The War God’s Favorite
Chapter 24
The Prince’s Arms
As if it was too impossible to think, the men present didn’t even dare to comment on Cassandra’s suggestion. How would a mere concubine borrow a Prince’s dragon anyway? Wasn’t she just a delusional woman? They all decided to just ignore it. That slave was already weird enough to willingly take care of all those sick or injured soldiers, so why wouldn’t she think she could actually use the Prince’s dragon. Maybe the Commander-in-Chief just had a thing for crazy ones.
“Evin, could you tell me where I can find those accountants? I want to speak to them, and see if we can get some necessities.”
“I don’t think that is a good idea, Madam. It is quite late already. His Highness might be looking for you.”
Cassandra suddenly realized she had spent a considerable amount of time there. The Red Room didn’t have any windows, and was only lit up by candlelight, so there was no way to even know if it was day or night outside. She had been so caught up in her task and notes, she had completely lost track of time.
“I’ll…I’ll go back. Is it very late?” she asked, a bit worried.
The Prince didn’t even know where she was! There was no way he would look for her all the way here, was there? She had to go back soon, or he might really be mad this time.
“We’re a couple hours away from dinner, Madam.”
Cassandra felt guilty. She still had some time, but she should definitely head back. She nodded and turned to the men, who assured her they would carry on without her, making good use of her notes. At least she could go feeling like she had done some good around here, but Cassandra still wanted to do more for the injured.
She said goodbye to the men present, and left, escorted by Evin. Orwan had gone back to the forge earlier, and the trip back with the Imperial Servant was a bit awkward without the young man present. Cassandra could feel Evin was against her actions, but he didn’t voice it outloud, which made it worse somehow.
Once outside again, she noticed the sun was going down already. The days were short here, which meant it was even later than she thought. Cassandra walked quickly to try and make her way back to the Prince’s camp, but a sudden loud growl stopped her. The familiar sound had everyone around her freeze and look up. In the sky, the large silhouette of a dragon was throwing its shadow over them. Krai growled again, and suddenly flew down towards Cassandra. She knew she shouldn’t move, but it was hard to repress that urge to run when a giant, black scaled beast was flying towards her. Many of the closest soldiers did run away in a fright, impressed by the dragon’s size and speed.
However, Krai landed a few steps away from Cassandra, its huge paws splattering the snow around.
“Hi,” said Cassandra with a smile. “Were you looking for me?”
The dragon emitted a long growl, and rubbed its huge snout against her. Cassandra scratched Krai’s favorite spot a bit before moving around the dragon’s head to climb up. Without the Prince’s help, it took her a few extra seconds until she sat up properly. She actually didn’t even know where to hold onto, so she grabbed what seemed to be Krai’s horns, hoping the dragon wouldn’t hate it. Actually, the dragon didn’t seem to mind at all, agitating its long reptilian tail around, splurging waves of snow on the closest men and tents. Krai kept moving his head around, as if trying to look at Cassandra, a bit annoyed.
“Come on, let’s go see him,” said Cassandra.
On the ground, Evin was still standing, as tall and quiet as before, but his face had turned a bit blue. He looked at the dragon taking off with the Prince’s concubine on its back, standing still as ever. Once the dragon was a few meters high though, he couldn’t hold it anymore. His legs gave way under him, and the poor man collapsed.
Meanwhile, Cassandra, who had no idea, was focusing hard on holding on and hoping Krai was indeed taking her to the Prince. She was flying on her own, and she was still very scared. She was a hundred and ten pound woman
on a several-tons beast’s back! She didn’t even dare to look down, and only focused on holding on to both the dragon and her cloak.
Thankfully, it was a very short flight, only a couple of minutes, until Krai started going down. She recognized the large area from the previous day, where the dinner had been served, except that the dragon was landing on another end, in front of a very large tent. Cassandra waited until Krai was very still and stable, then slowly climbed down, her legs still a bit weak.
The soldiers guarding the tent’s entrance were totally speechless, looking at the frail woman who had arrived using the Commander-in-Chief’s dragon. Cassandra was giving Krai some thank-you scratches as if it had been a well behaved dog. The men exchanged looks, completely lost at what to say or do. But Cassandra just walked up to them, looking as frail and innocent as usual.
“Is His Highness inside?”
“Y…Yes, Madam,” stuttered one of them.
“Thanks,” she said with her disarming smile.
The soldier blushed to his ears, and they quickly stepped aside to let her in. The men stayed a bit red and lost for a few seconds, but Krai’s sudden stare had them go from red to white in seconds. (6
Cassandra stepped inside the tent, a bit unsure. To her surprise, there were quite a few people inside. Eight men were lined up in front of Kairen, who was sitting on his throne with a bored expression. One of the older ones was giving him what was apparently a detailed report about their latest weapons improvements. Staying quiet in the corner, Cassandra wondered if he was a superior of Orwan.
After a few seconds, Kairen spotted her and held out his hand for Cassandra to join him. She couldn’t help but smile a bit, and sneaked to the side, to join him while the older man was still talking. Most of the lieutenants saw the young concubine walk in silence to the Prince, but they didn’t say a thing.
“…with a higher precision, My Lord. That’s it for today’s report on my faction, Commander-in-Chief.”
“You’re all dismissed,” said Kairen.
One of the men hesitated, with a frown on his face.
“But, My Lord, I still haven’t…”
One glare from Kairen made it clear there would be no more reporting today. The man gave an annoyed glare towards Cassandra before stepping out. The rest of the men also left, leaving them alone.
As soon as they were gone, the Prince turned to kiss her longingly.
“Where have you been?” he asked, while taking the cloak off of her.
“Just…exploring…the camp…”
She had a hard time answering his questions, his kisses, and breathing at the same time. He pushed her hair behind her shoulder, and kissed the depth between her breasts, putting Cassandra in front of him, in that riding position that embarrassed her so much.
“What parts?”
“The Forge, and…the Red Room…”
Kairen stopped. He frowned, and sat straight again, facing Cassandra with a confused expression.
“What Red Room?”
“The one where they take the injured or sick soldiers. At the back of the camp, in the South Mountain.”
“What the fuck were you doing there?”
She became white in an instant. She had no idea he would be so mad about it, and she didn’t even know how to respond. Kairen had never been furious at her before… She tried to step away, by mere instinct, but the Prince firmly held onto her wrist.
“I just…I was curious about it…”
“Why would you go there?!”
She didn’t even understand why he was so furious! She breathed in, really insecure for the first time in a while, and shook her head.
“I didn’t mean to…I just…wanted to see…”
“I forbid you to go there again!”
Kairen’s yelling made her shiver. She tried to step away again, but the Prince’s grasp on her wrist was too strong.
“I only meant to help…the sick! I…please, you’re hurting me!”
Her scream was like an electric shock to Kairen. He suddenly let go, and Cassandra, who had been struggling all this time, lost her balance, stumbling backwards. Before he could do anything, she fell on her right side, brutally hitting the floor.
“Cassandra!”
He meant to help her, but Cassandra avoided his hands when he got close, getting away from him. She was shivering, holding her painful arm with teary eyes.
“Don’t…please…”
He had never seen her so wary of him before. She looked at him with uncertainty, like a cornered animal, as if she didn’t recognize him. But his anger was still subsiding, and he was breathing loudly, trying to contain it and not do something else that he might regret. He clenched both his fists, and addressed her with a cold voice.
“To my tent. Now.”
Cassandra obeyed in silence, grabbing her cloak to put back on, and exiting the tent. With Kairen right behind her, she didn’t even dare to look at Krai, who followed them, curious, unaware of the situation. She just walked as fast as she could to the Prince’s tent, ignoring the sharp pain in her wrist and elbow.
It was an awkward but short walk back. Once she got there, she left the cloak on the bed, turning to Kairen, waiting to see if he was still as furious as before.
Indeed, he was.
“You are not going back there,” he hissed.
“What? But I need to go back! I still have a lot to do, I…”
“I said, no!”
With that, he threw his armor across the tent, crashing into something behind her. Cassandra closed her eyes, trying to stay calm. She held her tears in, and looked at him.
“Why not? Explain it to me, please.”
Turning away from her, Kairen stayed silent. She could tell he was trying hard to contain his anger, from his shivering fists and the thumping vein on his temple.
“My Lord, please, just…”
“Enough.”
He suddenly turned around, and walked over to kiss her. This time, Cassandra felt his strength and his anger in his kiss. It wasn’t blissful at all, it wasn’t like their usual kisses. She started trying to push him away, resisting his
kiss.
“No, no!”
“Cassandra, enough!”
But she kept resisting, and opposing his hands which were looking for her body. Kairen was obviously much stronger, but Cassandra kept opposing him, trying to elude his kisses and make him realize she didn’t want to do this.