Page 5 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

“Hide her,” Alezya said. “Father will kill her if he finds her, so please, just watch her and hide her while I’m gone.

You can do that. Your home is the most secluded, and I’ll be back before your husband comes back from the hunt.

Zenia, you know I’ll be gone for a long time to find that flower for you.

Would you leave your son alone for that long? ”

Her cousin immediately shook her head, honest at least.

Right , Alezya thought. Zenia was stuck to her baby all day, she would never leave him for as long as Alezya was sometimes forced to leave her daughter on her own.

This was a risky choice, but there was just no alternative.

At the very least, she believed her cousin would be a decent enough person to not do anything to Lumie and take care of her for a short while.

She would also be too scared of the consequences to not hide her from the Clan Chief.

.. and she really needed Alezya to get those medicinal herbs for her son.

The fact that she had arrived so late and looked so nervous showed that she had hesitated and waited before coming here, but now her son was probably truly ill.

“A-alright,” Zenia mumbled, “b-but please, make sure you come back as soon as you can. If Uncle finds out... or even my husband, I’ll be in big trouble...”

Alezya knew her cousin would be in no trouble compared to her. Lumie’s life was hanging in the balance.

“Who’s with your son now?” Alezya asked.

“I left him with our grand-aunt,” Zenia whispered. “I-I’ll be careful about your daughter, I promise.”

Alezya nodded, but she didn’t consider her grand-aunt much of a risk; the old woman was mostly deaf and mute.

She actually liked the old lady, who had a funny and unpredictable personality.

Their father’s aunt was one of those women who had never had her own children despite being married several times, so she had helped raise those of others instead.

Now that her husband was gone, she wasn’t as respected as the elders, just a forgotten old relative, convenient only when it came to watching the children.

Once Zenia promised no one else would know of or see Lumie, Alezya went back inside to gather her things and those of her baby, and came back out to hand her to her cousin.

Zenia tried hard not to show her feelings, but she couldn’t help opening her eyes wide and awkwardly taking the baby girl in her arms.

They made sure to hide Lumie under a large piece of clothing, and curled her against her cousin’s chest; if no one checked, they’d just assume she was carrying her son, who was the same age and about the same size.

“...She’s quiet,” Zenia noted, a bit surprised, glancing at the wide-awake Lumie.

“She’s a good girl,” Alezya said. “Now go, quickly. The sooner I’m gone, the sooner I’ll be back.”

Her cousin nodded, and Alezya put a quick kiss on the baby’s forehead.

She watched Zenia walk away with her, worried.

Then, without losing a second, she fastened her bag around her body and hurried toward the closest exit.

Alezya was in a hurry to go; the faster she got that flower, the faster she’d be able to get back to Lumie. ..

At that time of the evening, she knew exactly where the men would be guarding the flank of the mountain; she wouldn’t have been so good at sneaking out if it wasn’t for the very, very regular habits of the watchmen.

Her father had put a very tight schedule in place so that anyone who would go missing during a storm or get in trouble during a hunt would be looked for immediately.

Luckily for Alezya, all men on duty were eager to follow the schedule and please their leader, and no one had ever tried to change it.

Thus, she knew exactly where which man was supposed to be and when.

It was only a matter of minutes for her to find an opening, sneak out, and climb out of sight, far enough from her clan’s watch.

Alezya already had a few ideas in mind as to where she could find that flower, but not all of those would be easy to get to.

At first, she tried a couple of the usual spots, but they had already been sought out; she got angry while finding out that the herb-picker before her had been an idiot and dragged the whole plant out of the ground. If roots were left, this place could have given more flowers in a few weeks time...

Annoyed, she quickly moved on to the harder places: those that required her to really use her climbing talent, where most of the others in her clan wouldn’t have been able to get to without a lot of effort and life-threatening risks.

As familiar as she was with the mountain, the Goddess of Rock could soon turn out to be a mortal, unforgiving enemy.

Alezya was trying to progress fast and efficiently, taking the smallest, calculated risks. Luckily, the fourth spot was a bit better for her: she found a few flowers that had been left untouched by the weather and fauna. Relieved, she picked them swiftly and proceeded to move to her next spot.

She was moving quickly, but no matter what, moving around the mountain was still quite the challenge; sometimes, she could just walk, but most of the time, she was climbing dangerous uphill peaks, using all of her muscles to not fall to her death.

None of the women who went out there could have done what she did in clothes like her cousin wore.

Compared to Zenia’s, Alezya’s outfit wasn’t made to be attractive.

The skirt had been ripped at a mid-thigh length, and she wore tight-fitting leather pants underneath, which were perfect for climbing.

She had altered them herself despite her poor sewing skills, using wool for a warm inside and thick yak leather for a sturdier outside.

She didn’t care about her looks, only about what she could accomplish on her own.

Handpicking herbs in risky places was one skill she hoped to keep relying on.

Anything that could help keep her tenuous spot in the clan a bit longer would do. ..

With a heavy sigh of relief, Alezya reached the fifth spot, the hardest one.

It was a little platform on the side of the mountain, which sheltered a nice gathering of herbs.

Alezya sat there to catch a break while quickly picking every herb she recognized.

She was grateful she’d been a bit faster than anticipated, but she still had to be quick; this was the snow cats’ hunting time, and she didn’t want to run into them.

Plus, the climb had still taken a lot of time, and she was incredibly worried about Lumie.

As much as she tried not to, she couldn’t help but worry something would happen to her baby without her around.

Leaving their cave was always a dilemma.

.. The temperature was starting to drop too.

Now that the sun had set, it would quickly and progressively get worse.

Alezya was used to going out after sunset, but it was still the most dangerous time.

There was one more danger she was well aware of and trying not to think too much about. She hoped it was gone for the night; all she asked was that the monster stay away from the mountain for a bit longer that night...

After a glance in her basket, she knew she didn’t have enough flowers yet. Those would be quickly used, and she didn’t want to have to make this trip again. Hopefully, she could collect enough flowers that by the time they’d need it again, they would have regrown in the other spots.

Alezya was running out of ideas of places to look though. Because the clans were so fiercely territorial and mistrustful of one another, risking herself on a mountain other than their own was twice as dangerous, so that option was out. Her only other way was to get closer to the top...

It was a dangerous climb, but not impossible.

Without hesitating much more, she kept climbing up.

The main risk was running out of places to hide.

She wasn’t as familiar with the higher regions of the mountain as she was with the middle ones.

It was the most treacherous part, constantly covered in snow, with almost no proper trail.

No inexperienced climber would be able to take that route, and even for Alezya, it was a challenge requiring all of her focus.

She knew not a single rock could be trusted, and she had to double-check every corner she stepped or pulled on.

Her fingers sometimes had to dig deep until she could find the rocky surface underneath.

She had to move carefully and slowly to not trigger an avalanche that could bury her in seconds, yet be fast enough to not let the cold bite her to death.

Chills were already spreading through her body as her outfit wasn’t warm enough for this height.

She kept going, thinking of how Lumie and the other children would need that flower.

She had lived through worse challenges, but always knew the risks taken.

While she was willing to sacrifice herself for her baby girl, she was also well aware she needed to survive for her sake.

This way, Alezya kept herself focused and determined, gritting her teeth through the cold and continuing her uphill climb.

She was high enough that her father’s men were of no concern anymore, only finding more of that flower as quickly and safely as possible.

She kept an eye out for her surroundings, but the growls of the beast would be heard long before it would be seen. Or so she hoped.

Finally, after a few more minutes of climbing, she found what she had been looking for: a little plateau, a spot where she could stop and inspect.

That flower liked to grow under little areas protected from the wind and snow like these, and sure enough, after pushing some of the snow out of the way, Alezya spotted some of that familiar purple shade.