Page 19 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

She kept going, forcing herself to go fast and ignore the second arrow that hit a rock right above her hand.

She had to pretend no one was aiming at her, or she’d lose her focus.

Her heartbeat was like a battle drum in her chest, pressing her to keep going, take any risk that felt takeable.

She could endure the pain, the cold. She could handle anything as long as Lumie survived this. ..

“Look out!”

For a second, Alezya lost her focus. It wasn’t the man’s scream, but the furious growl that had followed it, so loud, so sudden, and so close that she had loosened her grip in fright, just for a second. She fell.

She kept her hand up in the air, the other around Lumie, desperate to grab something; it was a reflex she’d mastered after falling several times on purpose, one she knew could save her life.

Her arm got brutally grazed once, twice, three, four times before her fingers finally grabbed onto something.

The violent strain of her whole weight pulling down her arm made her muscles ache, but she didn’t let go.

Alezya caught her breath and glanced up.

Her arm had caught on a tiny cliff, but this thing wouldn’t be enough to support her for long.

She looked at Lumie; her baby had woken up, but she seemed more shocked by the sudden situation, too shocked to cry yet.

Alezya immediately smiled at her gently to calm her, pretending as if everything was alright. Luckily, that was enough.

Lumie was visibly confused, but without knowing what emotion to display, she simply stayed neutral, her big, curious eyes opened wide and staring at her mom for more clues.

Alezya didn’t have more than those few seconds to care for her though.

She glanced up, and now that Lumie was fine, she used her other hand to grip on with both arms before assessing the situation.

She had fallen far below her previous position, which was a good thing for now, at least. No sign of the archers anymore and to her relief, no dragon either.

She let out a faint sigh. That dragon had scared the hell out of her.

.. She glanced down. She wasn’t far from the slope!

Almost right above it, to be exact. Her hopes came back.

She felt the pain before she heard the arrow crash.

She winced and almost lost her grip. Her flank sent a wave of acute pain throughout her body.

Alezya tried hard not to cry out from the pain, not to worry Lumie, but it was hard.

She could feel exactly where the arrow had drawn a sharp line on her flank, ripping the clothing to get to her flesh.

The arrow hadn’t stabbed her but flown by, but it had been sharp enough to cause damage.

It stung, and she knew she had to be bleeding.

She bit her lower lip. She had to get out of range.

Alezya glanced down at the slope. It was a bit too far on her left, but it was doable.

It was one hell of a jump, but not too crazy.

Perhaps crazy was the kind of action she needed to save herself and her child right now.

.. It wasn’t just about the archers or her clan anymore, she now had a dragon to watch out for as well.

She just had to take the risk. She took a deep breath, wrapped her arms around Lumie, and leaped off the cliff.

She didn’t have the luxury to close her eyes and wait to see where she landed; she squinted as much as she could to protect her sight.

Her body brutally hit the slope, and she started to tumble.

She rolled down, as anticipated, following that long descent, the natural slope quickly taking her farther down the mountain.

It wasn’t a smooth ride by any means. Her body was being battered by the rocks hitting her along the way, the uneven ground rocking her body and bruising her all over.

She was doing nothing, but it was strenuous just to endure being jolted around and stay focused on protecting Lumie, so she gritted her teeth and waited.

She only realized she had closed her eyes when everything stopped moving. She had ended her fall much farther down the same slope in an area she had only been a handful of times. Luckily, this was one of the rare areas covered by a few pine trees; she’d be safe from that dragon, just for a bit.

Alezya caught her breath, and with difficulty, pulled herself back up.

Lumie was fine, thankfully, but her eyes were opened wide.

She probably wondered what the hell was going on after this wild ride.

.. Alezya ignored the pain and forced herself to smile at her baby as if this had just all been some funny game.

Lumie hesitated, but replied with the cutest smile, already reassured. This broke Alezya’s heart a bit more.

Her body was aching on all sides, but she had to keep going. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but carrying Lumie on top of the pain was getting really difficult. Alezya surveyed their surroundings, already nervous again.

It didn’t take long for her to hear her father’s men shouting. They were awfully close already! They weren’t fast climbers, but they also didn’t have a child to carry. She felt mad that all her risks had only bought her this little time. Still, she had to keep going.

She wasn’t too far from the area she had been aiming for since the beginning, one that several clans shared as a farming space and brought their livestock to.

That was her best hope; another clan that would understand her father’s madness, that they couldn’t abandon a woman and her child. Anyone who could help them...

Putting her arms around Lumie, she resumed her course, running through the pine trees.

She was heading farther south now, to an even lower ground.

Alezya ran as fast as she could, thankfully this area was less snow-covered.

Her feet were painful but steady, and she could almost run normally without sending waves of snow flying around her.

She kept an ear out, and she could hear them belt out about chasing her, who had just spotted her, where that wench was going.

A horrible thought began creeping in her mind.

They were too close. They knew where she was.

She would soon reach the edge of the pine forest and be fully visible from above again.

No matter how fast she ran, she wouldn’t make it to the common grounds without them catching up to her.

At least, they’d get there before anybody else did.

They wouldn’t give up on catching her, and she and Lumie were going to get dragged back, or worse...

Tears began to stream down her cheeks at that painful realization.

No, perhaps she already knew in her heart.

She had entertained the thin hope that they would both possibly make it, but she just knew better.

Perhaps hope had given her extra bravery for the first part of her journey, but now came the time to face reality. The cruel, painful reality.

The two of them weren’t going to make it.

She couldn’t outrun her father’s people.

They wouldn’t draw another clan’s attention soon enough to be rescued, and even if they miraculously did, another clan wouldn’t dare openly oppose her father and risk a battle between clans.

Not for a repudiated woman and her fatherless child.

Alezya kept running, her tears flying behind her. She hated herself for even thinking what she was thinking, but again, the truth was there, right in front of her eyes. She was no fool, and she wasn’t mad enough to risk the infinitesimal chance; she’d be taking them both to their deaths.

Alezya kept crying, her jaw trembling, but her mind was still there to help her sort out what to do next. Lumie. She had to save Lumie, no matter what. As long as her baby made it, everything would have been worth it, even her death.

She couldn’t outrun her father’s people, but she could buy herself time. No, she could buy Lumie time. If she could get them to chase her, far enough from Lumie, then maybe, someone would get to her baby first and take her away.

Alezya shivered, not because of the cold, but because of how mad and desperate that plan was, even to herself. She kept thinking, again and again, but she could see no other option than this horrible one.

Worse, time was pressing her, as she could hear her clansmen getting closer and closer.

Now that it was a running race instead of a climbing one, she was losing ground quickly.

She had to make a decision or her hesitation would end up killing them both.

Alezya kept crying, not only from despair and sadness but out of anger at how unfair this situation was.

She couldn’t believe there would be a world where the gods were so cruel, they’d push her to do this.

She had to abandon her own child for her sake.

Lumie’s short life had been a long list of compromises, settling for less than she had deserved and surviving. Why? Just what had her child done that was so wrong for her to have to endure all this?

She’d always done everything right. Alezya had followed all of her father’s demands since she was born, she had been married to a stranger under his orders, endured countless nights of pain to follow customs, and bore a child. What had she ever done wrong to be pushed to such a tragic end?

If there were any gods out there, they were cruel. Even crueler than the beast flying above their heads.

As she kept crying, Alezya knew she had to end things quickly. The longer she waited, the harder it would be, and the fewer chances Lumie would have. She had already ventured far enough into this unclaimed territory.

She kept looking around. She had to find an area where she could hide her baby. Somewhere big enough to contain a child and hide her, somewhere that would be protected from the winds and possibly beasts in the area.