Page 130 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
The villages expanding and thriving, becoming the beating heart of the north.
The army in the north split between those who would guarantee the safety of the citizens and those who would be allowed back to that citizen’s life once they’d paid their dues.
If there was one man who believed in redemption, it was Kassein.
He would have no mercy for the wretched, but he’d allow a new life for those who were begging to leave their sins in the Empire and start anew.
Finally, there were the tribes. Once safe from the dragon and allowed to trade with his newborn Kingdom, they might become a vital part of this new country.
While trying to survive, Alezya might have unknowingly set the first stone of a new era that would unite his world and hers.
That was something he wanted to look forward to.
But first, he had to get her back by his side.
While Nebora talked to him about her plan for cleaning the Onyx Castle and rearranging the rooms, which included bringing a couple of maids and ordering new furniture from the village, Kassein’s eyes were riveted on the little girl between his legs.
After a while of standing, it seemed Lumie had gotten tired and was now plopped down on his thigh, busy playing with his hand while the other one held her.
“Alright, I should go and start getting those rooms ready if you plan to sleep here tonight,” Nebora said. “Lorey, darling, will you be alright?”
“I’ll come to lend you a hand,” Lorey said after glancing toward Kassein and Lumie. “Kiera and I can sleep in her old room, but I’ll give you a hand with the nursery and their brother’s room. Kassein, are you fine to stay with Lumie while we wait for Kiera to return?”
Although his eyes never left the little girl who was still busy inspecting his fingers, he gave her a stiff nod, aware of the stares of both women on him.
When they left, Lumie turned a curious eye toward them, frowning, before she whipped her head back to him with a question in her eyes.
“You’ll sleep well here,” he said softly. “I only wish your mom could sleep here tonight too.”
“ Ama? ” Lumie’s eyes immediately brightened.
“Yes, your mama,” he smiled.
“Mama...”
Just then, Kein let out a growl from outside, and Lumie turned her head in that direction, her cute white eyebrows raised.
From the faint light still lingering beyond the mountains, Kassein guessed it would be safe for the little girl to step out. Gently, he prompted her to get on her feet, always holding her little hand, and stood up.
“Lorey said you should be able to walk already,” he said. “Would you try walking there?”
Lumie frowned at his words, seemingly not too on board, but he gently took her little chubby hands in his and effortlessly lifted her to her feet. She glanced down as if impressed by that and let out a little giggle.
Then, with Kassein patiently guiding her, she took a step, and then another, although it was hardly an effort as Kassein’s hands were lifting her all this time. Lumie kept giggling, giving little air kicks as if intrigued to be pretty much flying above the floors.
She was so absorbed with her air-walking that she barely realized they had stepped into the garden until she noticed the large mass of orange scales and stared at Kein, mesmerized.
The orange dragon was curled around its remaining egg, the white one, but its body was slowly crawling toward Lumie, belly flat on the ground and nose sniffing intently in her direction.
Kassein let go of Lumie, and she collapsed on all fours. Without a hint of fear, the little girl immediately barreled her way straight to the dragon, Kassein right behind her.
Most children would intuitively fear a beast the size of several adult humans, with a bright fire-orange color and strange silver eyes, but Lumie didn’t hesitate for a second.
Kassein watched carefully, but he knew all too well his dragon wouldn’t hurt a hair on the little girl’s head, just like it had immediately submitted to her mother.
Sure enough, when Lumie reached it and immediately undertook to climb its head, Kein didn’t protest, instead enduring with unprecedented patience the little girl’s kicks on its snout.
Kassein came close, not worried about Kein but more about Lumie falling.
He wasn’t sure at what height it would be dangerous for her to fall from, but the little girl seemed determined to reach the peak of his dragon’s back like it was the goal of a lifetime.
With his hands hovering around her, he watched as she grunted, kicked, and grabbed his dragon’s scales to make her way to the top.
“Tamed by a child,” he muttered to his dragon. “Not so wild now, are we?”
Kein replied with a low-pitched growl, which prompted Lumie to stop in her climb and glance down at the orange scales, frowning at the sudden sound and vibration.
She then turned to Kassein as if looking for an explanation. He leaned over her, putting a hand on her back, and tapped his dragon’s back.
“Kein,” he said gently. “This is Kein, Lumie. Kein.”
“Kein,” she repeated.
“That’s right,” he said, his index finger pointing at the orange scales again. “Kein.”
Lumie glanced down at the orange scales. Kassein gently grabbed her, lifting her so she sat as if she was riding the dragon, at the top position she’d been trying to reach. Kein then lifted its head, twisting its neck so its silver eyes could see the little girl.
Lumie giggled excitedly.
“Kein! Kein!” she chanted.
In response, Kein let out a growl and a whiff of hot air in her direction, which made Lumie giggle some more and slap her hands down on the orange scales excitedly.
Kassein watched the little girl play with the current largest dragon in the Empire, a man-eating beast, as if it was her new favorite toy. The young girl was so full of wonder and energy that he couldn’t look away.
She looked a lot like her mom, a younger, chubbier version of Alezya, except for her extraordinary eye and hair color.
Kassein had often seen people from other tribes, like his mother, stand out in a crowd due to their lighter skin, hair, and eye colors, but never had he seen a human as pale as Lumie.
As the sun had set and the night was darkening, he could see her skin almost ready to glow under the moonlight.
It was no wonder Lorey had heard someone call this a “moon child.” It made him smile, remembering how he had called Alezya his “moonlight” while he still had no idea that she had a white-skinned child.
While watching Lumie play on his dragon’s back, he couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander back to her mother, equally worried and hopeful.
Would she agree to live in the Onyx Castle with him? Would she trust him to protect them after he’d failed twice already?
Kassein was dying to get back on Kein and fly above the mountains again, but Lumie was the only one grounding them both there. He knew he had to think rationally and listen to Lorey and his sister before he made another mistake. It was frustrating, but he had no choice.
They had to tread carefully with the tribes if they wanted to get a chance at that future they’d dreamed about.
He was the new King of the area, the owner of an abandoned castle, a wild land, and hostile communities. Even the nearby village might not take too well to being discarded by the Emperor and entrusted to the “Wild Prince” instead.
Still, if he hoped to be even remotely worthy of Alezya’s trust, he had to do what he could with all of that. He hadn’t allowed himself to hope for a long time, but all of a sudden, the possibility of a happy future was too blinding to ignore.
Just like that, he remained with Lumie, letting the child play freely in the Onyx Castle’s garden and distract him with her exploration.
He was behind her for everything, telling her about his mother’s plants, letting her dirty her hands and knees in the soil, and keeping her from trying to chew random things she picked up.
Kein had lost patience before him and taken off almost as soon as Lumie had gotten bored of him, but for once, it made Kassein feel better that his dragon was scouring the skies above the mountains. If the dragon caught sight of Alezya, Kassein would know.
Kassein heard the dragon’s cries shortly before dawn.
He woke up immediately after having spent only a few hours sleeping and most of the night with his eyes on the window.
On his chest, Lumie, who hadn’t slept in the cradle but in his arms again, whined in her sleep before she stirred too, upset by the sounds.
Kassein quickly wrapped her up in the small fur blanket he’d grabbed for her and readjusted his arms for the little girl to stay asleep and comfortable while he rose.
He’d been half-asleep when he’d heard it, but the dragon’s cry didn’t sound like Kein or Kiki’s, which made him hurry outside to see who had come.
Baby dragons couldn’t make such loud sounds either, and he didn’t think his nieces’ and nephews’ dragons had reached their adult forms yet, so it had to be someone unexpected.
Once he stepped outside into the entrance courtyard of the Onyx Castle, he found Kein already waiting, his dragon eyeing the sky with its tail nervously swishing.
Although all the living dragons belonged to their family, Kein and Kassein couldn’t say they had a good relationship with all of them, like their older brother Kassian’s dragon, Kian, who’d fought Kein the last time they’d crossed paths.
For a second, Kassein worried that it was indeed Kian flying toward them: the incoming dragon had a long, silver-like body and was much bigger than Kiki and the tiny dots flying next to them that had to be the triplets’ dragons.
But, as the visitors came closer, Kassein was shocked to realize the bigger dragon of the bunch wasn’t silver but the color of ice, a shimmery opal color, and that it wasn’t Kian but Cece.