Cassandra waited a bit before opening her mouth, trying to gauge her sister’s mood, but Missandra was being a bit too quiet.
“Missandra...”
“If this is about last night,Hinue, my answer is still no.”
Cassandra sighed. She knew how stubborn her sister was. This wasn’t going to be an easy one.
“Missandra, we cannot stay passive.”
“Yes, we can. We are not going to get ourselves killed by infiltrating a Palace guarded by hundreds of guards under that maniac’s control, just to save an old man who, if we’re that unlucky, might even be dead already.”
“The Emperor isn’t dead yet,” retorted Cassandra. “Missandra, I cannot stay hidden here while he might be dying. Not when I could possibly save him.”
“You don’t know if he’s really dying, if he’s fine, or already dead! You don’t know if you’ll be able to save him either, Cassandra, and that could actually cost you your life! The only thing we do know for sure right now is that the crazy Second Prince wants to kill you, and Kassian. That’s about it. We don’t even know if your own Prince is well and alive!”
“I know Kairen is fine,” retorted Cassandra, almost angry now.
Missandra shook her head. She didn’t like to be scolding her older sister, but she was terrified that Cassandra was about to put herself in danger once more, and she wouldn’t be able to stop her. Missandra put down her plate and turned to Cassandra, looking very serious.
“You barely escaped him once, Cassandra,” she said. “You barely did. If it wasn’t for the Diamond People, or for Lady Kareen buying us some time, we would already be dead, or worse, dead in his Dragon’s stomach. This psychopath might even have taken his sweet time and tortured you, just to piss off the War God. In any case, I will not abide by anything that might put you and I anywhere near that guy. Not until we are sure to be safe.”
Cassandra sighed. She understood Missandra’s reasons and in many ways, her younger sister was actually right. It was a miracle they had been able to travel here to safety and remain unharmed. Cassandra had gotten a new scar on her arm, but it was healed already. Given the circumstances, it wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened.
However, something was telling her to go to the Imperial Palace. Not only for the Old Emperor, but she felt like something much bigger was going on, and they had to stop it before it was too late. If her Prince was still caught up in a war, how could she stay here and drink tea?
“Missandra, I can’t. I can’t stay hidden here. We already did the hardest part, the journey. Our goal was to arrive in the Capital.”
“Yes, because we thought the Old Emperor could save us. We had no idea he wasn’t doing well! If we go there, we can’t be sure he will protect you or Kassian!”
“What if he can? What if we can save the Emperor and end this? Missandra, another thing we know almost for sure is that the Second Prince isn’t there, right?”
The younger sister frowned, but before she answered, Yasora cleared her throat.
“Actually, he is not. News came in very early this morning. Two of our people who were in the market said the Second Prince was on his way here, but is still a couple of cities away.”
“See?” said Cassandra. “We will know right away if Prince Vrehan comes here, Missandra, his...”
“He is on his way back!” yelled Missandra, getting on her feet. “Cassandra, this cold-blooded murderer, and his crazy bitch sister might be only a few hours away from here!”
“That is exactly why we have to move now! The longer we hesitate, the more time we will lose! What if this is our chance to beat him, heal the Emperor, and punish Vrehan and Phetra for what they did?”
Missandra stayed silent for a few seconds. This was really too crazy. She was the one trying to hold Cassandra back, and her sister the one who wanted to take action? This was truly too much! This was a life and death kind of decision, and she was scared they were running into a trap.
“What if they expect us? What if we run into a trap? Have you thought about Kassian? And Kian?”
Cassandra looked down at her son and took a deep breath.
“I’m thinking about him. If his Grandfather dies, what do you think will happen? Maybe something will happen to his father, maybe Kairen won’t be able to keep Vrehan from becoming Emperor. I am done letting Kairen fight every battle for me. I am good at one thing, Missandra, that’s healing people. If the Emperor is sick, this is my call. It is up to me to do what I can. I will let Kairen deal with Vrehan, but the Emperor’s health became my responsibility the moment I heard about it. Doing nothing is the worst thing. I’d rather die attempting to do something than stay here and close my eyes, hoping someone else will solve the problem for me.”
Missandra opened her mouth, but she found no words to respond to that. She was annoyed. Annoyed, as her older sister was probably right. Nobody could save the Emperor better than Cassandra. The Second Prince wasn’t expecting them to be there. He wouldn’t know until he returned to the Capitol, and they still were a little bit ahead. They still had a chance that the War God would return too, but they didn’t have any more information on his whereabouts. Actually, the information they did have was that neither of the Princes were there. The old Emperor, however, was there, and was very sick. She let out a long sigh of frustration.
“What about Kassian?”
“We can watch him here,” immediately replied Yasora.
“What makes you think I trust you?” retorted Missandra, a bit too coldly.
The middle-aged woman put her fists on her waist. She knew that the young lady was Cassandra’s younger sister, but she could use some manners!