Page 183 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
Kassein was on his way out of the castle’s kitchens, a crate in his arms, when he was stopped by the sound of a giggle, followed by a suspicious shushing. He frowned, set the crate down, and leaned over to peer under the nearest table.
“Hi, Daddy,” Lumie beamed up at him.
“Hello, snowflake,” he smiled. “What are you and Auntie doing?”
“Candies!” she announced proudly.
“Hush, you snitch!” Kiera hissed. “You can’t give us away like that!”
Lumie giggled and crawled out from their hiding spot, visibly unbothered.
“Hiding from what?” Kassein asked.
“From your woman,” Kiera muttered. “I don’t know if it’s the pregnancy or the fact she finally speaks our language fluently, but your wife terrifies me. She’s been working us to death all day.”
“There’s a lot to prepare,” he shrugged. “And what were you hiding for, snowflake?”
“Candies!” Lumie repeated, gleefully.
“No! I said I’d give you candies if you didn’t tell anyone where I was—”
But Lumie was already holding her arms out expectantly, grinning. Kassein lifted her into his arms with a chuckle.
“You have a good nap, baby?”
“Grandpa?” Lumie asked hopefully.
“Not yet,” he said with a smile. “One more sleep. He’ll be here for the party tomorrow.”
She pouted but leaned her head against his shoulder. Her vocabulary was growing fast, picking up from both languages, but her favorite word, without contest, was “Grandpa.”
Kiera groaned as she crawled out from under the table.
“We shouldn’t have come back early,” she muttered, stretching. “Lorey was worried about Alezya’s pregnancy, so we came to help, but your wife is like Tievin on a bad day, plus a dragon sidekick.”
“He’s gotten softer since he got married,” Kassein offered.
“Right. I forgot he has his own dragon sidekick now,” Kiera snorted. “I think his wife’s even scarier than yours…”
“Grab the crate,” Kassein simply said with a smile.
He carried Lumie outside. The Onyx Castle’s gardens were nearly unrecognizable.
Every patch of earth had been trimmed, rearranged, uprooted, or replanted under Alezya’s watchful eye.
His mother’s once-abandoned greenhouse had been claimed and brought back to life, but today, the greenhouse faded into the background behind the chaos of the celebration setup.
Lanterns had been strung from newly installed poles, tables and benches were scattered across the garden like fallen chess pieces, and one long banquet table was commanding the center like a throne.
At the moment, Alezya and his sister-in-law Naptunie were pointing at a corner of the lawn, instructing his brother where to drag yet another table.
Lorey stood beside them, nodding along and holding a notepad.
Due to being the mother of nine children, Naptunie was followed by a small herd of young dragons at nearly all times, and presently, three of them were now brawling around her in the grass with Niiru in their midst.
“A bit more to the left,” Alezya called. “Not too close to the wall.”
“Right there, honey!” Naptunie nodded. “Perfect!”
“Oh, speaking of—do we have enough honey for the beignet sauce?” Lorey asked, frowning. “Tievin put a note that your mom adores that one.”
“As do my Darsan, the kids, and Tessa,” Naptunie added. “We’ll need a lot.”
“I only got four pots,” Alezya said, looking worried. “Do you think that’s enough?”
“I’ll send the kids to get some more! Dada?”
The largest of the young dragons perked up immediately.
“Go find the kids. We have a new errand!”
With a low growl, the dragon took off into the sunset.
“Mama!”
Lumie squirmed in Kassein’s arms, and as soon as she was down, ran toward her mother. She hugged Alezya’s legs and promptly left loud kisses on her baby bump.
“Hi, baby!” she cooed at the bump.
“Hello, baby,” Alezya smiled, brushing her daughter’s snow-white curls aside. “You found Auntie Kiera, I see.”
“What? I was checking the wine,” Kiera said defensively.
“For half an hour?” Lorey asked, eyebrows raised.
“It was a lot of wine.”
“Mama! Kein?” Lumie chirped.
“Kein’s outside the garden, my love. Go find him with Niiru.”
“Daddy Dragon!” she shrieked and took off, Niiru right behind her.
The adults laughed. Now that she knew how to walk, Lumie had only one speed: full sprint.
If she wasn’t running around the grounds, she was trying to scale Kein like he was a playground.
Whenever he saw the young girl running happily like that, Kassein always thought of that tiny, cramped space she’d grown in during the first months of her life.
And every time, it made his chest swell with quiet relief.
Kiera dropped the crate at Alezya’s feet.
“Where do you want this, Commander ?”
“Oh, are those the candles for the tables? Leave them by the greenhouse, we’ll set them up tomorrow.”
“Do we need candles?” Kiera asked, glancing up at all the lanterns strung around the garden.
“They’re sage-scented,” Alezya replied firmly, “and green, your mom’s favorite color. I ordered them especially from the new trading hub!”
Alezya was extremely passionate about the new, budding trading hub that had been recently established up north.
It was a fresh enterprise between Kassein’s army and the clans descended from the mountains, and any excuse was good to go check on the growing trades or order products there.
When Kassein had floated the idea of offering to host his mother’s birthday party after his parents had mentioned that Kairen’s mother might not be able to make the trip to the east where they’d originally planned it, she had been all for it, and had immediately tried to place as many orders as she could.
Kiera exchanged a look with her brother, but he shrugged, amused.
Then, he walked around to hug Alezya from behind, cupping her belly with his large hands.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, pressing a kiss on her cheek.
“Nervous,” she sighed. “We still have so much to prepare tomorrow, and once we have so many people and dragons around…”
“It will be fine,” Lorey smiled. “Everyone’s just happy to gather and they will all be willing to help.”
“And with my Dran and Krai around,” Naptunie added, beaming, “the kids will stay in line!”
“Damn right,” Darsan grinned, slinging an arm over his wife’s shoulder.
“But it’s your mother’s birthday, and this is your childhood home,” Alezya sighed. “I really want it to be–”
“It will be perfect, my moonlight,” he whispered in her ear. “All Mom wants is for all of us to be together. The whole family, together.”
“There will definitely be mayhem,” Kiera scoffed. “It wouldn’t be a family gathering if half of us don’t end up drunk, lost, or passed out!”
“Oh, no,” Naptunie pouted. “The children better stay where I expect them this time!”
Alezya smiled. Ever since they had discovered that, by dragon flight, the Onyx Castle was close to their parents’ house, Kassein’s nieces and nephews had taken to sneaking off to visit.
Lumie now enjoyed a rotating door of cousins coming to play in the gardens, and Naptunie and Alezya had inevitably become close.
She was getting to know Kassein’s family while settling her own there, and while it came with some challenges, Alezya loved it.
“You should get some rest,” Lorey smiled at her gently. “You’ve been on your feet all day, Alezya. Don’t worry about the party, everyone will be happy to help tomorrow.”
“All that’s left is the final decorations and food,” Naptunie chimed in cheerfully. “That’ll be fun to finish together!”
“And it’ll keep the kids busy,” Darsan added with a grin.
“Yeah, the four of us and Tievin’s legendary notes can handle the rest,” Kiera said, half-sighing, half-smirking. “Go rest, sister. We’ve got this.”
Alezya smiled at Kiera; now that they could communicate, she and Kiera had gotten closer, and she found that they both loved to banter any chance they got.
Though she and Lorey had left shortly after their parents had, the two of them came back so often that they now had a bedroom permanently waiting for them at the Onyx Castle.
“Come on,” Kassein said gently, nudging her toward the castle. “Let’s get some rest.”
Alezya nodded, smiling shyly as everyone around them bid her goodnight.
Kassein escorted her inside, and helped her lie in their bed; it was a brand new bed Darsan had gifted them after their wedding ceremony. It was ridiculously large, but she loved it, and she loved the idea that someday they’d sleep there together with more of their children.
“How’s baby?” he asked, softly caressing her bump.
“He’s been moving a lot,” Alezya chuckled. “I think he’s excited to see the family too.”
“Good,” Kassein kissed her belly. “We can’t wait to meet him.”
Tears welled in her eyes. That had become ridiculously common lately, and she wasn’t sure if she had always been emotional, if she should blame the pregnancy, or just how happy she had been in the past six months.
Kassein was used to it by now. He didn’t panic like he used to, especially back when he was still learning how to understand her.
Now, he simply held her. He leaned over, pulling her gently into his arms, and kissed her deeply, his hand never leaving her stomach. When he pulled back, his green eyes stayed locked on hers.
“Get some rest, my moonlight,” he whispered.
Alezya nodded sleepily, eyes fluttering shut as she curled into him. The baby gave one last soft kick beneath his palm, and Kassein smiled.
From the windows, she could hear the faint laughter of their family, the evening breeze, and the faraway growls of dragons small and large.
Tomorrow would bring even more noise and dragons and laughter and chaos, and she would love that.
But tonight, there was only the two of them, and love, and that wonderful bliss of that future that was waiting for them.