Page 209 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
Ignoring the young dragons’ high-pitched grunts, Kassein scooped Lumie into his arms, and the little girl squealed happily.
“I have to go find your mama, Lumie,” he whispered to her.
“Ama?” Lumie immediately said.
“Yes. I’ll find her, Lumie. I promise.”
Just like that, Kassein pressed a little kiss on the young girl’s forehead, making her squeal in delight, before he handed her back to Lorey.
He couldn’t help but note that Lumie seemed disappointed to not be in his arms any longer, her disappointed eyes following him, and that made Kassein a bit happy. To not make the heartbreak any worse than necessary, he quickly turned to Lorey.
“Watch her for me,” he asked with a tight throat.
“Of course. You guys stay safe. I hope you find Alezya soon.”
He nodded and turned around before Lumie’s sad eyes broke any more of his heart. He would never forgive himself if he couldn’t bring that little girl and her mother back together.
Luckily, it didn’t take too long to herd the young dragons outside, as they were all too excited to chase after Kiki and Cece and watch as Kein was coming back.
Cessilia, who had been waiting outside, wrapped her younger brother in a hug before he could protest.
“I have to go home,” she said. “Ashen and the kids will be worried. But I insist you visit me soon, once things calm down here. I’m sure you’ll be alright, Kassein. And remember, we’re always here to help. Alright? We’re your family.”
Kassein could only give her a choked-up nod, but that was enough.
Cessilia patted his cheek once more and then turned to say goodbye to Kiera and Lorey before they parted ways to go to their dragons. While he walked up to Kein, they watched as Cessilia took flight on her dragon.
“Leni, Bora, Vele!” Kiera called the small dragons. “Come on, you little twerps, time to break shit, run wild, and scare grown men; you’re going to love that!”
Whether they understood or not, all three of the smaller dragons took off after Kiki, happily chasing the older dragon, though they seemed just afraid enough of Kein to keep a distance. Given that the orange dragon was considerably bigger than them, while Kiki was about twice the size of the three of them combined, it was understandable.
Still, the triplets seemed happy to give chase to their older peers, climbing up the skies while Cece was flying back toward their homeland in the east. As dragons had no predators, it was likely that the triplets were allowed to roam on their own because all three seemed very comfortable exploring a new area, happily teasing each other mid-flight and letting out high-pitched little growls as they played around.
Unlike them, Kiki and Kein were in no mood to play.
When their group landed in the North Camp, they were immediately greeted by rows of soldiers in full attire for combat, all three generals lined up with Tievin at one end, waiting for them.
“Welcome back, Commander in Chief,” Sazaran said first. “Our recruits spotted you and the Princess, so we got everyone ready for battle.”
“Are those young dragons really a part of your plan, Commander...?”
As soon as the triplets landed, they immediately pounced on Kein’s back, chased one another at full speed between the ranks, disrupting the tight lines of men and prompting horrified shouts here and there, and did their new favorite game of dive-bombing into piles of snow until there was nothing but puddles under them and everyone around was drenched.
Tievin was on the receiving end of one of the last waves, and the poor Intendant let out a long, tired sigh before wiping his face with his sleeve.
“...And they’re not even teens yet,” he groaned.
“Enough!” Kassein barked.
Immediately, all three of the young dragons froze where they were, and just as Kein let out a loud growl of warning, they all scampered in a line behind Kiki, heads and bellies flat on the ground.
“Gods save the Eastern Kingdom,” Kiera sighed. “Anyhow, yes, those three terrors are the core of our plan. We unleash the brats inside the tunnels, let them force the tribespeople to flee, hopefully out of the mountains and into the open, and our army will be out there to greet them while we look for Kassein’s lady and do some cleaning.”
“We will split the army here,” Kassein said, pinning all three generals with a stare. “Herken, I’ll entrust you with the defense of the North Camp. There’s a high chance that some tribe might attack down here once they realize two-thirds of our army have been gone for a while. I’m counting on you to stand your ground here and ensure everything keeps running smoothly.”
Herken gave a solemn nod to his Commander in Chief.
Many army leaders might have been offended that they were picked to stay behind, but it took a man with the unwavering loyalty and resilience of Herken to defend a stronghold two-thirds emptied of its forces. The oldest General knew it was a big testament of trust for Kassein to ask him to stay and take careof the camp in his absence when he’d most likely be gone for several days.
