Page 167 of The War God’s Favorite

“We don’t really have a word for ‘husband’ since we don’t get married like you. We do have a union ceremony, though. Partners call each other Almien.”

“Almien?”

“It means ‘who is mine’,” sighed Missandra. “You can only ever do that with one person though!”

“So lovers do this?”

“It’s not just lovers, but people who are promising to unite their lives forever. You cannot change or take another one after!”

“Missandra, I think they understand,” said Cassandra. “Anyways, it’s…”

“Let’s do that.”

She turned to Kairen, confused.

“Do what?”

“You and me, let’s do that thing from your tribe. Almien.”

Cassandra laughed nervously. Though it was meaningful to her, their tribe’s union ceremony would have absolutely no legal recognition in the Dragon Empire, it would only be something symbolic. Now he was interested in that too?

“That’s… ahem… We did say that getting married is...”

“Actually,” interjected Shareen, “you shouldn’t get married yet under our country’s law, but…I guess a foreign ceremony would be alright. Mother?”

To Cassandra’s surprise, Kareen seemed to actually be considering it. Were they serious? The Imperial Concubine took a couple of minutes to reflect on the option before nodding in approval and grabbing a biscuit.

“Mh, Shareen is right. If my son is going to be stubborn about this, I suppose a little ceremony would be fine, as long as it’s kept secret! We have yet to hear what this whole ceremony entails though.”

Cassandra was speechless! Really? It would be like a secret wedding, but would hold a deeper meaning for them. She turned to her Prince, a bit baffled.

“Do you really want to do this? It would have no legal bearing here.”

“It would have meaning to you, right?” asked the Prince.

“Of course. It was one of my tribe’s most sacred rituals.”

“Then I want to do it.”

Would a secret ceremony really be enough for Kairen? While they couldn’t get married in the Dragon Empire until her son was born, would this make them feel more secure about their future? For now, there were too many things that could throw off the balance. One of the biggest being that the heir to the throne was still yet to be named and, while he had limited interest in succeeding his father, Kairen was obviously the best fit. Sephir would also be a good choice, but Vrehan would make things go from bad to worse. There needed to be some security in their future before they could plan for it.

So they just couldn’t marry legally, for now, Cassandra had to side with Kareen and Shareen on this one. It was a bit selfish of her, but she would rather stay the War God’s favorite than be his wife right now - for her own safety. She didn’t want him to have another concubine, but she also couldn’t predict what was going to happen with so much uncertainty about the future of the Empire.

“Cassandra dear, don’t overthink it too much,” said Kareen. “My children are clearly very stubborn. If this is enough for my son to hold on to, until an actual wedding is possible, and if you’re fine with it, let’s just go ahead with it.”

“Mother, you’re just thrilled to organize something like this behind Father’s back, aren’t you?” mused Shareen.

“What are you talking about? I don’t need that old man’s permission, regardless! And anyway, we are organizing this secret ceremony, aren’t we? Cassandra, dear, what does it involve exactly?”

“Hinue!” protested Missandra. “Are you sure?”

Cassandra sighed and stood up.

“Can I have a minute with my sister?” she asked.

Kareen nodded.

“Of course, dear.”

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