Page 145 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
He had never been one to enjoy actual wars, but he had been raised by the War God; he knew wars could be necessary. If he was going to raise a country and trace a border between hisbrother’s Empire and the north, he had to be determined to do what it would take.
He had no intention to become a tyrant, but he sure needed to conquer those mountains once and for all. The feud between the Empire and the Northern tribes had been going on for centuries already, and while the casualties had lessened during his father’s time in the north and his, he had every intent to end them once and for all. The tribes kept losing men to meaningless skirmishes; they couldn’t possibly wish for this to last for several more centuries rather than end it once and for all and offer their people the option to trace a very different future. He had seen how Alezya reacted to things as simple as meat, fur coats, and soap. The fact that such common things in the Empire were a luxury in her eyes meant that the tribes weren’t living lavishly, far from it.
He couldn’t imagine what life was like, holed up in their mountains for centuries. They probably had a very different way of life, but it didn’t mean that the north couldn’t benefit them and the other way around.
He could already envision it. A future where the tribespeople taught the people of the Shadelands about life in the mountains, and they taught the tribespeople everything the land they hadn’t been allowed to set foot on for centuries could offer.
“Is that why you’ve given the order not to kill any more of them?” Sazaran petted his beard again. “What are we to do with the prisoners, Commander? Are they hostages?”
“We will start negotiating with the tribes,” Kassein said. “We cannot do that by killing any more of them.”
“What if they send more carrying diseases? They’ve had no issues trying to kill our men with the most vicious, vile means before...”
“If you see any sign they carry diseases, kill them,” Kassein said. “Otherwise, isolate their men.”
“How are we going to conquer the mountains without harming them?” Herken massaged his temples. “I don’t think this will happen without a fight, Commander...”
“I never said there would be no fight. There are some tribes who will refuse negotiations, and there is one tribe, in particular, that I plan to conquer first.”
Kassein had very little desire to let the tribe who had hurt Alezya get away alive. He wasn’t sure yet if it had been her own tribe, but he definitely remembered the men he had seen beating her up, and he had every intention to murder each one of them himself.
Anyone he could find who’d had a hand in her suffering, he would personally see to their end.
“So what?” Herken scoffed. “We start keeping those tribesmen hostage one by one? We cannot decide to start negotiating with their people; we don’t even understand their language!”
“Not true anymore,” Kiera smirked. “My brother’s new pet has been learning plenty during her stay here.”
“Your concubine has been learning our language?” Sazaran raised an eyebrow.
“You let a woman learn our ways?” Herken barked. “Commander! Who knows what that—”
“You really should value your tongue more, old man,” Kiera cut him off with a hiss.
The General froze, realizing his mistake half a second before it was too late. Kassein’s burning gaze was on him, absolutely murderous. The older General slowly shrunk back in his seat, suddenly feeling an ice-cold chill down his spine.
“A-apologies, Commander,” he mumbled. “But... that woman is—”
“Our key to establishing the negotiations with the tribes,” Kassein hissed, his glare still pinning the old man down in his chair.
Another cold chill made its way around the room.
No matter how much the generals distrusted Alezya and her people, Kassein wasn’t taking any objections, and none of them were brave enough to stand up to their Commander in Chief. He might have been young, but Kassein already had the body of a grown man and the strength of one who shared the blood of a dragon. The number of people who could possibly hold their ground against him in a duel could be counted on one hand and were all related to him.
“I have made up my mind already,” Kassein said. “I will go to the Capital and talk to my brother first. Then, when I return, our army will get ready to march on the mountains. Train all of our men and prepare them for a long, possibly drawn-out battle. The mountains are vast and wide, and conquering them on foot will take a long time. We need to get ready for several trips.”
“What about the tribes that refuse to negotiate with us, Commander?” Kauser asked. “As optimistic as I want to be about this, according to Grand Intendant Tievin, there are many tribes who are of different opinions from one another. What shall we do about the ones that will refuse to cooperate?”
“I will go with Alezya to meet each tribe first and open the negotiations,” Kassein said. “I’m counting on the word spreading through the mountains. The tribe I intend to take down will serve as an example of what happens if they try to fight us. I can ignore the tribes that will stay indifferent to us, but those who are set on trying to kill our people will meet their end.”
The three generals nodded in unison. Kiera had her eyes on her brother too.
There was a huge change coming. The best outcome was that all tribes would submit and be open to negotiations, but it was unlikely.
While some tribes had shown curiosity or indifference to the Empire, some had been openly hostile for centuries. The way that one tribe had treated Alezya showed that there also might be a case of irreconcilable differences in their way of life... but at least Kassein had every intention of showing that he would not forgive or turn a blind eye to women being harmed. Even without having witnessed Alezya’s torment for himself, her brother had been raised to not let any of his sex get away with raising a hand to a woman.
And Kiera was all on board with retribution coming to the people who had almost killed a woman not once but twice. They had been literally trained for war, after all. Kassein offering those tribes to negotiate first was considered mercy, especially after they had let them get away with those attacks for so long.
In all the months he had been here, her brother had launched only a few attacks, and only after being provoked. Perhaps the tribes were going to understand that hiding in their mountains could only save them for so long.
