Page 18 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
She had to leave.
As quickly as possible, and as far away as possible.
Alezya still had no idea where she could possibly escape to, but she was certain of one thing: she couldn’t stay here, or Lumie would be killed by those madmen. She was willing to endure any hardship but that.
She tried to think fast and hard. Her father and his men were still standing there, but her cousin’s husband had already left to spread the word.
Soon, her entire clan would be hunting her and her daughter down.
Alezya knew all too well that no one would be slowed down by the idea of harming a defenseless child.
Those greedy bastards would be too enticed by whatever her father, the richest man of their clan, had promised.
Even without that, no one would be on her side.
If she wasn’t useful anymore, she had to disappear.
She was already a hindrance anyway, an embarrassment that had brought shame to the clan with her failed wedding and her “evil” spawn.
There didn’t even need to be a reward, they would all be too willing to help her father.
Nobody would miss her, except perhaps those who found her herb-picking skill useful.
That was it. Her father had just officially decided she was of no use to the clan anymore, and therefore decided to kill her.
Alezya didn’t even consider handing them Lumie for a single second, but she did know they would think she could possibly be willing to.
Those people took so much pride in their clan and thought so little of her that they might believe she was willing to do such a horrible thing for her own survival. She could use that.
“I-I’ll get her,” she cried.
She didn’t even need to fake the tears; the whole situation was more than enough for her to cry about, although they had mistaken her tears for sadness when they were actually fueled by sheer anger.
Even worse, her father suddenly smiled, a smug, irritating smile that made her hate him even more if possible.
“Good, Alezya. You’re finally an obedient child.”
She didn’t respond to that. She just acted like she was defeated and broken-hearted.
She was, but she still held onto the hope that she could save Lumie, one way or another.
Every single one of her thoughts was hell-bent on pulling together a plan, anything that could work to save them both. Even if the chances were slim.
She turned around, and walked away, biting her tears back, aware of their stares and steps following her.
Thankfully, they couldn’t follow her as she slowly crawled inside her hole. As soon as she entered, Lumie’s happy coo greeted her, breaking Alezya’s heart a bit more, but she didn’t have time for that. She had to act quickly.
First, she pushed a huge rock that she had been saving for such a case in front of the opening.
She couldn’t remember when she’d had that thought, but the idea of needing to block their cave opening someday crossed her mind, and thus, she had begun digging a rock from the wall of their cave, a rock big enough to block the entrance.
That thing was big and heavy, and she had to make it roll all the way to the passage with a lot of effort.
This would block anyone from entering after her, but it was also preventing her from going out this way. It didn’t matter; she could only leave this place with Lumie, and she wouldn’t hand her over to her father. They had to leave the only other way: their window.
Next, Alezya quickly grabbed everything she could, once again feeling thankful she had already anticipated such events. She had hoped many times it wouldn’t come to this, but there she was. She had to act fast and think even faster.
That opening was terribly dangerous, but it was way too late to worry about that now; they had no choice.
She had to tell herself they’d make it, and think about the next step.
Once they climbed down, where could they run to?
Her entire clan would be after her once they realized she was fleeing.
Not only that, but she would have barely more than a handful of minutes before one of the watchers caught sight of her and snitched to her father.
Thinking she would be able to flee unnoticed was just madness, so she had to consider she’d definitely be spotted sooner or later.
Alezya had to decide what direction they would take that would increase their chances of survival.
She had already thought about that before too.
She knew no clan would accept a pariah like her, but she had to believe some of them would have mercy on a woman and her baby.
All the clans knew the mountain was cruel and merciless to its inhabitants.
Could she find refuge with a clan that wouldn’t sell her out, even temporarily?
She knew there were more clans up north, clans that didn’t like her father, and would be happy to find a reason to piss him off. Would sheltering his daughter and her baby be a good enough reason for them to help her?
She didn’t have time to think about the scenario any longer.
The priority was fleeing this clan, disappearing into the mountain, and getting herself close enough to another clan.
She knew her plan was sheer madness, but it was the only one she had.
If she handed Lumie over to her father, even for a second, she’d never see her baby again.
“Ma...”
“It’s alright, my snowflake,” she whispered, putting a kiss on Lumie’s head.
Her baby was still sleepy, as she often was in the middle of the day. Alezya silently hoped it would prompt her to stay still during their escape... It was going to be a long and difficult run. She took Lumie and quickly wrapped her in some thick fur and a leather blanket.
Then, she put on the bag she had. Just a few useful things, but Alezya was confident she could find more supplies wherever they went, and her priority was to be fast. Her only valuable item was her mother’s medallion, the only memento she had of her.
She had never dared to wear it in front of her father, but this time, she tied it on a leather string around her neck.
Last, she wrapped Lumie against her chest, making sure to secure her and have her head protected too.
If she was going to climb with her baby in front, she had to be sure Lumie wouldn’t be scratched.
It wasn’t the safest way, but her father’s men had bows.
.. Lumie being scraped by the mountain would be better than risking her being killed by an arrow.
Alezya paid particular attention to the way she tied her daughter to her chest. There was a reason she had strapped Lumie on last, another part of her plan that she really hoped she wouldn’t have to use... one that made her throat tighten. She had to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
“Alezya!”
Her father’s angry voice.
It had taken just a few minutes for her to get ready, but patience had never been her father’s thing... and he might be starting to realize she had fooled him. She hoped he would be unsure for a bit longer. Any second won would be precious, and possibly decisive.
Carefully, Alezya slowly got closer to the window.
She pulled the cloth that was covering it, took one last glance at the place that had been their home for over a year, then slowly stepped out, cautious like never before.
She had looked down so many times, she already had a rough idea how to start, but she still couldn’t go as fast as she wished she could.
Falling to their death would put a tragically early end to their escape.
Alezya began her descent carefully, keeping an ear out for any more of her father’s shouting or the sentinels.
Thankfully, it was still early in the day, so not many would be out yet; hopefully, less chances for them to be spotted.
While climbing was something she’d done all her life and could do without thinking, Alezya’s mind was still busy weighing their chances, playing every possible scenario, doing the math over and over again in the hope of finding some miracle solution she wouldn’t have already thought about before.
But she just knew nothing would be easy. Easy was an option that had disappeared ever since she’d become a mother.
For a while, her hopes remained high as she was going down, quickly and still unnoticed, farther and farther away from their cave. Perhaps a few minutes passed while her descent was steady.
She couldn’t really tell, she was too focused on securing her grip, stepping on steady cliffs, and glancing back down once in a while to be sure they were headed in the right direction.
Alezya had never felt so thankful for her experience in climbing, allowing her to move quickly despite this area being almost completely new to her.
“There! Catch her!”
Her blood went as cold as the snow around her. She didn’t even glance up; the voice’s echo gave her a rough idea of their position, way too close for her liking.
She kept moving, faster, but still careful. She couldn’t afford to slip, she couldn’t risk it with Lumie there... She took slow breaths and kept going, ignoring the ache in her body, the strain from so much effort, and the fear. How much longer? She couldn’t stop. She had to keep going.
The first arrow broke far above her head, but the sound made her panic.
They were already shooting, and she was in a completely exposed area!
If it had been just one second earlier, that arrow would have hit her right in the head.
Alezya glanced down, with that feeling of urgency that completely redrew the risk rates.
It was still too early to jump, too risky.
Just a bit more though, and she would get down a familiar slope. She could do this.