The War God’s Favorite by Jenny Fox

Chapter 24

The Prince’s Arms

As if it was too impossible to think, the men present didn’t even dare to comment on Cassandra’s

suggestion. How would a mere concubine borrow a Prince’s dragon anyway? Wasn’t she just a

delusional woman? They all decided to just ignore it. That slave was already weird enough to willingly

take care of all those sick or injured soldiers, so why wouldn’t she think she could actually use the

Prince’s dragon. Maybe the Commander-in-Chief just had a thing for crazy ones.

“Evin, could you tell me where I can find those accountants? I want to speak to them, and see if we can

get some necessities.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea, Madam. It is quite late already. His Highness might be looking for you.”

Cassandra suddenly realized she had spent a considerable amount of time there. The Red Room didn’t

have any windows, and was only lit up by candlelight, so there was no way to even know if it was day

or night outside. She had been so caught up in her task and notes, she had completely lost track of

time.

“I’ll…I’ll go back. Is it very late?” she asked, a bit worried.

The Prince didn’t even know where she was! There was no way he would look for her all the way here,

was there? She had to go back soon, or he might really be mad this time.

“We’re a couple hours away from dinner, Madam.”

Cassandra felt guilty. She still had some time, but she should definitely head back. She nodded and

turned to the men, who assured her they would carry on without her, making good use of her notes. At

least she could go feeling like she had done some good around here, but Cassandra still wanted to do

more for the injured.

She said goodbye to the men present, and left, escorted by Evin. Orwan had gone back to the forge

earlier, and the trip back with the Imperial Servant was a bit awkward without the young man present.

Cassandra could feel Evin was against her actions, but he didn’t voice it outloud, which made it worse

somehow.

Once outside again, she noticed the sun was going down already. The days were short here, which

meant it was even later than she thought. Cassandra walked quickly to try and make her way back to

the Prince’s camp, but a sudden loud growl stopped her. The familiar sound had everyone around her

freeze and look up. In the sky, the large silhouette of a dragon was throwing its shadow over them. Krai

growled again, and suddenly flew down towards Cassandra. She knew she shouldn’t move, but it was

hard to repress that urge to run when a giant, black scaled beast was flying towards her. Many of the

closest soldiers did run away in a fright, impressed by the dragon’s size and speed.

However, Krai landed a few steps away from Cassandra, its huge paws splattering the snow around.

“Hi,” said Cassandra with a smile. “Were you looking for me?”

The dragon emitted a long growl, and rubbed its huge snout against her. Cassandra scratched Krai’s

favorite spot a bit before moving around the dragon’s head to climb up. Without the Prince’s help, it

took her a few extra seconds until she sat up properly. She actually didn’t even know where to hold

onto, so she grabbed what seemed to be Krai’s horns, hoping the dragon wouldn’t hate it. Actually, the

dragon didn’t seem to mind at all, agitating its long reptilian tail around, splurging waves of snow on the

closest men and tents. Krai kept moving his head around, as if trying to look at Cassandra, a bit

annoyed.

“Come on, let’s go see him,” said Cassandra.

On the ground, Evin was still standing, as tall and quiet as before, but his face had turned a bit blue. He

looked at the dragon taking off with the Prince’s concubine on its back, standing still as ever. Once the

dragon was a few meters high though, he couldn’t hold it anymore. His legs gave way under him, and

the poor man collapsed.

Meanwhile, Cassandra, who had no idea, was focusing hard on holding on and hoping Krai was indeed

taking her to the Prince. She was flying on her own, and she was still very scared. She was a hundred

and ten pound woman

on a several-tons beast’s back! She didn’t even dare to look down, and only focused on holding on to

both the dragon and her cloak.

Thankfully, it was a very short flight, only a couple of minutes, until Krai started going down. She

recognized the large area from the previous day, where the dinner had been served, except that the

dragon was landing on another end, in front of a very large tent. Cassandra waited until Krai was very

still and stable, then slowly climbed down, her legs still a bit weak.

The soldiers guarding the tent’s entrance were totally speechless, looking at the frail woman who had

arrived using the Commander-in-Chief’s dragon. Cassandra was giving Krai some thank-you scratches

as if it had been a well behaved dog. The men exchanged looks, completely lost at what to say or do.

But Cassandra just walked up to them, looking as frail and innocent as usual.

“Is His Highness inside?”

“Y…Yes, Madam,” stuttered one of them.

“Thanks,” she said with her disarming smile.

The soldier blushed to his ears, and they quickly stepped aside to let her in. The men stayed a bit red

and lost for a few seconds, but Krai’s sudden stare had them go from red to white in seconds. (6

Cassandra stepped inside the tent, a bit unsure. To her surprise, there were quite a few people inside.

Eight men were lined up in front of Kairen, who was sitting on his throne with a bored expression. One

of the older ones was giving him what was apparently a detailed report about their latest weapons

improvements. Staying quiet in the corner, Cassandra wondered if he was a superior of Orwan.

After a few seconds, Kairen spotted her and held out his hand for Cassandra to join him. She couldn’t

help but smile a bit, and sneaked to the side, to join him while the older man was still talking. Most of

the lieutenants saw the young concubine walk in silence to the Prince, but they didn’t say a thing.

Kairen pulled Cassandra to sit on his lap, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“…with a higher precision, My Lord. That’s it for today’s report on my faction, Commander-in-Chief.”

“You’re all dismissed,” said Kairen.

One of the men hesitated, with a frown on his face.

“But, My Lord, I still haven’t…”

One glare from Kairen made it clear there would be no more reporting today. The man gave an

annoyed glare towards Cassandra before stepping out. The rest of the men also left, leaving them

alone.

As soon as they were gone, the Prince turned to kiss her longingly.

“Where have you been?” he asked, while taking the cloak off of her.

“Just…exploring…the camp…”

She had a hard time answering his questions, his kisses, and breathing at the same time. He pushed

her hair behind her shoulder, and kissed the depth between her breasts, putting Cassandra in front of

him, in that riding position that embarrassed her so much.

“What parts?”

“The Forge, and…the Red Room…”

Kairen stopped. He frowned, and sat straight again, facing Cassandra with a confused expression.

“What Red Room?”

“The one where they take the injured or sick soldiers. At the back of the camp, in the South Mountain.”

“What the fuck were you doing there?”

She became white in an instant. She had no idea he would be so mad about it, and she didn’t even

know how to respond. Kairen had never been furious at her before… She tried to step away, by mere

instinct, but the Prince firmly held onto her wrist.

“I just…I was curious about it…”

“Why would you go there?!”

She didn’t even understand why he was so furious! She breathed in, really insecure for the first time in

a while, and shook her head.

“I didn’t mean to…I just…wanted to see…”

“I forbid you to go there again!”

Kairen’s yelling made her shiver. She tried to step away again, but the Prince’s grasp on her wrist was

too strong.

“I only meant to help…the sick! I…please, you’re hurting me!”

Her scream was like an electric shock to Kairen. He suddenly let go, and Cassandra, who had been

struggling all this time, lost her balance, stumbling backwards. Before he could do anything, she fell on

her right side, brutally hitting the floor.

“Cassandra!”

He meant to help her, but Cassandra avoided his hands when he got close, getting away from him. She

was shivering, holding her painful arm with teary eyes.

“Don’t…please…”

He had never seen her so wary of him before. She looked at him with uncertainty, like a cornered

animal, as if she didn’t recognize him. But his anger was still subsiding, and he was breathing loudly,

trying to contain it and not do something else that he might regret. He clenched both his fists, and

addressed her with a cold voice.

“To my tent. Now.”

Cassandra obeyed in silence, grabbing her cloak to put back on, and exiting the tent. With Kairen right

behind her, she didn’t even dare to look at Krai, who followed them, curious, unaware of the situation.

She just walked as fast as she could to the Prince’s tent, ignoring the sharp pain in her wrist and elbow.

It was an awkward but short walk back. Once she got there, she left the cloak on the bed, turning to

Kairen, waiting to see if he was still as furious as before.

Indeed, he was.

“You are not going back there,” he hissed.

“What? But I need to go back! I still have a lot to do, I…”

“I said, no!”

With that, he threw his armor across the tent, crashing into something behind her. Cassandra closed

her eyes, trying to stay calm. She held her tears in, and looked at him.

“Why not? Explain it to me, please.”

Turning away from her, Kairen stayed silent. She could tell he was trying hard to contain his anger,

from his shivering fists and the thumping vein on his temple.

“My Lord, please, just…”

“Enough.”

He suddenly turned around, and walked over to kiss her. This time, Cassandra felt his strength and his

anger in his kiss. It wasn’t blissful at all, it wasn’t like their usual kisses. She started trying to push him

away, resisting his

kiss.

“No, no!”

“Cassandra, enough!”

But she kept resisting, and opposing his hands which were looking for her body. Kairen was obviously

much stronger, but Cassandra kept opposing him, trying to elude his kisses and make him realize she

didn’t want to do this.

“Cassandra!”

As he yelled her name again, she suddenly stopped resisting, and stood completely still, not moving

anymore. Kairen was completely at a loss. He tried to kiss her some more, but her body was so frigid,

he had to stop. 3

“What are you doing?”

“You wanted me to stop resisting.”

“Why are you doing that?”

He didn’t even know how to be angry with her when she was acting like this.

“I can force you, Cassandra.”

“I know that. I’m not resisting you.”

She wasn’t resisting, but Cassandra was still showing her opposition very strongly. She was inanimate

as a doll, and that was it. Somehow, that made him even more furious. He suddenly punched the

mattress right next to her, scaring her a little.

en me

“Fuck!”

Right after that, he stormed out of the tent without another word. Cassandra let out a long sigh. She

had been holding her breath for a while and felt dizzy. It was the first time she had seriously opposed

him. She had never seen him so furious, either. Her legs were actually still shivering when she sat up,

pulling her dress back down.

No matter what, she was still a slave and a woman. She knew being alive and so well treated was all

thanks to Kairen’s attachment to her. This could change anytime. He could kill her or rape her, and no

one would say a word about it. That’s the kind of world she lived in.

Cassandra stayed there for a long time, her arm wrapped around her knees, thinking long and hard on

the edge of the bed. Her eyes were in a daze. She was tired, cold, and hungry, but she didn’t feel like

moving a muscle.

She felt sad about what had happened. She didn’t think that would happen. Cassandra kept thinking

about the dispute, all of their conversation, replaying it in her head, over and over. Seeing Kairen’s

anger, again and again.

“Madam.”

Cassandra was surprised to see Evin come in, carrying a tray of food.

“Evin. How…?”

“His Highness was quite angry, and is training with his men. Since I didn’t see you at the dinner, I

figured you might be…hungry.”

Cassandra felt a bit comforted by the man’s kindness.

“Thank you, Evin.”

Indeed, she had been ignoring her growling stomach all this time. Before, she could go days without

food. But since she had been with the Prince, her stomach got used to getting good and consistent

meals. She sighed. She was hungry, but her head was too heavy to feel like eating either. It was a

strange feeling.

“You look tired, Madam. Have a good sleep.”

Evin left the room without adding anything else, leaving her alone again. From how he calmly left the

tent, she supposed Krai had left, too. She truly was on her own.

Cassandra grabbed the fur cloak to cover her shoulders, and got up to eat a bit on the couch. She ate

little bites, mindlessly, wondering when the Prince would come back. But even after she was done

eating, he still hadn’t returned. She thought about going to look for him, but their argument still lingered

in her mind. He probably wasn’t calm enough to return yet.

She laid on the bed, realizing how cold the sheets were without Kairen there. She missed him, his

warmth, and the way he held on to her when they slept together. Strange how the body catches onto

new habits so easily. (3

Much later in the night, she woke up to someone’s presence in the bed with her. Worried for only a

second, she quickly recognized Kairen’s familiar smell and warmth. Without a word, he laid next to her,

his back facing Cassandra. Was he still angry?

She didn’t dare to move too much, and just turned around to his side after a while, the closest she

could without touching him. It was heartbreaking not to see his face. She stayed like this for a long

time, in the dark, conscious neither of them was sleeping. Cassandra wondered if she should say

something, apologize or bid him good night, but the more she hesitated, the more awkward it became.

She opened her mouth several times, but with no sound coming out. 1

Eventually, she slowly moved her arm, and, timidly, her fingers reached for his back. She was barely

touching him, but she felt his reaction, his breathing halting for a second. It was a short moment, in

which she wondered if he would say something. But even after a while, Kairen stayed silent.

For the first time in a while, Cassandra really felt like crying. Was he really ignoring her? Was he still

mad? Would this keep going on for a long time? Or was he going to get rid of her at dawn? She closed

her eyes, trying to chase away all those dark thoughts, and not to cry.

That’s when Kairen silently moved. Before she could react, the Prince turned around, his eyes still

closed, and put his arm around her.

Cassandra opened her eyes, confused, and felt a wave of warmth and relief. A single tear escaped her

eye, and she finally fell asleep, snuggling against his chest.