The War God’s Favorite
Chapter 30
The training Grounds
As the large black dragon was eyeing the group, it lowered its head to Cassandra’s side, where she gently scratched under its chin.
Krai was obviously glaring at the man, though. Could a dragon have understood his words? Was he upset about the words used toward the Commander-in-Chief’s concubine just now? It couldn’t be, right? The Captain swallowed slowly.
“If you do not wish to be healed, I suggest you see another doctor in the camp. But please don’t be so noisy in front of the hospital or I’ll have you removed.”
“Re…removed?” said the Captain, though he had lost most of his voice.
Cassandra nodded, still scratching Krai’s maw. The dragon was chewing some snow, some of its back still white. The men around the Captain, despite being impressed, tried to convince him again.
“The Lady of the Mountain is very skilled, Captain! She stitched the Lieutenant’s arm and now he is fine! Please, Captain, at least let her examine you.”
As the Captain was still frowning and glaring at Cassandra, one of his men walked to her, pleading.
“Please, Lady Cassandra, our Captain is very stubborn, but he is a great soldier and like a father to most of us! If he loses his leg, he will be sent back!”
“What happened?” finally asked Cassandra.
“He twisted his leg while training a while ago. We thought it might get better, but now it’s been two weeks now, he can’t even walk, and the area is all black and blue!”
She sighed. This was probably only a muscle contusion, but if that man was this stubborn, he probably hadn’t taken any rest for his leg to heal. Two of the men pulled up one of their Captain’s pant legs to show her the large bruise that had spread up his thigh. The Captain immediately became red.
“You little scums! How dare you undress me like that! You’re all going to regret this!”
“How is it, Lady of the Mountain? Is it bad?”
“Don’t you touch me you vicious…!”
But before he could end his sentence, a loud, angry dragon growled at him. The men ran in all directions, just before Krai’s paw landed on the Captain, pinning him on the ground. He lost all air in his lungs in a funny expression, the beast crushing him to the ground.
“Hey, Krai, no. No, no, get your paw off. Here.”
Krai was still growling, but Cassandra’s calls managed to distract the dragon enough. She kept making gestures until the red eyes looked her way instead of the Captain’s. Her voice was as gentle and calm as usual, yet every man was shocked to see the dragon attracted to her like a moth to a flame. Krai kept growling, unhappy, and the Captain was still being crushed under his humongous weight.
“Let go, come on. Come here,” said Cassandra, stepping away so the dragon would follow.
“Good dragon,” said Cassandra. “Come here.”
While she was scratching and petting Krai, Evin rolled his eyes and walked to the soldiers, helping their Captain up.
“You idiot. Insulting the Concubine in front of His Highness’ Dragon.”
“The dragon listens to the Lady of the Mountain!” said one of the men, impressed.
Evin clicked his tongue.
“His Highness’ Dragon listens to His Highness only. He just likes to act as Lady Cassandra’s bodyguard…and pet, apparently.” ?
Even so, all the men were watching the scene of the young woman, standing in the snow to cuddle and pet a dragon that was about a thousand times her size. Krai seemed to have already forgotten about them, only focused on Cassandra.
At some point, she had the dragon walk away, though they had missed how she did that. Had she thrown something away to play catch? That death machine just acted like a dog around this woman…
“You should have him rest and apply fresh snow on his injury. It will most likely heal by itself as long as he doesn’t overdo it,” she said to the men.
“Thank you, Lady Cassandra!” said some of the men in unison.
“You better take him out of here, though. Next time, I can’t guarantee His Highness’ Dragon won’t bite him on the first try.”
The men left swiftly, taking away the Captain who was still acting grumpy. Evin turned to Cassandra.
“You did a good job preventing His Highness’ Dragon from eating him.”
“Yes. Even dragons can get sick from rotten meat.”
Cassandra laughed. Sometimes, Evin really surprised her. Was he ironic or really trying to crack a joke? Either way, it was amazing to see how his facial expression never changed one bit.
“The weather is getting worse. I suggest you go back now, Madam,” said Evin, looking at the sky.
“All right. Let me give some instructions to the men in the hospital and then we can go.”
Indeed, a few instructions were sufficient for the men to know what to do even if she was absent. Cassandra had been surprised with how fast some of the younger soldiers were able to learn from her. Many were very proactive and curious too, always asking questions and coming up with suggestions.
They obviously held her in high esteem, as she was always called “Lady Cassandra” or “Lady of the Mountain” by the men. Some were coming daily, even for a few hours, just to learn more from her and spread the knowledge about first aid around. She didn’t feel too bad about leaving the mountain a bit earlier than usual that day, knowing she was leaving it in good hands.
Since the wind was too strong, Krai stayed on the ground, walking beside her, its huge body actually shielding Cassandra from the snow during the whole trip back.
“This is going to be a storm,” said Evin.
“Are the storms bad here?”
“They can be, but the men only need to stay confined in their tents. If it lasts several days though, it can be problematic.”
Cassandra nodded, and looked up. It was all grey and white in the sky. How long would this last? Evin was probably right, as the snowfall was getting heavier. Snow was piling up on Krai’s back. As they progressed in the camp, many men warned her to take cover, too. Cassandra was looking for the Prince though, and was directed to one of the training grounds. Despite the name, it was in one of the buildings.
A very large room, like an interior stadium, was conceived for men to train and attend meetings inside. It could easily contain thousands of men and their steeds. There weren’t any horses when Cassandra got there though, actually most of it was empty. On one side a group of men were practising movements all together and on the other some were doing physical exercises. The center was the busiest, twenty soldiers in full armor were all fighting against one man, Kairen, alone with two swords. Immediately, Cassandra couldn’t help but worry about the obvious difference.
“Is this okay?”
“Probably not. I hope His Highness remembers it’s a pain to replace soldiers.”
Cassandra frowned. Was the Prince still at an advantage, despite the numbers? He didn’t even have his armor on!
Yet, after a few minutes of observing the battle, she had no choice but to admit Evin was right. The Prince had no need for armor. With his two swords, he effortlessly dismissed any attempt the soldiers made to get to him. He didn’t even seem to get tired, or put any effort in. Each movement was perfect and precise. Despite his broad frame, he moved with the agility and speed of a tiger. His muscles’ hard at work were showing with each gesture, under his tan skin.
Cassandra couldn’t help but slowly start blushing after a while. The lines of his body were just dancing perfectly, the Prince’s perfect form revealed. Cassandra felt a slight fever coming up inside. She could have used some more of the snow.
She was just watching from the side, but Cassandra was hypnotized by the fight, as if it had been some dance. Her heart fluttering with each of the Prince’s moves, she reacted to every action, fearing for him when a soldier seemed to stand a chance, relieved when he pushed them back, excited when he attacked himself.
As Cassandra didn’t bother him and stood silently, Kairen hadn’t noticed her entrance. Yet, the fight was over after only a few minutes. Each of the twenty soldiers, no matter how good they were, ended up butt or face in the sand, full of aches and muscle pains. Kairen was unscathered.
“How impressive,” whispered Cassandra.