The War God’s Favorite

The Pig Governor
Cassandra was still thinking about the farming problem that night as she cooked with Patrina and Nebora. The food they were slicing and mashing wasn’t so bad, but it wasn’t particularly fresh either. With no proper farmers around to tend the land and provide food, no wonder the whole area was deserted.
“What about trading then?”
“You’re thinking about that again?” sighed Nebora. “Trading is what we do. Usually we can only buy at the nearest village, but it’s two hours from here using the horses.”
“Is the village big? Could we go there?”
“Certainly not now!” said Patrina, frowning. “Just focus on your task and stop chatting so much!”
Having said that, she left the kitchen to go to the storage room. As soon as she was gone, Nebora moved closer to Cassandra and whispered.
“She’s not wrong, you know. You may not know this because you came from the Capital, but this area is terribly unsafe at night. As soon as the sun sets, a lot of dangerous beasts start to roam around. You would get killed and eaten in minutes.”
Cassandra had no idea. Indeed, the Capital was a large and highly guarded City, as most of the Empire’s officials were located there. Only the Governors had residences on their designated territories, though some high-ranked nobles had built secondary residences outside of the Capital walls. She also knew of a few other big cities that existed and were doing quite well on their own, but from the day she had been sold to her first master, she had never taken a step out of the Capital.
“I’m also not sure when His Highness will come back, but if I were you, I would stay close to the castle.”
Cassandra couldn’t help but blush a bit when she heard those words. She wondered when he would be back too.
Krai also hadn’t come back. Wherever the Black Dragon had gone, it must have been pretty far, because it was nowhere to be seen; not even from the Prince’s tower. The two women kept chatting until Patrina came back with a grumpy look on her face. I
“We have to make an extra portion.”
Nebora frowned.
“What? That pig is eating here again?”
Patrina just nodded, and went outside again to call Prunie and Marian. Cassandra finished cutting her vegetables and turned to Nebora.
“Who are we talking about?”
Nebora rolled her eyes.
“The Governor, Grovah. The man is a fucking pig. He acts as he pleases here, and if His Highness is gone, he likes to order us around. He has his own manor but this is where he spends most of his time. He even took a room here!”
“Why does he stick around?”
“Because he is so full of himself and likes the Castle better. And because he gets to act like a fucking pervert with the servants here, too. I heard he touched all of his servant girls back at his manor, despite having a wife and five concubines!” 2
Cassandra almost dropped the pot she was carrying.
“What? Even here?”
She thought of the young girls like Bina and Prunie, who were only fourteen and fifteen years old. Sadly, it was not uncommon for officials to abuse their powers and have their “fun” with the servants, but this was the Prince’s Palace!
“Don’t worry, he wouldn’t dare touch you. You belong to His Highness, and the dirtbag is way too scared of him.” 1
Cassandra was certainly not satisfied by that. She wasn’t thinking about herself. She worried for the servant girls here, being subjected to that kind of treatment.

“Does this happen often?”
“Don’t think too much about it, Cassie. He just messes around with us when we bring him his food, or when he sees us in the corridors, that’s all.”
“Are you talking about the pig?”
Marian, Prunie, and Bina had all just entered the kitchen to help, with their hands full. Cassandra and Nebora immediately stood up to go and help them. Marian frowned.
“That man is such a pig! He is so fat and ugly, and…”
“That’s not the point here, Marian,” sighed Nebora.
“I hate him,” murmured Prunie. “He always tries to touch my butt…
“He does that with me too,” added Bina. “He’s really horrible. He always talks about how he has sex with his servants when I’m in the room giving him his food, and he says I’m wearing too many clothes for a girl.”
Cassandra felt so utterly disgusted hearing all this, she suddenly slammed the pot on the table, making everyone jump.
“I will do it.”
“Do what?”
“Bring him his food.”
Nebora looked at her as if she was stupid.
“Cassandra, no. He may be a pervert, but the man is a Governor, and you’re a slave. If you do anything he doesn’t like, he can have you imprisoned, and His Highness is not even here to protect you!”
“He cannot rape or kill me, Nebora. No matter what, I don’t have as many risks as you, and honestly, I don’t really care about being imprisoned. Regardless, I’m not letting any of you approach him.”
“Cassie…” muttered Bina, worried.
“What if he tortures you?” sighed Nebora. “If he gets reckless and His Highness is not here…”
Cassandra shook her head.
“He won’t. Don’t worry about me. Now, let’s just cook as usual.”
The girls listened to her, but they still tried to talk her out of it. Even if they seemed scared, Bina and Prunie said they could take it themselves, but Cassandra refused. When the tray was ready, she asked where she was supposed to go, and headed to the Governor’s self-designated chambers.
A man’s voice ordered her to enter. Cassandra noticed the room was probably the most furnished and richly decorated in the whole Castle. It really was as if the Governor owned the place, except that this was only the third
floor. A big dog suddenly barked at her, and Cassandra stood to the side. Thankfully, the dog was chained and couldn’t reach her. It just kept growling and barking, loudly.
“Who are you? Where are the usual girls?!” the man suddenly yelled.
Cassandra frowned. He wasn’t even properly dressed, wearing only some sort of bathrobe that looked ridiculously tight on him. It was the man whom she had seen run after the Prince upon her arrival at the Castle. He was short, fat, and even a bit bald. As she came closer, Cassandra couldn’t help but be repulsed by him and his greasy skin. She dropped the tray on the table, a bit loudly.
“The girls are eating, Sir. Here is your meal.”
“I want the little one to bring it! With the soft skin.”
“She is eating, and your meal is already here.”
He pointed a finger at Cassandra, his eyes gleaming with anger.
“You insolent little whore! You think you can talk back to me? You may be His Highness’ favorite, but you’re still just a slave! Just wait until I whip the hell out of you!”
The Governor got up and seized a whip that was on his bedside table and quickly walked up to her.
“Go ahead.”
He suddenly stopped, surprised by Cassandra’s calm tone. His fingers were trembling on the whip. He had never seen a slave unafraid to talk back to him, let alone stand tall and look directly at him like this woman was!
“W… What did you say?”
“I said go ahead. You can whip me.”
The Governor was utterly confused. The woman had way too much confidence! What was she hiding? Was she waiting for him to whip her so she could complain to the Prince? With the wounds as proof? He stared at her for a while, hesitating. Cassandra wasn’t moving at all, or betraying any fear. After a long pause, the Governor lowered his hand with the whip.
“You arrogant whore… You think you are higher than me? You’ll see! Guards!”
Immediately, two of the Palace guards, whom Cassandra had not interacted with yet, ran into the chambers.
“Take her to the dungeon! Have this wench stay there for three days and three nights! You’ll see what it costs to be arrogant to a Lord like me! His Highness will understand!”
And just like that, Cassandra was taken away to the Castle’s dungeon, showing no resistance.
The guards brought her underground to the cells, all aligned down a long hall, and put her in the farthest one. It only had a bed made of straw and a very small window at the very top of the wall that allowed in a very small amount of natural light. The guards weren’t rude, but they also didn’t say a single word to her. Instead, they just left.
Cassandra sighed. She had been in worse situations, but still… Her own stubbornness had landed her in the dungeons. She checked her cell for any rats or stagnant water, and arranged the straw to sit on. She sighed again. No doubt the Prince would be mad about this upon his return.
“Cassie!”
She had only started dozing off when she heard Nebora. She raised her head, and saw her new friend standing on the other side of the bars as she walked up to her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I should be the one asking you that, you stubborn woman! I told you this would happen! Don’t you have any instinct of self-preservation? You would be dead if you weren’t His Highness’ concubine!”
“Did he do anything else after he put me in here?”
Nebora sighed deeply.