Page 103 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

Alezya swallowed with difficulty. She had expected it, but at least now, her father would think she was talking merely out of fear, under duress, and against her will. She averted her eyes, looking down at the cold floor, watching her tears drop near her toes.

Those were tears of frustration, but it worked fine to fool them into thinking she had lost the battle already.

“I-I... I understand them,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“The Dragon Clan,” she whimpered. “I understand their language. I heard them speak... m-many times.”

“You?” her father spat. “ You speak the Dragon Clan’s language?”

“O-only a bit,” Alezya replied, “but... just enough that I learned things.”

“What did you learn?”

“The... Their dragon,” she whispered. “I know why it didn’t attack me the first time.”

Her father’s eyes opened wider. It was a mystery he had been dying to solve, that was for certain. No one had confronted Kein from as close as Alezya had and lived to tell the tale.

Strangely, she realized she still wasn’t sure exactly why she had been spared on her first encounter with the dragon, but she had some idea.

Perhaps Kein never meant to hurt those who didn’t harm it or its owner.

Perhaps it was reluctant to attack women, or perhaps it had understood Alezya’s defiant words.

She could almost smile at the memory now, but thankfully, she was avoiding her father’s eyes and still looking down, so he didn’t see it.

“Why?” he pressed her.

“It... It smelled her on me,” she mumbled. “Lumie. The dragon... It wants her.”

“Your bastard? Why would the dragon want her?”

“I-I’m not sure,” Alezya cried. “I-I think she’s different...”

She had thought about lying and saying that it liked children better, but Alezya didn’t trust her father and his peers not to start throwing innocent children in the dragon’s clutches. She was far more confident in Kein’s ability to not harm children than the clan chiefs.

“I knew there was something strange about that bastard!” her father gloated, suddenly excited. “Dragon food. She is meant to be a dragon’s offering! Then we will bring her to the council gathering...”

“You can’t!” Alezya shouted, acting panicked. “Don’t! Not her! You promised you would leave my child alone!”

“I have yet to see it with my own eyes,” his grin suddenly vanished, his eyes turning back to her. “What else did you learn? You were down there for days... Surely, you’ve learned more.”

“I won’t tell you,” Alezya cried with a defiant stare. “I won’t tell you another word until you let me see my child. You can’t sacrifice her. You don’t know a thing about the Dragon Clan, and I won’t say another word until I can hold Lumie in my arms.”

She felt the burn of the slap on her cheek before she even realized he’d slapped her.

Alezya hadn’t felt that kind of pain in a while, it took a few seconds for it to sink in, for her to comprehend it had been her father’s hand.

Perhaps Kassein’s gentle hands had made her forget for a while, but her body didn’t. Acting with the response engrained by years of abuse, it began to shiver and scream at Alezya to get away from that man. Against her better instincts, she bit her lower lip and glowered at him.

“Speak,” he hissed. “What else? How many men do they have? How many dragons are there? Is the black dragon dead? How do we kill them?”

Alezya remained silent. He slapped her again, but this time, she had been ready, at least mentally.

She involuntarily bit her lower lip deep because of the slap and felt blood pool on her bottom lip, a single tear sliding down her chin.

Her cheek burned, but she didn’t care. She just glared at her father, stubborn and quiet.

She was keeping to her word: he wouldn’t hear another word until she saw and held Lumie.

It was a huge gamble; either she had said too much or too little, but if she knew anything about that man, it was that his greed held no bounds, and she counted on it.

Information was power amongst the clans, and surely, he was far too greedy for power to let this unique opportunity go.

Even if he was aware Alezya was partly bluffing, he also knew she had spent far longer than anyone with the Dragon Clan, survived, and returned unharmed.

And he also knew there was nothing she wouldn’t do for Lumie.

“Speak,” he hissed again.

But this time, Alezya was certain she had him, and thus, she narrowed her own dark eyes in defiance.

Her father slapped her again, but this time, there was more frustration and less conviction, and Alezya could take it.

She could take anything her father threw at her so long as she got to hold Lumie again.

Finally, he gave her one last spiteful glare before turning to one of his men.

“Get the child,” he spat.

The man nodded and disappeared, and a wave of relief crashed over Alezya again.

“You will pay for your arrogance,” her father warned her. “You and your bastard will pay, Alezya. Your only value to this clan is the dragon you’re bearing. You will have a few more months to live thanks to it but trust me, you will pay for every fit of disobedience you throw.”

“You can’t harm me,” Alezya retorted. “You can’t risk me losing the child.”

“I can harm your other bastard.”

“Touch a hair on her head, and I swear I will stab myself. I will stab my womb and kill the child you want with it.”

Her father stared in shock for a few doubtful seconds.

A man like him couldn’t possibly imagine that she would go as far as harming herself to protect her child, but Alezya would have done this and worse without a doubt.

He had no idea how much she had already sacrificed for Lumie’s sake.

Harming her own body or taking her own life felt almost too easy in comparison.

She would have never wanted to harm a child conceived with Kassein, but since there was no child, she need not worry about that.

“You belong to this clan,” he hissed. “I am your Clan Chief, your only duty is to—”

“My only duty is to my child,” Alezya spat back. “I stopped belonging to this clan a long time ago, Father, and we both know it. Only Lumie matters to me now. So bring my child to me unharmed, and I will give you the secrets of the Dragon Clan. Otherwise, you won’t be getting anything from me.”

Her father’s fury was seeping out of him, but he could still see she was telling the truth; Alezya had been consistent about caring about nothing but Lumie.

She would have left this clan a long time ago for the way they had treated her if she hadn’t had her child with her.

She might have had better chances elsewhere, and little did he know that she now did, for certain.

Kassein had cared for her far beyond what she could have hoped; it was for the best that her father couldn’t conceive how blessed she would be to get back to the Dragon Clan.

He might have thought she had run away and escaped somehow, but he would never know she had left unwillingly.

The second Lumie was away and safe, Alezya would be ready to go back to Kassein or die trying. But first, she had to get her baby out of there.

“Alezya?”

Her father stepped away, and she saw her cousin, along with her husband, carefully holding Lumie in her arms. Alezya’s crying resumed as soon as her eyes found her baby girl’s, and Lumie’s clear eyes lit up in delight upon recognizing her mom.

It didn’t even take a second before the little girl’s arms were stretched toward her. Much to Alezya’s relief, her cousin barely gave her father a glance before bringing her child to her without waiting for approval.

Her father stepped back as if the child carried some awful disease, glaring at Lumie with sheer disgust on his face.

“Mama,” Lumie cooed, visibly delighted.

Her baby girl grabbed Alezya’s long strands of raven hair first thing, and Alezya cried her first tears of joy in a long while upon feeling her daughter’s body pressed against hers, the curves of their bodies melding together like they were always meant to.

“Oh, my Lumie,” Alezya cried, holding her tight.

Lumie had grown quite a bit, but thankfully, she looked completely healthy and quite happy too. She giggled at her mom’s hair tickling her skin and nuzzled herself in Alezya’s neck as she was pressed against her skin.

“She’s fine,” Zenia whispered, a sorry look in her eyes. “She’s been... really good.”

Alezya lifted her eyes from Lumie for a second to look at her cousin.

She hadn’t seen Zenia in a while, and she was surprised to see that expression in her cousin’s eyes, almost as if the other young mother looked apologetic.

Her husband had a hand on Zenia’s nape and was standing somewhat between the two women and their Clan Chief.

“You alright?” he asked in a whisper, his eyes landing on Alezya’s nice coat.

She gave them a little nod, taken aback by their concern.

She had already sensed Suolk had been kind to Lumie the last time she had seen him, but now, it seemed like Zenia wasn’t reluctant toward her daughter anymore either.

Even if she couldn’t confirm it, Alezya would have bet they had simply taken to Lumie’s easy and cheerful nature.

Her daughter was a good girl, easy to love, and sweeter than most.

She pressed a kiss against her baby’s cheek, happy to still find it full, making her giggle.

“Mama,” Lumie chuckled again.

“Yes, my snowflake,” she whispered. “Mama is here. Don’t worry, Mama will take care of you, my love.”

After a second, Alezya took a deep breath and quickly took off her necklace to put it around her baby’s neck.

“Alezya?” Zenia whispered. “What are you–”

“That’s enough,” their Clan Chief interrupted them.

Alezya’s grip tightened around Lumie, but her cousin and her husband stepped aside, Suolk giving Alezya a nervous glance.

“You have the child now,” he hissed. “Start talking.”

“What do you want to know?” Alezya asked in a tight voice, her eyes on Lumie.