Page 54 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

She let out a faint sigh, stretching what she could, and taking a glance around.

This place was now familiar, familiar enough for her to feel completely safe to wake up in.

Kassein hadn’t even gotten mad at her for stealing a weapon!

She still felt guilty when she thought about the tiny blade she’d hidden under the pillow, but it seemed to be of little consequence.

To think she’d been prepared to risk her life for a theft he thought nothing of. ..

She glanced at the bed, where the thick furs were stacked up, only one having fallen off during her sleep.

The comb Lorey had brought for her was still lying at the end of the bed, and she grabbed it.

Even that was a beautiful item, something she wouldn’t have dreamt of owning back in her hole in the mountain.

Slowly, she began combing the ends of her hair, noticing how messy it had gotten while she slept.

She hadn’t been able to properly care for it in a while, and it was long too.

Those other two women didn’t wear their hair loose, did that mean they were already committed?

They had their hair at strange lengths and in strange hairdos.

.. perhaps it meant nothing here. After all, Kassein had touched and arranged her hair, so he probably had no idea of the significance of it.

She blushed a bit again upon remembering his fingers in her hair.

He seemed to like her hair... With this in mind, Alezya combed her long black locks twice as meticulously.

A few years back, she was considered the beauty of her clan, but she hadn’t been able to afford to pay much attention to her appearance since Lumie’s birth.

She had probably lost the shine of her prime years. ..

She felt a bit dejected when she thought of women like her cousin, who could afford to spend time, herbs, and effort on their appearance. Being a single mother hadn’t allowed her to spend any time being a young woman. Alezya chased those thoughts away and put the comb down.

Now that her hair was a bit better, she checked on her injuries and rearranged her bandages where she could; her hands were still injured and painful.

She had used them to try and protect her head.

.. She shivered, remembering how half a dozen men had unleashed their wrath on her, beating and kicking her against the floor.

She could have died, and at the time, she had genuinely thought she would.

Her flank had taken a lot of the damage too, but the bruising was already fading.

.. and her headache was mostly gone. What kind of sorcery did Kassein’s people have that she could heal so fast?

“Alezya!”

She glanced up at the feminine voice and spotted Lorey as she stepped in with a little tray of food.

Again, Alezya couldn’t help but feel that twinge of jealousy for her to be waltzing in so casually.

.. But Lorey clearly didn’t expect to see the male warrior for she walked straight to her bedside and put the tray aside.

Her warm smile made Alezya feel guilty of her bitter feelings again; that woman showed her nothing but kindness, and she was already helping her out, checking her injuries and changing the bandages carefully.

“Lorey,” Alezya said, hoping to greet her somehow.

Lorey seemed a bit surprised to hear her name but gave her biggest smile yet and a big nod. Then, to Alezya’s surprise, she began talking.

She was talking too fast in their strange language, and Alezya couldn’t understand any of it, but it didn’t seem to matter.

It looked like Lorey had decided to chat with her anyway, perhaps to make her feel a bit more comfortable, or perhaps in an attempt to befriend her?

Alezya tried to listen while the young woman helped her with her bandages, cleaning and dressing them again.

They truly had a lot of clean water and bathing items to spare for her.

.. but Alezya took it all gratefully, feeling a bit happy to become more and more presentable every day.

When they were done washing her, she presented Lorey with the comb she had left.

“Thank you,” Alezya said, showing how she’d been able to comb her hair.

Lorey smiled again, and having clearly mistaken her, took the comb and moved to sit behind her on the bed. Alezya was frozen in shock for a few seconds. She hadn’t had another woman comb her hair since her wedding ceremony! But she didn’t do anything to stop Lorey.

In fact, she felt a bit emotional. It was like when she was young, and her mother would gently help her comb her long black hair.

.. The older ladies during her wedding had mercilessly pulled and been completely inconsiderate of the pain they inflicted on her, but Lorey was as gentle as one could be.

In a matter of minutes, she was not only done combing her hair, but she had also braided a few strands and arranged them around the silver headband she’d given her the previous day.

Alezya felt grateful upon touching her newly arranged hair. .. and a little bit prettier.

“ Ti jib ha kuha, ” Lorey then said, pointing at the food.

“ Kuha! ” Alezya repeated, happy to finally recognize a word.

Lorey seemed surprised by her sudden excitement but presented her with the food.

“ ...Taam, ” Alezya said, remembering it meant food.

Lorey nodded encouragingly. She then began gathering the used bandages around the room and cleaning up a bit while Alezya ate.

It was more of that soup with the chunky bits she liked. What kind of meat was this?

“Lorey,” she called her. “ Taam? ”

Upon Lorey’s confusion, she tried to point at the chunky bits in the soup, having isolated a couple on her spoon. Then, Lorey smiled.

“ Lehma, ” she said.

“ Leh-... Lehma, ” Alezya repeated, trying to imitate the guttural sounds.

Lorey smiled and nodded. Then, she came back, next to Alezya, and showed her the little cup of fruits on the side.

“ Atiwut, ” she said.

Was that their word for berries? Atiwut , Alezya mentally repeated.

She really hoped she was going to remember these things.

.. Lehma meant meat, or perhaps that specific type of meat.

Kuha was to eat, taam was food... She remembered inkir , for more.

What was the word for water again? Mahi , or shrib ? One of those two?

“ Shrib? ” she asked Lorey, pointing at the jug.

Lorey took the jug and tilted it to point at the content, more precise than the other two.

“ Mahi, ” she said.

Then, she pretended to drink from it.

“ Shrib, ” she said, mimicking the action of drinking again.

Alezya enthusiastically nodded. She was starting to get this, and Lorey seemed only too happy to help her out. Maybe it wasn’t insane to try and learn their strange language. Maybe it wasn’t insane at all, but on the contrary, her best chance.

“Alezya?”

She looked up at Lorey, wondering what she wanted. To her surprise, Lorey pointed at the water, then at her. Did she want her to drink?

“ Mahi ,” she repeated. “ Lorey, mahi? ”

She then pointed at her lips, and that’s when Alezya understood: she wanted to learn her language too.

Alezya hesitated. She was apprehensive about teaching Lorey or anybody else.

Was it because she was nervous to teach her language to a foreigner?

Or because she felt she would be betraying the clans if she did so?

...What if the Dragon Clan used this against them?

She couldn’t even understand why she felt so loyal to the people up the mountain.

Perhaps because this wasn’t just about her own clan, but about all the people that lived up there.

She had that heavy feeling that at this precise moment, if she began teaching the Dragon Clan their language, she might be the first one to topple their fate.

.. and she wasn’t ready to take on such a responsibility.

Lorey seemed to notice how troubled she was by her simple question, and gently put a hand on her knee, giving her a compassionate smile.

Then, she got up, and resumed her tasks again, not insisting any longer.

Alezya was a bit grateful for that. She felt bad refusing Lorey when she’d already learned a few new words herself.

She silently resumed eating, mentally repeating the words she had just learned to remember them, while Lorey seemed to be cleaning around or after her.

After observing her for a little bit, Alezya couldn’t help but notice that Lorey was mindful of Kassein’s place, and not daring to touch too many of his things either.

She would wash or throw out the used bandages, take care of the fire and take out the extra ashes, rearrange the furs on the bed, or clean the dust off the fur rugs outside, but she didn’t touch any of the weapons, nor attempt to rearrange the mess on the table at the other end of the room.

In fact, she carefully only took care of anything that had to do with Alezya but didn’t dare touch any of Kassein’s belongings, nor venture into his private space.

This realization made Alezya a little happier and rid her of the jealousy she had felt toward Lorey.

It was hard to hold any negative feelings toward a woman who was acting so selflessly kind toward her.

Alezya couldn’t help but wonder what her status actually was.

She was too beautiful not to be married already, but she didn’t know the signs of a married woman in the Dragon Clan.

What of Kassein’s sibling? Was she married too?

It was Alezya’s first time seeing a female warrior, so she wondered how different their customs possibly were.

“Kassein?” Alezya asked as she had just finished eating.

Lorey raised her head from the fur she had been busy cleaning off at the entrance and smiled.

“Kassein, Kiera, Tievin,” she listed, before pointing outside.