Page 250 of The War God’s Favorite

“It happened so fast,” cried Lady Chiara. “When his Highness the Emperor came, he was devastated about my Lord’s passing, and he was furious at Prince Vrehan, but the Second Prince said he had acted impulsively out of anger.”

“That’s the most bullshit excuse I’ve heard, even coming from that dickhead,” hissed Missandra.

Cassandra was in complete shock. She hadn’t thought things had become so tragic! The poor Lady Berissa, she had been the cruel victim of Vrehan’s schemes to get rid of her and his brother. Cassandra was completely revolted. This was so unfair! These people were innocent, Prince Sephir had never even been a threat to him! Vrehan’s cupidity was absolutely disgusting! Had Kassian’s birth really made him panic and kill his own brother? Did the news of her pregnancy accelerate the Second Prince’s agenda?

“Lady Cassandra, you shouldn’t be here. They all think you’re a murderer, the soldiers will arrest you.”

“What about Prince Sephir’s Son?” asked Cassandra, ignoring the Concubine’s plea.

“I don’t know...” cried Chiara. “We haven’t seen him since our Prince’s death. By the Great Dragon, if something happened to Prince Seban too...”

The poor Concubine hugged her daughter closer and cried even more. Cassandra and Missandra exchanged a silent glance. They wouldn’t say it in front of this poor woman, but they feared the young Prince’s fate was, unfortunately, already sealed. Vrehan may have taken the young dragon, too.

After all this, no wonder this whole aisle of the Imperial Palace felt so abandoned and at a loss. The Second Prince had wreaked havoc in his brother’s entourage. Cassandra felt like it was a miracle that the little girl in the Concubine’s arms was still alive. If she had been born a boy, her uncle would have gotten rid of her, most likely.

“What about Prince Sephir’s Dragon?” asked Missandra, frowning.

“He’s here, but...he hasn’t been able to fly,” said Chiara, her voice hoarse. “Prince Vrehan had Sire locked down in the dungeons, saying he could be dangerous for everyone in the palace without his Master to guide him. I’m not sure. He didn’t even try to free himself when they took him!”

The cells! Cassandra remembered seeing some of the dragons behind bars, the first time she had been in the Imperial Palace. Those who were too unruly had to be chained or placed in cages for their sizes. However, she clearly remembered that the Pale Blue Dragon wasn’t among those who had to be put in an actual cage! That was definitely another one of the second Prince’s horrible lies.

“So the Prince is dead for real, and his dragon is grounded,” sighed Missandra. “Anything else we need to know?”

“What about the Emperor?” asked Cassandra. “Have any of you seen him lately?”

“No...most of us haven’t dared to leave these apartments! Everyone is just so scared since our Prince died! However, some of the other Concubines came and said he’s ill. The Emperor fell sick soon after my Prince. They say he was so depressed with my Lord’s death that the Emperor fell sick too. We haven’t seen him in days.”

“How convenient,” muttered Missandra.

Cassandra didn’t believe this lie at all either. For something to happen to the old Emperor so soon after his First Son’s death, was nothing but the result of some vile plan. He wasn’t such a weak man, even if his son’s death was depressing . Whatever sickness had fallen upon the old Emperor was definitely not the result of sadness, or even an accident. Missandra shook her head, disgusted once again.

“Hinue,” she said using their native tongue. “I’m pretty sure he won’t be as stupid as to leave his old man without any sort of security around him. What if this is a trap? I can’t believe no one was able to see the Emperor. This guy definitely has something up, and I’m not sure we should run into this mess. We can still go back!”

“We can’t, Missandra. We haven’t learned anything we didn’t already suspect, but the Second Prince still isn’t here. I’m still sure this is our only chance to save the Emperor, if that is still possible. If the Second Prince comes back and is somehow crowned before my Prince comes back, the situation will be even worse than this! Not only Sephir, but he will also get rid of all of his brothers and their Concubines! This will be a slaughter!”

“He can’t just...”

“Missandra, he killed Sephir! He killed the First Prince and his Favorite, and probably their son, too. Unless he’s captured him instead, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care about anything except that boy’s dragon! If we go back now, Vrehan might be able to kill his father even faster, and then what? He’ll just do what he did here to all the Concubines! The only people left will be the ones who didn’t oppose him, his Concubines, and his sisters!”

“This is too dangerous! That psycho had no problem killing his own brother, right under the Emperor’s nose. If the Emperor is too ill to protect you, what do you think will happen to you? He’s capable of feeding you to his dragon and claiming his damn lizard mistook you for a beefsteak once the Third Prince comes here! There is no one here who can help you!”

“Actually, we might have another ally,” sighed Cassandra.

“Who?” asked Missandra with a frown.

“Glahad, the Golden Dragon.”

Missandra stayed quiet for a while, looking more and more livid. After a while, she glanced down at the Concubine that was still in the room with them and took a deep breath.

“I knew the situation was dire,” she said in their native tongue. “But I didn’t think it would be so bad that our best hope would rely on the Emperor’s freaking Dragon!Hinue, we are talking about an actual dragon. Not a cat-sized one like Kian! I know the Third Prince’s black Dragon is basically your pet, but this is another Dragon we’re talking about, the Emperor’s! I’m pretty sure the most dangerous creature in the Empire hasn’t been trained to do paw tricks!”

“Dragons only mimic their owners’ feelings. Krai is like that because of Kairen’s feelings for me. The Emperor liked me too, you’ve seen it. He’s been nothing but nice and...”

“He is an Emperor! Who knows what that old man was thinking! Gifting you a tiara and some stupid nickname doesn’t mean you’re his favorite daughter-in-law! I trust you, but I don’t trust a pervert that has taken dozens of Concubines, has kids left and right, all while his favorite woman has to live in a different castle to ensure her childrens survival!”

Cassandra sighed.

“I know this is the same refrain coming back again and again,” added Missandra. “But I stand by my words, I don’t trust the old man’s dragon! We can’t just walk in there and hope he’s going to become our bodyguard! That’s a rather big bet and I’m pretty sure we’re running out of extra lives just by standing here!”

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