Page 154 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
The orange dragon slowly stood, immediately gathering the attention of the younger dragons. Kassein helped Alezya up, and soon enough, they were in the skies, the Onyx Castle reduced to a dark spot in the white background, flying against the wind toward the mountains.
He was glad they’d taken the time to grab thicker clothes for Alezya because the air was biting, and though she didn’t seem cold on the inside, her skin was still turning red wherever it was exposed.
He moved to shield her body with his as much as he could, but they couldn’t get to the mountains soon enough.
Kein flew as fast as it could, with all four younger dragons in its wake, flying where its larger body would shield them from the strong winds.
The triplets were big enough to endure, but Niiru was exhausted by the time they arrived, and the young dragon darted under Kein as soon as it landed.
Alezya was obviously glad they had made it too because she didn’t wait for Kassein to venture inside the mountain, the triplets right behind her while Niiru stuck closer to Kassein.
Inside the cave, they first walked past some of their scouting units, who politely greeted Alezya with nods and bowed even lower to Kassein.
He slowed down, quietly inspecting his troops as they walked past.
At first glance, there were a few injuries, but nothing too notable; it seemed his men were having a more challenging time with the rough environment than fighting the tribespeople.
Many had ice burns and cuts on their hands or were trying to repair their shoes and boots.
Overall, it seemed like the morale was still decent, and he suspected his sister had sent some for supplies or to hunt because many men were sitting down and having a meal around little campfires as they walked past them looking for his sister.
“Finally!” Kiera welcomed them with an exasperated groan. “I’m sure I had told you to get your ass here before dawn! I was wondering if you would even get here by midday!”
She stood with her fists on her hips, looking fresh and ready for a new day.
She was wearing a new outfit and heavier armor than usual.
Her hair was also now swept into a sleek, high braid adorned with intricate silver accessories, a fitting updo for the windy area and upcoming battles.
It was clear that her short trip back to the camp had been well-spent.
“Tievin,” Alezya blinked, visibly surprised to see the Intendant standing there.
Tievin gave them a polite nod, but based on his messy hair, Kassein could guess his sister had dragged the poor man out of bed early.
Either that or Tievin’s hair hadn’t endured the flight well.
Either way, his Intendant looked more sullen than usual, and he was holding on to his notepad for dear life as the triplets immediately darted to him.
“Oh, gods!” He squirmed. “No! Don’t you dare! Stop it! No, no! Enough! Gods, would you calm down, you toe-chomping pests!”
The triplets didn’t stop, and his hysterical screams didn’t even slow them down; they trampled over one another to get to their prey.
The poor man began jumping from one foot to another, trying to stay out of their little fangs’ reach.
Despite the triplets being as large as dogs, the three of them were all trying to get a bite of Tievin’s toes for some reason, even as they tripped over one another and squabbled under his feet.
Suddenly, Vele managed to tear off a piece of leather with a loud rip, and Tievin screamed.
Without warning, Alezya suddenly walked ahead of Kassein.
“Down!” she suddenly barked.
All three young dragons froze and immediately laid belly-flat on the ground.
After a second of being completely still, they slowly turned their big eyes to her with a shocked, almost scared look in her eyes, while Tievin carefully stepped away from them.
“Ah!” Kiera scoffed. “...I’ll be damned. Well, she definitely has the dragon mama thing down!”
Kassein silently agreed, smiling proudly. It was pretty funny to see the rowdy triplets lying down, quiet and scared of Alezya’s scowl.
After a second, two of them sat up, while the other remained lying down, rolling onto its back, and all three of them kept their eyes on Alezya, their tails swishing left and right with interest.
“Thank you, my lady,” Tievin said, with a nervous look toward the triplets. “That was quite... Wha–Whose dragon is this?”
Niiru had come into the cave and popped its head out from behind Alezya’s legs, watching the tamed triplets with a curious expression, as if trying to figure out what it had missed.
As if feeling bolder now that those three were acting calm, the little black dragon began strolling around the cave.
It stopped to sniff a dumbfounded Tievin and then glanced around the tiny cave before walking away to venture between the legs of the nearest men.
“Oh, I’ve been waiting for this,” Kiera smirked.
“W-w-what is going on?” Tievin insisted, blinking at the young dragon. “Whose dragon is this, Your Highnesses? Lady Alezya?”
As Tievin was pointing toward the small dragon, Niiru came around, sitting before him.
“It’s Niiru,” Alezya said.
“Niiru?” Tievin repeated. “That’s... What kind of name is that? Whose dragon is this?!”
Kiera was biting her finger with a large grin, her eyes darting between Kassein and Tievin with excitement. After a second, Kassein let out a sigh, and stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Alezya and splaying his hand on her stomach.
“It’s Alezya’s daughter’s,” he said. “The egg that hatched, the young dragon we were missing. That dragon is Lumie’s.”
Tievin scoffed.
“No,” he spat after a second.
“No?” Kassein repeated.
“N-no, Your Highness. Miss Lumie is not your child. She doesn’t have the Dragon’s Blood, nor was she fathered by one of... of your relatives, that we know of. It can’t. It cannot be.”
“Kein spawned Niiru’s egg,” Kassein said.
“B-but!” Tievin squawked. “I-it would need to be your baby’s dragon to be Kein’s!”
“There’s an egg for my biological child too.”
“Your... Y-your... But–W-...Wha-... B-but the two eggs–”
“Both eggs are Kein’s,” Kassein explained with patience. “The one that hatched fast was Niiru’s, Lumie’s dragon. The one we were looking for. The other one is for my baby that Alezya is carrying.”
Tievin opened his mouth, but no sound came. Kiera let out a sigh.
“Nevermind, this is boring. Anyhow, we found the missing dragon and Alezya’s for sure pregnant, Tiev.”
“Really? For sure?” he exclaimed. “B-but this dragon–”
“Is her first child’s. Lumie’s,” Kiera sighed.
“Kein decided to give her a dragon. Crazy, we know, but that’s the theory Lorey came up with, and so far, there’s been nothing to prove her wrong.
Niiru is Lumie’s dragon, the one that hatched ridiculously early, and the second one is for the unborn babe Alezya’s carrying.
The egg is still growing in the Onyx Castle’s garden.
And look at the scales she’s got. White scales.
Like the other egg. And Niiru? Black as his egg. ”
There was a long silence. Alezya frowned, probably from hearing her name several times, while Tievin had stopped reacting entirely. He was properly stunned, silent, and immobile. Kiera tilted her head.
“Do you think he passed out? Standing up? ...Tiev?”
“It can’t be!” Tievin suddenly jerked. “It’s impossible! There is no way Kein decided to make a dragon for a–”
“Enough,” Kassein suddenly seethed.
His angry tone calmed Tievin’s protest immediately, and the Intendant went a bit pale under his glare. Even Kiera pressed her lips together.
“Niiru is Lumie’s dragon and Kein’s child,” Kassein growled. “There is nothing to argue.”
“I... I understand,” Tievin finally muttered. “And Lady Alezya is indeed... with child?”
“Yes.”
He lifted Alezya’s hand, showing off the white scales that peppered her skin to Tievin, who observed them with a frown. After a while, the Intendant let out a long sigh, leaned his head back, and massaged his eyelids. Then, he straightened up, and bowed.
“Congratulations, Your Highness,” he said, ”and congratulations to Lady Alezya on the pregnancy.”
Alezya was now looking down at Tievin with a frown, obviously confused. Kassein nodded, dismissing the situation entirely, and turned to his sister.
“So?”
“So?” his sister scoffed. “You leave me in charge all night, and all you have to ask is ‘so’? Seriously... Well, nothing much happened, alright? The scouts we sent spotted a lot of movement everywhere in the mountains. Little groups going in all directions but ours. There’s definitely something going on out there. All the tribes are agitated.”
“They’re rallying allies,” Kassein explained.
“Allies?” Tievin raised his eyebrows.
Quickly, he explained everything that had transpired with the Munsa Tribe and the other tribes Alezya had spoken to.
He had already explained some of it to his sister the previous night, but he took the time to give a more detailed account for Tievin to hear.
Kiera listened with a frown while Tievin was already furiously writing in his notepad, frowning.
Alezya, who seemed to understand some of what he said, nodded along, her eyes alternating between the three of them to gauge Tievin and Kiera’s reactions. When he was done, his sister blinked.
“...This is such an unforeseen development,” Tievin whispered. “Those people... Those tribes are really splitting over whether or not to fight us?”
“It’s crazy,” Kiera nodded. “We’ve been hunting them without distinction, they shouldn’t hesitate!”