The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 99

#99 The Little Prince
The cries of the newborn echoed inside the cave’s walls.
“The little prince is born, your Highness!”
Cassandra was exhausted. She had no idea how long it had been, or how exhausted she truly was, but the cries of the baby were all she needed to hear. It took a few more minutes for them to clean the newborn and Cassandra to catch her breath, but then, she could finally relax, and she finally saw him.
The old lady put the baby in his mother’s arms. He was carefully wrapped in a blanket and had already stopped crying. Cassandra was amazed. Her son. Kairen’s newborn son… The baby she had carried for months, was finally in her arms. He was so small… Compared to his father, he was so tiny and fragile, just a defenseless newborn. His skin was still a bit pinkish, but she could tell he had a gold-colored skin, a perfect mix be Dragon Empire’s tan. He already had a little bit a hair, a dark patch on his tiny head. She couldn’t tell his eye color yet. It seemed dark, but her baby was barely opening his eyes, just squirming a little in his blanket.
Next to Cassandra, the baby dragon stood up, staring at the baby, and rubbed its head against Cassandra’s arm. Was he curious about his other half? Or maybe a bit jealous to not be in Cassandra’s arms? She couldn’t tell. The bond between those two was so unique…
“He is so tiny…” whispered Missandra next to her, staring at the baby in awe.
“He’s actually quite big for a newborn, Lady Missandra,” said Chantra with a smile. “Are you alright, your Highness?”
Cassandra nodded, but she was absolutely mesmerized by the sight of her son. She had never thought such a precious existence could even be in her life one day. She had somewhat dreamed of having children, and a loving husband one day, but nothing could compare to this feeling. It was her baby. This little, precious being she had created, with Kairen’s love and hers… She gently kissed the baby’s forehead, and he moved a bit, reacting to her touch. Cassandra smiled. She was glad he was finally born safely, the baby dragon as well. Despite the circumstances, it was all that mattered.
While the women were cleaning everything, Missandra stayed by her side, looking at her newborn nephew, amazed.
“He is really cute… Have you thought of a name already? For the baby dragon, too?”
Cassandra nodded.
“I discussed it a bit with Lady Kareen before… I wanted something that resembled his father’s name and mine, like the Dragon Empire tradition, and yet was inspired by our Rain tribe… His name is Kassian.”
“Oh… You’re writing it with their letters, then?”
“Yes. And this little one here…”
The baby dragon squealed when Cassandra caressed its head, growling softly as Krai would.
“This little Dragon is Kian.
Missandra chuckled.
“Kian? It’s rather cute… It suits him. Actually, it suits them both. Kassian and Kian.
Cassandra chuckled, caressing the baby dragon’s head. He was so similar to Krai’s build, but a bit thinner, and of magnificent silver color. His emerald eyes were like big jewels, too, making him cuter than the adult dragons. Cassandra was exhausted after giving birth, but she couldn’t forget about their current situation. They had been hidden in this cave for several hours.
The teenage boys had come back twice to give them information about the situation outside. As she had expected, the second Prince was absolutely furious. His men were raiding the Diamond City, looking everywhere for her, searching every house, and threatening people. As Chantra had promised, none of the villagers would tell them a thing about the young concubine hidden behind the waterfall. However, Cassandra knew it wouldn’t be that easy.
While the three women were busy cleaning their hands nearby and chatting about how to go back without being noticed, the two sisters exchanged a look.
“How did you manage to leave?” Asked Missandra. “You said you jumped from this crazy waterfall… Is Lady Kareen alright?”
“They caught me right after you left. Princess Phetra was there, too.”
“That crazy bitch! How is she even there!”
“Her Dragon blood must have healed her faster than we thought…”
“They didn’t hurt you, did they? How did you escape then?”
Cassandra took a deep breath.
“Missandra, I need to tell you something…”
The younger sister frowned.
“What is it?”
“When they caught me, Phetra tried to attack me. Dahlia got between her and me, and she… Missandra, Dahlia was killed.”
Her sister stayed speechless for a moment, completely shocked. Cassandra knew this was a huge toll for her. The two girls had bonded a lot in the next few days, and even Cassandra herself still couldn’t believe this had happened. Missandra’s lower lip trembled. 3
“W… what?”
“Missandra, I am so sorry… Phetra killed her while she tried to protect me.”
“Are you sure she’s…?
Cassandra nodded. There was no way Dahlia had survived. Cassandra even suspected the poor girl was already dead when she had fled the scene. Missandra took a deep breath in, shaking her head. Cassandra could tell she was trying hard not to break down. A few tears ran down her sister’s eyes, as Missandra nodded frenetically.
“I… I see.”
“Missandra, I’m sorry…”
“Why are you the one being sorry? Dahlia tried to protect you from those monsters, Hinue. Don’t be sorry when she died to protect you! You should be sorry those people aren’t paying a heavy price for that now! How… How did all of this even happen! Everything was fine just hours ago…”
Cassandra still couldn’t believe everything that had happened, either. It felt unreal. She couldn’t understand why she was a suspect in Prince Sephir’s death, or why would the Emperor send Vrehan to get her. The old Emperor definitely knew what was going on between the second and third Princes. Why would he send Vrehan of all people? Something didn’t felt right about all of this. 4
“For once I wish Lady Shareen or the Prince were here to slaughter them!” Growled Missandra. “Those horrible siblings deserve worse than death, even the god of death ripping their limbs apart would not even be enough!”
Cassandra wished Kairen or his sister were there, too. She missed her Prince more than ever. Moreover, his baby
was brought to this world, and they were already in so much danger… Had Krai felt his egg hatching? Was the Black Dragon on his way back already? The latest news they got from Lady Kareen was not too bad. Her medical kits helped the war efforts a lot, but there was no clue about the War God being able to leave the front… Kairen was probably fighting at the very frontline, not the kind of place one could walk away from just like that. Cassandra didn’t even know if any letter got to him. Probably some general was collecting them halfway, but there was no way to call him there now. If he wasn’t there already, when the baby had hatched already, it meant he was not aware of the double birth, or not in a position to leave.
Either way, the young concubine had to accept the fact that she would have to survive without her Prince’s protection for now.
“Where do go, now?” Sighed Missandra. “We can’t go back to the Diamond Palace or the Diamond City, this horrible prince is already everywhere looking for you, and that horrible dragon of his too. Shall we go to the Onyx Castle you had mentioned? You should be safe there, no? We can try to hide while we travel to the north…”
“No,” replied her older sister, shaking her head. “This will be the first place Vrehan will look for me at. He will definitely send men to all the routes to the North, thinking I’ll be seeking Shareen’s help.”
“But Lady Shareen will know of the situation by now, won’t she? If we just waited a bit longer…”
“Lady Kareen said Shareen would be coming in a few days, but we can’t wait that long. The longer we stay here, the more we put those people in danger. Even if those people are very nice, there is no guarantee one of them won’t give up and talk about this waterfall. Plus, they will need to do many travels from here to the City to bring us necessities. What if Vrehan or his Dragon find us before Lady Shareen arrives? We can’t stay hidden here, and we cannot do nothing either. Plus, I’m worried Lady Shareen might not be able to stop Vrehan and Phetra even if she comes here, either, he’s a Prince…”
“What then?”
Missandra was really worried. She understood Cassandra’s reasoning, but how far could they go, with a newborn baby and her sister who had just given birth? Moreover, a baby dragon wasn’t small enough to be hidden so easily!
“We can’t stay here. I escaped the Palace from this very waterfall. We are so close, if they think about checking nearby they might find us just like that. Even in Diamond City, they will keep looking through every house to find me. They know Lady Kareen’s people would help me. No, I think we should head to the Capital.”
“The Capital? Are you crazy! Vrehan already controls everything there!”
“That’s exactly why. First, he won’t expect us to go there. Secondly, we both have friends who can help us once we reach the capital. Also, my priority, for now, is to see if the Emperor is fine, and what happened there. I don’t believe the Emperor sent Vrehan to catch me, I think there’s something going on. Don’t you think it is strange that Princess Phetra is there too?”
“Now that you mention it… Wasn’t that crazy bitch supposed to be imprisoned or married?”
“Exactly. Something doesn’t feel right about all this. I don’t understand why would the Emperor even allow them to be here, and I’m worried something happened in the Capital. I need to check if the Emperor is okay, and also, he’s the only one other than Kairen who can stop Vrehan!”
“But… Lady Shareen, maybe with Prince Anour…”
“We don’t know if Anour will come with her, Missandra, and even if he does, I doubt he can stop Vrehan. He’s twice younger, and certainly not as cunning as Vrehan. Even Lady Kareen wasn’t able to oppose him! Moreover, I really have a bad feeling about everything going on. We can’t risk staying here, we don’t know exactly when Lady Shareen will be here, if she will be able to stop them from capturing me, and they can find us any minute.”
Missandra kept shaking her head, thinking this was a terrible idea. It felt like going straight into the snake’s nest instead of running away! However, Cassandra had never looked so determined. Maybe it was because she had just become a mother, with a baby to protect, or because she was pushed to her last resort, but her older sister looked
stronger than ever before.
“Listen, Missandra. We need to get out of this territory unnoticed. You and I both know how to survive in the wild, and with a young dragon with us, we won’t have to worry about predators.”
“You’re saying we should travel off-road?”
*Exactly. There are mostly forests from here to the Capital, and it’s a less than a week’s journey if we walk fast this way. Prince Vrehan won’t think two women and a baby will make it without traveling through the usual routes, he will have every road checked. As long as we can get far enough from Diamond City, he won’t know how we got away, and we will be able to rest in smaller cities and villages.”
Missandra nodded, understanding Cassandra’s plan. The two of them kept talking for a while, thinking of how to secure their escape and go unnoticed. They agreed to sell everything they could, all of Cassandra jewelry she had left with, and to find normal clothes, comfortable for them to travel in.
Chantra and her daughter and niece had listened to everything and stepped in.
“Are you sure you will be alright, your Highness? I wish there was something more we could do for you…”
“Actually, you can,” said Missandra, determined.
She grabbed one of the hairpins from Cassandra’s hair and gave it to them.
* Take this and sell it to the furthest shop you have in the north. This is very valuable and something the soldiers will notice right away. Also…”
She took out her knife and, without warning, suddenly cut off her long hair, leaving only a very short bob cut. Cassandra was speechless, but just like her, Missandra was determined. She watched the big strand in her hand, still tied in a braid, and nodded before giving it to the woman.
“This is almost the same color as my sister’s, they won’t make the difference. Disperse this in the north, in the river or the forest, anywhere as long as they end up finding it and think we went there.”
“Missandra…”
“It’s just hair,” she said, turning to her sister. “I don’t care at all. I get your point, Cassandra; but this time, it’s my turn to protect you, okay? If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s tricking people. I promise I’ll get us out of here.”