Page 181 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
Alezya had a million questions about what was happening in the mountains, but Kassein refused to answer any of them.
She tried to plead many times, but it soon became clear that not only Kassein but his parents and Lorey were all in agreement to insist she rest and recover first, promising everything was fine.
It was only a couple of days later that she was finally allowed to leave her room, just in time to say goodbye to Kassein’s parents.
That morning, just before sunrise, Alezya stepped outside for the first time since waking.
Cassandra and Kairen were preparing to resume their journey to the east, and Kiera had returned from the mountains to bid them farewell.
That’s when she found out that, for the past couple of days, another dragon had been around.
It took her a moment to realize that the massive black dragon, the one whose shadow had once sent whole clans running for cover, was now gently nudging Niiru with its snout like an overgrown kitten.
Now that she could see it from up close, she realized the large black dragon was nearly as big as Kein, but not quite, which was probably why she was disappointed not to find the bronze dragon in the gardens; there was no way both dragons could have fit.
She stood off to the side with Lorey, watching as Kassein and Kiera spoke with their parents.
Kiera was laughing, her eyes bright as she talked excitedly with their father.
Kairen didn’t talk much, but he did ruffle her hair affectionately while Cassandra eventually pulled her son into a long, tight hug despite the height advantage he had on her.
Even Lorey had gotten a hug from both of them, and something ached quietly in Alezya’s chest, something that felt like quiet envy.
But then, to her surprise, Kassein’s mom turned to her with a soft smile, and walked over to grant her a tight hug, before she pulled back, her cold, soft hand gently caressing Alezya’s cheek.
“Take good care of yourself, and take good care of him, darling,” she whispered. “We will be back before your baby is born to help you out.”
Alezya could only nod, her throat choked with a thick swirl of emotions.
She was already grateful for how kindly they treated her; knowing that they planned to come back to help with her child meant the world to her.
To distract herself and blink back the tears, she smiled, and looked at the others.
Kairen, who had used that moment to also hug Lorey and give another quick tickle to Lumie, who was standing and holding on to his pants, turned to his son.
Quietly, he wrapped his arm around Kassein’s shoulders, and pulled his son over, pressing their foreheads together.
He said something in a low voice, and Alezya watched as Kassein held his dad’s gaze before he gave him what she could only describe as a confident nod.
Something silent passed between them, and then, Kairen pulled back with one of his rare, barely-there smiles.
Next, he turned to Alezya. She wasn’t sure what to say, but he opened his arms in a quiet, unmistakable gesture, and she gladly closed the distance between them to hug him. He was a massive man, solid and strong, but she didn’t feel afraid when he wrapped his arms around her. She felt safe.
When he pulled back, he gave her another small smile before turning to his wife and helping her onto his dragon’s back. Alezya felt Kassein’s hand rest on her shoulder, and she smiled up at him before they both turned to watch the large black dragon take off and vanish into the sky, heading east.
Down in the grass, Lumie watched the clouds with wide eyes. As the dragon disappeared, she pointed up with a confused sound and tugged on Kassein’s pant leg, her expression wobbling between tears and questions. Alezya bent down to scoop her up, holding her close.
“Don’t worry, my snowflake,” she whispered. “They’ll be back.”
She was already looking forward to seeing Kassein’s parents again, she realized, and with that thought, a fresh wave of gratitude filled her. This man had given her a family. A big, strong, and warm family she couldn’t wait to know better.
Sadly, Lumie didn’t see things the same way. She burst into tears in her mother’s arms, inconsolable. It took a while to coax her back inside and settle her back to her usual morning sleep, even with Lorey’s help.
Once they did, Alezya took the chance to insist she was healthy enough to go out. And this time, Kassein finally gave in. He bundled her in new, heavy fur cloaks and waited for the skies to be cloudless and the sun to be higher up before agreeing to take her to the mountains.
When Alezya stepped back into the gardens, she found the orange dragon curled around the remaining small but growing egg.
Kein lifted its head upon sniffing her and slowly walked to her.
It was the first time she was seeing Kein since the war that day, and it made Alezya sad to see how cautiously the dragon approached her, like it was.
.. nervous. But she smiled, and as soon as it was close enough, she hugged its large head, pressing her forehead between the dragon’s eyes.
“I’m sorry, friend,” she whispered. “Thank you for protecting me.”
Kein replied with a long, low, and soft growl.
Then, the dragon huffed a breath of hot air onto her face, making her laugh, and everything seemed a whole lot better all of a sudden.
Niiru ran between Kein’s legs, and when they took off, the little black dragon followed, flying under the large bronze wings.
Once they were up in the skies, Alezya leaned back into Kassein’s embrace, letting the sunshine hit her face, and closed her eyes.
She didn’t want to ever get tired of flying.
This was what freedom felt like, she thought.
Kassein’s warmth behind her, a dragon’s wings carrying her, and the whole, wide world ahead.
She took a deep breath, and when Kassein pressed his lips to her head, she smiled.
As always, he was holding her, but this time, he kept his hand splayed on her belly.
To her surprise, they made a large, pleasant loop, but they eventually landed in a nice clearing, close to her home mountain, where she recognized some of the Dragon Clan’s habitations they had built up there, with a little crowd gathered around.
Almost immediately after they had landed and Kassein had helped her down, Ekata ran to them, hugging Alezya without warning.
She was still somewhat tired, but she had been recovering more so from days without food or water than her injuries, and the sudden gesture didn’t make her more than slightly dizzy.
Her headaches had passed, and the dragon scales were still there, but nothing hurt anymore. Hugging her friend back felt good.
“How are you?” Alezya immediately asked. “I’m so sorry about Ekut...”
Ekata pulled back from their embrace first and gave her a sad smile, nodding. Her eyes were a bit red, and she looked tired.
“Thank you,” she muttered. “We... We buried him two days ago. It was... It was a beautiful ceremony.”
“I’m sorry I missed it.”
Ekata shook her head, taking Alezya’s hands in hers.
“Don’t. Ekut... My brother died for the sake of future generations, and he died on the battlefield, a hero of our clan. I’ll make sure he is remembered for many years to come as he deserves.”
“He deserves it,” Alezya nodded. “...How about you? How are you?”
“Well, aside from the funeral, it’s been... quite intense, actually,” Ekata sighed. “How much do you know?”
“Almost nothing,” Alezya said, pouting in Kassein’s direction. “He’s kept me away from it all while I recovered. I know his father came and helped with the negotiations...?”
“Oh, that,” Ekata nodded. “I wish you had seen it! Once they saw that the Dragon Clan Chief could speak our language, the clan chiefs tripped over themselves to finalize agreements. It has been insane. Well, many clan chiefs who were against us died in the war, but their successors were surprisingly eager to make peace with everyone, especially the Dragon Clan.”
“Lesson learned?”
“More than that, I think many were... doubtful about Darak from the start. Once everyone realized he was dead, that he’d even hidden from his clan, and that most of his so-called warriors hadn’t even taken part in the battle, people just..
. got furious. A lot of them are using him as a scapegoat to reduce their share of the blame, for sure, but at least they were quick to agree to our terms. The others who were most against peace with the Dragon Clan are dead anyway, so.
.. they didn’t have a choice but to agree. ”
“What are the terms, then? Just peace?”
“Oh, it’s so much better than that!” Ekata beamed.
“That skinny guy, Tievin, he showed us a map of the mountains. Like a real, very large map, with all the mountains on it! It was fascinating. He showed us routes we could use, where we should create more, and spoke about trading things, not only between our clans but with the Dragon Clan as well. He drew routes to their clan too, and now, there are people from several clans going there, down the mountains, for the first time in their lives.”
“Did you see it’s just... a bit of their clan?”
Ekata sighed.
“Yeah, I realized that when I saw his map. I’m not the only one.
I think a lot of clan leaders were shocked when he explained that what we thought was their territory was just a little bit of it.
He even explained how far the place you were resting was, and everyone was stunned.
I suppose the journey is faster if you have a dragon, but for us, it just means the world beyond our mountains is. .. so, so much bigger than we thought!”