“I… I think I should go and warn my uncle.”
She left without adding a word, and a heavy silence followed her departure. It was as if now that they had finally found a place to stop, all the tension was getting even heavier. Seeing even the usually cheerful Nana so upset was depressing too. Tessandra sighed, and sat down in one corner of the room, exhausted. Darsan decided to stand by the door, glancing through the window from time to time with his arms crossed.
Lady Bastat’s servant quickly came back, arms full of medicine and as many medical tools as they could find. Once the water was hot and both she and Kassian had washed their hands, with her brother’s help, she immediately began providing the best help she could to Ashen. His state was terrible, but while his chances of survival were low, they weren’t nil, and she had to focus on that. Cessilia began to explain the whole situation to both her brothers and Bastat, everyone else listening in complete silence. She spoke with a monotone voice, not raising her eyes once, as if speaking helped her remain focused and calm. For a long while, only her voice filled the room, with the rain quietly pouring in the background. Naptunie didn’t return, but a younger cousin of hers did come to deliver some food for everyone, and say she had fallen asleep at her uncle’s.
When Cessilia was done explaining, they were still doing their best to save Ashen. She had her arms soiled with his blood up to her elbows, but she was confident he’d make it. It was already impressive that he was still alive and breathing, and she was prouder than ever of him.
“Those wretched Yekaras...” groaned Bastat. “They will definitely pay for this. I won’t recognize a king that is no better than the tyrant.”
“...I’m so s-sorry about your f-father, Lady Bastat.”
“Do not be.” She shook her head. “He met an honorable end... Our tribe believes death is the opening of a new life, in which our actions in the previous will help the gods decide our next destiny. I will mourn him later, but first, I need to be sure his spirit can be avenged. This fake king will not be recognized by my tribe.”
“I doubt they will be going by the popular vote,” scoffed Tessandra. “They wanted to end him and use force against all the other tribes to comply. The Pangoja probably already fell, and they corrupted enough Royal Guards too...”
Her voice broke with those last words. Cessilia felt sorry for her cousin. Even if they kept hoping Sabael had survived the fight in the cave, not knowing about his whereabouts was too hard...
“They won’t be able to take the city if all the tribes resist,” insisted Bastat, “and I know most will. No one is foolish enough to believe in a king supported by the Yekara Clan, of all people.”
“B-but what can we do?” muttered Cessilia. “Ashen’s heavily injured, and we c-can’t keep him hidden here for long. Once they r-realize he’s not in the Inner C-Capital, they will c-come for him here...”
“...Unless someone can offer you all a safe place.”
They turned their heads to see who had spoken.
That person had arrived from the door behind Bastat, completely silent. Everyone became on edge, Tessandra even putting a hand on her sword, but before she could draw it, the stranger started to remove their hood. Cessilia immediately recognized the woman. It was the one who had stared at her while she helped with the flood earlier, with the peculiar dot and lines tattooed on her face.
“Greetings, Princess,” she said with a polite smile.
“You...” muttered Bastat, staring at her tattoos. “You’re... from the Cheshi Clan!”
The woman nodded, as she slowly removed the rest of her hood, revealing tattoos that went all the way around her completely shaved head.
“My name is Aglithia. I am the third daughter of the Cheshi Clan Leader.”
Cessilia and Tessandra immediately exchanged a shocked look. The Cheshi Clan had been surprisingly quiet, if not invisible, ever since they had arrived in this Kingdom. From what Yassim had told them, they were considered the wisest clan, but they had also completely removed themselves from the political circle ever since Ashen had suddenly gotten rid of the violent Kunu Tribe, which gave mixed signals about their intentions.
“...What d-do you want?” asked Cessilia, a bit doubtful. “This is our first t-time interacting with one of your p-people. I d-don’t understand why you would help us n-now.”
“Well, it seems to me like you need it, for starters. Plus, just because we haven’t been interacting with you or His Majesty doesn’t mean we haven’t been watching. In fact, we have been watching for a while now, and the arrival of your party did seem to stir a few interesting changes in the Kingdom.”
“You mean like the Yekara taking over the whole city while your King is bleeding to death?” scoffed Tessandra. “Yeah, sounds like a ton of fun for you guys to show up now?”
“We suspected what the Yekara had planned,” nodded Aglithia. “We only chose to get involved at the right moment, and when we knew there would be a side we could fully support.”
“...You watched my sister because of her relationship with the King,” said Kassian.
The woman nodded.
“Exactly. Not only with His Majesty but with the Family Leaders, as well,” she explained, glancing at Bastat. “Until recently, my clan had major doubts in King Ashen’s abilities as a leader. His relationships with the tribes weren’t good, and he had distanced himself from the people. Much to our surprise, Princess Cessilia’s arrival changed a lot of things and had us reconsider our position.”
“Great,” retorted Tessandra. “So if things went sour, you were just going to hide and watch this Kingdom fall into the hands of brutes?”
“...It wouldn’t have been the first time.”
Cessilia realized all the current tribes and clans were those who had survived Ashen’s father’s tyranny. Either by making themselves small, or making and breaking alliances at the right time. Some like the Dorosef, who were essential to the survival of the people, couldn’t just disappear so easily, but scholars like the Cheshi were rumored to be, would have been the ones most at risk. For their clan to have survived until now, unthreatened and unbothered, was truly surprising.
The woman named Aglithia took a couple of steps forward, her eyes on the King lying on the table. Kassian reacted to her approach, a hand on his sword, but everybody remained silent. This woman didn’t look like a scholar. There was an aura around her, something that fighters could recognize. They could only see her face and neck, but they could guess her strong shoulders and fit body under her cloak. She turned her eyes to Cessilia again.
“My clan is older than this Kingdom itself, and we have rarely involved ourselves in politics unless the situation called for it. Which king rules is not our concern, unless it causes issues for the people. Hence, we spoke against the tyrant and allowed his son to take over. Now, we aren’t fond of the Yekara Clan and their ambitions, but we were going to wait and see if King Ashen turned out to be a better ruler than what we had observed so far. That is, until the Princess appeared by his side. As I said, we have been watching you since you arrived.”
“Spying, you mean,” groaned Tessandra.
“Yes. Among other things.”
Aglithia glanced over her shoulder and, to their surprise, none other than Nupia stepped forward, bowing.
“You little–!”
“The triplets are at my family’s service. We had put them inside the castle to work for His Majesty and evaluate him, but when you arrived, we changed our plans and made sure they would watch you instead, Princess. As it turns out, you are a fine heiress to the long line of Dragon Masters.”
This time, Cessilia exchanged a glance with Kassian. The way that woman said that was as if she knew as much about their dragons and their family as they did...
“...What do you know about our family?” asked Kassian. “About the dragon owners? Or Dragon… Masters?”
“I know a lot! I know more about your ancestors, though. The first Dragon Masters... Oh, don’t be so surprised. I told you my clan was old, very old. We were around even before this continent was split into two nations.”
Once again, Tessandra and the siblings were baffled. Even Bastat looked completely at a loss. There was a time the Dragon Empire and the Eastern Kingdom were united as one? They had never heard of such a thing, at least, not as a historical fact. There were a few legends they had heard, bits here and there, and what one could imagine from the past, but neither country had been very diligent in keeping records. Even the Dragon Empire’s centuries-old palace had limited archives and no mention of such a thing.
