Page 118 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
Lorey walked up next to Kassein and smiled at the glimpse of the toddler bundled in his arms.
“...How will you get her back?” she asked.
“Kein would have brought her back already if it was possible, which means she’s somewhere a dragon can’t reach.
.. I doubt she would have gone through all this hurt to be apart from her daughter again if she could avoid it.
Wherever she is away from you two, she is there against her will.
I don’t know what she promised her people in exchange for sending Lumie to you, but it cannot be good, Kassein.
Not when she is carrying your child or children. ”
“Doesn’t matter,” he replied. “I’ll find her and bring her home.”
And the Onyx Castle would be their home, he realized.
There was a reason Kein had chosen to lay its eggs here, and it meant this was the place that Kassein considered home.
In retrospect, that was the last physical place Kassein had actually truly felt happy in.
He was in the North Camp out of necessity, and he had loathed every second back in the Capital.
In contrast, the Onyx Castle retained many happy childhood memories, and he had liked seeing Alezya stand here too.
He made up his mind right there and then: he and Alezya would move here the second his war with the Northern tribes was over.
It wouldn’t take long for this place to be ready for a family to live in, and it would make sense that as the ruler of the north, he would be more efficient at revitalizing the area from its stronghold.
Gently, he put Lumie back into Lorey’s arms.
“Stay here with her,” he said. “Watch the eggs.”
Those eggs were all the hope Kassein needed. If Kein had eggs, that meant Alezya was pregnant, and most importantly, alive.
“I will,” Lorey agreed immediately. “This place has everything needed for a child, and I can keep Kiki here to come to you if anything happens.”
“What about us?” Kiera asked her brother, fists on her hips. “You never replied to my question earlier. Did Kassian give his blessing or whatever?”
“He did.”
His sister raised an eyebrow, but after a beat, she nodded.
Although it was surprising that Kassein had gotten their older brother to concede the north to him, she knew he wouldn’t be lying about such a matter. Therefore, she had to believe him, no matter how surprising.
“Well,” she scoffed, “sounds like you guys finally agreed on something after all these years. That’s good to hear. So now, what?”
“Now you and I take Kein to battle,” he said. “We search for Alezya.”
“About damn time,” his sister sneered.
Despite his protests, they took Tievin back with them to the North Camp, flying on Kein’s back and leaving Lorey with Kiki at the Onyx Castle to watch the eggs and Lumie.
Just like Kein had taken a while to leave its eggs, Kassein had been more than reluctant to leave Lumie behind, but he knew that was the most reasonable decision; he couldn’t possibly take Alezya’s child with him to battle, and he didn’t like leaving her in the North Camp with only Lorey while he went to battle either.
It was best for the child that she remained in the Onyx Castle, which had been filled with plenty of things for children over the years.
He was sure Lorey would find plenty of old toys, baby clothes, and other things his parents had left behind, and she could probably go and seek assistance from the women of the nearby villages too.
Both of them would be safe there, and one less thing for him to worry about.
Right now, he had to get his head into the battle ahead.
They landed back at the North Camp when the sun was high in the sky, but Kassein couldn’t help but note Alezya had been gone for a full day and night now.
As soon as he got off his dragon, his eyes drifted to the mountains, once again searching for any hint of her presence. Similarly, Kein’s eyes went to the mountains before the large dragon turned around, growling softly toward the south where its eggs were.
Suddenly, Kassein felt the need to do something he hadn’t done in a very long time: he petted his dragon’s head in a comforting gesture, feeling more in tune with Kein than he had in a long time.
“Let’s get them back,” he muttered to his dragon.
Kein replied with a heavy growl before it took off again, most likely to survey the mountains once more. It bothered Kassein that his dragon was incapable of locating Alezya, but at least he knew she had to be alive.
While his dragon left on another search for her, Kassein, Kiera, and Tievin summoned the generals again.
This time, all three of them had all the units under their command prepared for the upcoming battle, supplies ready, and every single soldier aware that they were waiting for Kassein to launch the attack.
They gathered around the large map Tievin had brought before, and Kassein leaned over it, analyzing the set of mountains that was displayed.
“My goal is to intimidate them first, to let them know what we’re capable of,” he said. “This tribe is the one I plan to destroy.”
His index finger tapped on one of the mountains.
“Alezya’s?” Kiera guessed.
“I think so,” Kassein gave her a stern nod.
“This one isn’t the easiest to access,” Sazaran noted.
“We have a couple of mountains that are the first ones we could access and launch an attack on. Considering all of our men are on foot, we could launch a first attack on those two mountains, make an example of them, announce to the tribes what we’re capable of, and see how they respond. ”
“I agree,” Herken nodded. “Since the Commander plans to negotiate with some of the tribes to establish peace, an initial display of brute force might show the tribes that they would be better off negotiating with us if given the opportunity. Those two mountains hide the tribes that have been attacking us the most, including the one who sent their sick men. I’m all for a punitive expedition. ”
“We will not be harming any woman or child,” Kiera hissed with a warning tone, pinning all three men with her green-eyed glare, “and we will capture any man who surrenders rather than kill them. If we want to open negotiations with more tribes, it is important they see this as a fair battle, not a one-sided slaughter. Make sure every unit gets the word. I will personally crush the necks of anyone who harms a woman, child, or an innocent. Are we clear?”
The generals nodded in approval.
Kassein didn’t doubt that none of the three experienced fighters were willing to harm a non-fighter, but in this case, it would be their duty to ensure that each soldier did the same. Considering that almost all of their units were criminals, some dangerous, it might not be easy.
Hopefully, the prospect of death at the hand of the Princess or one of their generals would work as enough incentive to keep them in line.
They resumed talking about the battle, assessing which entry points would be better to launch the attack.
“We should start at sunset,” Sazaran said. “The night will be perfect for an infiltration mission and–”
“No,” Kassein cut him off. “We will launch the attack as soon as possible.”
“Commander, that–”
“That’s not up for debate,” Kassein retorted with a glare.
A few seconds of silence followed, the generals confused, and Kiera staring at her brother intensely.
After a while, she let out a sigh and turned to the generals.
“Looks like it’s time for you to go and get our army ready,” she said.
They understood they were dismissed and, without argument, all three of them left the tent quickly. Kiera sat down and propped her feet on the table, making Tievin grimace.
“You’re itching to go get her, huh?” Kiera sneered.
“I can’t waste any more time,” Kassein nodded. “She could be hurt or suffering at this very moment...”
“Got it. I can guess it’s even worse now that we know that she’s with child.”
Kassein had barely allowed himself to think about it.
He couldn’t believe Alezya was pregnant from their one night together.
It felt unreal, but it felt... amazing. There was a part of him that felt like he didn’t even deserve it.
He was the worst of his father’s sons; how could he become a decent enough father himself?
As much as he wanted to rejoice, and a part of him was truly thrilled at the thought that Alezya was carrying his child, he was absolutely terrified.
He already felt selfish and undeserving of Alezya’s love. How could he be good enough for a child? For now, all Kassein could do was get the mother of his unborn children back.
“So we’ll send the men to an up-front battle. What about you and me? We have Kein, and we could corner them from the back...”
“I need to find Alezya,” Kassein said. “If Kein can’t get to her, she must be inside that mountain with her tribe, or somewhere else he can’t fit himself into.”
“I’m not going to lie; those tunnels they’ve got going on are going to be complicated to work with, we have no fucking idea how far nor how deep they go between all the mountains.
It’s a battle on a scale and terrain we’ve never faced before.
There’s a reason none of the previous North Army leaders have managed to fully conquer these mountains or submit the tribes, I guess.
.. We’re on fully unknown territory, and they might be gone before we get there.
They will definitely see us coming too. Ideally, we should find a way to dig them out of their holes and force them to come to the surface, but aside from going in ourselves, I can’t think of anything good enough.
We could always use fire to smoke them out, but that might harm innocents and–”
“No,” Kassein cut her off with a warning glare.
His sister wasn’t offended; she let out a long sigh and nodded.
“Got it. Let’s just go the old-fashioned way then. You and I can use Kein to drop us off around the back, and hopefully, we’ll get enough of them before they flee...”
Kassein hated the idea.