Page 20 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

Alezya shivered again but tried to get that thought out of her head.

The snow leopards were nocturnal, they wouldn’t be out so soon.

.. and not when there was already a much bigger predator in the area.

She just needed to buy her a bit of time.

In an hour or so, the clans would all be up and more people would be out there.

She could only hope things would go as planned then, at least for Lumie.

The second she had decided she’d part with her child, Alezya had already given up on her own life; in her eyes, it was a good bargain if it could give her baby a chance.

She finally found it. A perfect hiding spot, or almost. It came in the form of a dead tree, with almost nothing but its pathetic tree stump left, the original trunk lying on the side, a portion still attached and shards pointing up to the sky. Not losing a second, Alezya ran over.

It was a bit hollow, with a hole inside that would be large enough for her to put Lumie in.

From the look of it, that tree had been torn apart by some very strong wind, a recent snowstorm perhaps.

Either way, it was unoccupied, and she only had to dig out a bit of snow and debris before she found it deep enough.

Her tears wouldn’t stop, but nonetheless, she untied Lumie from her chest quickly. No matter how heavy the sadness in her heart, she couldn’t let it slow her down.

With trembling hands, she put Lumie down; miraculously, she had managed not to leave any blood on her child. Her baby noticed her mom’s tears, and to Alezya’s horror, she began crying.

“No, no, no! Everything’s alright, baby. See? Everything’s alright, my little snowflake...”

Alezya forced herself to smile through the tears. Nothing was more painful than painting a beautiful lie on her face, for her baby’s sake.

She kept sobbing but smiled as hard as she could, like another torture she had to subject herself to. Lumie was crying a bit, but once again, she seemed utterly confused by the soothing words, smiling face, and her tearful mother’s torn expression.

Alezya kept smiling at her as if everything was alright, as if her heart wasn’t being ripped apart by this moment, shredded into painful shards that were killing her.

With her fingers shaking, she took off her medallion and put it around her daughter’s neck instead.

Perhaps someone would recognize the symbol of her mother’s clan.

Perhaps someone good would find Lumie...

All of her hopes felt like snowflakes in the wind, so fragile and ready to scatter into oblivion.

“Go to sleep, Lumie,” she whispered. “Mommy will be back. Sleep, my little snowflake. Please sleep.”

“ Mommy will be back ” were words that she had said a lot before, words that Lumie could understand, somehow. That meant Alezya would leave her alone, but she’d be back some time.

Perhaps she had indeed grown used to it, because her baby’s eyelids seemed a bit heavier, and she calmed down.

Alezya forced herself to keep smiling, patting her head as if Lumie was a good child for feeling sleepy.

Her hand was trembling, and her heart felt painful like never before.

She was glad Lumie was already in the trunk, and couldn’t see her mother’s entire body trembling from the pain, the blood dripping from her ripped shoes and her side.

Lumie was a smart girl, she’d have noticed something was wrong. She couldn’t have that. Instead, Alezya soothed her like she always would, with a gentle little music coming from her lips, although she had to focus on uttering it from her trembling lips and through that painful knot in her throat.

All of her body was making her pay for what she was doing.

She couldn’t shake the horrible feeling that she was abandoning her baby, and she had to remind herself, again and again, that it was a bet for Lumie’s survival.

Lumie’s life against hers. It was horrible, cruel, and heart-breaking, but it was the best bargain she could afford right now.

The last one.

“Sleep, my snowflake,” she whispered to her dozing baby. “I love you. I love you so, so much...”

Her voice cracked on those last words.

Had she told her enough that she loved her?

Had she made Lumie feel happy and loved enough, in what little time they’d had together?

Had she hugged her enough, exchanged enough smiles with her?

A horrendous wave of regret hit her. All those times she was out hunting for food, she wished she’d been by her baby’s side.

Every second lost was now like another blade piercing her heart.

A male voice nearby took her out of that black hole of thoughts. She was out of time.

She took a deep breath and sealed her emotions deep in her heart.

She could keep crying, but she had to save Lumie.

Making sure her baby was ready to nap, Alezya took a painful step back and glanced around.

She found a piece of tree bark that was large enough, and she put it over Lumie’s hole, like a lid on a precious basket.

It looked a bit suspicious, but it was wood on wood.

Hopefully, that would protect Lumie from the cold more, and yet be unusual enough that someone would take notice.

“Catch her!”

Alezya stepped back, feeling like she was leaving her heart behind.

She dropped her bag, leaving it under another piece of tree bark, and without looking back, she began running.

Now a lot lighter, she could run fast, and as far away as possible. It was anger and rage that fueled her steps because everything else inside felt broken and hollow. She had to trick them. She had to take them far away, so far they wouldn’t think of coming back to check that area.

They wanted to hunt her down like some prey?

She was going to make them run.

Perhaps because she had left behind everything she still had to lose, Alezya found herself faster than she’d ever been before.

She could run and not care about the risk.

She could trip over a tree root and get back up without giving a damn about the pain.

That was nothing compared to what she had just gone through.

She kept running, heading south. She had to go south, for that was the one place most people didn’t want to go.

No one wanted to approach the area the Dragon Clan’s people patrolled for they knew about their powerful fighters and their dragon.

Even as she ran past the line of trees, Alezya didn’t bother to glance up. That dragon could have her if it wanted, but she was going to draw those bastards out and get them killed too if she could. As if it had read her mind, a loud growl echoed her thoughts.

“She’s there! Grab her!”

They were getting closer to her.

No matter how fast she could run, Alezya was already exhausted, her body reaching its limits.

She was leaving a trail of blood behind her, and her feet were burning, her shoes having given out long ago and ripped wide open, letting her skin be grazed by everything and anything she stepped on.

She could feel the sting on her flank, her skin bitten by the cold everywhere her clothes had been ripped apart.

Her hair was no longer tied back, flying around her face. She hoped that would make her an easier target to spot; she needed those men to follow her...

“Catch that swine! Traitor!”

She was growing deaf to their shouts. She could hear the whole valley echoing like a large trap closing in on her. More people were joining the hunt. No one felt pity for her, the thrill of hunting a human down was too exciting for those heartless monsters. Alezya kept running, tirelessly.

No, she was tired, but she wasn’t willing to listen to her body’s complaints anymore. A desperate rush of adrenaline was the only thing keeping her moving.

A scream from behind her got her to glance back, just once.

The dragon. That same orange dragon she’d faced had just dove down and murdered a man, not a mile behind her.

This time, fear grew in her. She had resolved that she’d die, but she still couldn’t help but hope it wouldn’t be a horrible and painful death.

At least, the dragon seemed to make it quick.

She heard a growl, and the beast jumped into the sky again, its furious growls resonating throughout the area.

Time. All she needed was more time and a bit more distance. To get as far as she could from Lumie, to drag them all out to where she’d finally be unable to continue... The ground suddenly disappeared under her feet.

Alezya realized she was falling when her body was still mid-air, and yet too late.

She tipped over, getting a glimpse of what was to come before closing her eyes.

This was the trap of an all-white environment.

White, fresh, and immaculate snow was treacherous.

The sparkling perfect white mane of snow, the one that was there first thing in the morning on a clear day, was blinding.

Perhaps if she had been going a little bit slower or walking, Alezya would have noticed that the ground before her was uneven, that the snow was tipping downward.

She would have stopped before the crevice that had suddenly opened before her.

It was now too late, and she fell, her body violently hitting the ground below just two seconds later.

It wasn’t a fall hard enough to kill her, but she felt her body screaming in pain.

Because she’d fallen from an upright position, her legs were the first victim, and now the ones screaming in an unbearable wave of pain.