Chapter 26
The Weeds & Herbs
The Prince’s words from that morning still followed Cassandra’s steps as she made her way across the
camp. Evin followed her, but both were silent. At times, she wondered if she was just living in a dream.
In her dream, everything would suddenly end when she opened her eyes and found herself sleeping in
a cold cell of the Emperor’s Arena again, or back in Lyria’s ve room. However, the cold on her
cheeks was real, and so was the snow under her footsteps. Cassandra didn’t want to think too much
about it. She missed having a friend to talk to, and Evin probably wasn’t a good recement.
It had been only two days since she came to the Camp, but she felt theck of another feminine
presence. Cassandra often thought of the other girls from the Castle, wondering how they were doing,
if their life had gotten better without the Governor there. She didn’t really dare to ask the Prince when
they would be going back. He had already made an extra trip to bring her here.
That was another reason why she wanted to keep herself busy.
Cassandra wasn’t totally unhappy in the camp. She was discovering many things she had never seen
before, and was basically free to go anywhere she wanted. Her red dress, and the imperial servant
following her, were enough of an exnation for the men who had never seen her before, and even a
few high-ranked soldiers took time to salute her politely when she crossed their paths. It was clear that
no one really knew how to interact with her, though. For the Third Prince to actually have a Concubine
was already surprising enough; no one really wanted to ask more. The rumors about the Pce
concubines’ legendary attitudes and willfulness was enough to keep most men at bay.
Cassandra was actually able to enjoy her walk all the way to the mountain, as soon as she had
stopped thinking about the Prince’s request that morning.
Once she got to the Red Room, however, quite a surprise was waiting for her. About three times more
men than the previous day were all helping around the room, and there was obviously a lot going on,
with people moving the injured in or out of the room. She stayed at the entrance, a bit surprised, when
four of them rushed to her.
“Good Morning, Madam!”
“Good Morning…Excuse me, but… howe so many people are…volunteering today?” she asked, a
bit unsure, while Evin took off her fur cloak.
One of the men stepped forward. Cassandra recognized him as one of those who were present the
previous day.
“Actually, once we got back to our units, we talked with some others about what we had done, madam,
and many wanted toe and help. The word kind of spread quickly, and even the men who had
punitions asked to be sent here.”
“I see…”
Cassandra was at bit of a loss. She didn’t expect so many people to show up after only one day!
“Madam, we are almost at the end of your notes, and we have counted everyone and reported their
status, as you said,” the man announced proudly. “We already asked for permission to use the closest
rooms and started moving some people, following your notes. Do you want to check?”
“Yes, uh…”
It took a few minutes for Cassandra to get a hold of the situation and move forward, while the men
were apparently waiting for her directions. Taking a deep breath, she took a look at the full list that they
had done their best atpleting while she was gone.
“All right, I will… Wait, everyone stop what you’re doing!”
Every man in the room looked at her, surprised. Cassandra, remembering this morning’s conversation
with the
Prince, couldn’t leave things as they were.
“I want everyone to get out of the room and go wash your hands and faces with clean water. Onlye
back once you have some tissue on your face, like I did yesterday.”
They all exchanged nces, surprised by her strange request. As Cassandra suspected, these men
didn’t know the basics of hygiene and self-protection while handling the wounded or sick people. And
unlike her, they had received no form of protection against diseases. If things went on like this, she
would do more harm than good, as the volunteers would soon fall sick too.
Hence, the first part of that matinee was focused on Cassandra showing them how to properly wash
their hands and wear fabrics over their mouth and noses to protect themselves. She also checked their
hands before they walked back in. ?
“What are you looking for, Madam?” asked one of the men.
“Little cuts, open skin…Any kind of opening can let the disease into your own body, I want to avoid that.
Thankfully, most of you have thick skin thanks tobat training, but…”
If she had any kind of doubt, Cassandra asked the men to do something that wouldn’t involve touching
the injured people, like gathering clothes or herbs for her. The others kept moving people to the
different rooms following her notes.
By noon, all the people had been moved to different rooms, and following Cassandra’s request, the
men had gathered a lot of herbs in various baskets that she intended to keep in a storage room. Two of
the men looked at the now empty red room in disgust.
“I can’t believe almost two hundred men were here. Damn, there are even insects!”
“That’s why we need to clean it.”
They both turned to Cassandra, shocked. She wanted to clean that? The blood had stained the ground,
some remnants were clearly from human defecations, and it had smelled so bad for months! But as the
Prince’s concubine began bringing in clear water and brooms, it was apparently decided.
“Are you sure, Madam? This ce is really…”
“Disgusting? Yes, but this is thergest room here, and we will need it. Nothing here is uncleanable,
and we need to make use of any resource we can.”
Actually, no one was really enthusiastic about cleaning that room. Saying it was awfully dirty and
disgusting was still an understatement. However, as soon as Cassandra started cleaning, three of the
men rushed to take it all out of her hands.
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“Madam, do you want us to lose our dignity as men? We can’t let the Commander-in-Chief’s woman
dirty her hands while we watch!”
“We would lose our heads for sure!”
Cassandra chuckled a bit, but before she could protest, she was gently pushed out of the room and the
men started cleaning despite the horrid task. She sighed.
“I feel a bit bad leaving them to do this…”
“Don’t be. They were right about probably losing their heads,” said Evin, very calmly.
The Imperial Servant was the only one who hadn’t helped at all. Actually, he had spent all day following
Cassandra like a shadow, making sure she didn’t injure herself or got her dress dirty. It was too much
for her at times, but neither her attempts to have him stop or the res from the men could stop Evin.
“Madam, you should have lunch now. His Highness won’t like it if you skip meals.”
“Yes, yes…”
“Madam,e and eat with us!”
Several of the men now started bickering about which unit she should have lunch with, surprising
Cassandra. When had things be like this? She thought they were merely following her directions,
not that she had gained poprity! 1
“Which is the closest?” She asked, hoping to put an end to the argument before it turned into a fight.
It was then decided that she would eat with the nearby third unit of charioteers. To her surprise, Evin
had someone bring lunch for her, with the usual cheese, fruits and meat. It was different from the
vegetables and meat the men were having, though. None of them seemed too bothered, which
surprised Cassandra at first. But thinking about it, she was having a meal befitting a member of the
Imperial Entourage, while those men were soldiers, and supposed to eat what they were given by the
army. Eating such luxury foods next to them was making her a bit ufortable.
“My Lady, how long will you stay with us?” asked one of the men as they were all sitting in a circle.
“I don’t know. My Lord hasn’t said anything about my stay here.”
“Probably only a few days. The Commander-in-Chiefes and goes back pretty often. You won’t like
it, Madam. As soon as the barbarian’s attack, it can be up to a week of fighting and it gets nasty!”
“Do you still get attacks?” Cassandra asked, worried.
The men shrugged.
“It happens. We don’t really know where theye from because no matter how many times we push
them back into the mountain, they eventuallye back.”
“When it’s been quiet like this for a few weeks, the next strike is usually stronger. Nothing to worry
about, though.”
Cassandra nodded. She was a bit surprised how calm the men were about this. But it did appear true.
There were very few injuries actually,pared to the size of the Camp. The men, thinking she was
impressed, went on to talk about their aplishments within the camps or in battle, and Cassandra
listened for the rest of the lunch.
She kept it short, however, as she wanted to get as much as she could done before sunset. Hence,
they all returned to the mountain soon after. Now that the injured and sick were properly sorted, and
she had men cleaning the
room, Cassandra started sorting the herbs she had at her disposal. It was no use treating people if she
didn’t have the resources. Six men helped her count the quantities, but they were still confused.
“Are you sure, Madam? Most of those are just wild herbs and weeds.”
“No nt is useless. We just don’t know all their properties yet.”
To be precise, the Dragon Empire’s people didn’t. They had gathered everything they could, but the
men were totally clueless about what those weeds were good for. Yet, the Prince’s Concubine started
sorting them under their eyes and showed them how to wash the nts without wasting any of them.
Soon, they started repeating her moves, sorting, and cleaning all of the green mess.
“Can we get more?” asked Cassandra.
“We need to ask the ountants to buy more, or have more men gather them from the nearby
mountains… Don’t you have enough, Madam?”
She sighed.
“Certainly not, if I hope to treat as many as I can…can I let you handle these? I’ll be back soon.”
“Yes, Madam!”
With that, Cassandra left the premises, still followed by Evin, who looked unhappy.
“They won’t appreciate it.”
“I just need to ask for herbs.”
“They won’t like it. More herbs means more work, more men mobilized. The ountants do not like
buying and giving anything away without getting something back. They will require a high rank official’s
approval. You’re not a high rank official, Madam.”
Cassandra sighed. It wouldn’t hurt to ask. Evin guided her through the Camp, on which it had started
snowing. The sun was slowly starting its descent, meaning Cassandra only had about an hour or so left
before she had to go back to the Prince’s tent. She wondered if she could expect another dragon ride,
or if she should think about the walk back.
Finally, the duo arrived in front of another tent, as Evin guided her.
“The Head ountant’s office…well, tent.”
As soon as she stepped in, Cassandra knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Because the Head
ountant turned out to be the man whose report had been interrupted by her arrival the previous
evening.
“Well, if it isn’t Her Mightiness,” sighed the man.
The ountant was a tall but thin man, with a thin mustache and a crooked nose. From his attitude,
Cassandra could tell he already didn’t think much of her.
“Good afternoon, Sir. May I take some of your time?”
“What would the Commander-in-Chief’s Concubine need me for?”
“I wanted to ask for some resources.”
“Shouldn’t you just ask the Commander-in-Chief for that? Isn’t that how a concubine is supposed to do
things?”
Cassandra exchanged a look with Evin. Though he was still polite, the Head ountant was clearly
set on giving her a hard time.
“What I need isn’t for my personal needs. I wanted to ask for some herbal medicine.”
The man frowned, apparently surprised.
“What is that for?”
“For the men who were in the red…I mean, in the mountain’s rooms. I want to gather some herbs and
make medicine out of it to help them, but with what has been gathered I won’t have enough.”
The man put down the papers in his hands and crossed his arms, visibly doubtful.
“Make medicine? You?”
“Yes. I know of some techniques that can-”
“Why would I waste resources on a concubine and sick men? I have no proof that you can do anything
you say, and I have no intention to waste anything on dying men.”
“These men are your fellow soldiers! How can you-”
“They’re a deficit of money. I see numbers all day, woman, and these men are nothing but a waste of
resources and energy on my papers. If they die, I hope they die soon and stop wasting extra food and
time. We already have
doctors who tend to the people we really need here.”
He had said those words while frowning at Cassandra, clearly giving into his contempt.
She was so angry, her fists were shaking. How could a man be so cruel and merciless! They were
talking about humans, not mere numbers!
Evin took a nce in her direction, wondering what she would do. From what he had seen, Cassandra
already had plenty of power in her hand, if only she dared to make use of the Third Prince’s Dragon
that seemed so smitten with her. However, he also learned that she had a strange temper.
“How many do you need?” she suddenly asked.
“Excuse me?”
“How many men do you want me to heal and send back to their units to prove that it is worth using
money, and that my medicine works?”
The head ountant looked at her, speechless for the first time.What was this crazy woman thinking
now?!