Page 11 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
Thanks to that, even frail and harmless Tievin could carry out his tasks with relative safety.
As the closest aide to the Prince, he was an untouchable weakling whom even the generals respected, and he was content with that.
In fact, although he couldn’t carry a sword, he was somewhat respected for the simple fact that he could endure the Wild Prince’s temper.
A couple of hours passed while Tievin was holed up in his tent, finally able to warm up a bit.
He had one of the largest tents in the camp due to his status, with plenty of room to himself, but most of it was occupied by paperwork, account books, and chests filled to the brim with documents.
One table was buried under his collection of fur coats, as he had no shame changing as soon as the previous one was soaked by the snow.
They didn’t dry fast enough either, so he had conscientiously saved a few.
If he was going to suffer in the north, he should at least do his best to make his stay as comfortable as possible.
.. Comfort was the best. This precious little pile of warm, nice, and fluffy coats he had bought was probably his most cherished belonging here.
“Grand Intendant,” a man called to him from outside. “He’s back.”
Tievin sighed, but put down his pen. He got up, stretched, and carefully selected another coat before going out.
“I’m listening,” he told the soldier while they began walking in the snow.
“No injuries to report, sir. As you instructed, three units followed the Prince and returned. Do you want the hunting list?”
“No, I’ll go and see what he brought back once it’s all... taken care of.”
Tievin hated the sight of blood, so he usually waited until the soldiers were done cleaning the hunting trophies and organized everything before he went to see it for himself.
The Wild Prince went hunting so often that some units of men had become almost specialized in taking care of his prey upon his return.
In a matter of a few hours, no matter how many, they would be carefully skinned, the fur washed, the meat set aside for the camp to have within the next couple of days, the bones would be washed to be sold, and the claws and fangs would also be put aside.
Nothing went to waste. Although most of the Empire didn’t have any need for fur given its warm climate, the regions most north had begun to take a liking to those, and they were popular in the area.
Tievin was also responsible for making sure they could still use those while keeping them at a high selling price.
While some fur could be put on the soldiers’ uniforms or used as extra blankets, there were still too many most of the time.
Thus, he had spent some time making sure those would become a trend in the Capital as well.
Now, the supply was matching the demand, so the Commander’s hunts were also a nice source of income for the North Army, which was vital.
Sadly, no matter how wealthy the North Camp became, it wasn’t enough to bring a solution to this war. The soldiers may have been more comfortable, but they were still stuck in the coldest region of the Empire to fight a battle that never ended.
“Any sightings of barbarians?”
“Just from afar this time, sir. We spotted a few of them, but they were on high outposts in the mountains, watching us. None came down to fight, though, and they disappeared before the Commander was done with his hunt.”
Tievin wasn’t surprised or pleased with that information.
The barbarians had learned to recognize the Commander in Chief, and stayed away whenever he was close.
They knew they didn’t stand a chance if he was there, so they would stay hidden in their mountains, and only come down if some of the North Army’s men were visibly alone.
He sighed and crossed his fingers, thinking.
Was there a way to end this war? It was like fighting an invisible enemy.
The mountains were a nightmare to climb, there were far too many, and they were mostly unexplored by the Empire.
The bits they knew had come solely from watching those barbarians.
They figured there were a few hiding posts the barbarians used, and they could travel from one mountain to another quickly.
From their attire, they’d also realized there was likely more than one tribe, half a dozen at least. Moreover, there was no telling how many people were actually hiding in those mountains.
The only map they had that was possibly accurate had been drafted long ago by one of the Prince’s ancestors, a predecessor who’d been in charge of the north just like him.
It was enough to understand that there were more mountains than their eyes could see from down here, and possibly a lot more barbarians hidden in them.
Hence, the status quo was persisting to this day; even for someone like the Prince, it would have been madness to go into those mountains they knew nothing of, to fight an enemy on their own territory when there was no telling how many of them were hiding up there.
The only way that made sense would have been with the help of a dragon, but that too was impossible.
“Alright,” he said. “What of His High–I mean, the Commander?”
“He’s gone to the training grounds...”
Tievin let out a loud sigh. That meant he hadn’t had enough of hunting, then.
If he was in the training grounds, there had to be a few poor soldiers trapped with this monster to entertain him.
.. Poor lads. He couldn’t understand why some of them still considered it some honor to cross swords with such a beast. He waved his hand as if to chase some annoying fly.
“Fine, let him have his entertainment. Just send someone to let me know when he goes back to his tent. Ah, and send someone to clean in there while he’s out. It smelled worse than a snow leopard’s den in there.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What about the dragon?”
“There was no sign of the dragon since last night, sir.”
“Fine, fine. You can go.”
After the soldier left, Tievin returned to his tent and sat down again, absently tapping the tip of his pen against a parchment, lost in thought.
That damn dragon... At least they knew it was still around, although it was hard to say what it was doing.
That beast was never too far from its owner, anyway.
It would have saved them a lot of time if that thing could actually be used against the tribes, though.
Was that why it kept roaming around the mountains?
Was it hunting, or simply just making rounds to reflect its owner’s intent?
The tribes were clearly afraid of it, but how could they not have been?
There was no telling if the dragon had actually attacked some of them.
Several times, it had come back covered in blood, but there was no way of knowing if the blood was human or from some animal, as it didn’t bother to bring back the bodies. ..
If only the Commander had proper control of his dragon, then maybe this endless war would actually have a possible outcome.
But was that the Emperor’s real intent, though?
Once again, Tievin couldn’t grasp the Emperor’s objective.
Had he really sent his younger brother to fight an endless war just to get him away from the Capital, as many believed?
As someone who had grown up relatively close to the Imperial Family like Tievin, this didn’t make much sense.
Anyone could tell the brothers didn’t get along, but this seemed too cruel and unlike the young Emperor.
What was the Emperor truly hoping to accomplish by sending the Wild Prince here?
Tievin had been there the day the Emperor and his younger brother had fought.
It was like all the other fights: Prince Kassein had always been difficult since he’s known him.
The Fourth Prince was short-tempered, violent, and hard to understand.
His dragon was even worse. The two of them had caused countless accidents within the Capital, almost always resulting in terrible damages.
More often than not, it had been caused by the two of them fighting.
The Wild Prince and his untamable dragon, the chaotic duo feared by all.
The Imperial Family had spent over a decade trying to pick up after them, trying to be understanding.
This time though, it seemed like it had been one too many.
The Emperor had banished his younger brother to the bitter, cold, and abandoned Northern Region, and Tievin was sad to know it was to the relief of many.
The Wild Prince hadn’t earned his moniker by mistake.
.. although the dragon was the wilder one.
Perhaps sending them north was so they’d stop destroying the Empire, but then, why this order to pacify the north?
Trying to kill two birds with one stone?
“Grand Intendant!” a voice suddenly shouted from outside the tent. “The dragon! The dragon’s here!”
A cold shiver ran down Tievin’s spine. That damn dragon, right when he was thinking about it!
He grabbed a fur coat and ran outside, just in time to witness the large shadow flying over the camp and, right after that, hear its loud growl.
Everything around them trembled under that thunderous growl.
Tievin caught a glimpse of the situation around: the soldiers were running out of their tents, grabbing weapons, running in all directions, and trying to decide what to do.
“Where is the Commander?” Tievin shouted for anyone around to answer.
“At the training ground!”
“Evacuate that area! Order all soldiers near the training ground to get as far from there as possible! Evacuate what can be and protect the nearby tents to reduce damages! Any valuables should be moved to safety! Immediately!”
“Yes, sir!”