Page 149 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“...Don’t let Kassian get to you,” she simply said.
There was a lot more meaning to her words, but neither of them said it out loud, and he only replied with a stiff nod. Then, she stepped away, and Kiki took off with an elegant flap of its wings.
Chapter 13
After leaving Lumie, leaving Kassein might have been the most heart-wrenching decision she had made.
He had given her everything she could have asked for and more.
There was just no moving on from the dream she’d been given to live with that man; Alezya knew it.
As soon as she had woken up, finding herself alone in the bed, covered in warm furs and Kassein’s lingering scent, her heart had been more full and painful than ever. It wouldn’t have been so hard if that man hadn’t given her so much. She hadn’t even taken a step out of his habitation, and she missed the man already.
She didn’t know where he had gone, but she was certain he had spent more time in his bed with her than he usually did for she had felt his strong arms holding her all night long.
Getting up from the bed, cleaning his scent off herself, and putting on some clothes felt so hard that Alezya found herself choking back tears several times, despite rushing just in case Kassein returned. She had to get out of here and on her way back to her clan before he returned.
She wanted to stay here, most of her heart wanted to stay here, but no matter how much she loved Kassein, how strong of a hold he had taken on her heart, there was absolutely nothing in this world that could have made her not go back to Lumie. Her baby girl was the only reason she would leave the best man in theworld and return to the worst of all. Kassein made her heart full and warm, but Lumie was her heartbeat.
She couldn’t go on without being absolutely certain her daughter would be safe and well. She had made the mistake of leaving her baby’s fate in destiny’s hands once, and she wouldn’t be making that mistake again.
This time, she was going to make sure Lumie would be fine, loved, and safe, no matter what. No matter what it cost her.
She felt endlessly sorry for Kassein, but absolutely nothing could convince her not to save her daughter before herself. Alezya was resolved to give up on happiness as long as Lumie’s safety was guaranteed. She would bury her own chances at a happy future so long as Lumie got her own.
Thus, with her heart more painful than ever before, she ventured out of Kassein’s home and into the cold to find, much to her relief, the faithful orange dragon waiting for her.
Despite the tears that threatened to spill any second, Alezya was happy to see the dragon and realize again how lucky she was to have made such a beast an ally.
“I’m going to need you,” she whispered to the dragon, using her own language.
She had learned a lot of Kassein’s tongue, and since it seemed like Kein could understand some of hers, she had taken to chatting with the orange dragon when on her own, all while practicing how to give commands in the Dragon Empire’s language. Alezya had never thought she could feel so confident about directing a man-eating beast, but it was a deliciously empowering feeling.
It was her best chance. She had a plan, a mad plan perhaps, but it was a far better one than the first she’d put into action when she’d run away from her clan the first time. Things were so different now. She had Kassein and his dragon by her side, evenif neither of them really knew, and they were her best chance, a chance she wouldn’t have ever dared to hope for.
Feeling braver than ever, Alezya placed her hands under Kein’s chin and pressed her forehead against the large dragon’s head, between its eyes, closing her own as she felt its incredibly hot scales.
“I need her back,” she whispered again. “Will you help me get my baby girl back, Kein?”
As if it somewhat understood, the dragon let out a low, long rumbling growl. Alezya smiled and walked around the dragon to climb on its back, acting with a confidence that felt new to her. Kein seemed to hesitate for a couple of seconds before the dragon eventually lifted its heavy body, standing up from the snow den its body had shaped in the last few days.
“Fly,” she said, using Kassein’s language.
Kein growled, took a couple of steps away from the habitation to find the space to stretch its large orange wings, and then, much to Alezya’s relief, took off. She had never flown by herself, and she had only done it once with Kassein, making this feel like madness, but it was happening.
It only took seconds for Kein’s large body to get high above the camp, and the men’s figures were reduced to tiny ants beneath them.
Alezya willed her lungs to take a deep breath as the insane reality sunk in. She was flying a dragon by herself. As much as taking his dragon and betraying Kassein broke her heart, she needed the little bit of empowerment it gave her.
For a couple of minutes, she let Kein take them wherever it pleased, but then, she tried to practice the words Lorey had taught her, directing the dragon left or right with a tap on the matching side of its neck, and much to her relief, it worked. Keinwas acting incredibly docile, letting a woman that wasn’t even a fifth of its size direct it wherever she wanted.
They quickly found themselves high above the mountains, and Alezya saw her home from a dragon’s point of view, as well as the many other mountains she had only seen from afar and those beyond all the way to the sea.
There were so many mountains and probably about as many clans... She was the insignificant pariah daughter of a clan’s chief, and yet, she probably was the first of those people to ever ride a dragon. All of a sudden, she held more power than any of the men who had looked down on her could ever dream of, and that was quite an amazing feeling.
Alezya’s plan still had to come into play, and she took in another breath of fresh air before directing Kein again. Thanks to the dragon’s formidable size, it would be hard for anyone from below to notice a human was riding it, and she didn’t plan to let her clan see what she could have that dragon do just yet.
Thus, hoping the clans would have the usual reaction to hide inside the mountain, she spotted an isolated clearing for Kein to land in, close enough to her mountain that she could find her way home on foot and hidden enough that they wouldn’t see her coming off its orange-scaled back.
