“No sign of her,” she shook her head, “but that can’t be good...”

Cessilia and Tessandra exchanged a glance across the table, her cousin grimacing. Cessilia hesitated. ...Should she have gotten rid of that woman when she had the chance, or left her to die? Somehow, she couldn’t, and Cessilia knew she would have made the same choice over again. A part of her just couldn’t bring herself to fully hate Jisel. Perhaps it was this sense of commonality, the strange bond of blood they shared. Perhaps it was because she found that woman pitiful, or her ever so unclear intentions. Either way, she just couldn’t make up her mind yet.

“...We will see if sh-she appears,” she declared. “Perhaps she f-fled already.”

This might have been hopeful on her part, but Cessilia wished for Jisel to disappear and never come back again. She had a feeling things wouldn’t be that simple though...

“Alright...” said Tessandra. “We have a plan, and everyone knows what they have to do. Shall we get going before my boyfriend really gets his head chopped off? It’s my first relationship and I do not want it to end in a shitty tragedy.”

“Calm down, Tessa,” scoffed Darsan, putting his fists on his hips. “We’re going to rescue that boy of yours, alright. The lad doesn’t even know what he’s signing up for, maybe he’s better off dead, haha!”

All eyes went to him, no one finding this very funny. Even Cessilia was glaring at her brother’s cruel lack of delicacy, but the one pair of eyes that seemed to melt his grin away was Nana’s. Then, Tessandra chuckled and bumped her elbow into his arm.

“By the way, Darsan. My boyfriend you’ve been making fun of just happens to be Naptunie’s dear older brother. Just so you know.”

His expression fell, replaced by sheer panic as he slowly realized his mistake. Cessilia realized, no one had referred to Sab as Nana’s older brother until now... She sighed. At least Darsan would take things a whole lot more seriously now. Ashen suddenly grabbed her hand, gently.

“Let’s get going,” he said. “Cessilia, Tessandra, and I will attack at the main plaza first to rescue the hostages, then we will part ways to reconquer the castle.”

“I’ll make sure to stay as mobile as possible,” nodded Kassian.

“I will be with you,” Lady Bastat suddenly announced. “This way, we can rally more people as we move through the streets.”

Kassian’s green eyes went to her with a hesitation.

“...Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Slowly, she took out a long, strange little rope that had been tied around her waist all this time. She removed the gorgeous ornament that was hanging at one end for all to see the dangerous, pointy blade it had been hiding all along, and she smiled back at him.

“It’s just like we said. We may not be fighters, but we are not defenseless. I will manage. I also have a score to settle for my father’s murder.”

A faint smile appeared on Kassian’s lips, and he nodded.

“Let’s go,” said Cessilia.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 25

They agreed to split up right outside Bastat’s house, as Darsan had to go to Krai to give instructions and post the large Black Dragon at the agreed upon door, while Lady Bastat and Kassian were going to have Kian drop them in the lower part of the Capital, away from the castle and the Central Plaza, to gather as much attention as possible and have the Yekara head to them first.

Kassian smiled softly and came to hug his sister gently.

“Take care of yourself, alright? ...You too, Tessa.”

“You know me,” she said with a wink.

Kassian nodded, and turned his green eyes to his sister. They exchanged a long, intimate glance, then he quickly kissed her head, his fingers caressing her curls. Cessilia smiled, hugging her big brother back. Kassian had always been the protective kind, but he had been even more so after what had happened to her. He glanced at Ashen over her shoulder, the King staying expressionless, although he was obviously waiting to grab Cessilia’s hand back the second he could. Kassian chuckled, and took a step back, parting with his sister.

“If anything happens to my sister...”

“It won’t.”

The two men exchanged a long stare, although far less tense than before. Cessilia smiled, and when Ashen took her hand, she held on tight.

Meanwhile, Darsan was fidgeting next to Naptunie, shifting his weight from one leg to another with an awkward expression.

“So, uh... You... You have to be careful, alright?”

“I will!” exclaimed Naptunie, decided.

Darsan nodded, although not convinced.

“I’m going to beat a lot of those brutes, alright? I promise none of them will be taking a step inside the Inner Capital!”

“We will be counting on you!”

Naptunie’s smile was so blinding and yet she was completely oblivious to Darsan’s feelings. He stared at her for a few seconds, hesitating, and suddenly grabbed her hands, making her gasp in surprise, her eyes opened wide on their joined hands.

“I’m going to show you, Nana! How great of a husband I will be!”

“U-uh... I see... I mean... A-alright?”

He then nodded, visibly satisfied, and turned around, proudly walking away toward the gates. Kassian chuckled, amused by his brother’s antics, and turned around too, followed closely behind by Lady Bastat. Meanwhile, Naptunie stood there for a few more seconds, completely shaken up, her hands even still hanging mid-air. Cessilia chuckled, and both she and Tessandra stepped next to their confused friend.

“...Say...” Nana muttered, “by any chance, does… does Sir Darsan…?”

“Love you?” chuckled Tessandra. “Yeah, big time. I’m pretty sure he fell pretty hard for your charms.”

“What?!”

She screamed and turned to them, her face surprisingly red.

“N-n-no way!”

“Yes way,” sighed Tessandra, pulling her in the right direction. “He’s been pretty obvious too, Nana. It’s amazing you’re the only one who hasn’t noticed until now.”

“But he’s... he’s a prince!”

“Literally no one cares,” laughed Tessandra. “Plus, Darsan probably destroyed pretty much anything he might have inherited. He is a prince in name alone, Nana, don’t freak out about that. If you’re worried, worry about being proposed to by a walking natural disaster.”

“Proposed to?!”

Cessilia chuckled, but they didn’t have time to answer poor Naptunie’s interrogations right now. The rest of their group, including Ashen, rushed to the secret passage again, following Aglithia. While Tessandra happily kept teasing Nana on the way, they still made a point to rush behind the Cheshi guiding them. The tunnel was too narrow for them to properly run, so they were walking very quickly instead, rushing to the other side. They had only a few minutes left, and they would have to match their timing with the dragons’ attacks on the other side of the Inner Capital. Cessilia even suspected Tessandra kept chatting with Naptunie as a way to distract both of them from the urgency of the situation.

She and Ashen were at the back, not saying a word all this time, but they had their hands firmly locked together, and neither of them had any intention to let go, even as they had to walk one behind the other in the more narrow sections of the tunnel. Cessilia could feel the tension in Ashen’s fingers, and she could understand that. Only a few hours had passed since he had fought with his adopted brother and his ex-mistress had stabbed him. She swallowed her saliva, a feeling of guilt coming forth.