Page 66 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

He frowned. Lorey was the type who always carefully respected the rules in the presence of anyone but Kiera. She was well aware of their difference in status. Despite having grown up close to the Imperial Family, like Tievin, she was careful to respect the protocol in all circumstances.

This was one of the extremely rare cases where she didn’t, and Kassein felt like this was her attempt at showing genuine concern.

As if she was a friend or even a sisterly figure.

After all, just like Kiera, she was a few years older, and she wouldn’t have done anything behind his sister’s back if she didn’t genuinely believe it was for his sake.

“...I understand,” he muttered. “I know.”

“No,” she said. “I’m not just spouting this out of the blue without a proper reason.”

She tightened her arms around herself and glanced back, before taking another step closer.

“...I don’t think Kiera noticed,” she whispered, “but when we bathed earlier, and when I washed her, I noticed stretch marks on Alezya’s body.”

“Stretch marks?” He frowned. “...What of it?”

“This is just me making an assumption here,” Lorey whispered, “but... they were the same kind of markings a woman who’s been with child would have.”

“...With child?” Kassein repeated, stunned.

Lorey slowly stepped back.

“As I said, she probably has a past we know nothing about. I thought it would be better if you could fully prepare yourself for it.”

Kassein was speechless, too shaken up to speak.

A child? Alezya had been... pregnant before?

He wasn’t an ignorant man. Even if he hadn’t been there or too young to witness her pregnancies, he knew his mother, who had carried eight children, had such marks too.

This was the kind of mark that happened if a woman carried a child for several months. ..

“Good night, Your Highness,” Lorey said, going back to her usual gentle tone. “Good night, Alezya.”

“Lorey,” Alezya said, acknowledging some form of greeting too.

She turned around and left, probably to go back before Kiera grew suspicious of her absence. Kassein took a second before he moved again, slowly resuming his route to his tent.

He was lost in his thoughts. Lorey’s revelation had hit him hard, shaking him to his core.

If it was true, if she’d had a child... Did that mean she had a family back there?

Was that why she had been so insistent on going back?

If she had a family, why had she been rejected by her tribe? And what had happened to her child?

...What of the father of the child? Was he waiting for her?

He heard his dragon growl loudly in frustration somewhere behind him, but he didn’t turn back to check.

With Kiera and Kiki back there, Kein shouldn’t go overboard.

.. and Kassein knew he was more shocked than angry.

He just wanted answers, now. Kiera had been right all along.

He knew nothing about her. Maybe it was all his own wishful thinking. ..

He finally walked into his tent, and for a second, he wondered what he was doing. Was it even right for Alezya to sleep here? Still, his legs carried them to his bed anyway, and he put her down, still in a strange daze, and put a knee down to help her take off her cloak without thinking.

“...Kassein. Kassein!”

He looked up. Alezya had been calling him, and he’d just now realized. She put her hands on his cheeks, looking worried. Was he acting out of it? He sighed and closed his eyes.

Regardless of her past... He wanted to believe the woman she was now.

Her gestures, her gazes. Everything she gave him, he’d take it as it was.

After a couple of seconds, he put his hand over hers and re-opened his eyes, looking deep into those long, big, dark eyes of hers.

She looked worried, scrutinizing him for clues.

“...Is it alright to want to believe you?” he whispered.

“Kassein,” she whispered again.

They both lacked the words, the language to tell each other everything, everything they wanted to know, and everything they wanted to hear. It was cruel, and it was helpless... In the distance, his dragon growled again. Kein would take off and go to vent their frustration elsewhere.

Alezya glanced up.

“Dragon,” she said in his language.

“Kein,” he nodded.

“Dragon, sky.”

“Yes.”

How much could she learn of their language, and how fast? He didn’t care for Kassian’s opinion, or even Kiera’s. He wanted to understand Alezya right then and there.

He let out a long sigh of frustration, but also to relieve the tension in his body and heart.

Then, gently brushing off Alezya’s hands, he stood up, hung up the cloaks, and went to re-ignite the lazy fire.

The day had been good, but one couldn’t predict when the next snowfall would occur and the temperature would drop again.

This offered him a few seconds to turn his back to Alezya and catch a break from those black eyes.

Lorey’s revelations had shaken him to his core, and once again, when in doubt, he hung on to what he knew to be true.

Alezya needed him. Her tribe had cast her out, attacked and hurt her.

Even if a family was waiting for her back there, she’d need help getting back.

.. but was there a family? What had happened to the child she’d carried?

...Was the child even still alive? Why wouldn’t they be with their mother, then? Kassein felt even more frustrated.

If she had a partner, a husband, why hadn’t he helped her? Why hadn’t he come down from the mountain to retrieve the mother of his child? Was he dead? ...Or had the child’s father taken them from her?

Alezya looked young, around his own age. Could she have suffered such a terrible loss? Her days and nights of crying came back to his memories. She’d been desperate to go back... Now things were starting to make sense.

He took a deep breath in. If she had a family she longed for, she deserved to reunite with them.

He could bury his own feelings for her sake.

He wanted to ask... If there was a child, there was a father.

If so, maybe he’d been so horribly mistaken.

It ached. His sore heart ached already, a pain that no Dragon Blood would be able to heal.

And still, he was more resolute than ever. He had to know.

When he turned around, however, and saw Alezya lying on the bed, looking nervous and watching his reactions, his willpower broke down.

He walked up to her, and with slow movements, helped her get under the blankets.

It was early, but she needed the rest, and his heart needed the night to strengthen and gear itself up for any answer. At dawn, he would ask.

Once she was under the blankets, giving him confused glances, Kassein turned around, took off his armor, and lay down on the fur rug right next to the bed, like usual, staring at the ceiling above.

He wished he’d stayed to drink with his sister.

Getting drunk would have been nice, rather than letting so many questions harass him most of the night. ..

Alezya ought to be way more tired than he was, for a while later, and while sleep still avoided him, he heard her shallow, sleepy breathing.

Kassein was still lost in his confusing thoughts, imagining every possible scenario, trying to figure out which parts were true, and all the possibilities he might have to prepare himself for.

He couldn’t help but find himself worried about Alezya’s child; not because they might exist, but because they would be separated from their mother right now, and perhaps in danger.

.. Was that why she’d been so desperate to go back?

But what of the child’s father? Had she loved someone else? Was there someone else…?

His downward spiral was interrupted by a faint cry.

Kassein frowned, and got on his elbows, glancing at Alezya’s sleeping figure.

She wasn’t peacefully sleeping anymore. Instead, her thin brows were furrowed, her breathing hectic, and her hands were clenching her pillow.

Tears appeared in her eyes, and she was whimpering something unintelligible.

Kassein waited for a couple of minutes, hoping it would pass, but it only seemed to get worse. He grabbed her hand to hold it before she pressed on her injuries despite the bandages, hoping his warmth would soothe her a bit.

“Alezya,” he whispered, caressing her hair.

She woke up silently crying, and visibly disoriented. He saw her eyes quickly glance around the place behind him, before going back to him.

As soon as she seemed to figure out where she was, and with whom, Alezya’s breathing eased down a little. She tried to rub her tears, but the fabric on her hand was dry and harsh, making her skin redden. Kassein took over, using his thumb to gently wipe away the tears from her eyes.

His other hand was already holding hers, and Alezya’s tightened around his a bit. This was enough to make his heart falter again. ...Would he be able to let go when the time came? Kassein clenched his jaw, feeling angry at himself. He was too selfish. He’d always been...

“Kassein,” she muttered, pulling him out of his dark thoughts.

He turned his attention and eyes back to her. Alezya was frowning faintly again, and holding his hand tighter than ever. Was she confused by his actions? Or still affected by the nightmares that haunted her?

He couldn’t think of anything to say that would soothe her, so instead, he kept his elbows on the edge of the bed, held onto her hand, and caressed her hair.

For a while, they remained like this, staying together in silence. The camp was completely quiet in the midst of the night, not even a breeze howling above the tent. Alezya wasn’t showing signs of falling back asleep.

Instead, she was holding onto his hand, her eyes looking up at him, still teary, but much calmer.

That woman wasn’t afraid to sustain his gaze, which fascinated Kassein.

All his life, people had lowered their eyes in his presence, as if afraid to trigger a beast. Only people in his family were able to look directly at him, and in the last few years, their gazes had shown more disappointment than he could endure.

Alezya reminded him of a snow leopard again, when those felines were cornered and refused to go down without putting up a fight.

.. except now, there was no fight to be had.

Instead, she trusted him, or so it seemed. She clearly wasn’t afraid of him anymore.

Finally, a faint smile came back to Kassein’s lips. He’d be alright...

Whatever she decided, whatever it turned out Alezya needed, he’d be able to comply with it. At least, that’s what he wanted to believe.

“Kassein,” she muttered again.

He tilted his head, wondering why she was calling out his name this time, but to his surprise, Alezya moved on the bed, retreating toward the end of the tent, and pulling him along...

It took a couple of seconds for Kassein to understand. She wanted him on the bed with her? His throat dried up a little, and his heart wavered dangerously. He knew she trusted him, but this much... He hesitated a bit, leaving her to pull and stare at him with intent in her eyes.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t understood, but he wasn’t sure he could go along with that request of hers. His resolve he’d spent the last few hours trying to build seemed to be dangerously fragile now. But Alezya’s wet eyes eventually won him over again.

After a faint sigh, Kassein climbed on the bed.

He pulled the fur blankets over her, while he lay on top.

Not only did he not need them, but he preferred having some kind of barrier between his and Alezya’s bodies, even if it seemed ridiculous by the way they were now lying next to each other.

Trying to calm down his roaring heart, he put an arm under her pillow and watched as she closed her eyes and got closer to him, nestling her face against his shoulder like she needed that refuge.

.. Their hands were still bound together, and to Kassein’s surprise, she seemed to quickly fall back asleep as soon as she’d found the right position against him.

He wasn’t so lucky, as his whole body was way too aware of the woman lying beside him to let him rest. Instead, he had to look down at her long raven hair sprawled behind her, on top of the piled-up furs, all the way down to her legs, while the top of her head rested right below his chin.

He’d never paid much attention to women’s hair before, but Alezya’s was truly uniquely smooth, and a beautiful black color.

It reminded him of the scales of his father’s dragon.

He couldn’t peek at Alezya’s sleeping face, but he could feel her shallow breathing against his skin... Was she soothed by his body heat? Hers was pretty cold, and perhaps he’d underestimated how cold the place was. It was hard to tell with a higher body heat than most humans.

She was still holding onto his hand, and he didn’t want to move, afraid he might disrupt her sleep after she’d already been awoken once. If she hadn’t, he would have liked to caress her hair or her back while she slept, but knowing that she’d found some peace in his embrace was enough for now.

...For now?

Kassein closed his eyes, sighing. His sister was right, he was still a brat. He may have the body of a grown man, but he was only eighteen.

He wondered if Alezya was much older than him.

She seemed younger than his sister for sure, but if she’d had a child already, he guessed she had to be at least his age.

He wasn’t sure how young women could conceive, but Alezya looked young either way.

It was only her eyes that showed a strong and mature mind, forged by the need for survival.

Lorey was right; he truly didn’t know anything about her.

Kassein forced himself to close his eyes again, trying to strengthen his heart and mind for the questions that would have to be asked the next day.

It was a good thing that Alezya was learning their language.

He hoped she would teach him more of hers too. He wanted to learn everything he could about her, not just force her to absorb their culture for survival purposes. No matter what, he hoped she’d know she was safe with him. It didn’t matter what she turned out to really need, in the end.

For once in his life, he wanted to be there, a safe haven for someone.