The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 89

#89 The Water God’s Love
Cassandra had always a gorgeous young woman, a flower that bloomed in adversity, but that day, for the first time, she was able to shine in all of her glory. The War God, behind his impassible facade, was properly stunned. In terms of natural beauty, Cassandra was indisputably beautiful. All the jewels and attires of the concubines of the Imperial palace couldn’t beat such a natural beauty.
Though they were of different shades, the deep green of her dress was complimenting her eyes perfectly. Her brown hair, too, was falling in natural curls on her shoulders and down on her back and belly, with that crown they had bought together on top. Several of the servants whispered about her looks, but the rain covered any sound, and, anyway, the War God wouldn’t have been able to hear. All of his senses had gone numb, as he could only focus on the holy vision in front of his eyes. (2
Cassandra gracefully walked up to him, like a nymph, a gentle smile on. He could barely recognize the woman he held in his arms every night. There was something unspeakably different about her, as if she was from another world, another realm. She took his hand.
“Kairen? Are you alright?”
“…You’re beautiful,” he whispered, as if saying that truth would deliver him from this trance.
Cassandra blushed, as always, feeling a bit proud. She hadn’t thought she would be able to cause such emotion in her usually undecipherable War God. The rain was falling around them, but they didn’t care. It was just as if the two of them had been alone. The green clothes were slowly getting wet, but they were still very pretty to observe.
Missandra walked up to them.
“Since I’m the only aside Hinue who knows about the Ceremony, I’ll tell you two what to do… Dahlia, bring the thread please!”
While Missandra took the silver thread and started gently wrapping it around both of their wrists, in a complex ensemble of knots, Kairen’s eyes were on Cassandra’s skin. The shimmering from earlier was actually that strange ink that she had used to paint herself with. From the look of it, those weren’t simply lines and strange shapes, but this was obviously some foreign language he couldn’t decipher at all. He frowned.
“What do those say?”
Cassandra blushed a bit, looking down, and her younger sister was the one to answer.
“The partners can paint whatever they want on their bodies as a sign of affection. Hinue put your name and titles with the symbols of protection, health, and strength.”
Kairen was surprised. He kept looking at all those strange scriptures on her skin, unable to decipher what was which.
“Do it on me too.”
“What?”
“With that ink. I want to write her name.”
Missandra sighed.
“But I’m almost done with the silk thread! Hinue, you didn’t tell him earlier about the borean ink?”
“Just bring it to me, please,” said Cassandra, with an apologetic look.
While Missandra pouted and kept doing her knots, Dahlia ran over, with an umbrella in hand, and the little bowl of ink and a brush in the other. There wasn’t much left of what Missandra had prepared, as Cassandra had painted a lot on herself already. She took the brush with her available hand and pushed the cloak a bit to access his torso.
“What do you want me to write?” She whispered to him.
“Your name.”
“Are you sure? Just my name?”
“Yes.”
Cassandra chuckled, and proceeded to do as asked. It was so like him. No prayers, just her name. She knew Kairen wasn’t a man to believe in prayers, or divine will. He only trusted himself and the people he cared about. She wrote her name on his skin, as many times as she could before running out of ink. The ink Missandra had made wasn’t as good as the real borean ink, and was already starting to drip a bit because of all the rain, but this was good enough. The silver ink shined strangely on the War God’s torso and arms. Maybe because of his natural musculature, they looked more like tribal fighting signs than his Favorite’s name…
“Alright, I’m done!” Said Missandra, looking satisfied. (4)
Dahlia swiftly walked away, going under the little porch to shelter herself from the rain, close to Shareen and Kareen. Mother and Daughter were standing side by side and watching attentively the Ceremony, not saying a word. They were aware that, although there wasn’t anything official about this, this ceremony was sacred to Cassandra’s people. As they knew nothing about this foreign custom, they were silently watching, curious.
Cassandra and Kairen’s wrists were now tied together by that silk thread. The gentle fabric wasn’t any painful on their skin, but their wrists couldn’t move, being tied so tightly together with those complex knots. Cassandra looked at her left wrist and Kairen’s right wrist, with a smile. She had never thought she would get to make that ceremony ever, let alone with a Prince, and a man she loved… Kairen chuckled. 8
“Are you so happy?” He said.
“Yes… I feel a bit like it’s a dream.”
“Sorry, we can only do this for now…”
“No, it’s plenty,” Cassandra whispered, her cheeks blooming with pink.
“Alright, if you two are done being so mushy,” said Missandra. “I’ll start… How, should I translate into our tongue or theirs?”
“Just do it in our tongue and I’ll translate in the Dragon Empire’s tongue, Missandra.”
“Understood. Then…”
Missandra took a deep breath, and took a couple of steps back, opening her hands, palms towards the sky, and closed her eyes. She started speaking, and Cassandra repeated in words everyone else could understand, both sisters talking at the exact same rhythm, one echoing the other.
“Today is the day of Rain, the Sacred Day. As the Sky God is showering the Earth Goddess with love, their children are born with the rain. We are children of the rain, children of sacred love. O, God of Water, let your rain pour and hear your children today, for they carry their faith, love, and joy in their heart too. O, God of Water, son of the Sky and Earth, If love as your eyes, let them see. If love as your tongue, let it speak. If you can hear us, hear your children’s pledge of love today, as we share it with you.”
Cassandra was talking softly while staring at Kairen, their eyes not leaving each other’s a single second.
“O God of Water, our ancestors taught us Love. Help us teach our children too. We’ll share that love to all of your children, from all rivers they come, from all seas they come. Let us speak of love, and let our hearts beat together. Let your love flow in our veins and words, for you showed us how to love with your rain. Gather your children together under the rain, gather us, and remind us how to love if we forget. Teach us to be patient, kind, sincere, and truthful. Teach us Love, teach us how to cry and pray. Fill our lives with love, water, and grace. O God of Water, your children are thankful today, as with love you teach us the way again.” (
On the side, Kareen shed a little tear, impressed. Even the servants were all feeling sensible to the words of Cassandra, and the prayer that echoed in the walls despite the rain. Both sisters took a little pause, breathing deeply before reciting again. 2
“O God of Water, your children will remember. We will remember your love is patient, kind, sincere, and truthful. We shall not give in to anger, and we shall not give in to evil. We shall not lie, and we shall not betray. Your children promise to remember, each day the rain falls, how love is patient, kind, sincere, and truthful. O God of Water, your love has no beginning and no end. Your love is blind and deaf. Your love is infinite.”
Missandra’s voice suddenly broke into tears. Something in her memories kept her from going on. She kept hanging her hands in front of her, but she was crying, unable to continue. Cassandra understood why it hurt so much for her sister. She took a deep breath, and continued alone, while Kareen walked over to gently hug Missandra’s shoulders.
“O God of Water, your children of the rain shall not lie, and they shall not hurt. I will be blind and deaf if I can’t see or hear love. O God of Water, your children gather today, in harmony, to love again. O God of Water, hear our prayer. Your children will give up their wealth, their bodies, and their mind for love.”
Cassandra took a deep breath and gestured for Kairen to take one of the ends of the silk thread, while she took the other,
“Rain has come to us blind and deaf. Rain will witness our love today. I give my wealth, my body, and my mind for this love of mine.” 3
She mimicked with her lips for Kairen to repeat her words.
“I give my wealth, my body, and my mind for this love of mine.”
“I will love eternally, in the eyes of my beloved, and in the eyes of the Water God.”
“I will love eternally,” repeated Kairen. “In the eyes of my beloved, and in the eyes of the Water God.”
“I swear to keep my love patient, kind, sincere, and truthful until I die. I swear to honor the Water God in every way until I return into his arms, side by side with my beloved.”
Once again, the War God repeated without flinching.
“O God of Water, Love is infinite. Love is mine. You are mine.”
“… Love is infinite. Love is mine… Almien.”
Cassandra was surprised to hear Kairen had translated by himself the last word. She was shocked and incredibly overwhelmed. 1
They stayed silent for a little while, staring deeply into each other’s eyes. There was no sound around but the rain, falling quietly around them, the downpour slowly turning into a gentle rain. Cassandra smiled and took his other hand, linking her fingers with his. Then, she stepped forward, and they exchanged a long, deep kiss.
Their kiss had a fresh taste of rain, and eternity. Despite the cold around them, Cassandra’s heart had never felt warmer than at this moment. They exchanged that kiss in a religious atmosphere as if they were sealing their promise. When they gently stepped back, a drop rolled on her cheek, but no one would have been able if it was a tear or the rain. Cassandra was smiling, and it didn’t matter much.
Then, they both pulled on the silk thread at the same time, and, to their surprise, it separated perfectly, leaving two little bracelets wrapped around their wrists. The people watching were confused. How did that long thread separated into two so easily, and in such perfect knots, too?
“We’re done for today,” whispered Cassandra.
“Done? Already?” Repeated Shareen, surprised.
The young concubine walked over to her sister, hugging Missandra in her arms to try and calm her down. They went to shelter themselves under the roofed part of the room, where the servants rushed to bring them thick towels.
“Yes. Both partners usually keep this thread around their wrists until the next rain, and it is done…’
“I was expecting something much bigger! Do you have any idea what hassle the wedding ceremonies are here? Let alone the ones in the Imperial family!”
“The Rain Tribe isn’t the… showy type. As long as the God of Water has been able to witness it, any kind of ceremony is holy and perfectly valid. We don’t need grand ceremonies, decorations or a lot of people. As long as both parties were sincere, we are now acknowledged as lifetime partners. It’s all that matters.”
“It was a beautiful ceremony, Cassandra,” said Kareen, glaring at her daughter for her to shut up. Your tribe has a beautiful tradition. I prefer it the ones here, we are all about the grand celebrations and showing off, this feels much more intimate and sincere. That prayer was beautiful…
Missandra was still weeping silently. Cassandra kept hugging her and caressing her hair until she would calm down. This may have been a bit too much for her… It brought back painful memories of a time where their friends and family were alive, and they were both living very differently. Missandra had lied, stolen and hurt other people, and hearing the whole prayer again made her feel ashamed and disgusted at herself.