Page 218 of The War God’s Favorite

“Let’s be careful and keep what we think to ourselves for now. I already wrote to the Imperial Palace, but that snake Vrehan hasn’t left his apartments there since we left. Apparently on the pretense of looking after his sister.”

“He definitely has people to do it for him!” said Missandra. “Everyone knows the Imp... I mean, people like him never dirty their hands themselves.”

Kareen smiled, but this was more of a scary smile than a heartfelt smile, and nodded.

“That’s right, dear. Just like me, he probably has people working for him. Vrehan is much smarter than Phetra. She’s the type who will dirty her own hands, if she’s pushed over the limit. However, Vrehan learned a lot from his snake mother. He loves to scheme and get rid of people who annoy him without leaving traces. You can never, ever be alone with him or his people. I don’t believe he’d stay locked up under the Emperor’s nose only for his sister’s sake, either. This sounds too much like some trick he’d be pulling off.”

“Can’t we do anything?” asked Cassandra.

“I have sent people to watch him, but he probably knows that too. In any case, Vrehan won’t move until he’s sure he can win, and I don’t see how he could do that. No matter what, my son is the War God. He won’t lose a war just because it started late.”

Cassandra slowly nodded, but she didn’t feel reassured. Kairen wasn’t like Vrehan, someone who’d plot behind people’s backs, and use underhanded methods. She tried to think of several scenarios. Somehow, she felt it was unlikely her Prince would die in this war. What could Vrehan do? Send an assassin, or worse, find some way to poison him? Cassandra knew that Dragon Tamers like Kairen were more resistant to poison, but no matter how strong his body was, there was only so much a man could withstand. Cassandra hated not being able to do anything for him.

She suddenly stood up, surprising both women in the room. Kareen sighed.

“We are not done with brunch, dear.”

“I’ve had enough, Lady Kareen, thank you. Do you think you could have something delivered to the front, if I was to give it to you?”

“Of course, dear. What are you thinking about now?”

Cassandra took a deep breath. The idea had just popped up into her head.

“I’ll prepare some first aid kits for the military.”

“First aid kits? For the front? Those men in the Imperial Army aren’t trained to do any medical procedures, dear.”

“It’s fine, they won’t need training, just common sense. If I taught the men in the North Army Camp, I can have those men at the Eastern Front learn too, even without being there.”

Missandra, smiling widely, and got up too, her excitement evident.

“I love that idea,Hinue! I’ll help you!”

“Oh, you young ones are so full of energy,” sighed Kareen. “Anyway, Cassandra, I assigned your servants to work for you before, didn’t I? They have learned how to write and calculate already. Just have those girls come over and help you.”

“Thank you, Lady Kareen. Can I entrust you with the transportation part?”

“Of course, dear. As if this old lady would sit on her arse while my children fight here and there!”

Cassandra smiled. At times like this, Kareen would be even nicer than usual, and hint at treating her and Missandra as her own daughters. The two sisters then left the garden they were eating in, though Dahlia packed up some more food for Cassandra to snack on later, and went to the little room next to Cassandra’s garden, which had pretty much become her office. Behind her, Missandra was excited.

“Do you already know what we will do?”

“We need to list all kinds of injuries, diseases, and other health issues the soldiers in the front could face, how often, and find a way to resolve and treat any of them in a short amount of time.”

“Alright,” said Missandra, grabbing what she needed to write down. “We can start by listing all of the most common diseases in that part of the Empire, common infections, and also some basic injury treatments they should use. Should we write some sort of instructions down to put in those kits?”

“It’s a battlefield, Missandra, they don’t have time to read, and it may be that some of the soldiers don’t even know how to read. So we need to make it as simple as possible.”

“We can make drawings or use colors. When I worked in brothels, some of the girls weren’t literate, but they knew which medicine to take based on their stamping or colors.”

“Right, we can use that. Do you still remember them? We need to think about how we can pack them in light, easily transportable ways.”

Just like that, both women started working together. Once they were done planning and compiling information, they brought their project to Kareen, who gave her own opinion on it, and called in some of her personal soldiers, military as well, for them to give their input.

Within a week, Cassandra, Missandra, and several more people started working hard on this. Kareen had more than enough money to support their project and ship it to the front in record time. Not only did the young concubine have her hands full with this project, but the whole of the Diamond City became aware of the efforts made at the Diamond Palace, and offered to contribute to show their support to the soldiers in their own ways. An unprecedented event in the Dragon Empire.

It took a couple more weeks for everything to be ready and the first samples to be sent to the frontline. Eventually, Cassandra and Missandra had come up with little boxes in two sizes: one that could fit in a pocket and be carried by any soldier, and a bigger one, for the ones who could store it in their horses’ satchels or inside a chariot. Those medical boxes included medicines, to treat the most common issues a soldier could encounter on the battlefield, from fevers to large injuries, with very little explanation.

---