Page 191 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“They are,” they nodded. “Our people are great swimmers. Children learn young how to swim fast and hold their breath long enough to get to the other side.”
Alezya was stunned.
Their clan felt so different from hers; no wonder she hadn’t recognized the food or some of the fabric of their clothes.
Their clothing was also much lighter than the Deklaan’s, but she guessed they were also deeper in the mountains, not as high and exposed to the cold winds as her clan.
Even their bodies seemed leaner, with broad shoulders and long limbs too. Alezya wondered if their hairstyles helped themswim better, perhaps, or if it had another cultural significance that escaped her.
Eventually, they reached an opening that brought them outdoors again and into a cove that took Alezya’s breath away.
It was a large dome carved into the mountain, but the ground was half rocks, half sand, and the sea was coming to lick the entrance with small waves.
All around the area were the Munsa people, gathered around little fire pits, walking with fishnets, or busy making wicker baskets. There were countless ropes, baskets, and fishnets hanging around the walls of the cove, some so high Alezya had no idea how they’d reached it in the first place.
There were children playing around in the inches of water, and as soon as it noticed them, Niiru let out a chirpy sound and jumped after them.
“Niiru!” Alezya stopped the dragon in its tracks. “No. You’re going to scare them.”
Niiru gave her a little disappointed growl and, instead of coming back to her, crouched down in the thin bed of water, its tail swishing little waves of water left and right. It reminded Alezya of how Kein could do exactly the same thing with snow and again, she wondered if Kein was related to Niiru somehow.
Leaving the small dragon within eyesight, she was led toward one of the gatherings.
It was one of the bigger circles of people, with some elders who didn’t even glance up as they were braiding younger kids’ hair, fishnets, or baskets, but she did recognize the man and woman with braided hair from the gathering. The man was frowning at her, his eyes going to his men who had brought her full of questions, but the woman didn’t seem surprised. From up close, Alezya guessed that woman was slightly older than her, perhaps thirty years old.
“You brought her?” the man finally asked out loud, sounding annoyed.
“Darak had shoved her into a crevice,” one of them admitted. “We kind of... had to strike a deal before he noticed us and took her elsewhere.”
“What deal?” the woman asked.
“I would agree to meet you if they freed me,” Alezya answered for them, “and I would consider making sure your clan was safe from the dragon.”
Those words got a few more people at this gathering to raise their heads. The adults sent the kids off to play with their peers, and the atmosphere around grew tense.
The woman glanced around, silently checking in with the others, before she turned to Alezya.
“...Fine, let’s talk,” she said. “Sit down. You should have a meal since you have traveled all this way. And... is that dragon yours?”
Alezya glanced back.
In the few minutes she’d focused on the man and woman from the gathering, Niiru had begun chasing after the kids.
Far from being panicked, the children were howling with laughter and running in all directions with loud, excited screams. Niiru was having a blast making big jumps after them, splashing itself and the children with each landing. Alezya smiled.
“...He’s a child,” she said.
She was pretty sure Niiru had never tasted human flesh, and it didn’t look tempted to try.
The young dragon looked the same as Kiki and Kein when they had been playing together in the snow, and although it could have easily bitten a limb or two off, it was just making a big show of running after the children, changing targets if it became too easy.
The multitude of kids running away from Niiru seemed to excite the young dragon far more than the prospect of a fresh meal.
“So long as he’s fed something, he won’t harm anyone,” she added, just to be certain.
Dragons could be quite ill-tempered, so she didn’t want to risk hunger becoming Niiru’s priority before fun. She was almost certain she could reign the young dragon in if things escalated, but she’d rather not tempt fate.
“The dragon will be fed,” the woman said, giving a nod to the men who had come with Alezya, who turned around, hopefully to go find a meal worthy of a young dragon.
