Page 2 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
“...If I had known, I wouldn’t have saved you for the son of the Exkiu Clan,” he kept on grumbling.
“You deceived us all with your looks, while you brought absolute dishonor to us all, and forever disgraced their future leader! You should be too ashamed to even walk amongst your people! A vixen like you!”
Alezya hadn’t asked to be the prettiest of her sisters, nor for her father to “save her” as a present for political match-making with another clan.
A man she had only met a few times had become her future husband, while she was just a prettily wrapped present.
For a long time, she had tried to act the part, convinced herself it was for the sake of her clan.
She had gone through a whole nightmare and her own sacrifice to make her father happy, to make him proud, to make everyone content, and the result. .. had led to this.
“Things are hard enough with those wretched demons and their hellish dragons! The clans are barely surviving, and now I can’t even count on my own blood to protect and serve her clan! We’re all going to starve or be killed, and this is your fault!”
He slapped her.
Alezya didn’t try to resist or dodge. She didn’t cry from the burning pain on her cheek.
She had been waiting for this. As painful as it was, this violence marked the end of her father’s sermon and her release.
He wouldn’t openly beat her in front of the rest of the clan, not with so many eyes watching.
Most of them probably thought she deserved this, but her father couldn’t risk the shame potentially reaching other clans.
She kept her head low, listening to his heavy panting, praying he was finally done.
The worst part was that he always did this with many eyes around, yet nobody ever stood up for her. ..
“Go,” he hissed, “and don’t you dare leave this cave again.”
With a heavy heart, she simply walked away.
She ignored the food on the ground, the eyes following her, and the deep, bitter injury in her heart.
Tears were pooling at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them back; she didn’t want to show them how hurt she was.
Her feet quickly took her deeper, much deeper into the mountain’s intestines, to where there was more wind and less sunlight.
There were also fewer humans along the way.
Their mountain was so large that her whole clan could live scattered within it, and the families could always find a new corner in which to settle.
If her clan had ever been big enough to find it crowded, that was far too long ago to remember.
Now, their number was declining, and there was more and more space for everyone to share.
Space was the only thing they never ran out of, besides snow.
Alezya finally reached her little corner.
She had been forced to relocate herself far from the others’ eyes and scrutiny in a little, secret space she had found for herself.
She had to crouch down and almost get on all fours, cramming herself into a tiny tunnel, and climb up before reaching a half-open cave.
It was one of the worst possible places to settle, with a large hole that let the wind blow in on a poorly protected corner of the mountain.
It was a small space and far too open to the cold winds, but it was all hers, and one place her father could never get to.
Alezya had tried covering the gaping hole with a large piece of leather she had sewn herself, but it wasn’t enough to keep the little space warm.
As soon as she stepped in, she ran to the small pile of furs on the side, the best-protected area.
She had piled up as many snow cat and bear furs as she had been able to gather under, inside, and around a little basket.
“Lumie?” she asked, her heart beating fast with worry.
A joyous squeal greeted her, immediately calming her down.
Alezya smiled and leaned over the little basket, meeting the baby girl’s gorgeous fair eyes.
The baby was nestled in her little basket as she had left her, holding on to a tiny piece of wood Alezya had carved for her.
As soon as she recognized her face, Lumie dropped her toy and extended her little, chubby baby arms to her.
“Hello, my little snowflake...”
All the grief and anger forgotten, Alezya grabbed the fur surrounding the baby and carried her against her chest, feeling the baby girl’s temperature.
Thankfully, it hadn’t dropped too low. Lumie was alright, she seemed to have woken up not too long ago.
With relief, Alezya kissed the baby’s forehead and lifted her up so they could be at eye level.
Lumie extended her little hands to touch her mother’s cheeks and babbled some more of her cute but mysterious baby language.
“I missed you too,” Alezya replied in a whisper.
Now that she was awake, the baby felt a bit hungry. She was no longer a newborn, but still a toddler, and very much in tune with her needs. Her cute smile turned downwards, and she made sure her mom saw how unhappy she was.
“I know, I know...”
Gently, Alezya rested her back against one of the walls of the cave and positioned her baby so she could feed on her breast. As soon as she began to eat, Lumie relaxed, happily drinking her milk.
Alezya let out a faint sigh, both worried and relieved.
At least her baby was safe for now, but for how much longer?
She would not be able to keep her hidden in this cave forever.
As Lumie kept drinking, Alezya gently pushed back a little strand of hair from her face.
She couldn’t understand why her family and people couldn’t see the baby like she did... like a treasure. She was just different, but she was still her precious child. Yet, she was treated like a monster... simply because of her appearance.
Lumie’s hair was snow-white. Her skin was white.
Her baby was just born entirely white, with her eyes as pale as the shimmer of frost clinging to morning grass.
.. Even her tiny eyelashes were as white as little snowflakes, something neither Alezya nor her people had ever seen before.
Her own skin was a tawny beige, and already amongst the lightest of her kind.
She thought she had seen all the colors among her people, from the Xihen with their skin as dark as tree bark, to the Leito and their famous golden skin tone, but in no other clan had she ever seen people with skin as white as the snow.
She couldn’t understand how it came to be.
No matter what her father and everyone else thought, Alezya knew she had been with no other man than the one she had been betrothed to.
How could she forget all those horrible nights of pain?
She had tried her hardest, just to make them all happy.
And yet, not a single person had believed her innocence when the child was born.
No one believed the heroic, revered son of the Exkiu Clan was Lumie’s father.
Worse, they couldn’t even believe she was the child of a man from any of the clans.
So, as her mother and the only one to scorn, Alezya was deemed a traitor who had probably lain with some demon. That was the only explanation they could come up with...
After a while, she had learned not to care for their opinions, or for the friends she had lost. Alezya had learned to ignore the glares, the whispers everywhere she walked, the names they called her.
Just when she should have been the saddest, she had found incredible strength in her new role as a mother.
It was hard, and it still hurt at times, but all of those painful things were nothing compared to ensuring Lumie was safe and sound.
Alezya had never dreamt of becoming a mother.
She had gone through puberty with her duty as a woman of the clan hanging above her head like some sentence and had not been given a choice in which man she would be betrothed to.
Making her father happy and serving her clan was good enough for her.
She had convinced herself, repeatedly, that her sisters and all women probably went through the same nightmare every night, laying in bed with their fiances and husbands.
.. and despite everything else, she was relieved not to have to go through that hell again.
Her whole body would always shudder uncontrollably every single time at the mere thought of her ex-husband. Lumie had come almost like her savior, sparing her mother a lifetime of pain...
While she was lost in her thoughts, Alezya’s stomach grumbled.
Lumie, who felt and heard that, giggled, making her smile.
Her mother wiped her little mouth, as her daughter was done eating, and changed her position, putting the toddler more comfortably on her lap.
Then, she took out a little bag of berries she had saved.
She would have been foolish if she hadn’t suspected what her father would do to her findings, for the hundredth time.
She gave one to Lumie, who happily ate the extra snack, her fair lips taking on the red color of the fruit as she munched on it.
Alezya smiled and started eating some herself.
She was glad she had always been a good climber.
Who would have known she’d be left caring for herself and a child on her own…
? Most women preferred to become good at cooking or knitting early, as their husbands would come to be the ones responsible for providing the food, but Alezya had always loved going out berry-picking, learning to spot herbs, and taking care of the herds.
Perhaps she had known that lifestyle would never make her happy. ..
Suddenly, a large growl from outside resonated throughout the mountains.