Page 43 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
He turned around, and after giving orders for no one to approach Kassein, he hurried back to his tent to change.
For some reason, he didn’t trust that Kein was gone for good at all. Something was different this time, and neither the man nor his dragon were acting normally. Tievin hadn’t had time to truly think while their brawl had been happening, but it wasn’t just Kein.
He couldn’t shake off the feeling that the Prince was acting oddly too.
He’d seen it when he’d walked back into the camp after returning that woman to her people.
That expression on his face was one he hadn’t seen in a while.
One that had taken a long time to disappear.
The soldiers here didn’t know the Prince, so they had no idea.
Only Tievin, who’d been by his side since childhood, knew how complex the Prince’s personality was, how tortured he could be under that cold, hard facade.
He couldn’t understand why his dragon had gone mad, but he did pity the Prince’s circumstances a bit.
He hadn’t been too happy about a woman coming to the camp, but now, he realized that woman might have been the best thing that had happened to Kassein in a long while.
It spoke volumes that the Prince and his dragon had been able to stay together in the same place for several hours, a couple of days even, without so much as making a scratch on each other, and the second that woman was gone, they were back to trying to kill each other.
As he stepped out of his tent with new, clean, and dry pants, Tievin looked up at the mountains.
He’d always thought women brought nothing but trouble, and he was still thinking that.
But perhaps, just perhaps, that particular woman could have brought something good into the Prince’s life.
Now that she was gone, he was anxious about the days ahead.
With a lot of worrisome thoughts in mind, Tievin began walking back toward the spot he’d left the Prince. With his incredible regeneration capacity, he had no doubt that the Prince would be able to get up soon, unless the dragon came back for another round.
“Sir!”
A man ran up to him, which Tievin recognized as that new Captain, Dajan. The newcomer began walking beside Tievin, visibly nervous.
“Sir, I need to report that the dragon was spotted nearby. It seems to have gone toward the mountains.”
“Toward the mountains?” Tievin repeated, feeling uneasy. “Anything more precise than that?”
“We’re not sure yet, Grand Intendant. It suddenly... dove between mountains and out of our sight. We thought it was hunting, but it hasn’t come back yet. Sir, should we prepare some protective measures around the Commander in Chief, just in case? If the dragon comes back, I’m worried that–”
“You’ll just put more people between the Commander and his dragon, and it won’t end well for any of them,” Tievin scolded him.
“But, the Commander’s life–”
“The Commander has survived ten years with an insane dragon trying to kill him daily. Sacrificing men will not end the problem. Just keep monitoring that stupid dragon. Let’s–”
He stopped talking as, right ahead, they had both noticed the large figure now rising in the sky. In a clear blue sky, the sudden appearance of an orange dragon couldn’t be missed, and Tievin rolled his eyes when someone shouted about the dragon being spotted. Next to him, Dajan went livid.
“Commander!”
The Captain ran ahead, and Tievin didn’t try to hold him back.
He had already warned him. Moreover, he was more focused on something strange in Kein’s behavior. The dragon wasn’t flying like usual.
Earth Dragons usually flew with their bodies parallel to the ground, their limbs as close to their bodies as possible to ease the weight their wings had to carry.
But Kein was flying with his paws strangely hanging out unevenly, and as it got closer, Tievin realized the dragon was carrying something.
“Don’t tell me...”
Tievin hated running more than most things, but he still accelerated to a quick pace to get to where Kassein and Dajan already were, bracing themselves for whatever was coming.
As he’d predicted, the Prince was already able to sit up, although his current state was worrisome.
The right side of his face was covered in blood, making his appearance more gruesome than usual.
Just like everyone else, he had his eyes up toward the silhouette of his dragon coming toward them, although a lot of that view was cut off by Dajan and a handful of his men standing in front of him, prepared to protect him.
At that moment, Tievin felt that Dajan was a righteous idiot; the kind of soldier who was too eager, too honorable for his own good, and would get himself killed out of foolish bravery someday.
Still, bravery was admirable.
“...Out of the way.”
Dajan looked back at Kassein’s imperious voice.
He was about to protest the Prince’s order, until their eyes met, and he understood he had no room for refusal.
He gestured to his men, and instead of lining up in front of the Prince, they formed two groups on either side.
They were out of Kassein’s line of sight, but still close enough to be ready to protect him.
At that moment though, neither Tievin nor Kassein cared about the men anymore. Both of them had their eyes riveted on Kein approaching; this time, the dragon clearly wasn’t coming to pick a fight.
“No way...” Tievin muttered.
Kassein had realized a second sooner.
The Prince’s dark expression fell into surprise, and he moved forward. With painful groans and Dajan rushing to his aid, although he was pushed away, Kassein managed to get back on his feet as his dragon was landing just steps away from them.
Kein was growling already, but this time, the dragon seemed unwilling to fight. In fact, it curled its body like a block of scales, baring its fangs to warn off the men. Even its wings were used like shields between its treasure and Kassein’s men.
“Move,” Kassein groaned.
They weren’t sure if he was talking to his dragon or his men, but the latter moved a bit more out of his way.
The dragon only growled even more in warning though.
Tievin was following closely too, curious as to what was going to happen next.
It was the first time he witnessed Kein seeming so nervous around his human counterpart.
The dragon was acting like a trapped beast, unable to move and left to growl and guard itself.
Once Kassein stood in front of it, although visibly in pain and bleeding, the dragon seemed even more nervous.
“I said move,” Kassein hissed.
The dragon growled, but this time, the Prince wasn’t having it. He stepped forward and pushed Kein’s wing out of the way despite its furious growls. That’s when they saw her.
Still partly held by one of Kein’s claws, Alezya was lying there, unconscious. Kassein almost fell to his knees next to her, pushing his dragon off of her angrily.
“What…?”
The words got caught in his throat.
Tievin was shocked too. Alezya had come back in a worse state than she’d left.
He was no doctor, but it was obvious her injuries hadn’t been caused by the dragon’s rough carrying.
She had a lot of bruises on her face and on her arm, as if she’d tried to defend herself from whoever had repeatedly hit her.
There was blood on her temple, and the wounds on her feet had been reopened enough to bleed again.
One of her shoes was gone, and the other was ripped open.
Her coat was nowhere to be seen either. She was just wearing the inner layer of clothes, far too thin for her in this weather.
“Dajan, call the medical unit,” Tievin muttered, shocked, “...and somebody, get her a coat!”
Things started moving quickly around them, but Kein, Kassein, and that poor woman were the only ones completely still.
Kassein was hugging Alezya in his arms, his eyes full of shock, incomprehension, and anger. Kein seemed to have completely forgotten him too, the dragon whining and pushing Alezya’s legs with its snout, looking worried, its body surrounding the couple.
Tievin glanced toward the mountains. What had happened?
There was no way His Highness had left that woman in an unsafe area.
If she’d returned to her home, why did Kein retrieve her in that state?
Tievin had spent enough time watching battles to know those injuries were caused by someone, not any beast; although, to cause such harm to a woman, they had to be worse than a beast. Not only that, but the darkness of those bruises was just wrong.
And they had been separated for what, just about an hour or so?
Kassein was holding that woman in disbelief, shaking with anger.
Tievin could understand that; he’d just made up his mind about returning that woman to her people, and now this.
.. Her current state was sickening and impossible to understand.
Why? Why was she so badly beaten up? What had happened, what had she done to deserve this?
The medical unit finally arrived, and Kassein and Kein reluctantly let them approach, although neither left Alezya’s side. Tievin watched the whole scene from a couple of steps away, listening to the medical unit’s quick diagnostic, his lips closed in a thin, annoyed line.
Something wasn’t quite right here. That woman had been desperate to go back. Why return to people who’d treat her this way not just once, but twice? Had she run into a tribe other than her own? But who would beat a woman up to this point for no reason, and leave her like this?
He knew the Prince ought to be having the same thoughts now, just perhaps not as cool-headed. He was dead silent, but the anger was visible in the Prince’s body language alone and the burning glares he sent to everyone around.