Page 24 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

She hesitated. He probably asked if it was good, so she nodded, but to her surprise, the man left right away. This guessing game was going to be a headache...

Less than a couple of minutes later, he returned with the bowl full again. Alezya was stunned, but then she realized her mistake. More! He’d asked her if she wanted more, not if it was good...

Now that she thought about it, it was probably obvious she liked it from the way she had emptied the whole thing. He handed her the newly filled bowl, and she took it helplessly, feeling like an idiot. He’d given her a full portion again, with even more meat floating at the surface.

Was it really alright? She did have space for a bit more. Alezya ate, feeling obligated to finish it now that this had been brought for her. Most importantly, she mentally noted that inkir meant “more” or something like that...

She had a harder time finishing this bowl and had to eat slowly, but she loved whatever meat was in there. Perhaps that man was really rich to be able to afford some stranger two servings of such good meat. The tons of furs lying around might have meant so too.

Alezya vaguely knew the Dragon Clan was likely wealthier than most of the clans, but she had no idea how different the scale was. While she ate, the man took off his coat, and Alezya almost dropped her spoon.

He was covered in those orange tattoos! Most importantly, they were shining strangely for tattoos... or were they fire-colored stones? She was utterly confused. She’d heard of a clan that liked to put beads under their skin, but this was different; most of it was exposed, not under the skin...

It really looked like that dragon’s scales were completely painted over his muscles. And she had seen few warriors as physically blessed as this man.

“ Mahi? ”

She raised her eyes, blushing to have been caught staring. The man had asked her something, but once again she was clueless. He grabbed the jug from earlier and pointed at it with his index finger.

“ Mahi? ” he repeated.

Water. Mahi meant water. Alezya nodded, more to confirm her guess than because she was thirsty.

He left, and sure enough, brought back water a few seconds later.

Mahi and inkir . She’d forgotten that other word when he’d brought her the food before, but at least her vocabulary was growing, and perhaps she would get to understand him and let him know what she wanted soon.

As someone who had the mind of a survivor, Alezya knew how to set her priorities despite the gloomy thoughts about her child.

Alezya had already made up her mind: it didn’t matter if Lumie had survived or not, she would go and look for her.

She had to know, and she wouldn’t stop. She wasn’t the type to just let fate decide her and her child’s futures, and she had to know for certain.

Even if it took days, weeks, months, or years, she wouldn’t allow herself to grieve for her baby if she didn’t know for certain what had become of her.

At least, that was one good reason to stay alive, get better, and go back.

She ought to know. Hence, she ate her soup until the second bowl was empty and her stomach was full.

Surviving in a completely foreign environment would at least keep her busy while she tried to heal.

She still couldn’t understand why that man was taking care of her, nor his intentions, but she was going to use him until she could go back.

As he saw she was done with the bowl, he took it away.

Based on the amount of light she saw as he lifted the flap of the habitation, she could guess it was the evening. So, at least several hours had passed since she’d parted ways with Lumie...

Was it the same day, even? She couldn’t be sure, she had been unconscious with no notion of time.

Alezya tried to think. From then on, she was going to act and plan as if Lumie were alive, and she could get back to her.

The odds were put back into the corner of her mind; even if it was slim, she was going to focus on the hope and possibility that someone had found Lumie and saved her.

If so, then there were two probabilities: either another clan had found her, or her father’s.

Even if it was another clan, she couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t hand her back to her father if he claimed the white-haired and white-skinned child was theirs. If so, Lumie’s chances were even slimmer... Perhaps he’d wait until the next council gathering to harm her?

Alezya tried to remember; she vaguely recalled her father mentioning when the next gathering would be, but she had been too preoccupied with getting Lumie to safety.

Usually, she wouldn’t be important enough to be told when the next gathering of the clans would be as she was never included.

To be exact, no woman ever was. They didn’t even allow the women-led clans to partake.

Anyhow, she had to retrieve her child before this council gathering was held.

Knowing her father, Alezya had no doubt he’d have no second thoughts about sacrificing her child as he had planned to.

Worse, if he had already mentioned the sacrifice to other clans, he would stop at nothing to get his hands on Lumie and avoid the humiliation of a man not living up to his words.

How long until that damned council gathering?

A few days, maybe? She was sure she’d heard before that they often held it on the night of a full moon, as it was in an open area.

She most likely had until the next full moon then.

This was just one in an already hazy pool of possibilities anyway.

.. but Alezya held on to what she could.

Would she be able to walk within a few days? Her broken feet were her worst nightmare. She couldn’t be stuck at such a time! She’d expected to die; instead, she lived but was now unable to go and save her daughter. What kind of twisted fate was that? She let out a desperate sigh.

The worst part was, maybe she was doing it all for nothing... Either way, she had to do her best. Forcing herself to believe she could still save Lumie was the only thing keeping her together.

Alezya found herself tired once she was done eating and drinking; it seemed like her body had used the last of its strength just doing that. She laid back down, right when the man walked back in.

She hesitated. Perhaps this was his bed and he’d take it back?

He walked up to her, but to her surprise, it was only to pull the fur back over her shoulders. That gesture took her by such surprise that she didn’t react at all. He didn’t say anything this time, but he only glanced in her eyes once before turning around.

He went to the corner to grab one of the blades, a long one that was about the size of Alezya’s leg, and came back toward her.

He sat down against the end frame of the bed, near her feet, facing the fire.

Then, he simply began cleaning and sharpening his weapon in silence.

Alezya was still utterly confused by each of this man’s actions, but at least, she didn’t feel any malice from him anymore.

She hadn’t even flinched when he’d brought a weapon toward her.

.. She could genuinely feel no threat coming from him.

In fact, she was deeply shocked at how she’d already grown to be less afraid of a man who looked strong enough to end her life in an instant.

She’d grown afraid of men that were familiar to her, like her father, her once husband, or any other man of her clan, but not this foreigner?

She stared, still confused about her own thoughts. Despite his appearance, he’d been incredibly gentle and was able to do things no clansmen would lower themselves to like it was no big deal. That stranger was truly too different and always took her by surprise...

She kept staring, thinking maybe she was underestimating him. Men could be treacherous and surprisingly good at using a woman’s feelings against themselves... but this was the back of the man who was going to spend his evening quietly taking care of his weapon.

Feeling a bit better, she slowly curled up under her blankets, allowing herself to drift into what would be, hopefully, a restful sleep.

Alezya woke up to male voices talking near her.

After a couple of seconds remembering where she was and what had happened, she opened her eyes.

The habitation was in complete darkness.

She recognized the silhouette that was seated in the same position she’d last seen him at the end of her bed, and another man was standing by the entrance.

It was obviously dawn outside, allowing her to partially see his frame, but he seemed skinnier than the warrior who had taken her, although he was wrapped in the thickest fur coat she’d ever seen.

He seemed tall too, and she wondered if the men of the Dragon Clan were naturally taller than her clansmen.

She’d only ever seen a handful of them from afar, so she had never noticed, but it wouldn’t have been surprising.

She thought the warrior was the tallest man she’d ever seen, but maybe this was the norm here.

.. although the other one seemed remarkably skinny.

The two of them were talking in a low voice, and she realized the man standing couldn’t sit down in front of the warrior to talk. He was just standing there in the opening, no matter how uncomfortable it was, showing their difference in status.

She had no idea what they were talking about, but she had a vague impression it could have been about her.

Her eyes drifted back to the seated warrior, and this time, instead of his sword, he had a strange little bottle he was turning between his fingers.

It seemed the two men were arguing from their way of speech, but the warrior clearly was the one to decide. The other man sighed.