“T-Tessandra,” Cessilia called, “I’m g-going to need some f-fire.”
“...You can’t do it too?” asked Naptunie, a bit surprised.
“No. N-not anymore.”
Naptunie regretted asking. She watched silently as Tessandra created a little fire for them, which they could use to sterilize the needles and heat the water, but also to warm them up a bit. They were close to the water, and since night had fallen, so had the temperature. Not only that but all of their clothes were drenched and torn. The fire was quite welcome.
“...Do you think Sir Dragon will find us?” Nana asked.
“He’ll probably start searching for us sometime soon,” nodded Tessandra. “At the latest, he’ll get worried in the morning if he doesn’t see us in the bedroom. He wouldn’t miss his breakfast...”
“...I d-don’t know if we c-can wait until th-then.”
Their eyes all went to Ashen. He seemed to be barely breathing, and he had been unconscious for a while. The amount of blood spread on his torso was impressive, if not scary. Because Cessilia was currently taking care of the wound, it was all exposed. Even though she was helping out, Naptunie couldn’t help but grimace and kept trying to look away any chance she could. Cessilia sighed and resumed trying to take care of the wound.
“Luckily, it d-didn’t damage any v-vital organs. His abdominal m-muscles did help s-stop the b-blade from going too d-deep.”
“Thank the gods for abs...” muttered Tessandra. “...Can you save him?”
“I d-don’t know.” Cessilia shook her head. “I... I don’t think he’ll b-be able to survive if he s-spends the whole n-night without p-proper treatment, Tessa.”
Her cousin nodded. She had suspected as much. Anyone could have seen how bad that wound was. It can take a long time for a man to die, but given everything Ashen had gone through that day and the lack of medical tools, his life span was getting shorter every minute.
“...Call your dragon to dig us out,” Tessa ordered Jisel.
“Are you joking? First, he’s wounded! Second, I don’t see why I should help you out. And lastly, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s no way my dragon alone will be able to get us out. You’ve seen his size, Jinn’s not even an adult. Did you see that blockage you created? There’s no way my dragon can dig that out on his own!”
Tessandra grimaced. It was annoying, but realistically, Jisel probably wasn’t lying about the last part. Her dragon was large, but that mountain of rocks blocking the exit was much bigger.
“...Let’s j-just try to k-keep calling Krai,” said Cessilia. “We c-can’t stay here, Tessa. The sea will p-probably rise up b-before morning.”
“It shouldn’t get too high,” added Nana, glancing at the lake, “but it will be a bit of a problem for His Majesty...”
Not only that, but the water would most likely cause the rocks to move toward them, which was dangerous.
“...Fine,” groaned Tessandra. “I’ll see if I can find an opening or move some of those stupid rocks without risking us dying under a landslide...”
She walked away and toward the rocks, hands on her hips, probably evaluating the ground. Meanwhile, Cessilia resumed taking care of Ashen for a while. Naptunie cautiously glanced to the side, but Jisel had simply taken a seat by the fire, and kept her eyes toward the entrance of the cave.
For a while, no one talked. They could hear the waves of the sea from afar, and a few men’s voices too. There were probably survivors on the other side of the collapsed rocks, and if there were any on this side, Tessandra would surely finish them. She had gone over the rocks, trying to climb some or judge how risky some were, and they’d hear her swear out loud sometimes, but she always fell safely back on her feet. Cessilia trusted her cousin entirely, and was able to fully focus on Ashen, not even glancing back once. Naptunie had gone to retrieve some seaweed they had deemed useful, and had even caught some wild shrimp they could eat later if needed. It was as if everyone needed to keep themselves busy, despite how tired they were.
The only one not doing anything was Jisel, staring at the fire with an empty expression, her arms around her knees.
“...Your d-dragon was red.”
Cessilia’s words finally got her out of her daydream. Jisel glanced at the Princess, who was trying to sew some part of her injured lover’s body.
“...I’ve only heard of one d-dragon that was red.”
Jisel didn’t answer, her eyes going back on the fire. From time to time, they would hear Jinn’s faint growls from the other side of the rocks. The young dragon seemed frustrated as well, but it was very much alive.
“My p-parents told me about it,” Cessilia continued as if she was talking to herself. “About what happened b-before I was born, when my older b-brother was just a b-baby. My father had a b-brother that k-killed a lot of p-people. He t-tried to kill my g-grandfather and become the Emperor. He was a t-truly twisted man, and he d-died back then.”
Naptunie, a bit confused, glanced at Jisel. That woman was now staring at Cessilia with an expression full of hatred. She definitely knew something about what Cessilia was talking about. Naptunie looked again at Cessilia in front of her. She was still not looking at Jisel, and incredibly calm.
“ ...Are you the d-daughter of my uncle Vrehan?” she finally asked.
“No,” retorted Jisel. “Hadn’t you already heard that from the Hashat? My father was from the Rain Tribe.”
“B-but you have a d-dragon.”
“I never lied,” retorted Jisel. “Not to Hephael, and not even to Ashen… My mother was a princess of the Dragon Empire, my father a man of the Rain Tribe.”
“P-princesses never–”
“Passed on dragons to their sons?” scoffed Jisel. “Well, that’s because they never tried coupling them with someone from the Rain Tribe, did they? Do you really think all those legends about our mermaid ancestors and a mythical water dragon were only folktales?”
This time, Cessilia raised her eyes to look at Jisel, confused. Jisel smirked, and glanced around, until her eyes found Tessandra.
“...Your cousin. She’s an only child?”
“She has a l-little sister.”
“But no male siblings… If she did, he probably would have a water dragon too.”
Cessilia was shocked. Her hands stopped moving over Ashen, and she also glanced back at her cousin. If she hadn’t met Jisel, she would have never thought there was more to their genes than the fact that her mother was a bit special.
“...That bastard was my uncle too,” Jisel suddenly blurted out, her eyes going back to the fire. “As you guessed, we were indeed related. My mother was only unlucky to have been born as one of that piece of shit’s sisters. I don’t have memories of living in that place, but she told me a bit. She was living like she was invisible, only obeying her brother’s orders to survive. Not making any waves, getting the little bits of happiness where she could. When he suddenly showed her an ounce of kindness by gifting her a male slave, she was all happy about it, like an idiot.”
