“I don’t care if she’s a grown-up, she’s my little sister! That guy can’t touch her like that. I said let go!”
Tessandra rolled her eyes and walked over to grab a piece of fruit from the little plate that had been left there, most likely for them. From the smell and greasy stains, there also used to be beignets, but Darsan had obviously only left crumbs behind him.
“How l-late is it?” Cessilia asked, a bit worried.
Now that she was downstairs, she could tell the darkness outside was mostly caused by the terrible weather, the sky very dark once again. The rain was much lighter, though, just quiet drops hitting the cobblestones in a pretty melody.
“Not that late,” said Darsan. “Sunrise just began, it was still completely dark only minutes ago. I was about to come upstairs to get you but he woke up first.”
His green eyes exchanged a glare with Ashen, and Cessilia sighed.
“He watched over you all n-night,” she said to him, a bit annoyed.
“...Sorry,” muttered Ashen, looking away first.
Despite that, a heavy silence came over the room. Neither Ashen nor Cessilia’s brother were happy about the other’s presence, and for a while, Tessandra eating her apple was the only sound in the room. Cessilia insisted on checking Ashen’s injury quickly before they planned to leave, but that was done in complete silence too.
“Good morning!”
Nana’s voice arrived like a bright ray of sunshine in the room.
Immediately, Darsan jumped to his feet and threw his mug into the fireplace, the alcohol provoking an impressive reaction from the fire. The arm of the leather chair nearby caught on fire, and Darsan leapt to extinguish it with his hand, nervously patting the leather until the flames disappeared under his scaled hand. Then, he straightened himself, acting as if nothing had happened, and put on a large smile.
“H-hi, Nana!”
“...And here I thought I had embarrassed myself with Sab,” muttered Tessandra.
“Ah, good morning,” answered Nana, blushing a bit. “I-I brought you guys more beignets before we go! Oh, and some uh... good news? I don’t know if it’s that good, but... Sabael is alive.”
“Really?” exclaimed Tessandra, almost dropping her apple. “Are you sure, Nana?”
Naptunie nodded, putting down the tray full of freshly baked beignets. Immediately, the smell was more appealing than anything, and everyone moved to grab one, Cessilia handing one to Ashen who remained seated. She realized as soon as the warm filling and delicious fish hit her palate that she hadn’t eaten in way too long and was hungry. Naptunie’s beignets were like heaven to everyone right now.
“Y-yes”, said Nana, fidgeting with her fingers. “Some of our fishermen and merchants were allowed by the Yekara to go outside today. They were heavily inspected, so I guess they are still searching for... you, Your Majesty. But my cousin that was with them said some people definitely saw Sabael and my uncle being kept as prisoners. They have them exposed in public places, and they said they are going to, uh... execute them.”
“Do they know when?” asked Tessandra, grabbing a second beignet.
“No... Our family members and others tried to ask, but the Yekara people furiously refused to answer, and threatened to capture more people and hang them. But they said all the prisoners are heavily guarded... Do you think they will really kill them?”
“No,” said Kassian, “it sounds more like they are trying to use them as bait to get you guys to appear.”
“My cousin said the Yekara searched the Inner Capital the whole night!” added Nana. “It was a terrible ruckus. They barged into almost every house and even inspected our fishing boats. The citizens are very unhappy. A lot of people have been protesting too. My cousin said my uncles all refused to sell fish to any Yekara this morning!”
“The whole Capital will be rebelling,” said Tessandra. “None of the clans like the Yekara, and those who are allied with Cessi will sense something’s off about them suddenly taking control. It’s too bad they can’t fight and only resist like this...”
She sighed and combed her hair back. She was probably glad to hear Sabael was alive, but likely twice as worried about his fate. Even if he had survived, he was likely not in a good state after fighting, and now, he could be killed any minute by the Yekara. They had surely noted he was close to the two cousins... Cessilia and Ashen exchanged a glance. The King looked sullen, his fingers almost carving his anger into the table’s edge he was holding on to.
“It’s much better than nothing,” said Kassian. “Any form of the people not agreeing to their terms will buy us time, and wear them out mentally.”
“...We n-need to speak t-to the Cheshi,” declared Cessilia. “I want t-to know how they c-can help us.”
“I’m curious too,” nodded her brother. “The way they spoke about our family and dragons... sounds like there’s more to it.”
Next to Cessilia, Ashen was about to get on his feet, but she gently pushed him.
“I’m not staying back,” he groaned.
“You n-need to rest, Ashen. I d-don’t want your wound to reopen. You b-barely survived it once. I d-don’t think you c-can endure more b-blood loss.”
“You had a fever for half of the night too,” added Kassian.
“I’m not letting you go without me,” he groaned.
“I’m g-going with my b-brother,” she said. “S-stay here with Tessa, p-please.”
“No. Wherever you’re going, I’m going too. I’ll be fine. I can endure a walk. Plus, you’re going back inside the Inner Capital. I need to go back too, I can’t stay hidden here while my people–”
“You almost d-died!” Cessilia protested, angry. “You might p-pass out just from s-standing up! Stop p-protesting and stay here! I will have you ch-chained to this t-table if I have to!”
“I’ll gladly help,” chuckled Darsan behind her.
Ashen grimaced, but Cessilia was serious, and no one in the room had ever seen her so furious. She even had tears of frustration in her eyes. With a sigh, Kassian stepped forward, putting a hand on his younger sister’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, I will stay back with Tessa, and watch over him.”
“I don’t need you,” sighed Ashen.
“No, but I need to speak to you,” said Kassian. “There are a few things it is high time you know, and I have a few questions for you as well.”
