Dragon's Heir
The Prince's sudden anger made everyone step back, fear and surprise on every face. Then, one of the older men stepped up, standing in front of Cassandra.
"Young Lady, if I may..."
He leaned in to observe the collar, and Cassandra held her long hair out of the way. She could feel the old blacksmith's hands examining the collar, checking the system and metal. After a while, he stood up and turned to the Prince.
"It won't be easy, My Lord. Those things have really precise systems."
"Can you do it or not?"
"We can try, but...this type of lock isn't made to simply be undone, Commander."
He turned to one of his colleagues, who nodded and examined Cassandra's collar too, but this time he used some tools. She could hear the mechanism at work, and her heart suddenly beat faster. Could they really do it? Could they take it off? Finally?
Kairen stood by her side without moving, his eyes fixated on her collar, not missing any of the blacksmiths' movements. For a long while, Cassandra sat with her head bent, wondering if this could really happen. But the longer it took, the more she doubted it. Those mechanisms were made so that slaves would not be able to escape. Many had tried to get rid of them already, but it was so complex.
Just as she started to feel discouraged, a large hand caressed her cheek. She smiled softly and closed her eyes, relying on the Prince's warmth. Cassandra slowly calmed down. She would be fine. Even if the collar didn't come off, she had him.
Suddenly, the sound of metal breaking was heard, and something scratched her. Cassandra frowned from the little pain, trying to touch the injury by reflex. The blacksmiths stepped back, looking terrified. The Prince was glaring at them.
"You useless..."
"We're so very sorry, Your Highness! This lock can't be undone simply by forcing it! The Dragon Empire would lose its slaves daily if we could."
As the man kept apologizing and explaining, Cassandra glanced at her shoulder to finally see what had happened. Her collar was still there, but one of the blacksmiths' instruments, something that looked like a thin little spindle, was half stuck in it, its other half broken on the floor. It had probably broken when trying to force open the collar's mechanism, and scratched her shoulder by accident.
Cassandra saw the Prince's hand going for the sword at his belt, but she immediately stood up in front of him, putting her hands on his torso, trying to get his attention on her.
"My Lord! It's fine, I expected so..."
"If those men were more competent..." he hissed, but Cassandra shook her head.
"No. They are right. It is this Empire's will that slaves shouldn't be freed so easily." Cassandra's words finally got to him, as he looked down at her.
It was his Empire, his father, and the slavery system that had put this collar on her neck from the beginning. Those blacksmiths were right. It was no easy matter, and not a simple collar. There was a lot more weight behind it, and Cassandra's sentence.
This did not cool down the Prince's anger one bit. He glared furiously at the men present, despite Cassandra's attempt to have him calm down. Clenching his fists, he resisted the urge to break or throw something across the tent with all his might.
