Page 222 of The War God’s Favorite

“Oh? Fine, you can look then. The sooner you find yourself empty-handed, the sooner you leave me alone, you arrogant little boy!”

As soon as the soldiers started running and searching through the whole Diamond Palace, Missandra pulled Cassandra’s hand towards the rear of that secret passageway. Even for their small frames, it was hard to go through the whole passage. They had to be as silent as possible to not be noticed by the men searching for them. Cassandra had never been so scared before, but it became even worse when they heard a dragon’s screech. Both sisters froze, realizing the situation was more dire than what they had thought.

Missandra gasped, and turned to her.

“That wasn’t the black one,” she whispered.

“No,” whispered Cassandra, shaking her head. “That was... Vrehan’s Dragon.”

The two girls were absolutely terrified. That crazy Red Dragon was looking for them.

Suddenly, they heard the stones above their heads making an awful noise, and for a second, they froze, fearing that the walls around them were going to collapse on top of them. This would be a horrible way to die, buried alive under meters of rocks! Missandra shivered, but she pulled Cassandra’s hand again, to take her out of there. If this dragon was able to smell them or hear them, they had to get out of this secret passage as soon as possible!

Both sisters kept walking, slowly and silently, until it turned completely dark. Missandra, in front, had a better vision, but she had to walk very slowly. Both arms extended in front of her, to make sure they weren’t hitting something. She was scared Cassandra would bump into something with her big belly, but thankfully, she soon found the end of the passage. It seemed closed, in front of them, but she recognized a fabric under her fingers, instead of rocks. They were behind some sort of curtain. Missandra waited for a second, hesitating. What if soldiers were already in the room, searching? She took a deep breath and waited a second. With her eyes blinded by the darkness, she could easily focus on her hearing.

After a full minute, she was sure there was no one on the other side. She very carefully pushed the curtain aside and glanced behind it. Then, when she was sure this place was safe, she pulled Cassandra in. This place wasn’t exactly a room, more like a large wardrobe, or a tiny storage room. There were dozens of clothes and large fabrics hung here and there, like the one they had come from behind. Missandra’s first instinct was to run to the door, making sure it was locked. It was, but she could hear people running on the other side. Was the door hidden on the other side? It seemed like no one was stopping to check it.

“Missandra!” whispered Cassandra.

The older sister had just found a big bag with some clothes, dried food, and a lot of money. This was definitely meant for their escape. Missandra nodded, and walked up to her, away from the door, but they had another issue.

“How are we supposed to leave?” she whispered as well. “They’ll catch us the minute we go out of that door! Shall we stay here?”

“There has to be another exit.”

Both sisters started checking the whole room, until finally they found it. This one was actually on the floor, hidden under several piles of heavy rugs. Missandra and Cassandra quickly worked together to clear the way to their escape route, both keeping an ear out for what was happening on the other side. They could hear the dragon’s growls every now and then, but it seemed further away from their current position. Cassandra wasn’t even able to think, at the moment. She just focused on getting to that exit, and silently prayed for Lady Kareen to be alright.

Finally, they cleared the path, but just as they were about to get in, someone slammed on the door.

“Here! There is some secret entrance!”

Cassandra froze. They were just about to get out! Within a split second, she made her decision. She threw the bag at Missandra and pushed her sister towards the opening.

“What? Cassandra!”

“We don’t have time to both leave! Take the bag and meet me outside the Palace!”

“But...”

“Missandra, I don’t have enough time to get in, and if I do and they forcefully pull me out of there, I’m afraid they’ll hurt me and the baby. Don’t worry about me, go. You’re tiny enough, you can escape and I’ll close it behind you.”

“Hinue!”

“I promise I’ll find a way to leave, but if they catch you, Vrehan can kill you on the spot. He can’t kill me inside the Diamond Palace, there are too many witnesses.Linue, I promise I’ll find a way to get out of here. Now, go!”

Missandra hesitated, but another violent slam resonated from the door, and no matter what, it was now obviously too late for Cassandra. She bit her lower lip and squeezed through the little opening. As soon as she was in, Cassandra pulled the rugs next to her, making a pile collapse to hide it. If they found her here, with the first entrance exposed, they wouldn’t think of looking for someone else through a second exit. She took a deep breath, and retreated to the back of the room, waiting for the door to be broken open.

It only took a few more seconds, then soldiers barged in, yelling and grabbing her forcefully.

“Who were you talking to?”

“Let me go! I was praying, now let me go!”

“Your Highness! We found the criminal!”

Cassandra kept thinking of a way to free herself without struggling too much and risking getting hurt. However, both men were obviously stronger than her, and she couldn’t find a solution before Vrehan arrived with his sister a minute later. Lady Kareen was there, too, and she became livid when their eyes met.

“Let go! How dare you brutalize a pregnant woman!” she roared.

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