Page 34 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
The silence between them wasn’t awkward, but it was unsettling.
That man, Kassein, had a dark expression in his eyes that she didn’t like. He’d cleaned himself before going out, and he’d come back covered in blood again. Was that animal blood? Or...?
For some reason, Alezya wished he hadn’t fought against her kind.
She was an outcast of her clan, but she didn’t hate most of those people enough to wish for their deaths.
Perhaps she was too kind, or perhaps she was holding on to the last bit of respect she had for them to not completely despise them. It was still her homeland, after all.
And, most importantly, she hoped someone had found Lumie. A kind clan, one that would have protected her. That was what she hoped, the thought she was holding on to.
When she’d caught a glimpse of the mountains earlier that day, she’d felt subjugated with pain again.
She only wanted to go back for Lumie. She loved the mountain itself, but aside from her baby, there was nothing and no one waiting for her up there.
All she wanted was to retrieve her baby, and then. ..
She stared at Kassein again.
That man was hard to understand. He had an aura of anger, fear, and death surrounding him at all times, yet he was kind to her. Maybe it was because she was a woman as he didn’t seem kind to anyone else.
When they’d briefly gone out earlier that day, she’d seen many, many more men, and it was clear they all feared him. Those men seemed to fear that man as much, if not more, than that gigantic beast outside.
She shuddered, just thinking about the size of the creature.
The dragon. The orange-scaled dragon, with its silver eyes and blood-covered face.
.. That beast was the most terrifying creature she’d ever seen.
And yet, the dragon had acted like... like some animal bringing her an offering.
It had killed a snow leopard just like that!
With the size of those claws, it could probably kill a human in just one movement.
She ate a piece of meat, once again grateful for the juicy bit that filled her. She was already so much better. No matter how much she feared that man, Kassein, and his dragon, she was much better thanks to them.
She still couldn’t understand exactly how those two were connected.
Kassein was the only man she had ever encountered who wore orange scales like the dragon.
And those were real scales. As crazy as it seemed, the scales on his arms were absolutely real.
.. It sounded insane, and yet, she’d witnessed it with her own eyes.
Even if it had been a miracle of the gods, it was a strange sight to witness and believe. In the few hours she’d been awake and with him, that man had changed everything she knew about his kind.
She’d experienced more luxury and comfort in two days than in the last twenty years of her existence, even back when she was still her father’s favorite daughter, her clan’s cherished beauty.
She was eating meat-filled meals and sleeping in a large, warm bed with a thick mattress.
She was protected from the wind, cold, and snow by some habitation that was as big as some of the biggest caves she’d been in and had soft, thick fur carpet on every inch of the ground.
She had taken a bath with hot water, and washed with those little things that smelled incredibly good.
She had changed clothes, had been given coats, and all her injuries were taken care of by their medicine with fresh, new bandages every time.
Alezya was shocked at how much wealth was spent on her, and she couldn’t tell if that man was just so wealthy he didn’t care, or if she was somehow given special treatment. She had always known the Dragon Clan was wealthy, but to this extent?
A part of her knew that this was mostly that man, Kassein’s doing.
He was obviously someone important here. He hadn’t let any of the other men approach her, and he was almost the only one she’d interacted with. And he was a strange man himself.
He washed her feet and carried her. He had given her his bed and a bath while he’d washed himself with just a cloth.
Even in wealthy families with a loving couple, she knew the man always bathed before the woman, and the wife would use the same water later.
But she’d been allowed a bath all for herself when the water was still clean and steaming hot.
Moreover, he hadn’t bathed himself? Perhaps things just worked differently in the Dragon Clan, but she was still shocked by everything.
Most surprisingly, he hadn’t tried to touch her.
By now, with all those displays of kindness and consideration, any man of the clans would have said he’d done enough to be entitled to some compensation.
He had gone to far greater lengths than any man would to please a woman and make her his fiancee, or just take her to bed. ..
Yet, Kassein hadn’t touched her, hadn’t even tried anything with her.
She almost would have preferred if he’d acted like most men, brutal and entitled. The fact that he was so kind to her was unsettling, and distracting.
Alezya didn’t want to let her thoughts linger anywhere too far from her baby.
In fact, as kind as Kassein had been, all he did only added to the guilt that was piling up inside.
How could she be so comfortable when she had no idea what her baby was going through?
How could she stay there, be healed and cared for, when she was being the worst mother of all, unable to protect her child?
Every second that passed, she thought of Lumie.
She missed her so much, her heart ached non-stop.
She hoped her baby was alright, fine and safe, somewhere, so much.
She wanted to throw all of this away, she would have renounced every bit of this kindness and luxury if it had brought her daughter back.
Sadly, she knew she needed all of it. She needed to get stronger and healthier, soon.
Whatever miracle Kassein had used to make her recover so fast, she was grateful, for it made her hopes to go back soon rise.
He had said something earlier when he’d caught her looking at the mountain. She wasn’t sure what, but she had a feeling he was about to send her back. At least, that was what she’d deciphered in his attitude.
No matter what, she’d go back the next day.
She had to. If her feet kept healing at the pace they’d been all this time, she’d be fine to walk and climb the next day.
And she couldn’t wait any longer than that to find out what had happened to her child, and also, what was going on with her clan. Something was going on, she could tell.
It had been brief, but she’d definitely recognized two of her father’s henchmen spying on them from the mountain behind Kassein’s habitation.
It had only been a split second before the orange dragon had suddenly started tearing up the ground, distracting her, but she was sure she’d recognized their faces.
Her eyes were so good that she’d been able to read their expressions, and neither had seemed shocked to see her, nor to see the dragon down there, rather quiet instead of killing humans.
Something about the fact that two of her father’s henchmen had seen her was very unsettling. Why? Why would her father have bothered to send two of his men so far to spy on her?
That mountain was quite a distance from their clan’s territory, and very risky to be in, given the proximity to the Dragon Clan people.
Even if they’d known she’d survived, why would they bother to check up on her?
Were they looking for Lumie? Did her father’s pride justify sending two of his men to such a dangerous area. ..?
There was no way that was the only time they’d spied on her; how else would they have known where she was?
This place was very wide, with many habitations like Kassein’s, some a lot closer to the mountains and with safer areas for spying.
But right when she’d come out, two of her father’s men had been there.
No, they ought to have known she’d been taken to that place, which meant they’d probably seen Kassein save her. Did they hope to get something from her?
Perhaps that was it. Her father would never say no to information about their worst enemy.
If he had Lumie, Alezya wouldn’t think twice about trading any intel he wanted for her child.
Not only was any price worth her baby’s safety, but after she’d spent a couple of days here, she was now certain their clan could never win against Kassein’s.
Her father was delusional to hope he’d ever win against the Dragon Clan. ..
Either way, she could use that. If her estimation of the number of days that had passed was right, the council gathering in which her father had planned to sacrifice Lumie shouldn’t have happened yet. Which meant, if he had Lumie, she had to be alive.
That was only one possibility though. Alezya was still silently praying every second she could that someone good had found her baby, that Lumie was safe and sound, just waiting for her mom to return.
She internally swore she’d never allow herself to part from her baby again once they were reunited.
“Alezya?”
She glanced up at Kassein, who was staring at her with a concerned expression, and realized she’d begun crying. She wiped her tears, mad at herself that she’d let her emotions show.