Page 37 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
The pathetic truth was that they rarely fought, and mostly hid.
So, perhaps seeing his daughter actually last behind enemy lines had given her cunning father some ideas.
She wouldn’t have been surprised; information that could be used against the Dragon Clan was considered far more valuable than anything else, for it was most of the clans’ impossible dream to one day be able to get down to those lands to access more food and living space.
With that thought in mind, Alezya looked around the space she was in.
They’d been right on one thing: the Dragon Clan was far wealthier than their clans.
She’d experienced so much good food and had eaten more meat in two days than the wealthiest people of her clan ate in a week.
She’d never seen a more comfortable living space, nor enjoyed so many furs to protect her from the cold.
Not only that, they had enough to gift her two coats without thinking about it.
She’d never had enough money to buy a fur coat.
.. Fur was expensive enough, but the price easily tripled with the craft to turn it into a piece of clothing.
The ones she did have were all from her mother, or what she’d been given prior to her wedding that she could keep, and since she couldn’t buy any, the bits of fur she’d been able to hunt by herself, she’d used them all on Lumie.
She quietly washed herself with that good-smelling thing again, wondering what face her father would have made if he’d seen what luxury she had been living in after she had just survived certain death. She had been numb to most of it in the pain of losing Lumie, though.
One thing her father would never, ever understand was how she would easily trade all this to get back her child, without an ounce of regret.
In fact, the only thing she hoped was that Lumie would get to experience such wealth one day... Her hand stopped moving.
What if, after whatever deal her father wanted to make, she came back here with Lumie? If the clans didn’t want her, why couldn’t she try again in the Dragon Clan?
If she was honest with herself, she’d always dreamt of a new life down here, in a world she’d only ever been able to stare at.
She’d hoped to be able to join another clan, one that was hostile to her father, but maybe, this was even better.
She didn’t care about being labeled a traitor, she had been wearing that one for a while now.
Now that she’d seen and experienced the Dragon Clan for herself, it didn’t seem that crazy anymore to come here with Lumie for a second chance.
From what she’d seen, these people weren’t as bad or barbaric as the clans had painted them to be.
.. although most of her interactions had been with Kassein.
She let out a faint sigh. She’d have to leave him; no matter how kind he was, no man in his right mind would want a woman who’d already been married and had a child with another man.
Moreover, there was no telling how he’d react to Lumie.
Her baby was different, and she had yet to see anyone react positively to her unique appearance.
Tired, Alezya chased all those thoughts away. She was thinking too far into the future, making too many conjectures.
She finished cleaning herself up, and slid into bed, wearing only her new underwear and tunic.
The fire in the middle of the habitation was slowly dying, but she was afraid she’d do something wrong if she tried to take care of it herself since she didn’t know how they made their habitations safe despite it.
She assumed that strange channel above it was the key.
She glanced toward the entrance, but there was still no sign of Kassein.
In fact, she couldn’t hear anything but the gentle wind blowing the snow around.
She curled up under the covers, grimacing a bit at her painful feet.
She had to leave the next day, so she hoped they would heal as much as possible during the night.
She would have waited longer for Kassein, if she wasn’t so eager to recover, and leave to see her daughter again.
Still alone as the habitation grew darker, she couldn’t find sleep.
Too much had happened, and everything was too quiet.
After a while of hesitation, she opened her lips.
“...Kein?”
She had barely whispered that into the dark, but a soft growl answered her from the other side of the fabric behind her, making her smile. The dragon was still there, at least. This crazy, dangerous creature was suddenly a little bit of a comforting presence surrounding the place.
It also made her believe Kassein would eventually come back. She didn’t want to leave without at least saying goodbye to her benefactor.
Just like that, Alezya gently drifted to sleep.
More tired than she’d let on, she didn’t hear Kassein come back inside, and she didn’t even wake up when he removed the heavy, fire-colored gear and set his sword aside.
He fanned the flames of the fire a bit, made sure the habitation was sealed shut except for the hole the smoke escaped through, and then, he finally went to lay on the fur rug right next to the bed Alezya was sleeping on.
He had just closed his eyes when she opened hers, perhaps woken up by the sudden proximity.
With no idea they’d missed each other by a handful of seconds, she stared at his large figure sleeping beneath her. So he had left her his bed indeed and was sleeping on the floor. She watched him sleep for a little while with mixed feelings.
She was still nervous about what she’d done wrong, and a bit sorry. She hoped he’d be up when she left the next day. She wasn’t sure what he understood of all this, what he thought of it.
Perhaps he thought she was crazy, and was just helping her out of the kindness of his heart.
It still baffled her how such a powerful man could act so kind and humbly toward a foreign woman.
Was he like that to all the women he knew?
If so, the Dragon Clan’s people were far kinder than she’d have ever imagined.
But she couldn’t help but think that Kassein had been especially kind to her. He hadn’t let other men approach, yet he hadn’t staked any sort of claim on her.
It was strange, a bit unsettling, and yet it made her feel safe and grateful.
But Alezya tried not to think about it too deeply and blew her feelings away.
She couldn’t get over how stiffly he’d reacted to her hugging him, and it made her embarrassed.
She’d been foolish. Perhaps she’d misread the way he looked at her all along.
.. It would be too late to know now. She had to leave, so those questions would perhaps never be answered.
Alezya drifted back to sleep, with a bit of a heartache.
The next morning, she woke up first.
She felt refreshed, but her heart was still heavy. Now that she was faced with the prospect of going back, she felt nervous to face her father again. She wanted to see her daughter so bad though and confirm that she was fine that she couldn’t hesitate.
While Kassein slept, she quickly got dressed. She must have made a bit of noise though, for Kassein slowly woke up just as she was almost done and making the bed. Their gazes met, and she found herself blushing before she could control it.
“Kassein...”
It was frustrating that she couldn’t have him understand her with words, but even if she did, she didn’t know what she would have said.
Thankfully, he didn’t seem upset at all. He nodded and slowly got up, quietly stretching his impressive figure; rarely had she seen such an imposing man.
Since he was half-naked again, she could see there were far fewer orange scales than the previous day and more human skin. So those scales were really healing him...
She was still completely shocked at the phenomenon, but that only made her even more curious about the scars he did have. Some were atrocious and made her wonder if her people had done that. She wouldn’t dare ask, however.
She simply waited as he got dressed, including his hard plating and his sword, wondering how to tell him she was leaving.
“Alezya.”
To her surprise, as soon as he was done, he walked up to her first and handed her something. She opened her hands to receive the small object, curious as to what it was.
It was a long and thin piece of fabric, one she’d never seen before.
It was incredibly smooth, but surprisingly cool to the touch, and without any imperfection like one would expect in something made with leather or wool.
From a closer look, it seemed to have been woven somehow, but at such a tiny scale that the naked eye only saw a smooth surface.
The color was vibrant too, a rare purple color that could never be so dashing in the wild, except for gemstones.
She was shocked to be handed something that seemed so rare and precious, and a long string of it too! She glanced up at him, confused.
Was this a gift for her? What was she to do with it? Did women of his kind wear it on their clothes, or as an accessory? It was undeniably pretty, but she was clueless as to what to do with his gift, and she feared offending him again.
To her relief, Kassein smiled and took it from her. Then, he gestured for her to turn around, and she did, feeling a bit nervous, wondering if he was to put it around her neck.
Alezya almost jumped when she felt him touch her hair.
She’d never had a man touch her hair before! A woman’s hair was sacred, and only women could touch it, except for one’s husband!
Still, she battled with her instincts to stay still, well aware Kassein couldn’t possibly know about that.
Now she was curious as to what he was doing. Married women could tie up their hair, but since her own marriage had been annulled by her kind, she couldn’t be seen with her hair up, or she’d risk another beating.