Page 116 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“Hop on,” he said, suddenly lifting her off the ground.
She let out a yelp, clearly unprepared to get on the dragon’s back, and held on to its neck. It only hit Kassein then that this was her first time properly riding his dragon while conscious.
For some reason, seeing her so confused and scared made him chuckle, and while she sat sideways in front of him, he wrapped an arm around her waist. Truthfully, it had been a while since anyone had mounted Kein, including himself. His dragon had been a raging beast that wouldn’t listen to anyone for the last decade or so, but right now, it was as docile as a kitten, glancing back at Alezya with its curious eyes as big as silver plates.
“Get moving,” Kassein growled.
His dragon retorted with a snort, and if he weren’t holding on to Alezya, Kassein would have bet that his stubborn dragon wouldn’t have thought twice about throwing him off. Still, Kein let out a big snuff into the cold air around them and, after a lazy stretch, stood, flapped its wings, and took off without warning.
Alezya’s scream got stuck in her throat, and instead, she clutched Kassein’s neck even more tightly, hiding her face in his shoulder, her nails even grazing his skin. For some reason, he enjoyed that but shut his lips tight to keep himself from letting out a smile. He waited until they were high up in the air, and gently patted her shoulder.
“Alezya, your eyes. Open your eyes.”
It took her a second and a few nervous blinks before she opened her eyes. But she soon saw what he had meant to show her, and she opened them wide, stunned by the breathtaking sight of the sunset. They were flying high and in the best seat in all of the Empire to watch the gorgeous gradient of orange to blue coloring the skies and the clouds around. Alezya’s lips parted in awe, and while she watched the sunset over the horizon, he watched her. The golden hour was lighting up her features in the most beautiful shades, showing off the unsuspected highlights of gold in her hair and the warmth of her skin.
The flight only lasted a few minutes, but for both of them, it had granted them the memory of the most beautiful sight they’d ever seen. When Kein landed, Kassein got off while carrying Alezya, both quiet and still in a bit of a daze. A bit unhappy about the woman getting off its back, Kein growled and pushed her hand with its snout until she gave a pat on its warm, orange scales.
“Kiitso, Kein,”she whispered to the dragon.
Kassein tilted his head, helplessly curious and even jealous.
“...Kitso?” he repeated.
“Kiitso,” Alezya corrected him.
“What does that mean?” Kassein asked, taking her hand.
But Alezya smiled, and just put a quick kiss on his raspy cheek.
“Kiitso,” she repeated.
Kassein frowned and glanced at his dragon as if it had any clue, but Kein was already sniffing eagerly toward the large fire pit, smelling the meat of dinner. Alezya suddenly turned her head too with an expectant expression.
“Meat,” she said.
Kassein smiled.
“Yeah, I’m hungry too. Let’s go eat.”
They joined the rest of their party with Kein on their heels, and quickly, the men were smart enough to bring a large offering of meat to the dragon before it chose its dinner raw. Meanwhile, Lorey and Kiera eyed the two of them without saying a word as they sat on the orange dragon like before. Tievin was nowhere in sight, for once, but it wasn’t a rare occurrence when it was already late and the evening was colder than usual. Kassein also moved to be closer to Alezya and shield her from the cold with his cape.
“Didn’t stay for the night?” Kiera taunted her brother.
“Shut up,” he growled. “You’ve done enough for the day.”
She wasn’t about to ignore his injunction, but Lorey elbowed her with a warning glance of her own, and she dropped it. Instead, they focused on their dinner, and Lorey took over the conversation, teaching Alezya some more words.
“...She’s decent.”
Kassein lifted his eyes from his food to glare at his sister.
“That girl,” Kiera said. “I taught her some moves for self-defense with the dagger while we waited for you to turn up earlier. It turns out she has some pretty good reflexes.”
“You think she learned before?”
“I think she’s sharp and had to grow some reflexes,” Kiera shrugged, glancing at Alezya. “But no, I don’t think she’d ever held a weapon before. The good news is she should pick up enough to be able to defend herself soon. The language too. She’s learning fast.”
Their eyes went to Alezya and Lorey, as both women were chatting over the fire, visibly bouncing words back and forth for Alezya to remember through repetition. Kassein had noticed too. He hadn’t been there for most of her lessons, but it was becoming clear that Alezya was starting to understand them and make herself understood, surprising him more often than not.
