The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 95

#95 The little Runt
Cassandra realized something was wrong a few days later, when, at dinner time, Lady Kareen barely ate anything, and looked extremely preoccupied. When she asked about it, the Imperial Concubine sighed.
“I don’t like this. I haven’t heard from the spy I sent to the Capital yet. He was supposed to be back last night, and he is never late. I sent another one to investigate, but I’m afraid Vrehan took this opportunity to purge his surroundings. I haven’t received any non-official news from the Imperial Palace in a while and I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all…”
Missandra and Cassandra exchanged glances, worried. For Kareen to be this upset was not reassuring at all. What if something wrong had happened in the Imperial Palace? No matter how she thought about it, Cassandra knew the worst that could probably happen was the Emperor’s death. If the Dragon Emperor passed without having named any official heir yet, the eldest son would have to take over until the ministers elected the right heir. However, no one was blind. With Prince Sephir dead, Vrehan was the next in line, and while Kairen was away, he would definitely secure his position on the Golden Throne before his younger brothers could react. Cassandra was terrified just to think about this possibility.
“Don’t worry,” said Lady Kareen. “I will go by myself if necessary, but I won’t stay still! I already sent news of this to Shareen and Anour, just in case. Kairen his stuck on the battlefront at the moment, but even so, Vrehan won’t be stupid enough to try and act if Shareen is around.”
“Aren’t you afraid he’ll try to harm her?”
“He can try! My daughter is not that weak that she would submit under this snake!”
Cassandra sighed. She didn’t believe Vrehan would have acted if he wasn’t sure of himself… What was the point of killing Sephir now? Was it because Kairen was away? This felt terribly wrong. Things were not at the best state right now, and even in the Diamond Palace, they weren’t fully safe. Cassandra put a hand on her belly. She really didn’t need any additional stress right now… She took a deep breath. Anyway, the second Prince wouldn’t be able to do much as long as the Emperor was alive and well. Prince Sephir’s death was truly too sad, but for now, they had yet to confirm the causes. Perhaps they would hear it was a natural cause soon, and Kareen’s spy would return with a good excuse.
Despite Kareen doing her best to act normally and not show how uneasy she was, Cassandra knew this was only to keep them from worrying too much. For Lady Kareen to be worried meant something really felt wrong, and Cassandra felt it too. She tried to convince herself that, at the moment, there was nothing more she could do as she walked to the little garden where, as always, the dragon egg was steadily growing.
Her project with the medical boxes was going well, too, so Cassandra could just oversee it and let Missandra take care of managing the flow of supplies sent, their people, and the stocks coming in and out. There really wasn’t much to do for her, aside from taking it easy for the last weeks of her pregnancy and taking care of her plants. Thankfully, the baby was doing well. Kareen had hired a midwife from the City to take care of Cassandra and be ready for when the day would come, but once again, the young concubine didn’t like all the extra attention. She could feel her son, very well alive and kicking. It was probably what rejoiced her the most in those days. Feeling her baby move. Every time he did, Cassandra took a minute to caress her belly. Sometimes, she would even talk to him, so much that even Kareen, Missandra, and Dahlia had started talking about the baby as if he was here too.
Shareen’s answer arrived a few days letter, around dinner. A servant brought it to Kareen, who put her cup down and opened it right away, reading the content quickly.
“Apparently, Shareen is busy in the North too… The barbarians heard of the Eastern Empire attacking and thought this would be an opportunity for them. Hpmf! Anyway, Shareen says she will have settled this soon and will arrive here in ten days… Oh, that letter is from four days ago, so less than a week now. Fine!”
Cassandra felt a bit better while hearing this. Even if it wasn’t Kairen, Shareen’s presence would definitely make her feel a bit more secure. These days, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
However, now, it would only be a matter of waiting a few days, and…
“My lady!”
One of Kareen’s servants rushed into the garden, out of breath. He almost fell on his knees at her feet, sweating and looking panicked.
“What is it?” Asked Kareen, unhappy.
“The… The… His Highness the Second Prince just arrived into the Diamond Palace! He is here to arrest the Lady of the Mountain.”
Next to Cassandra, Missandra jumped on her feet like a cat, all her senses alert. All the servants around, too, exchanged glances, and a couple of them ran inside to go and check.
“What is this nonsense!” Roared Kareen, slamming her cup on the table and getting up too.
“Th… They say she is an accomplice in the First Prince’s murder! l… I don’t have the details yet, but madam, the Second Prince will really be here any second!”
“Cassandra, let’s go,” said Missandra, grabbing her sister’s hand.
“But…”
“No, the young one is right, dear,” said Kareen, gently pushing her towards the end of the garden. “Follow me!”
While the servants hurried to take the remains of their dinner out of sight, Kareen led the two girls further into the garden, rushing between the trees towards one side. They were almost running. Cassandra’s heart was thumping like crazy. Why would she be arrested for! An accomplice to Prince Sephir’s murder? What had happened at the Palace for this to happen!
The Imperial Concubine suddenly stopped in front of one of the walls surrounding the garden they were in and pushed some of the ivy covering it like a large curtain. To their surprise, it revealed a long and wide crack in the stonewall. It was tight, but definitely an entrance wide enough for them to sneak into. Missandra and Cassandra exchanged a glance, shocked. They had walked by that wall a thousand times but had never noticed this secret opening! Kareen pushed Missandra in, and they helped Cassandra get inside right behind her.
“Stay hidden here for now,” whispered the Imperial Concubine. “This is a secret passage only a handful of my servants know off. If things go wrong, start leaving this way immediately! This will lead to a secret room, I had everything prepared for you there, just in case. This place leads to the back garden. You can…”
Before she could finish that sentence, a ruckus was heard behind her, and Kareen left quickly to see what was going on, while the two sisters retreated a bit, Missandra grabbed her older sister’s shaking hand. For a few seconds, everything was silent in the Palace. Then, soldiers barged in the garden, surrounding the Imperial Concubine. Cassandra retreated a bit as she could hear men stepping close to their hideout, but she could barely see what was going on behind the thick curtain of ivy. However, the two of them were able to hear very well when Kareen started yelling furiously.
“What is this! How dare you barge into my Palace!”
“Good evening, Imperial Concubine,” replied a cold voice.
Cassandra shivered and retreated another step. That was definitively Vrehan’s voice. Next to her, Missandra was livid, her hand covering her mouth. Everything was so calm just a few minutes ago, but now they were kept hidden while the Second Prince had taken control of the Palace!
“We are looking for a criminal, and I have the Emperor’s permission to do anything in my power to bring her to the Imperial Palace… Safe and unharmed.”
From his voice, Cassandra wouldn’t even have trusted him for a second. How could the Emperor trust Vrehan with that task! She knew that, despite the Emperor’s best intentions, Vrehan would have no second thought in killing
her, and the baby she was carrying, the first opportunity he’d get, and the witnesses with her. She could easily imagine him reporting some unfortunate incident to the Emperor. There was no way Cassandra would ever give that man any chance to even touch her, no way.
“What does it have to do with me? This is my Diamond Palace! How dare you come and chase some criminal here! On what grounds!
Cassandra realized Lady Kareen was trying to play dumb on purpose, to get more information about what was really going on. It may win them some time, too. Behind her, Missandra was gently pulling on her hand, trying to bring Cassandra away from the opening, but she wanted to listen to what was going on.
“The said criminal is no other than Kairen’s favorite, Imperial Concubine. I know she is here. Your son wouldn’t entrust his woman to anyone else!”
“Oh? And what did she do for you to arrest her?”
“She is suspected of taking part in the First Prince’s tragic death. One of his concubines poisoned him with some poison that slave gave her!”
Cassandra was astonished. The recipes she gave the concubines? Is that what Vrehan was chasing her for! Even if one of the concubines had meddled with the content of the teas, she had nothing to do with it! This was obviously his scheme to capture her! Did he poison Sephir’s drink himself? What had happened to his concubines? Were they to be interrogated, too?
“How ridiculous! What would Cassandra poison Prince Sephir for!”
“Well, anyone can be greedy at some point. Who knows what a woman…”
“How dare you speak about greed! If anyone has that kind of dirt in her mind, it’s anyone but my son or his concubine! You, of all people, are the last one to accuse others of that!”
“What your words, Kareen! I am not…”
“It’s Imperial Concubine Kareen for you, little runt! Or do you think you can insult The Imperial Dragon’s favorite to her face? Huh?”
A tense silence reigned after her words, but Cassandra could feel Vrehan’s anger from here. Lady Kaireen’s nerves were really made of steel, to confront him like that… Cassandra was fearing for her, but she was well aware the Imperial Concubine would never submit to Vrehan, or do anything other than protecting her children.
“Enough, bring that woman here!” Yelled Vrehan.
“Have you heard anything about a pregnant woman being here, Vrehan? Did you question the people? Investigate? She isn’t here, Kairen took her to the Onyx Castle!”
Cassandra could barely breathe. What it Vrehan’s soldiers really interrogated the people of Diamond City? Would they say the Lady of the Mountain was indeed here? Or had they tried already? She knew the local folks liked her very much, but would they lie to an Imperial Prince?
“You’re lying!” Suddenly yelled a feminine voice. “I already know you wanted that slut to stay with you until she . gave birth, their Dragon egg is here!”
Cassandra’s heart dropped. Phetra was there too? How come that woman was already able to travel! Moreover, the Dragon Egg! They could never leave this Palace with it if they had to flee this place!
“Do you see a concubine here other than me? How dare you bother this old woman without any proof!”
“I will have my proof once I find this damn woman! I know you’re hiding her here, in this Palace!”
“Oh? Fine, you can look then. The sooner you find yourself empty-handed, the sooner you leave me alone, you arrogant little boy!”
As soon as the soldiers started running and searching through the whole Diamond Palace, Missandra pulled Cassandra’s hand towards the rear of that secret conduct. Even for their small frames, it was hard to go through the whole passage. Moreover, they had to be as silent as possible to not be noticed by the men searching for them. Cassandra had never been so scared before, but it became even worse when they heard a Dragon’s screech. Both sisters froze, realizing the situation was even worse than what they had thought.
Missandra gasped, and turned to her.
“That wasn’t the black one…” she whispered.
“No,” whispered Cassandra, shaking her head. “That was… Vrehan’s dragon.”
The two girls were absolutely mortified. That crazy red dragon was looking for them.