Page 64 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
There was always that tingle of excitement whenever she reacted to his voice and her name, and sure enough, she turned her head back to him with those big black eyes full of curiosity.
He took her bowl to hold it for her and handed her the last half of the skewer he’d started right before.
Alezya took it, and after inspecting it, she ate it like she’d seen his sister do, using her teeth to rip the meat off the skewer.
He could tell right away she liked it...
Then, attracted by the smell, Kein sniffed in their direction, turning its big orange head and making Alezya stop eating.
Kassein pushed his dragon’s snout away with his boot and an annoyed click of his tongue.
Kein had already been brought a full bear to eat on its own, as did Kiki, and the two dragons were already stupidly trying to steal each other’s prey despite having the exact same meal.
Except because of the humans on their backs, neither could use more than one paw and their heads without getting scolded, making them growl in frustration.
“ Tsk .”
They all turned heads, surprised, as Alezya had just imitated his tongue clicking. She blushed to be having all eyes suddenly on her and turned to Lorey as if hoping she would explain what she’d just done.
But Lorey just smiled, amused.
“It looks like she was curious about that habit of yours,” she chuckled.
“For goodness’ sake, don’t let her pick it up,” Kiera groaned. “I already get scolded a ton by Mom when I do it... I swear between that and her stubbornness, we all got the worst of Grandma’s traits.”
Tievin couldn’t agree more. The tongue-clicking was a mere sound, but it was enough to terrify anyone who’d worked in the Imperial Palace long enough to know it was a warning, and a bad one at that.
The current Emperor’s grandmother used to click her tongue every time something annoyed her, and it had been passed down the Imperial bloodline like a unique curse word. ..
“...Anyway,” Kiera said after filling her mouth again, “what are you going to do about her?”
Kassein glared at his sister, not liking how she was pointing at Alezya with her skewer. Kiera already had terrible table manners, but she was also painfully blunt at times.
“What do you mean?” her brother asked with a warning in his deep tone.
Kiera wasn’t one to be impressed by her younger brother, but between them, Alezya had stopped eating, and her eyes were going from one sibling to the other with the fear of someone who couldn’t understand what was going on.
Lorey had stopped smiling too to eat silently, letting those two deal with one another.
“You know what I mean, Kassein,” Kiera retorted. “You need to know what her deal is. She is not supposed to be here. Let alone the dragon’s dung heap of problems that are not going to fail to drop if Kassian hears about this, you still have the whole tribes’ situation to figure out.”
“She was kicked out by her tribe,” he hissed. “She’s not with them anymore.”
“She is still a foreigner,” Kiera replied, way calmer than him but firm in her tone. “You can’t ignore that you do not know her intentions.”
“Did you not hear me? She was–”
“Kicked out, yes. But why?” His sister waved her skewer.
“Why would they kick a woman out? Have you ever actually stopped to give it some thought? Kassein, you’ve been living here for years now, but you have never seen a woman from the tribes before, have you?
No one in the Empire has, not that we know of.
Whatever happens in those mountains, they don’t usually kick their women out.
They don’t even let them in our sight, but all of a sudden, that woman was thrown out and within our reach, twice.
Even if she was indeed exiled, didn’t you ever wonder why?
What could she have done to warrant such horrible treatment?
There are few criminals that we punish this severely in the Empire, Kassein.
The tribes might be very different from us but I am pretty sure they aren’t savages who collectively beat women for no reason, or just for the fun of it. ”
“...What are you implying? She’s not a criminal.”
“That’s exactly my point, you don’t know that!
” his sister exclaimed. “I’ll concede she’s not any kind of fighter, judging by the little amount of meat on her bones and how she’s scared of her own shadow.
But you saw it earlier. She didn’t flinch at the sight of blood and she wasn’t scared by dead bodies, open skulls, and exposed guts.
She approached a fight without batting an eyelid to inspect a bloody corpse.
That’s not the reaction of someone who’s never seen such things before. ”
“...She’s scared of men.”
Both siblings turned their heads to Lorey, whose calm tone had taken them all by surprise. Even Tievin, who had quietly listened to the siblings’ arguments, raised an eyebrow.
“What?” Kiera said, confused.
“Alezya is scared of men.”
“Men,” Alezya repeated, recognizing the word.
Lorey gave her an encouraging nod and smile, before looking up at Kassein.
“She’s far more wary of men than she is of blood or dragons. Only you and Tievin seem to have earned her trust. Every time a soldier comes near, she shows signs of nervousness.”
As if to prove her words, a soldier just happened to be bringing more food to them.
The man was keeping his head lowered in respect, so he didn’t notice all the eyes on him when he dropped a new plate full of meat skewers between the two dragons before leaving with an empty one, hurrying to get out of their fangs’ reach.
Kassein’s eyes went to Alezya. Sure enough, she’d stopped eating to keep an eye on the man coming near, looking a bit stiffer and her fist clenched slightly tighter on her second skewer.
Only after he’d left did she seem to relax, and actually notice all the eyes on her.
“See?” Lorey said with a calm tone to reassure Alezya.
“And this is when you’re nearby, Kassein.
When you were gone earlier and we crossed the camp, she wouldn’t let go of me and acted wary of anyone we walked near.
She couldn’t possibly know some of your men are criminals.
I think whatever happened to her, she’s developed a fear of men, or at least, some defensive instinct. ”
Kassein didn’t say anything, his eyes riveted on a confused Alezya.
After a second, he left his position for a second to bring her a skewer and one for himself.
She waited until he sat back behind her before taking her first bite, her eyes going to the dragons, whose bickering seemed to intrigue her.
More meat had been brought for them, and the duo was back to their shenanigans, trying to steal each other’s food.
“It could be a result of being beaten up by them,” Kiera finally said.
“I don’t think so,” Lorey replied. “One doesn’t develop a fear of men after being beaten up by a handful she knew. She’d hate and resent them, but she wouldn’t associate the foreign soldiers with those who attacked her. No, I have a feeling that her fear of men comes from a place deeper than that.”
She looked at Kassein as if there was some more serious meaning that she was implying. He frowned slightly, his eyes going to Alezya.
For the first time, he finally understood what his sister and her partner meant by saying he didn’t know Alezya.
He only knew what had happened to her recently, and he was getting to know her, but.
.. that was it. He didn’t know anything about her past, and he didn’t know what her personality was when she actually had a voice.
So far, she’d been dependent on his protection and care just to ensure her survival.
...Was he making her dependent on him? Would she have acted the same if she had been in a position where she didn’t need him?
If she had been born in the Empire, if he wasn’t a prince exiled for his crimes. ..
Kassein’s thoughts were quickly spiraling, and it was Alezya’s hand on his knee that eventually brought him back.
She had her big black eyes on him, full of questions.
Strangely, seeing her nervously scrutinizing his reactions brought him a bit of self-assurance.
It didn’t matter what could have been, for none of it reflected their reality.
Whatever had happened to her in the past, in the present moment, Alezya was here with him, and somehow, she relied on Kassein rather than fearing him like she did other men.
If it would take time for him to actually get to understand and know her, he was alright with that.
There was already a lot said between them, not with words but with their gazes and actions. That was enough for him... for now.
He brushed Alezya’s shoulder with his thumb to reassure her, and then glanced up, ready to show his determination to Lorey, but to his surprise, that woman already had a faint smile on her lips.
“...This woman aside,” said Kiera, “you still have the matter of the tribes on your hands. Have you made any progress at all?”
“I’ve pushed the army this far and taken back most of the land,” Kassein grunted. “What else do you expect from me?”
“Kassein,” his sister protested. “Are you just going to stay like this? Kassian is–”
“Don’t. Say. His. Name,” he hissed, glaring again.
His sister responded with just as much anger, dropping her spoon back in her bowl.
“Do you intend to stay exiled here forever?” she insisted. “You know they’re all missing you out there!”
“They’re not,” Kassein said. “Don’t give me that crap, Kiera. If any of them missed me, they’d have come here a long time ago. Nobody’s even visited the Onyx Castle in years.”