As the Earthern Cassie, she would've seen many problems with the city of Lyons. For one, most of the buildings would not pass a structural safety audit. Then there were the narrow alleyways and the lack of an effective sewerage system, which ensured that the streets flooded with rainwater and other bodily fluids and excrements during wet seasons. Hygiene should have been the number one concern, but it was difficult to think of anything worse than the smell because... God, the smell.
As the new, 'complete' version of herself with two souls combined, however, she felt Cassandra's girlish excitement for an excursion to the markets, where she could sample the variety of flavours, smell the strange combination of freshly baked pastries and exotic incenses (while conveniently ignoring the stink of piss). The air in the city was warm and jovial, as if the war was already won. From the sounds of Dane's letters, victory was within reach.
On a day like this, it was easy to let Cassandra's giddiness overpower Cassie's scepticism. A small part of her wanted to sing and dance like naive princesses did in Disney movies, though she would look more like a balloon bouncing through the streets in her heavily-pregnant state, and she wasn't sure how the citizens of Lyons would react to her busting out Lady Gaga's Bad Romance or Eminem's Slim Shady. Instead, she contented herself with humming to the tune of Pink Panther as she strolled down the bustling market lanes of Lyons with the slightest spring in her steps.
She guessed that with the reopened channel of communications between Lyons and the men at war, many city residents had also received letters from their loved ones in the army. Their faces shone with renewed hope, and the vendors were that much willing to share an extra portion of beef jerky and dried fruits. Even the four personal guards assigned to trail behind her and Lady Rivera for the day seemed to enjoy the sun, the walk and the open admiration of young girls who had a thing for men in uniform.
With a light mood came an increased appetite. Cassie reached a hand into the basket on Lady Rivera's arm for another serving of dried fruits, only to receive a slap on the hand. "You're eating too much!" Mother Viscountess snapped.
Cassie laughed and powered her way into the basket regardless. Her mother had eaten far more herself and this was a trip to town apparently for servicing Cassie's cravings. But she didn't care. They all needed to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. While there might be a war raging outside this city, people still needed to live. To live as people, and not just husks getting by with each day, eating less than the worry that ate them away. It was why she refused to allow herself to be consumed by fear for Dane's safety and of the mysterious woman who tried to murder her.
"Did you and Father ever wonder why I was so stupid?" Cassie asked, wondering if her soul-combination business had anything to do with the woman's desire to see her dead. It was something she probably should've asked a long time ago, but there was always some other business going on. Between the petitions she had to go through, regular consultations with the steward and the council, and everyone these days seeking her to help adjudicate this and that (even as they continued to speak behind her back about her scandalous pregnancy out of wedlock), there hadn't been very much parents-and-daughter heart-to-heart.
"We are too clever to waste time on such things, my dear." Lady Rivera took a healthy bite of a caramel-honey apple she bought for Cassie, then continued as she chewed, "Why would it matter? Most men don't care for women's brains. They want to marry someone pretty, who can give them an heir and seven spares. And we were right. Your husband didn't care very much about your brains, did he?"
Yeah, cause he was a shallow piece of shit. Cassie was confident that Dane was no longer as shallow, even if he still appreciated her looks. People did grow. Some did, anyway.
YOU ARE READING
Bride to the Cursed: a Snow White retelling
Fantasy[COMPLETED] When a king makes an order, he expects it to be followed. When King Dane divorced his wife, he expected her to get out of his sight and stay out of his sight. Not reappear three months later in his bed, spouting nonsense about being a 'l...
