“If Lady Cessilia becomes Queen! What will you do? Do you want a family too?”

Naptunie’s questions could be innocent yet deadly. Tessandra blushed even more and tried hard not to glance in Sabel’s direction. She had been so bashful recently, now she had lost all of her defenses against him! How was the hunter now the prey? It didn’t make sense. She tried to channel her inner dragon and calm her red cheeks, answering Naptunie without looking at her brother behind her.

“I don’t know yet. I do want children, but I also want a career. All the women in my family are impressive in their own fields... I know my mother wants me to inherit the family business, but I don’t want to. My sister can have it. Plus, Cessi is my best friend. If she stays here, so will I.”

“...Would you really be fine living here forever?”

Sabael’s question was less innocent than it seemed. She finally glanced at him, and immediately looked away. Of course, he was staring. Serious, but intense, as always. Tessandra silently thanked the gods she didn’t have a dragon. She could imagine the damn creature helplessly and shamelessly purring at each of the handsome soldier’s words and glances... Right now, the dragon was in her stomach, twisting it and rendering her mute. How was she supposed to answer him?!

“Maybe. I can travel, anyway.”

She had said that while stubbornly staring at the stones on the castle’s walls. There really was nothing to see on those walls, so she pretended to be absorbed in one of the tinted glass windows, but they quickly walked past it. They had accelerated their steps, even walking ahead of Cessilia and Ashen, and she was now wondering how far Sabael was going to accompany them. She was fine sharing her room or Cessilia’s with Naptunie, but being in the same room as Nana’s brother was a promise of disaster for her pride. She mentally harangued herself about that drunken night, for the twelfth time of the day. She had ruined all her efforts to appear like a calm, proud, and strong-headed woman to Sabael and made an embarrassment out of herself! She was so mad at herself, and she couldn’t even understand why Sabael had seemingly changed his attitude toward her. ...What had really happened that night? She couldn’t remember most of it after meeting the handsome soldier, only the most embarrassing part! For the daughter of a family with an alcohol business, it was a shame! Tessandra could endure anything, any insult made at her, and any attempt to ridicule her, except making a fool of herself. There was no way to win a fight with her most embarrassing self and no walking away either. She was stuck with her own betrayal. The absolute worst...

“Ah... I’m so tired,” groaned Nana. “I just want to lay down and sleep. Oh, and a hot bath too.”

“Great idea!” said Tessandra, feeling saved. “Let’s bathe together. Between girls. Cessi, do you think we could– ...Cessi?”

The three of them turned around, only to find no trace of the King and Cessilia. Tessandra grimaced.

“They... They ditched us!” exclaimed Nana.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 18

“Ashen...”

His large hands were going all over her body, warming her gently. She had no idea how his skin could be warmer than a dragon’s, but she didn’t want him to stop touching her ever. His hands were always rough, calloused, and a bit dry, but he still touched her so gently every single time. As if she was the most fragile, precious thing in this world.

With only one arm below her butt, holding her effortlessly against a wall, and Cessilia being a bit higher than him, the two of them hid to be intimate. She kept caressing his thick neck and combing his white hair with her fingers. She liked the length of it, which took her fingertips down to his large back. She had always been the tallest among most girls she knew, but Ashen made her feel like a small doll. Each time he raised his eyes to look at her, his dark irises glowed with a secret message only for her, right before they began kissing again.

When he had pulled her into a small, almost secret side passageway of the castle, taking her away from the rest of their little group, she hadn’t resisted. They had snuck away like a pair of young lovers who couldn’t hold it anymore. The feeling of guilt toward her cousin and friends was quickly erased by the taste of Ashen’s kisses, and the pleasure of this stolen moment between them. She could always face Tessa’s wrath later...

“You were so pretty,” he muttered in between two kisses.

“Huh?”

“In the rain. Helping people... You’re so beautiful when you’re focused.”

Cessilia blushed. Ashen was terribly blunt and straightforward when it came to praising her, and she was not used to such compliments. He smiled at her soft blushing and kissed her rosy cheeks one after the other, then her lips. They resumed their kissing, neither of them tired of it. Ashen seemed to be holding her as if she weighed absolutely nothing, and they were so serene, just the two of them in this small hideout, they probably would have stayed there for a while longer if Cessilia hadn’t shivered.

“...You should change,” muttered Ashen, frowning.

“I’m a-alright.”

“No. Come on.”

Ashen gently let her down, and took her hand, guiding her through the castle. Cessilia had never seen most of the corridors and stairs they took, but she could tell they were headed to his room. He was indeed very familiar with this place, moving with ease and finding the most secretive ways to go without running into anyone. This castle was more complex than it seemed on the outside, Cessilia had already noticed almost nothing was symmetrical nor predictable, some stairs leading to half-floors or getting narrower and leading to only one room.

There were some places they couldn’t avoid, however. Soon enough, they reached a larger, central room they had to cross to get upstairs. Cessilia had briefly crossed this place before; it was one floor above the Cerulean Suite. Just as Ashen was leading her, he suddenly stopped and pulled her to get behind him. Cessilia frowned but caught a quick glimpse of what was going on. They had just run into some unpleasant acquaintances...

“Your Majesty,” said the leader of the Yekara Clan.

“...Lord Yebekh,” muttered Ashen, “what are you doing here?”

“I was simply taking a stroll with my daughter and niece, Your Majesty. After all, they should get quite used to this place as well, for the future.”

Behind him, Safia and Ashra smiled at the King, like two vipers at their prey. Cessilia glared right back at those two. Out of all the candidates, the Yekara women were the worst. She couldn’t stand their haughty attitude and even worse, their lascivious looks in the King’s direction. Ashen’s hand held hers a bit tighter as if to reassure her.

“You should be careful with your expectations, Yebekh. Your people are getting greedy.”

What was that about? Cessilia frowned. What did the Yekara Clan do now? She almost regretted not staying for their council this morning. She had thrown facts in their faces angrily, but she had left Ashen alone against those vultures... Lord Yebekh wasn’t losing his composure at all. This man was thin and tall, with a long beard caught in a single silver bead, and his long hair in a myriad of thin dreadlocks, large eyes, and oily skin, like an eel. He didn’t seem like a warrior like his people, only thin and almost sickly under his large, thick clothes. He definitely had the eyes and attitude of a schemer, instead.

“Are they?” he chuckled, raising a thread-thin eyebrow. “I am only hoping for the very best for this Kingdom. But fear not, Your Majesty. My daughter and niece will be benevolent. Even if you decide to take a concubine... or a few.”

Cessilia wasn’t phased by this man’s insult. She had heard much worse, and she believed in Ashen too. She would never be just a concubine. This was the low attempt of the Yekara Leader to bring her down again when he had already failed miserably this morning.

“You are overestimating your candidates,” retorted Ashen. “I don’t see any woman with the potential of a queen standing behind you.”

“It’s too bad Your Majesty can’t see it. The daughters of the Yekara Clan have every single quality needed to become a queen, they have it all. Beauty, intelligence, and most importantly, the skill to lead or support a leader. They will make perfect brides... even if they don’t rely on a dragon.”

Cessilia scoffed, stepping forward and out of Ashen’s shadow.

“D-do you really think a d-dragon is all I have t-to offer? His M-Majesty and I just c-came back from the Outer C-Capital. We were helping the p-people against the flood. I d-don’t believe we saw anyone from your c-clan.”

“Why should we bother with the low-borns and criminals of the Outer Capital?” retorted Yebekh, losing his smile. “Does the Princess believe those people will make you Queen, perhaps? They are irrelevant! Saving those people is useless, they will die of any disease they brought with them or in our streets like the rats they are!”

“How dare you call our people rats?” roared Ashen, stepping forward angrily. “They are our people!”

The Yekara Leader shook his head slowly.

“They are our pests, Your Majesty. The annoying symptoms of the disease that’s taken over our once glorious Kingdom. The weak shall die for the survival of the strongest, so we can keep the very best and make this Kingdom strong again. It might be cruel, but this is the only way our Kingdom will get back to its former glory. The survival of the fittest will bring a new dawn. We shouldn’t let everybody starve for the sake of some weak-hearted believers in a miracle that won’t happen. Get rid of the useless, only keep those who can be beneficial to our Kingdom. The poor keep reproducing like rats, which will only suck our nation’s wealth from the inside.”

“...You’re d-disgusting,” retorted Cessilia.

“Sorry to hurt your dream, Princess, but the Eastern Kingdom is different from your Empire,” hissed Safia.

“That’s right,” said her father. “We have limited resources, and way too many people, beggars, trying to get to it. We cannot afford to let this nation bleed out more from useless blood-suckers. The strongest shall survive.”

Ashen chuckled, although there was nothing joyous in his voice.

“You sound like my father,” he said, “and that’s not a compliment.”

“Your father may have had some wrongs, Your Highness,” retorted Yebekh, “but at least he had the guts to lead this country with a strong hand. One king cannot reign by only listening to his personal whims... or have eyes for one woman.”

“Watch your mouth, Yebekh. I don’t tolerate traitors.”

“Your Majesty, I’m only telling some truths, as any wise man would advise his King... or warn him.”