“Did he mention which one?” she asked softly.
“W-which one?”
“Which one of my daughters your King wanted to marry.”
Once again, he lost his confidence. What should he say? Should he lie, and try asking for any? Or should he simply pretend it was up for them to decide? If the Water Goddess knew the truth, she would probably not agree to this...
Still, seeing how he was taking his time to answer, Cassandra let out a little sigh.
“...I see.”
What did she see? Yassim was worried. Had he been exposed already? She was definitely a smart woman; how dare he lie to a living deity! Who was he to come all the way here and ask for a princess to go back with him...
Cassandra didn’t add anything, but she kept walking in the same direction. She didn’t even look offended in any way, but as calm as she was before she had asked the question. Yassim kept following her, still stunned a bit more each second by this woman. All the servants were politely bowing and greeting her, and she’d reply with a smile or a polite answer, very differently from the arrogance he had been prepared for from the Dragon Empire’s people.
They finally arrived in what seemed like a large garden, a very, very large garden within the palace’s walls. This Empire’s Palace seemed as large as a small city from the outside, but Yassim had never imagined it would be so vast it could actually have such a grand garden; it even had a lake! The place was lovely, though, and the grass was very green despite the sun and heat. There were a few trees here and there, and under one of them, nearest to the lake, a group of young people were seated.
Cassandra was walking toward the group, and Yassim immediately noticed the striking resemblance between her and... some of those children. There were only two young women, circled by several younger children on the grass. From what Yassim could see, only one of the two young women had the same green eyes as the Water Goddess. She was young, but already a true beauty, captivating the young ones as she read them a book. She had long hair, just a shade darker than her mother’s, and darker, tanned skin; so pretty, a bronze color, almost golden under the sunlight. The contrast with her green eyes was absolutely striking and beautiful.
Her back against the tree, she was reading the book she had in her hands to the rest of the group. She had a very pleasant voice, almost as if she was singing, and all of the other children were visibly deeply involved in her reading, sitting with their bodies leaning toward her, or on their stomachs.
“...And the young man ventured for days alone in that desert. He was thirsty, and the scorching heat was terrible to bear, burning his skin. Yet, he kept putting one foot in front of the other, bravely. He knew he had to go through this trial if he hoped to save his family. He spent many, many days in the desert, and could only rest a few hours, once the sun set and the gentle moon rose. Each night, the beautiful moon reminded him of his lover’s beautiful white hair, and gave him courage again for the next day. So, each morning at sunrise, he rose like the sun, and resumed his long, long journey through the desert.”
“...And on the fifteenth day,” said Cassandra. “He found an oasis.”
All the children looked back, only noticing them now.
“Mommy!” shouted two of the boys in the group.
They suddenly stood up and ran to their mother. Neither of them looked older than ten years old... The older one of the two arrived first, hugging his mom’s legs, while the younger one grabbed her hand.
“Mommy, Cessi was reading us a great story!”
“I know, I love that story.”
Yassim was baffled. There were a dozen children there, and from what he could see, half of them had light-colored skin! Not as white as the Water Goddess’, but definitely lighter than any other person’s skin in the Dragon Empire. He was dying to ask if all six were her children, including the two young women. Aside from the older boy who had run to his mother, only one of the boys and one of the girls on the grass also had green eyes; all the other children’s eyes were dark. But the fact that the one holding her hand had black eyes meant not all her children had inherited that feature...
“Children, this is Yassim the Wise. He came from the Eastern Kingdom.”
All the children suddenly turned their eyes to him, and for a second, the old man felt a bit panicked. However, things didn’t turn out at all like he had expected. Actually, the children with darker skin stood up and bowed politely before leaving the grounds. ...Were those children of servants? The ones with lighter skin that remained were obviously related to the Imperial Family, and they all wore purple or green clothing...
“From the Eastern Kingdom?” said the other young woman, sitting next to the one who was reading. “Really?”
She bore a close resemblance to the girl next to her, but she had dark eyes, freckles on her nose, and her hair was cut at an unusual shoulder length. She exchanged a look with the young woman next to her.
“Yes, my lady,” replied Yassim, bowing.
“This young woman is Tessa, my niece,” said Cassandra. “Next to her is my oldest daughter, Cessilia. Then, there’s my third-born daughter, Sadara...”
Sadara waved shyly at him, her big green eyes sparkling with interest. Next to her was a boy about the same age as her and, unlike his younger brothers, he hadn’t moved and was frowning instead.
“Mother, what does he want?!”
“This impolite child is my third son, Shenan. And those two are his little brothers, Kassein and Sepheus.”
Yassim kept nodding, wondering if it was important he remembered all those names. He was trying to do the math in his head to understand how many children the Water Goddess had. With five boys and three girls, it meant... at least eight children?
“Where are Kiera and Raissa?” she asked the two young women.
“Raissa is with Mom,” answered Tessa. “Kiera... was with us until an hour ago, I think?”
Cassandra sighed.
“She probably ran off somewhere again... Did she leave Kiki here?”
The two girls exchanged a look.
“I’m not sure...” finally muttered Tessa.
The Princess’ mother didn’t look too happy with that answer. To Yassim’s surprise, she turned her eyes toward the sky and the walls of the garden, as if she was looking around for something.
“Krai!” she suddenly called loudly.
Yassim froze, hearing a sudden, loud noise one second later like an earthquake, as well as a gust of wind. He could tell something big was moving on the other side of that wall, something very, very big. A fright chilled the old man’s body, as a shadow suddenly grew in front of them. Something dark and incredibly huge...
“There you are,” sighed Cassandra.
The gigantic Black Dragon stood with all its might, grabbing the top of that wall with its claws as if to support its humongous weight with it. Yassim was struck both by the magnificence and scary size of that creature. Its scales were shining like onyx under the sunlight, and its big, red eyes were like ruby jewels, both gleaming and frightening. It moved its body with surprising grace considering its size, and its movements were akin to a snake or a feline. Its front paws landed one after the other in the grass, and Yassim couldn’t help but take a step back as this creature was now in the garden, headed in their direction.
