Page 281 of The White King's Favorite

He smiled and took his newborn son in the crook of his arm without hesitation. The baby still had his eyes open, but could hardly decide on the little movement of his face. Twice, his little tongue peeked out cutely, making his mom chuckle. His dad gently held him, effortlessly, his eyes riveted on his latest child.

“...We have to name him,” she whispered.

Ashen nodded. Cessilia tilted her head, waiting for him to say something, but her husband only had his eyes on the baby, seeming a bit nervous.

“Tell me,” she encouraged him.

He glanced at her, frowning.

“...How do you know I already have an idea?”

“I’m your wife,” Cessilia chuckled. “It’s my duty to know what my husband thinks... You reacted when I said it would be nice to have a son sometime. Even now, you’re very quiet compared to when the girls were born. You let me choose both of their names. So, what’s his?”

Ashen smiled. Of course she’d read him... as always. He glanced at her, still hesitant.

“Please tell me if you hate it.”

“I doubt I will.”

“Just tell me. I’m not sure yet. ...I thought I’d like to call him Yassim.”

Cessilia smiled, without saying anything.

“...What do you think?”

“That’s really sweet of you to want to honor him.”

“He saved my life,” her husband muttered.

Cessilia felt proud of her husband. He had never been one to be able to thank people, for a long time... His survival instincts had been pushed to such extremes that he couldn’t trust anyone. Even when his mentor had sacrificed himself for his sake, it had taken Ashen a long time to be at peace about it. Now, he wanted to honor this man through his son... She found that adorable. Especially since Yassim had no children of his own, no one left behind.

“I’m still not sure,” Ashen frowned. “I tried to come up with other ideas, but I really wanted... If I had a son... to honor him in some way. But I couldn’t come up with anything better. And that name was specific to his tribe...”

“I like your idea,” Cessilia nodded. “How about Yashen, then? He’s your son, after all.”

Ashen smiled.

“Are you sure? It really is similar.”

“My mother named my first brother Kassian, and my fourth brother Kassein. It’s quite similar as well, yet nobody confuses them. Yashen is cute, and it clearly says he’s your son too.”

“...Yashen. I like that.”

He put a little kiss on the newborn’s forehead, who yawned in response. Cessilia smiled in relief, and then directed her green eyes to the baby dragon sleeping on her lap.

“I guess you’ll be... Ashe, then.”

“Ashe!” Shelie repeated, also pleased with the names.

The other young dragons then came to the huge bed, gathering around the newborn and their mom. Ashen placed the baby boy back on his mom’s chest, where she could hold him against her skin. Yashen was already back to sleep, his cute mouth making a little “O”. Ashen turned his eyes back to his wife, gently caressing her long chestnut curls.

“Are you alright?” he asked again, visibly worried.

“Yeah,” Cessilia smiled, leaning against his shoulder. “Everything went pretty smoothly this time... Were you outside all this time? What about the Council?”

Ashen sighed.

“I think they took pity on me... Nana suggested they let me go early. Thankfully. I don’t think I could have listened to more about trading routes while thinking you were giving birth just a few floors above. I’m fine waiting outside the room, but to be asked to think about politics and make decisions...”

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