Page 89 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

Her eyes lifted to the mountains behind the wall.

She hadn’t seen or ever interacted with many other clans, but she was glad hers was a bit farther away from the Dragon Clan; the closest ones ought to be struggling.

She wondered where her mother’s birth clan was.

She hadn’t heard or seen anything about them in years, and her father had prohibited any talk of the Lumiata Clan.

Some clans were also non-sedentary, moving from one inhabited mountain to another, and she wondered if that could be the case for her mother.

That would lessen the chances of them ever meeting again. ..

The sounds of the fight stopped, and she turned her head back to it; Kassein and Keira must have reached an agreement to stop because both of them were walking toward the trio watching, Kiera parting ways with her brother to get the water Tievin offered while Kassein walked to Alezya first.

His dragon let out a faint growl, but Kassein replied with one of his tongue clicks, and then reached her, grabbing her hand first.

“ You cold? ” he asked.

Alezya shook her head. A few minutes earlier, she had been cold and wet, but she was back to dry and warm after sitting on the dragon and being in the sun for a few minutes.

“ Fight with Kiera again? ” she teased him.

He nodded. She guessed that was the sibling’s favorite way of interacting; when they weren’t sparring, they were hunting, and she hadn’t seen them exchange many words aside from their grunts and tongue clicks.

She used the sleeve of her coat to wipe the sweat from his chin, but he grabbed her wrist and put her fingers to his lips instead. It was hard for Alezya not to blush and be aware of the three pairs of eyes on them.

She couldn’t remember how they had acted in front of the others before, but a part of her also felt a bit proud Kassein didn’t care at all for them to see. He was so unapologetic about displaying affection toward her in the open, and that was something she’d never experienced or witnessed before.

Most warriors hardly interacted with their wives in public, let alone caressed or kissed them.

There were no other women in the area besides Lorey and Kiera, so she couldn’t know if this was normal in the clan or if Kassein was indeed just a different species altogether.

.. but she certainly didn’t hate it. On the contrary, Alezya barely stopped herself from diving into his arms, knowing how little time she had left with him.

Instead, she forced herself to remain seated on the dragon, trying to reign in her feelings.

She just took any sign of affection he showed like a breadcrumb, cherishing every moment, trying to act calmly and think about Lumie, her clan, and everything that awaited.

It was just a matter of days, Alezya kept repeating to herself.

She only had days until everything would go down, until she would have to leave Kassein and put her mad plan to work to save her daughter.

Kassein had to know she’d been with child now, but they hadn’t talked about it. Either he chose to ignore the subject, was waiting for her to speak, or didn’t want to hear it at all.

Alezya was scared of his reaction when everything came to light, but she prayed, every single time that man’s unbelievably kind eyes set on her, that he’d forgive her. That, no matter how mad or upset he was, he would be the man he had been with her, and he wouldn’t harm her baby.

A part of her was also counting on Lorey. Day after day, Alezya had begun to befriend that woman, and she could tell Lorey would never harm a child.

While Lorey didn’t have authority over Kassein, it was clear he listened to her and respected her to some degree.

A male warrior and leader listening to a woman’s advice would have been unheard of back in her clan, but by now, Alezya knew the Dragon Clan was nothing like the others, and what seemed impossible in the mountains could be a reality here.

And for once, she was allowing herself to believe in such miracles.

Another day passed, and another, and then another.

Every day, Alezya indulged herself in Kassein’s touches, learned more of their language from Lorey, and exercised her orders over Kein.

She was taking the herbs, and much to her relief, her bleeding hadn’t come when it should have, proving her plan was well underway.

For some unknown reason, Kassein still stubbornly refused to have intercourse with her. He would touch her, caress her, and give her more pleasure than she believed possible, but he never let her reciprocate.While Alezya loved being so loved, she was also getting... frustrated.

From the way his body very obviously reacted to her every time, it wasn’t a physical issue, so why?

Did he not want her? Was he bound not to sleep with a woman he wasn’t married to?

The man was stubborn, and every time she tried to question him, he kept dodging her question yet insisting that he liked her.

Well, she liked him too, and she wanted to show it to him if he’d let her. .. and she was running out of time.

As brokenhearted as she was at the mere thought of leaving Kassein again, she was also getting more desperate to have at least one night with him. She wanted that. She wanted to make love to that man, just once, so she would go back with that memory buried in her heart and no regrets left behind.

Alezya was now perfectly healed and healthier than ever, thanks to being able to eat her fill every day, something she hadn’t experienced in months.

She could now wander around the camp on her own, so long as Kein accompanied her. The orange dragon had hardly left her side for the past few days and only went away when she was with Kassein. It was as if the man and the dragon had some agreement to take turns guarding her.

Whenever she was alone, Alezya actually enjoyed being able to walk around, near the forest, so she could think her plan over again and eye the mountains.

She often touched her necklace as she did so; she had put her only belonging back on her neck the day before, and even though Kassein had frowned at it, inspecting the little pendant with his fingers, he hadn’t asked about it.

In fact, he didn’t ask her much anymore.

He would frown when she looked at the mountains, caress her hair when she cried, and comfort her when her sleep got restless, but he didn’t pry.

Either he didn’t want to know or didn’t care.

Or perhaps he believed she’d left it all behind for good and didn’t want to reopen that wound.

.. Not that it mattered anymore. Alezya was trying to make her peace with the fact that chances were slim that she’d see Kassein again once she left, this time for the last time.

It was hard. The happiness she was enjoying with him would never be complete, and it would soon be nothing but a sweet dream she would have to leave behind.

She loved the man. She had come to that realization and accepted her feelings just as soon as she did, and she was content with that.

But she would never be able to love him more than she loved her child, and that was the only truth. Lumie came first.

She had already been lucky to enjoy what should have been exile among the Dragon Clan.

She had loved, healed, and even been allowed to hope, but she was a realist. Alezya forbade herself from entertaining any hope she would survive another meeting with her father.

She was going to be captured, and as soon as they realized what she had done, in days or perhaps weeks, her clan would most likely kill her.

That was an outcome she could accept, only if she could be certain Lumie would survive her and be safe.

All she needed was for her plan to work, for her sacrifice to make it possible for her daughter to escape. She had failed Lumie once, and her baby had survived by some miracle, but she had learned her lesson: they wouldn’t both be able to make it.

“Will you miss me, Kein?” she asked the dragon, patting its warm head.

The orange dragon let out a gentle, faint growl that made her smile sadly.

She had learned to truly enjoy the dragon’s company, and by now, she even thought she was pretty good at understanding its mood.

Kein understood her well too. Not just the many, many orders and words she had practiced on the dragon for her plan when the others weren’t around, but even her moods.

When she felt unsafe around men in the camp, Kein would growl and walk closer to her.

When she was feeling at peace but sad, it would lie next to her until her mood passed.

Sometimes, Alezya even wondered if dragons understood her tongue.

When she was alone with Kein, she would openly chat with it in her language, and most of the time, she felt like the dragon behind those large silver eyes listened and understood.

Still, she was careful never to give it commands in her own tongue.

She kept all her orders in Kassein’s language, so her clan wouldn’t understand any order she gave the dragon.

Slowly but surely, she was preparing for the day she would go back and put her plan to use.

She would even sometimes ride Kein when she was alone, not making the dragon take flight but just enjoying the ride on its back and going around the camp like it was a horse, not an oversized man-eating beast...

That afternoon though, she was just enjoying a quiet walk with her protector by her side, all too aware that this was her last full day with Kassein.

It had come too soon , she thought with an ache in her heart.

Every day had felt pretty much the same in the camp, and for a while, she had allowed herself to forget about how close to her deadline she was getting, but the signs were there.

Two more clans had attacked Kassein’s within the last three days, ahead of the council gathering, always with the same outcome.