Page 177 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“What... What in the mighty dragon is going on?!” Tievin finally spouted.
“Alezya had a baby; she delivered it by dragon mail to Kassein,” Kiera sighed. “Catch up, Tievin. Hey, you know what’s actually funny? When I was still young and blessed with ignorance and asked Mom how babies were made, this is exactly what she told us: dragon delivery.”
“That’s adorable. Did you believe it?” Lorey asked with a chuckle.
“Sadly, I did,” Kiera let out a long, dramatic sigh. “My eight-year-old dumb self spent an entire evening lecturing Krai about not bringing me any more baby brothers. You bet our grandmother had alotof fun watching that...”
Lorey chuckled and, as if she’d understood the joke, Lumie also giggled. A stunned silence followed the cute, shimmery sound.
“Damn it,” Kiera said. “Alezya’s kid is cute, I’ll give you that.”
“Her name is Lumie,” Kassein said.
He found it quite adorable how Lumie’s head whipped around back to him every time he said her name. One could tell just by looking at her that she was a happy child; she let Lorey bathe her, giggling any time she was tickled, and let herself be clothed without complaint with one of the tunics and underwear meant for Alezya, which Lorey somewhat made fit with well-placed knots.
“I can sew her some proper clothes,” Lorey announced.
“Watch her for me,” Kassein muttered. “I’m going to the mountain.”
“Not now,” Kiera stopped him, placing herself between him and the tent’s exit. “Kassein, you’ve already traveled to the Capital and back all night long. In fact, you didn’t even tell us how that went, for one. Most importantly, you need to rest a bit. I know we have Dragon Blood and all, but even you need a couple of hours of rest before you get back out there and fight the tribes and whatnot.”
But Kassein glared at his sister, unconvinced.
“Move, Kiera.”
“No,” his sister retorted, crossing her arms.
“Kassein,” Lorey intervened before the siblings began a fight, “Kiera has a point. You need some sleep, and you won’t be able to help Alezya if you’re not in good condition. She’s been gone for almost a day now, and whatever happened between the moment Kein took Lumie and when you came back, delaying finding her by a couple of hours won’t change anything.”
“We don’t know that. She could be in danger,” Kassein hissed. “She could be in pain, right this instant–”
“Wherever she is,” Kiera interrupted him, “Kein clearly cannot get to her, or we both know your dragon would have taken off already. That means you’ll have to search for her yourself, and we don’t know how long that could take. Kiki needs to take a break too; she flew all night. Listen, I can take Kein and survey the mountains to try and locate her, but you need some sleep.”
“Just a couple of hours,” Lorey added, “and then I promise I’ll look after Lumie while you search for her mom, and you can–”
“...Ama?”
All eyes turned to the little girl. Lumie was staring at them all with big, inquisitive eyes. She looked around as if looking for someone before her eyes went back to the adults present.
“Ama?” she asked again, her eyes getting teary.
Kassein let out a long, defeated sigh. The tears in the little girl’s eyes broke his heart. Slowly, he went to her and picked her up in his arms before sitting on his bed with her.
Kiera took this as her cue to leave the tent.
“I promise I’ll find your mama,” he whispered to her. “I miss her too.”
Lumie was staring at him, clearly confused, and she let out a hiccup. Lorey approached, patting the little girl’s back.
“Get some sleep, Kassein,” Lorey whispered. “Please. Kiera will look for her with Kein, and I promise I’ll wake you up in a couple of hours. Then you can take the army up there as soon as you want.”
“An hour,” Kassein argued.
“Wherever Alezya is,” she replied, “she managed to give Lumie to Kein. She sent her daughter to you, Kassein. Kein wouldn’t land until you arrived. I’m sure she knew she could trust you with her, and I’m sure she will do everything she can to return to you both. You need to have some faith in her. Whatever happened to Alezya last night, I’m sure you’ll be able to find her again–”
“We got a problem,” Kiera announced, suddenly stepping back inside the tent.
“What?” Kassein frowned.
