite hobbies are pissing our Father off and ignoring him.”
“How are you going to go to the north, Shareen?” Asked Cassandra. “Without a Dragon…”
“Brother and Krai will drop me off half-way. I can ride a horse from there. The northern border isn’t a problem at the moment anyway.”
For a moment, Cassandra wondered if she shouldn’t go to the Onyx Castle. However, she had already entered the second trimester of her pregnancy. In any case, she knew she would be safer by Kareen’s side, in the Diamond Palace. Moreover, she would be too lonely, waiting in the Onyx Castle without the Prince there… 3
The siblings and she walked back to the Imperial Concubine’s apartments. Kareen had been woken up by the earlier ruckus and was already waiting for them in her garden. Shareen quickly explained the situation, making the Imperial Concubine frown more and more as she went on.
“And that old man is sending you two? What about me! Doesn’t that old man have other children to send to the front! I am his only woman producing warriors!” 4
“Mother, stop it. You know Kairen and I are the best fighter. Sephir will just get killed, and Father doesn’t want to give Vrehan an opportunity to earn merit. Just let us go without a fuss, you know we love it anyway.”
“A fuss? How are you talking to your mother!”
“I will take you and Cassandra back to the Diamond Palace,” said Kairen.
The Imperial Concubine was still sulking and turned his anger to him. 4
“Of course, you agreed to it too! What, next? How long will I wait to see my children next time? And Cassandra? You better be back before your son is born, Kairen!”
Her son obediently nodded, putting his arms around Cassandra in a possessive stance. She chuckled, trying to be brave.
“It will be fine, Lady Kareen. I didn’t want to stay here any longer, anyway, so this is a good opportunity to leave without angering his Highness…”
“Speak for yourself,” says Shareen. “He was furious about Mother leaving…”
“Why would I stay here if my children are elsewhere!” Shout back the Imperial Concubine. “How dare that old man complain! Let’s just have breakfast and leave!”
Cassandra sighed, watching the Imperial Concubine angrily walk away, yelling for the breakfast to be served already.
“Will you be alright?” He whispered.
“Yes… I’m more worried about Missandra. I hope she can handle the journey…”
“She will be fine,” Shareen replied. “Your sister is probably stronger than she looks, she was already fine last night.”
Cassandra nodded. She was a bit dizzy from all the events in the last hour. They had plans to leave as soon as the Celebrations would be over anyway, but she didn’t think it would all happen in such a rush… Moreover, it meant she would have to say goodbye to Kairen again soon.
Shareen sighed and went to go and calm down their mother, who was already storming left and right, making preparations for their departure. Cassandra watched them argue and go back to another room, fighting over the ruckus.
Left alone with Kairen in the garden, she turned around in his arm to face him.
“When will you leave for real?” She asked.
“I will drop you and mother in the Diamond Palace, and stay until the Imperial Army catches up. Maybe a few days… A week at most.”
A week… They had a week left together. Cassandra nodded, but her throat was tight, and her heart was so heavy, she almost felt like crying.
“You won’t be in danger, will you?” She asked.
“No.”
She chuckled. He was so sure… Of course. The invincible War God of the Dragon Empire… Cassandra hugged him, feeling a bit vulnerable at that moment.
“Kairen… If it rains during this next week… Let’s have our Ceremony. Please.”
“We will.”