The War God’s Favorite novel Chapter 50

The Imperial Banquet
After that episode, no other concubine dared to bother Cassandra for the next few days. It was made known within a few hours how scary the gentle-looking woman could be. She had kept all three women alone with her, making them cry, beg, and tremble in fear of being devoured at any given moment, for over an hour. Cassandra had only insisted they told the same stories over and over, but all three concubines didn’t dare disobey and anger her or the beast. It could have seemed like a short time, but anyone who had ever been in the presence of one of the Imperial Dragons knew it wasn’t.
Truth was, Cassandra had only intended to scare them a bit, and only caressed or scratched Krai during that time, but it had worked beyond wonders. It so happened that the Black Dragon still had fresh blood on its maw, and the concubines saw those ruby eyes shine their way in a scary manner for longer than they could endure. Even if she would never give the order to bite or injure, unless she was in a death-threat situation, that sight was engraved in those women’s minds. They had cried for hours after that to anyone who would listen, about how merciless the War God’s concubine was, threatening to have the Dragon eat their poor defenseless selves.
After that, even if most concubines still held some doubt about how things really went, the fact that she was often followed by the Black Dragon was enough of a warning, and when Krai wasn’t in sight, most feared the beast wasn’t too far away.
It was actually a bit of a funny sight.
Krai kept following her like a dog, growling to get her attention, glaring at anyone who came close, and growled even more when she walked inside a building its large body couldn’t follow her into. It actually caused a bit of worry to the servants that the Palace’s architecture wouldn’t be able to withstand the beast’s reckless climbing on the roofs to follow her scent.
Cassandra was doing her best to get used to the Imperial Palace, though it was difficult.
Firstly, that place was way too big for her to get used to. She got lost many, many times and would only realize once she asked someone how far she had drifted away from her initial destination.
Secondly, she wasn’t with Kairen as often as she had hoped to be. The Emperor called for his son almost every day at dawn, and she helplessly spent breakfast and lunch alone, with the Imperial Concubine Mother, or in the Concubine’s gardens, only to be reunited with him right before dinner with all of the Imperial Family.
Lastly, this daily buffet was a torture for her. She hated being confined in a room full of people who glared at each other, no matter how vast that room was. Since she had demonstrated she had the backing of an Imperial Dragon, and when Kairen was in the room, no one dared to defy her too much, but she still hated that atmosphere. The only good part of it was that they would listen together to minister reports and news about what was going on in the country, and after a few days, Cassandra realized those dinners were also a way for the Emperor to test his sons.
While the youngest brothers were usually fooling around with their concubines, enjoying the shows, and were annoyed by those topics, the three oldest Princes were deeply involved.
The oldest Prince, Sephir, was an obvious bookworm and knew every topic by heart. At first, to Cassandra, he seemed to be the smartest of them all. However, after a while, she realized his decision-making was mostly based on past occurrences, and if no similar situations had happened in the past, he was usually at a loss.
The only one who truly rivaled Kairen was the Second Prince, Vrehan. Cassandra didn’t like him. He had a face like a rat, tiny eyes, and a mean expression. More importantly, he glared at Kairen anytime he would say anything and seemed like he was about to explode if their father agreed with him. Plus, his sister Phetra supported anything he said unconditionally. Since their last meeting, Cassandra had managed to avoid that woman, but Phetra made sure to glare her way any chance she could over dinner.
“What do you think, White Lily?”
Cassandra was surprised to hear the Emperor suddenly ask her opinion. This nickname he had given her had become sort of a title for her, whenever he addressed her, like she was some precious treasure.
It was the first time he openly asked for her opinion on a matter. Until then, Cassandra had listened and whispered some of her ideas a couple of times to Kairen, but she had never dared to interact with the Imperial Family Members while they had their talks. Also, it didn’t seem like any other concubine was ever involved in those talks, as only the Princes and, more seldomly, the Princesses answered. She couldn’t hide her surprise, but Kairen soon caressed her back, spreading his warmth to her and making her feel a bit more confident. This topic was about some medical issue she knew about, an epidemic that had risen in the South.
“I support the confinement idea, Your Highness. Until the real cause is found, nothing should leave or enter that village.”
“Shouldn’t we simply kill all the infected?” hissed Phetra, annoyed that Cassandra was even asked after she had given her own solution.
“Nothing in the reports proves this disease is transmitted by the sick,” calmly replied Cassandra. “It could be the food, the water, even the animals. Sending a doctor with medical knowledge, enough drugs to heal those in need, and guarding the area closely, may be enough to prevent the disease from spreading, especially in such a remote place.”
The Emperor nodded, looking satisfied.
“As expected of the Imperial Physician! Let’s do this! Did you record all that she said?”
While he was checking in with his secretary, Cassandra turned to Kairen, who gently kissed her temple. Those few days, she had been spending a lot of time with some of the other Imperial Physicians present in the Palace, but for now, they had been learning more from her than she had learned from them. Some of Cassandra’s knowledge of herbal medicine was revolutionary to them, and despite their annoyance at a female being acknowledged as a doctor at the beginning, the Imperial Physicians had started opening up to her, one by one, teaching her their ways and discussing their knowledge.
Hence, the Emperor knew she was doing well in that aspect and considered Cassandra’s opinion.
“Also, make sure to check around, see if it hasn’t spread. Now, to the military…”
But before the Emperor ended his sentence, the First Prince suddenly started coughing loudly, unable to stop. His concubines tried to help him, but he needed a few more minutes to catch his breath.
This wasn’t the first time. Cassandra had seen Prince Sephir with this kind of issue several times before. Though she had considered a poison, from his pale look and thin figure, she guessed the First Prince had never been healthy to begin with. Probably weak lungs or some respiratory disease. Unfortunately, she couldn’t approach another Prince and had to leave it to the Imperial Physician appointed for him. However, as the days went on, she couldn’t help but fear for the eldest brother. This man wouldn’t live long.
Once Sephir caught his breath and reassured everyone, the Emperor threw the remaining topics away, along with his secretary, and called for more wine. Cassandra, however, was concerned. How would the death of one of the brothers change things?
They only had two days left until the New Year’s first celebrations. Once the week-long festivities were over, her Prince had promised to bring her back to the Onyx Castle, at least for the later stages of her pregnancy. Cassandra didn’t want to stay in the Imperial Palace longer than necessary. She loathed this place.
“Are you tired?” he whispered in her ear.
“I’m fine…”
“Eat more.”
She nodded and took some of the grapefruit he was handing her. She had been craving those lately and emptied
almost all the plates of grapefruit at each banquet by herself. Was it because of her baby? Cassandra found herself with some new crazy craving each day. Tonight, it was white fish.The cooks had worked hard to make some more ready for her, and she was enjoying it slowly.
Cassandra wasn’t the only pregnant concubine, as two of the Fifth Prince’s women and one of the Second Prince’s concubines were showing off their round bellies, but she was the only one to be shown so much care. She didn’t know if Kairen or the Emperor had given special orders, but the servants seemed particularly careful while serving her and, more surprising, her food was tested before she ate anything.
“Father, how grand will the new year celebrations be this year?” asked one of the Princesses.
“The usual, the usual, Daughter of mine. We invited some neighboring countries, but not too many, and we will reopen the Arena!”
While exclamations rose all around the room, Cassandra got a chill. The Arena.
Memories of a bloody slaughter came back to her mind. Despite her meeting with the Prince, she could never forget that horrid scene, the dragons going after the humans and playing with their corpses. If it wasn’t for Krai, she probably wouldn’t have survived it either.
Feeling her shiver a bit, Kairen caressed her back. Cassandra usually warmed up from his touch, but this time, her expression was sad and his concubine was obviously lost in some dark thoughts. He frowned.
“Cassandra?”
She shook her head, unwilling to speak.
“Father, can we get fireworks?” asked one of the young Princesses.
“Tigers! I want to see wildcats!”
“And more chariot races! And dancers!”
As the Imperial Princesses started making more and more demands, Shareen, who had been silent on the seat next to Kairen, clicked her tongue.
“Are you going to pay for all this, Sisters? Did you suddenly start working and earning enough to cover your childish, petty whims?”
Her voice had the effect of a whip on them. Cassandra had never noticed, but Shareen was one of the oldest princesses around, and no one really dared to mess with her. Was it because of her being the War God’s sister? Or her mother?
However, none of the Princesses dared to talk back to her, all looking down like children caught misbehaving. The Emperor laughed.
“Wise as ever, my Daughter! Well, it is true we won’t spend too much this year; we’ve had a dry year, after all. Let’s learn to restrain ourselves a bit, shall we? Fireworks and wildcats are fine, but we’ll forget about chariot races. It’s only good for spreading dust all around anyway and I’m getting bored seeing the same people every year. Forget it!”
“Father, what about the dragons’ sacrifice?”
Everyone in the room immediately went silent and Cassandra frowned. Of course, Phetra had been the one to suggest that, while looking at Cassandra, too. She knew exactly what she was doing, bringing that back up. The Emperor frowned.
“Phetra, we don’t make human sacrifices on the New Year!”
“I want to see it, Father. I missed the last show.”
Phetra’s voice was full of confidence and she was smiling like a snake. Cassandra stood up and, not waiting for the Emperor’s answer, walked away. She couldn’t speak against an Imperial Princess, but she could show her disagreement. She left the Imperial Banquet without looking back, shivering and angry.