#106 The Capitalâs Gate
The wait in the line was awfully long. There were a lot of people waiting to get inside the Capital, a lot
of them getting impatient too. Cassandra and Missandra did their best to keep their heads low, the
younger sister trying to mimic her older sister. The big rings of metal around their neck were actually
old slavery collars that Verna had retrieved from girls that had bought their freedom. The lock was
broken, and they could easily be opened, but it wouldnât be visible to the guards, as they were wearing
shawls and covering their napes with their hair.
Verna was the worst actress of the three. She kept glancing down at Kassian, looking very awkward.
The baby didnât seem to care much for who carried him, his eyes were constantly following his mother.
Meanwhile, the one supposed to return as his mother looked like she was horribly embarrassed to be
carrying a baby. Thankfully, Kian was quietly staying in the forest. Cassandra was scared, though.
Even if, after several attempts, she had managed to have him stay behind, actually ready for a little
nap, she was afraid the baby dragon would come out at any . moment and betray them. She was
counting on the crowd, though. Kian had never seen so many humans in one place since he was born
and stayed away from strangers too. Hopefully, he would find something to distract him long enough in
the forest before she called him to fly overâ¦
When they were only a few people away from the guards, both sisters tried to pay close attention to the
guards. The men were obviously not paying much attention and bored with that job. Moreover, people
were angry about waiting, several officials didnât even hold back on complaining and scolding them.
Hence, the soldiers were doing their best to check on the people quickly and move on to the next one.
This was a piece of good news. They probably wouldnât check too long either.
âYou, with the baby,â called one of them when Verna stepped forward. âIs that your kid?â
âItâs my niece, Iâm bringing her back to my brother, his wife couldnât take it anymore and left him alone
with the kid. Can you believe that?â
âWhat bitch. Your niece is cute! My wife just had twins, all they do is cry⦠You look lucky, sheâs quite
behaved. Can I see your bag?â
âSure, here. So far so good, but itâs almost her milk time. Gotta give her back to her dadâ¦â
âOh, sure. Wait, are those slaves with you?â
Missandra and Cassandra, keeping their heads down, stepped closer to Verna. They could barely
breathe, but everything was going well so farâ¦
âYeah. Is there anything wrong?â
âYou have two slaves? You donât look that wealthyâ¦â
Missandra felt a pearl of sweat going down her spine. That damn guard, couldnât he just mind his own
business!
âHey, I donât have the looks but I work hard. Red District pays well, hun. I actually got those two from
their masters, at a good price too. Just check the bag, youâll see I have plenty of what I had prepared
left.â
âOh⦠I see. Be careful though, theyâre being stricter on the laws about the slaves. Well, those two look
pretty fat, probably not too bad, eh?â
Cassandra went red. That was her first time being called fat! She had just given birth, but still!
Missandra, making sure to keep her head down, could keep herself from rolling her eyes. Stupid
soldier.
âAlright, youâre free to go. Come on people, letâs get moving!â
Finally, they were able to get in, making sure to walk away from the crowd and get into one of the
narrower streets. Cassandra let out a long sigh of relief.
âI canât believe that workedâ¦
âMe neither, but anyway,â said Verna. âJust take back your kid anywayâ¦â
Cassandra happily opened her arms. She was glad to finally take back her son, and the baby
immediately gripped a strand of her hair. She smiled at him, but Kassian really didnât look upset in any
way, his eyes riveted on the strand of black hair with a familiar little frown on.
âGood one, making him pass for a girl,â chuckled Missandra. âYouâre smarter than you look.â
Verna glared at her while taking the bag away from Missandra, furiously starting to rummage through
its content.
âOh, shut up. Now, where the heck is my money! You betterâ¦â
Before Verna could finish her sentence, a sudden ruckus was heard behind them. Cassandra went
white. People were screaming towards the gate, some pointing fingers towards the sky. Someone
yelled about a horrible monster flying. Missandra grimaced.
âI think the other baby decided not to wait for the cueâ¦â
Sure enough, they soon spotted Kian, quickly flying their way, shedding off some of his fake feathers
and his wings flapping off a lot of dust too. Somewhere behind him, the girls heard some soldiers
scream about a chase. They would have no problem chasing the dragon now!
âOh, crap!â
Reacting immediately, Missandra grabbed her sisterâs hand, and they ran away, taking a different
street. Verna didnât follow them and ran in another direction, holding their bag closely. The two sisters
had no time to care about that theft. They started running across the streets, trying to hide from the
soldiers. Behind them, Kian had fun flying to follow them, but Missandra quickly caught the baby
dragon, making sure his flying above their heads wouldnât give away their position.
Cassandra was holding Kassian tightly, completely panicked. She had no idea where they were
headed, she was blindly following her younger sister and praying. They ran for a while, until Missandra
suddenly grabbed Cassandraâs hand, pulling her into her hideout. It was a gardenâs little back door,
who looked locked from the outside, but only needed a little push to be opened on an abandoned
garden. It was a very small one, where Krai wouldnât even have been able to lend on. Both sisters ran
in, and Missandra quickly closed the door behind her. They put their backs against the door,
immediately getting quick, listening to the soldiersâ steps. It was hard to know their position, the men
kept yelling orders at all times. They heard them running past the door, and waiting, trying to control
their breathing and hold on to both babies.
Kassian was wiggling around in Cassandraâs arms, looking uncomfortable, probably unhappy about the
race from earlier. Kian, too, didnât like being kept. He struggled in Missandraâs arms, his tail wagging
angrily. Thankfully, she had learned better about how to handle a baby dragon and kept her hand tight
around his snout to avoid any bites.
The sisters waited like this for a few more minutes. They needed to catch their breaths, and they were
both terrified. Those men had seen Kian, and they would probably realize Cassandra was back into the
Capital too⦠After a while, everything was back to being quiet around them. Cassandra fell on her butt,
her back still against the door, sighing. She couldnât believe it⦠They really made it with her sisterâs
crazy plan. She took off the fake collar, leaving it there, and rubbed Kassianâs little hands to calm
herself.
âIâm so exhausted,â sighed Missandra. âI hope your people have a good bed for usâ¦â
âMe too. That woman took our moneyâ¦â
âVerna? No, she didnât. I have it there.â
Missandra suddenly pulled out the little purse from under her shawl. Cassandra had lost hers while
they were
running, but that didnât matter much anymore. She frowned.
âBut she had it while we were checked. How did youâ¦â
âWhen she grabbed the bag away from me, ironically.â
Cassandra sighed.
âMieâ¦â
âWhat? We need that money, just in case. Plus, she wonât even know where we are going now, soâ¦â
Cassandra kept shaking her head. Missandra was truly another level of mischievous. Well, at least they
had some money left for them not to worry in case something happened at the residence. Cassandra
didnât know what to expect there, but she hoped her friends would be able to help them out. They had
been sleeping in the woods for a week with a baby and a dragon baby, and they could use a good
nightâs sleepâ¦
âHow did you know that door wasnât locked?â
âI know several good hideouts like these throughout the City⦠Itâs kind of useful when you need to run
away.â
âMissandraâ¦â
âWhat? I already told you I really pissed off a lot of people!â
âWe need to talk about your debt once this is all over,â sighed Cassandra.
Missandra shrugged.
âAnyway. Do you know how far we are from your residence?â
Cassandra took a deep breath, trying to remember which part of the Capital they were in, first. It was
such a large city, and they had run through several streets, too. Cassandra wasnât familiar with all the
districts, but she could remember the way from the gate. Judging from how much they had run earlier,
they probably werenât too far.
âAbout ten minutes awayâ¦â
âAlright, then letâs wait a bit more to be sure those soldiers are gone and goâ¦â
Cassandra nodded. She got up and, as all gardens had one, went to wash away the tan from her
hands and face. With her shawl and their spare clothing gone, there was no use trying to walk around
with her hands and face being darker than her arms. She quickly washed all of the dye away,
Missandra doing the same after her. They still both had black hair, but their skin was back to their
original porcelain color.
Meanwhile, the young Prince and young Dragon had been playing next to them, on the shawl
Missandra had laid down for them. The human baby was still too young to move around, but heâd grab
Kianâs tail and hold on despite the young dragonâs attempts to waggle him off. Cassandra chuckled
about catching that scene, and took Kassian in her arms, kissing his plump little cheek gently. The baby
grabbed her dress with a pout on.
âAlright, letâs go,â she sighed.
They couldnât put Kian in the bag anymore, as Verna had run away with it, so Missandra wrapped the
little dragon in her shawl, trying to cover his head as much as she could like he was some package.
Thankfully, it was dusk now. The sky was getting darker, and hopefully, their chances to be spotted as
well. Both sisters carefully walked out of their hideout, Missandra walking ahead to check each street
first. They were extremely careful, but luckily, they didnât run into any soldiers. Following Missandraâs
directions, they went to the most crowded streets, hiding among the people, acting as if they were just
passing by. Cassandra was afraid to be spotted the most. Holding Kassian against her chest, she
desperately tried not to look up the sky. If only a black dragon could have appeared nowâ¦
Finally, after waiting in a narrow street for a bunch of soldiers doing their patrol to leave, they arrived in
the street of Cassandraâs residence. She felt a bit nervous. What if Vrehan knew about this place?
What if something had happened while she was away? What if they were locked out, without any help
and only a bit of money left?
Cassandra took a big breath, and knocked at the door, while her younger sister was watching around.
The street
was deserted, thankfully, but at first, no one answered her knock. She tried again, worried. She hadnât
come here in agesâ¦
âThis is a private residence!â Yelled a voice from behind the door. âState your name and your business!â
Despite the rude answer, Cassandra smiled immediately.
âYasora! Itâs me, Cassandra. Open please!â
âDonât yell that!â Missandra said, looking worried.
âOh, by the Gods! Finally!â
Finally, the woman opened the door, and grabbed Cassandraâs wrist, pulling her in. Yasora was
wearing a green dress, her hair was braided down, with some white streaks in it. She seemed to have
aged a bit, but she actually looked much healthier than the last time Cassandra had seen it, with a bit
more weight on.
As Missandra and Cassandra walked in, they were surprised to see several lights on in the residence.
Yasora wouldnât let go of Cassandraâs hand, almost shaking.
âWe were waiting for you two!â said the older woman, her eyes looking as if she was about to cry. âI
was starting to fear something had happened to you! Now, come in!â