“Yes, my lady. But not as cold as these lands. Because our Kingdom is crossed by many rivers, the weather is more humid, and the temperatures do not change as drastically.”
“Take as much as you need,” said the War God. “Gold too.”
Yassim couldn’t help but feel a bit hopeful as he heard this.
The Dragon Empire was much, much richer than their broken Kingdom, he had witnessed this fact many times over. Their money was the same, but because gold was withheld in the chests of the wealthy back in the Kingdom, it wasn’t circulating as much, and their primary currency was silver, which was getting rarer as well... Meanwhile, here, the noble and wealthy wore gold as if it was nothing. Not only that, but they sold and bought luxury items such as gems, jewelry, or fabrics as a perfectly fine way of trading too, while in the Eastern Kingdom, defiance had brought their people to only rely on the silver change to buy only the most needed goods... Yassim had gotten used to it after several days of crossing the Empire, but the Princess already wore much more gold on herself than he had witnessed in several years in the Eastern Kingdom. Even the middle and lower classes here were already much wealthier than most of the Eastern Kingdom’s people, who lived day to day with little to no resources. There was no common measure between their two nations’ wealth. In fact, he had even been surprised by how sparsely decorated this castle was, considering it was a prince’s house, and one of the wealthiest men in the Empire, at that... If Princess Cessilia and her cousin brought a bit of gold, it would be a dim light of hope in the Eastern Kingdom if they were to spend it...
“I will,” nodded Cessilia. “I can have c-clothes made if I need t-too... D-don’t worry. I will t-take all I need, or b-buy it over there...”
The War God nodded, visibly satisfied with those answers. Just then, Tessa came back, carrying two long and sharp swords with an ecstatic smile. However, Cessilia frowned.
“T-Tessa... Those are D-Darsan’s...”
“I know!” replied her cousin, excited. “And he won’t know for a while that I took them! He’s never let me take them, so this is his loss for being punished! Oh, these are amazing!”
“Is this r-really fine, D-Dad...?” muttered Cessilia.
The War God shrugged, visibly not caring much over his niece borrowing his son’s weapons. Instead, he turned to Nebora as the servant walked back into the room with a large fur coat in her arms.
“They will need more,” he said.
“I know, my lord,” replied the woman. “We’re already gathering all they need for the journey and putting it with Krai. Cessi, I prepared some of your clothes too, but feel free to take anything you want. And take some money! Oh, and jewelry too. You should look your best if you’re going there as our representative... A princess can’t look too shabby!”
Yassim almost choked himself. Shabby? The Princess’ cousin alone was already wearing more than enough to impress the whole Eastern Kingdom’s court! Some of the nobles’ ears would bleed if they heard this exchange... He didn’t dare say anything, though, and watched as Tessa took a seat by the fire, her fingers lovingly sliding along the swords’ blades. Cessilia went to pour the tea, just like her mother had done earlier, and her father sat down, closing his eyes and resting in the large seat.
“Y-Your Highness...” muttered Yassim, gathering his courage. “M-may I ask how come you’re... residing here? Instead of at the Imperial Palace...”
The War God didn’t even open his eyes or manifest in any way that he had heard the question. For a second, Yassim worried he had overstepped, but to his surprise, Princess Cessilia answered instead.
“Father hates c-crowds... He d-doesn’t want to live in the Imperial P-Palace with our aunt... Mom g-goes more often.”
“When will she come back?” suddenly asked the War God, opening his eyes at the mention of his wife.
Cessilia and Tessa exchanged a glance.
“I d-don’t know...”
The Prince grimaced and closed his eyes again, visibly unhappy with that answer. Yassim glanced toward the two young women, but neither of them looked surprised. Cessilia offered him some dried fruits, and the old man gladly took them, a bit hungry indeed.
“Is there anything else we c-could need?” she asked.
“I don’t believe so, my lady. The Kingdom will provide you with everything you need upon your arrival... His Majesty will have a room for you in the castle.”
“A room?” repeated Tessa. “Is she going as a future wife or a guest?”
Yassim almost bit his tongue, realizing his mistake, but before he could think of something to say, Cessilia shook her head.
“I haven’t d-decided yet, T-Tessa... Getting a r-room for ourselves is b-better.”
The young cousin, staring at Yassim with a suspicious expression, was about to ask something else, but her eyes met with her uncle’s, and she didn’t dare to.
“That’s right,” nodded Nebora. “You should see and take your time to examine the situation first. What wedding now... Tessa told me everything, old man. How dare he summon Cessi like that?! Is your King a good man? Because we are not going to marry away one of our precious girls to some pighead!”
“P-p-pighead?” Yassim repeated, shocked. “My lady, I can assure you, King Ashen is not a... pighead.”
There were a lot of other ways to describe his King, and although he certainly had some concerning strength of character, to go as far as to call a monarch a pighead was too much! Moreover, coming from the mouth of a servant...! Yassim was expecting the Empire to look down on their neighbor a little, but this was just too much!
“He’d better,” scoffed Nebora. “Otherwise, you can be assured he won’t last long. That girl’s brothers will happily come and take her back home if needed.”
“Auntie Nebbie...” muttered Cessilia.
“She’s right, you know,” chuckled Tessa. “As soon as Kassian and Darsan hear of this, you can expect them to come and make a major fuss there... That’s why we shouldn’t stay here too long. I mean, evading the little ones is easy, but wait until those two hear Cessi is in the Eastern Kingdom, it will be a show!”
Yassim was getting worried all over again. He had mistakenly thought the War God would be the biggest issue, not the older Princes! He couldn’t help but think about Dran, the Yellow Dragon outside. What if his master got mad at them for taking his sister? Plus another one, the older brother at that? Two dragons would come to wreak havoc in the Eastern Kingdom! Not only the War God’s Dragon but two more! What had he done? His Kingdom would surely fall in no time!
“M-my lady,” he gasped. “Your brothers wouldn’t really... attack the Kingdom, would they? We have nothing to defend ourselves against dragons!”
“D-don’t worry,” said Cessilia. “They are not unreasonable...”
“...Unless it comes to Cessi,” muttered Tessa, sending a chill down poor Yassim’s old back.
“We won’t tell them yet,” said Nebora. “Kassian is still in the north, and that idiot Darsan will still be stuck for a few more weeks to take care of that mountain. You have at least a few weeks until they come here and realize you’re gone. Moreover, they won’t dare to make a ruckus in another Kingdom. The Empress would skin them alive.”
Yassim couldn’t think straight anymore. Every member of the Imperial Family sounded way too dangerous! Yassim had thought things would be over quickly once he brought the Princess, and he’d find out soon enough if he was to lose his head or not, but now, it was clear even if that didn’t happen right away, the Princes would come sooner or later to punish his bravery!
The old man sighed without thinking, while Cessilia handed him a cup of hot tea.
“Are you alright, S-Sir Yassim?” she asked him.
