Page 145 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
Her throat tightened. Had he found the small cave she had lived in with Lumie?
She felt strange, thinking about that place.
It was a small and uncomfortable cave she had found, but she had tried to make it as hospitable as possible for her and her baby.
To think that Kassein had seen it was more than a strange feeling.
She couldn’t even imagine his body going through the small tunnel she’d had to crawl in to get in there every time.
.. She gave him a little nod, but looked down, embarrassed.
“ Yes. Lumie and mine. ”
Kassein didn’t let her get away with hiding and gently cupped her cheek, pulling her to look up again, and pressed another long kiss on her forehead.
His warmth spread throughout her whole body.
Alezya knew they didn’t have the luxury of spending time thoroughly enjoying their reunion, but she still leaned a bit more into him before she cleared her throat and looked up to talk to him again.
“ The Deklaan Clan , they hunt me, ” she said. “ They hunt the Dragon Clan too, and they hunt the Munsa Clan . My friends. ”
Kassein barely glanced at the people behind her, but Alezya knew he understood.
“ They are friends, ” she said. “ The Munsa Clan are friends. Kein can’t hunt them. ”
“ Yes ,” Kassein nodded. “ Kein obeys you. ”
Alezya smiled. She had truly needed this kind of affirmation lately. After all the hardships of the past few days, knowing that the biggest dragon in the area still obeyed her will was the kind of good news she needed to hear.
“ ...Come, ” she said, gently pulling his hand.
Kassein didn’t resist at all, letting her pull him along toward the gathering that was happening.
Alezya was well aware of all the pairs of intrigued, scared, or confused eyes on them, but she had to keep the end goal in mind: save the clans, go back to Lumie, and end her father’s madness.
It felt like a daunting task, but with Kassein by her side and his Dragon Clan as their allies, it was far from impossible.
She reached the group, who now all had eyes on her and her companion; the Munsa Clan elders seemed utterly stunned, and the representatives of the other clans even more so, not hiding the fear and uneasiness in their expressions.
Alezya wasn’t sure where to start, but luckily for her, Ekata spoke first.
“Everyone,” she said, “this is Alezya. She is Darak’s daughter and one of the Lumiata.
We rescued her after that bastard threw her in a crevice after the last gathering, and we have been hiding her ever since.
As you already know, we are trying to rally as many clans as possible against Darak’s madness.
We never wanted to fight the Dragon Clan in the first place, but now, thanks to Alezya, we also know that they never had any intention to fight us either. ”
“...So she really speaks their language?” a young clan leader Alezya had never seen before asked.
“She does,” Alezya replied with a stern expression, annoyed he spoke like she wasn’t there.
He blushed, shocked about her tone, and gave her a nervous glance before his eyes darted to Kassein, and he returned to avoiding their general direction entirely.
Kassein, standing behind her, half a head taller than anybody else, definitely intimidated everyone present, and maybe Alezya wouldn’t have been so bold without him standing like her shadow.
There were clan leaders twice his age and at least thirty male fighters standing, but everyone seemed equally scared to even look their way. That put a faint smile on Alezya’s lips, and she leaned until her back was against his torso, his large hand on her hip.
“She truly does,” Ekut added as he arrived at his sister’s side. “Hence their leader, the Dragon Tyr—I mean, their Clan Chief, agreed to follow us back. We can negotiate with them. We have a chance to stop all the fighting.”
“But Darak won’t stop,” said another clan leader. “I was at a gathering he held just hours ago. This man and several other clans believe they can trap the Dragon Clan in the mountain and kill them if they raise a big enough army. I’ve heard a dozen clans pledge allegiance to him!”
“It’s true,” another man said. “I’ve heard the Exkiu, Farghi, Upatkyaa, Huvo, Hamirri, and Taisja Clans already agreed to join him.”
“The Tuul, Huippi, and Havitja too,” someone else added.
Alezya paled; even if she didn’t know half of those, she knew that was a lot of clans.
She had been confident knowing that Kassein’s army was slowly kicking clans out of their mountains and showing effortless dominance, but could they win against so many clans?
And that was just those who had joined her father!
She knew there were more that might have agreed to his plan since or might still be on the fence.
There were many mountains and probably almost as many clans.
What if hundreds of people joined the fight?
Kassein’s men were in foreign territory, and he couldn’t have brought his entire clan up there.
What if, actually, her father’s madness did stand a chance?
What was she getting all of these clans into?
Kassein had begun fighting because of her, and now, every clan in the mountains was picking sides.
This was going to turn into an all-out war between the clans, with dragons added in the midst!
If it wasn’t for Kassein firmly holding her waist and his reassuring heat against her back, Alezya might have seriously panicked. But instead, she tried to swallow her increasing anxiety and listened.
“That’s not good, and more people than we expected...” Ekata frowned, echoing her thoughts. “What about those who didn’t pledge allegiance to him?”
One of the younger clan leaders grimaced.
“I... I told him I needed time to think,” he admitted.
“His speech was enticing, Ekata. It wasn’t just about slaying the dragon and getting rid of the Dragon Clan, but being one big, united clan like we’ve all dreamed of.
He talked about trades between the clans, the safety of traveling from one area to another, sharing passageways.
.. He even told us about taking over the wealth of the Dragon Clan, that winning this war would make us richer than ever before once we conquered the lower lands. ”
Alezya snorted.
“Let me guess,” she said. “My father would be the one leading this new grand clan?”
“He... did imply something like that,” the man sheepishly admitted.
“We thought all of it kind of sounded too... idealistic, especially coming from a man like Darak. He gave us until dawn to think about it and send a response, hence we hurried to meet you in person rather than sending scouts. If we don’t give him a response quickly, who knows how he will react. ..”
“Ugh,” Ekata rolled her eyes. “Men.”
She exchanged a look with another older woman in the group, who nodded. Her twin brother sighed, turning back to Alezya.
“...Truthfully, we never planned to be involved in a battle of this scale either. We only saved you in the hopes you could ask the Dragon Clan to spare us, but obviously, things are evolving beyond our control. Now the other clans will know we have you, and the word will spread quickly that we... I mean, I guess we’re sort of allies with the Dragon Clan.
At least, that’s probably what they will think, meaning that we cannot back away. ”
“And we won’t,” his sister frowned.
“We won’t,” Ekut nodded. “...But can we trust them? Trust him?”
Several glances shifted above her head to Kassein, and Alezya felt him tense behind her. She turned to him, holding his hand tight.
“ These are friends ,” she said in his language, triggering some surprised gasps behind her. “ They are the Munsa Clan , and other clans , from other mountains. The Deklaan Clan , my home clan , they hunt them. They can be friends with Dragon Clan ?”
Alezya knew her grammar was probably disastrous, but it mattered little as long as she got the message across. Kassein observed her for a long time, not giving a glance at the dozens of pairs of eyes on him.
“... Friends with Alezya? ”
“ Yes ,” she replied instinctively. “ The Munsa Clan , they are my friends. Their friends are my friends too. They want to be friends with your Dragon Clan .”
Kassein’s eyes lifted from hers to look behind her, and Alezya stepped aside to see how the clans’ representatives would react.
To her surprise, after a couple of awkward seconds, several of them lowered their heads in an unequivocal, universal sign of submission.
It made Alezya choke up a little, for some reason.
Her people, all the clans, had been terrified of the Dragon Clan for generations.
They called Kassein and his relatives dragon tyrants; they’d been terrified of his family and their dragons their entire lives, and yet, right now, they were standing within inches of him and willingly putting their lives in his hands.
She knew it wasn’t much of a choice for them, and yet, she found herself a bit happy that they were choosing to trust this stranger over her father. All because of her, one woman who had been the first to approach the Dragon Clan, learn their language, and... trust Kassein.
Alezya hadn’t had a choice in many of those things, with how events had unfolded, and a lot of it had merely been for the sake of her and Lumie’s survival, but it didn’t change the outcome.
“Are we good?” Ekata asked after a beat.
“I mean, I’m glad he’s... here and willing to listen, but I think we need to get moving quickly.
The word is going to spread fast, and we have a lot to do.
Find more allies, move our people to a safer area, and decide what to do against Darak. .. We can’t stay here.”
“I agree,” Ekut nodded. “Darak is going to hear what happened and understand we’re allying with the Dragon Clan; there’s no turning back now. We have to move to the Dragon Clan’s position before they get to us.”