Page 124 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

Far from being panicked, the children were howling with laughter and running in all directions with loud, excited screams. Niiru was having a blast making big jumps after them, splashing itself and the children with each landing. Alezya smiled.

“...He’s a child,” she said.

She was pretty sure Niiru had never tasted human flesh, and it didn’t look tempted to try.

The young dragon looked the same as Kiki and Kein when they had been playing together in the snow, and although it could have easily bitten a limb or two off, it was just making a big show of running after the children, changing targets if it became too easy.

The multitude of kids running away from Niiru seemed to excite the young dragon far more than the prospect of a fresh meal.

“So long as he’s fed something, he won’t harm anyone,” she added, just to be certain.

Dragons could be quite ill-tempered, so she didn’t want to risk hunger becoming Niiru’s priority before fun. She was almost certain she could reign the young dragon in if things escalated, but she’d rather not tempt fate.

“The dragon will be fed,” the woman said, giving a nod to the men who had come with Alezya, who turned around, hopefully to go find a meal worthy of a young dragon.

Alezya finally sat down amongst them, facing a semi-circle of Munsa people while she had her back turned to Niiru and the kids playing in the bay. Thankfully, just the cute roars of laughter and high-pitched growls would be enough to keep her updated on that end.

“I am Ekata,” the woman introduced herself. “This is my brother, Ekut. We are the Munsa Clan Chiefs.”

“The two of you?” Alezya asked, surprised.

“Our clan has always had a pair of chiefs,” Ekata explained. “A man and a woman. Sometimes a couple, sometimes a brother and sister pair. Ekut and I were born on the same full moon, and our previous clan chiefs saw it as a sign for us to become the next chiefs.”

“But you didn’t... speak up at the gathering,” Alezya said, remembering how Ekata had stood back.

“Other clans aren’t so... open-minded about female clan chiefs,” she snorted. “We prefer to let them think Ekut is the only one in charge. A lot of clans already lost their place at the gathering for having female leaders.”

Alezya immediately thought of her mother’s birth clan, the Lumiata. She had faintly hoped to see them at the gathering the previous night, but just like Ekata, she wasn’t blind; an all-female clan wouldn’t have been welcomed.

“Since your father threw you in a crevice,” Ekut scoffed, “I’m guessing we were right to think you and he have... different stances.”

“They couldn’t be more different,” Alezya sighed, glancing back to check on Niiru. “Ever since my daughter was born, I have been treated as a pariah by my entire clan, except maybe for a couple of people. My child and I were shunned, merely kept alive so long as I remained remotely useful.”

“I do not care about what happened between you and Darak,” Ekata said, “but I believe you. He is a cunning, manipulative man. He certainly cannot be trusted, and his words even less. Which is why we figured talking directly with you might be our best course of action. Is what was said at the gathering true? That you can summon and control the dragon?”

“He obeys me to a certain extent,” Alezya admitted, careful with her words. “If I call and he hears, he will come.”

Or she hoped that was still the case.

She couldn’t help but glance back at Niiru and, beyond him and the excited children, the sea.

How far had she gone from her home mountain? They had walked for hours, but they had been indoors so long that she had lost her notion of time. Judging by the sky, the sun would soon set, which meant she had sent Lumie away almost an entire day ago...

She was sore and tired, but most of all, she missed them dearly. She would have given a lot to spot Kein right then and have the dragon take her back to the Dragon Clan, to Kassein’s arms.

“Let’s... not do that right now,” Ekut said, looking slightly nervous. “We wanted to talk to you first.”

“What do you want from me?” Alezya asked.

“Is the part about you spending time with the Dragon Clan true?” Ekata tilted her head. “That you learned their language?”

“It is,” Alezya said. “Their leader taught me some of their language, and I was with him most of the time.”

“Why do they attack us?” Ekut asked. “Why do they launch the dragons after our people?”

“Because they see us as enemies,” Alezya replied.

“The clans that share a border with the Dragon Clan, like the Deklaan Clan, have been relentlessly attacking them. I saw it with my own eyes. A clan even sent people carrying a terrible disease to die in the Dragon Clan and infect them as well. But all the time I was there, the Dragon Clan never launched any attack themselves. The dragon even attacked some men from their own clan because they tried to assault me.”

“The dragon defended you against their own warriors?” Ekata said with a fascinated expression.

“I had their leader’s protection and his dragon’s,” Alezya replied with confidence. “They weren’t allowed to touch me. The dragon killed them for harassing me, just like it would attack my father’s spies or anyone who intended to harm their clan. But dragons don’t hunt humans to feed themselves.”

“But we never attacked the dragon,” Ekut frowned. “We were still–”

“I don’t think they know the difference between one clan and another,” Alezya explained.

“The dragon just sees humans in the mountains and assumes they are the same humans who attacked the Dragon Clan. My father’s will to keep attacking is condemning all the clans to be eternally targeted by the dragon. ”

Ekut and Ekata exchanged a long look.

Alezya was aware that some of the elders that had their eyes riveted on their task or the kids were definitely listening in too.

She glanced back, and this time, Niiru was on the shore, playing a new game as the adults had brought little fish to feed the dragon, and the children were throwing them to Niiru, who was only too happy to go “hunt” its prey before eating it.

“I can’t believe it,” Ekut hissed. “We have been at war with the Dragon Clan for generations. All the clans always had to send men to the Deklaan Clan and the other border clans for the war, and it turns out... so many lives could have been spared?”

“Darak is a liar and a manipulative bastard,” his sister hissed.

“We should have known better than to ever believe his words again. It’s good that most of the clans already started to doubt him after we lost so many men.

It’s not like any clan trusts him much after what happened with the Lumiata Clan. ”

“You know of the Lumiata Clan?” Alezya exclaimed, stunned to hear that name.

“Of course we do. Or we used to,” Ekata corrected.

“A decade ago, there wasn’t a single clan who didn’t know about the Lumiata, the matriarchal clan.

They held such precious knowledge that no clan dared to harm them.

Most even sought their help when diseases hit them or when their women were close to labor.

...All of the clans took a hit when the Lumiata suddenly disappeared years ago.

We looked for them, as most clans did. Even a decade later, no one knows what happened to them.

.. Many used to think they relocated, but none of the clans they used to trade with found signs of them anymore.

There were some rumors the dragon had killed them, but many more of us suspect Darak did something. ”

“...My mother was of the Lumiata,” Alezya admitted in a low voice, suddenly missing the necklace, her only physical memory of her mom.

The woman slowly nodded.

“We know who you are. Your mother... The Lumiata never married into another clan, and they never moved in with their partners. When your father took in a pregnant Lumiata woman, we all knew something was off. Your father claimed he was in love with your mother, and the Lumiata said an arrangement had been made... Everyone could tell something was going on. I’m sorry, but whatever bound your mother to Darak, it wasn’t love. ”

“...I can imagine that,” Alezya admitted with a tight throat.

She knew far too well the wretched depths her father was willing to go to get what he wanted, and she felt all the more sorry for her mother, who had more than likely been forced to carry his child.

“What do you think my father wanted with the Lumiata?” Alezya asked.

She knew her father’s greed. As much as she had no doubt he was the type to take anything he wanted, including a woman, Alezya still knew him to be a cunning man. He wouldn’t have risked making an enemy of so many clans only because of something like lust.

The woman exchanged a look with her brother before returning to Alezya.

“This is only a guess, but... we both know how obsessed the Deklaan Clan is with defeating the Dragon Clan. We knew the Lumiata were wise women who held incredible knowledge about medicine, the lands, life, and even the skies, warning other clans of snowstorms and thunderstorms long before they hit. According to our elders, the Lumiata weren’t born in the mountains nor came from the sea like our clan; they had come from the rivers and settled in the mountains long after our ancestors.

They came from the land, the same way the Dragon Clan had before they settled so close.

Many rumors were going around that the Lumiata knew more about the dragons than any other clan, and we knew it had to be true to some extent; they were never attacked and never afraid to move locations when a dragon was roaming in the area.

It was as if they knew something was... protecting them.

I would bet anything that Darak, your father, thought he would be able to steal some of their secrets by marrying one of them. ”