“I’ll have to. He’s the main reason Father couldn’t really come... I may have made peace with him, but it’s not exactly like they parted on good terms.”
This time, Cessilia was the one to smile.
“Tell them I’ll come back home soon... with Ashen and Cece.”
“I guess we can consider the Eastern Kingdom’s skies as reopened to our dragons then.”
“Careful what you wish for!” exclaimed a familiar voice behind them.
They both turned around to see Lady Kareen coming down the road, elegant as always. Surprisingly, she was able to walk with her high heels on the more than bumpy road as if it had been perfectly flat. She walked up to the two of them, her arms crossed, and her shoulders covered with a thick fur cape to protect herself from the cold.
“Grandmother,” said Kassian, surprised to see her. “...I was wondering where you’d been.”
“Since when do I have to report to you?” she shrugged.
“You drank a lot last night,” he said, “...on purpose and despite us trying to stop you. And this morning, you were gone already. Were you trying to elude us?”
“Oh, leave an old lady to have some fun!” she slapped his shoulder. “Don’t be so uptight, I hate that I am old enough for my grandchildren to be the ones to scold me!”
Cessilia chuckled. Indeed, their temperamental matriarch was never one to follow the rules.
“Anyways, don’t tell your siblings about them being allowed to visit,” she said. “Before you know it, there’ll be half a dozen brats sent here on a field trip!”
“You mean you don’t want them to come here because you want to be able to drink,” laughed Kassian.
“Exactly! How can I have any peace when everyone keeps using me to babysit their brats?!”
Cessilia and Kassian exchanged a glance. Of course, they knew the regular trips from all members of the family to their grandmother’s Diamond Palace was more to look after her than for her to look after them. Not only their siblings, but all their cousins also liked to go to the Diamond Palace to escape their parents’ scrutiny and spend time with their more lax grandmother. Despite Kassian, Cessilia, and their siblings being the only grandchildren blood-related to her, there was a silent agreement that any child of the Imperial Family regarded Lady Kareen as their grandmother. Thus, they all took turns visiting Kareen in her palace, well aware she didn’t enjoy being alone as much as she pretended to...
“You can’t hide here forever,” sighed Kassian. “Aunt Shareen will be upset if you stay too long.”
“Ha! Since when did she care about me? I’d rather stay here just to piss her off!”
Cessilia chuckled. The feud between the Empress and her mother was almost legendary. Now it sounded like the main reason for Lady Kareen to be here was to be away from her daughter’s watch... Cessilia and Kassian exchanged a quick glance.
“You can stay here as long as you want, Grandmother,” smiled Cessilia.
“I still have to report to Aunt Shareen what happened,” added Kassian. “I’ll probably come back soon, unless they send somebody else.”
“I will probably go home to see them soon, actually,” his sister declared.
“Really?”
Cessilia nodded.
“We have a few ideas. I know Aunt Shareen will probably already be inclined to the idea, but tell her the King plans to reopen the border and establish new trades. I will come soon, with at least two envoys. ...That includes Lady Bastat.”
She tried to see if her brother would react to the name, but Kassian remained calm and stoic as usual, only giving her a brief nod. He then turned to their grandmother once more.
“I’m going to take Roun back too.”
“What! Why?”
“I’m pretty sure you did not ask Uncle before taking him. And Tessandra’s disappearance might go unnoticed for a few days but a missing dragon is a bit much, Grandmother.”
“Ha! See, this is why I prefer Darsan!”
Cessilia chuckled. Still, completely ignoring her words, Kassian placed a quick kiss on their grandmother’s hand, and exchanged a quick nod with his sister before leaving. She watched Kassian go and disappear down the road. Next to her, Kareen sighed.
“That kid. He’s always been way too serious.”
“He’s feeling a lot of responsibility as the next Emperor,” Cessilia nodded. “I wish he’d be a bit more honest about his feelings. I am sure he and Lady Bastat would be a good match.”
“Leave him be,” shrugged the old woman. “He might be the heir to the Golden Throne, but he’s your father’s son before the Empress’ heir. If he’s anything like your father, he’ll come along. And we both know he is.”
“And... where is Ashen?”
Cessilia turned to her grandmother, raising an eyebrow. She was pretty sure she had left her grandmother with him just minutes ago, so why did only the old lady come out of the castle? However, Lady Kareen shrugged, looking unbothered as always.
“How would I know?” she said. “He’s a King, he has to be busy with something. What about you, my darling?”
“I was on my way to visit the Cheshi Clan... Actually, Grandmother, you should probably come too. I have a few questions for them, but you’re the one who knows dragons best in the Dragon Empire.”
Lady Kareen tilted her head, intrigued.
“They are an old clan,” Cessilia quickly explained. “Somehow related to Mom’s native tribe...”
“Yes,” sighed Kareen. “Your brother sort of explained it to me, although I am still quite interested by all this. What does it have to do with me, though?”
