Page 227 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
They got the beginning of an answer seconds later. A heavy, loud sound echoed above their heads and throughout the mountain.
Alezya instinctively stepped into Kassein’s embrace, and he locked an arm around her, but she didn’t find him tense at all. Then, she heard Kein’s loud growl, followed by loud thuds, like several heavy things were hitting the ground, and somewhere in the distance, the very faint sound of screams. Male voices screaming. It took her just a moment to recognize the sound of rocks breaking and piece everything together.
“A landslide!” she gasped. “Kein broke some rocks above the opening; I think he provoked a landslide to seal the entrance to this tunnel!”
“The dragon?” Ekata muttered, fear in her voice. “It’s... aware we’re inside, right?”
“We’re far enough, now,” Alezya noted, trying to glance back into the darkness. “Even if some men got in, at least more can’t follow us...”
“I hope you’re right,” Ekut said, “but there are way more tunnels leading home; we have to hurry up.”
Their group resumed their journey back to the Munsa Clan, progressing quickly and keeping an ear out for men who had followed them into the tunnels; fortunately, if any men had, they didn’t manage to catch up, or they were lost in the maze of tunnels. Alezya was following the twins, but she would have been completely lost on her own.
After a while, they finally found an opening and some fresh air, and the Munsa Clan managed to light up torches to illuminate the last portion of their journey. Now that they had light and could walk faster, it didn’t take them long to finally return to the Munsa Clan’s cave, and Niiru darted ahead as soon as the young dragon recognized the area.
The relief of being back only lasted seconds, as Ekut tensed as soon as they stepped into the large cave their clan used as a main area, the one with the bay.
“...Strangers,” he muttered.
Alezya turned her head, and indeed, there was a large crowd gathered near the elders and some fighters of the Munsa Clan. Alezya guessed the large group was composed of representatives of at least half a dozen different clans, probably more. It was hard to tell in the sea of foreign faces. Ekata let out a faint sigh of relief after a few seconds.
“Those are our allies,” she explained to Alezya. “Those we trust unconditionally. We had sent messengers to explain the situation to them. I guess they decided to move at night. There’s no risk thatthose menwill turn on us.”
“I told you I did not invite the Habash Clan!” Ekut protested. “They invited themselves with another–”
“I don’t care,” his sister retorted. “You’re in charge of telling the families of the men we lost, Ekut.”
He grimaced, shaking his head with annoyance.
Alezya was a bit surprised he didn’t fight his sister harder, but she was starting to wrap her head around their strange co-chiefs position. Ekata truly acted as his equal, and Ekut was letting her take charge in some matters. Thus, he stepped aside, most likely to find someone to send word of the deceased, while Ekata walked up to the group of their elders. Rather than follow her, Alezya turned around to Kassein. He already had his eyes on her, showing very little interest in everything else that was going on around them. She took a deep breath and tried to explain, pointing a finger toward the twins and the rest of their clan.
“Munsa Clan,” she said. “They’re my friends. They gave me food.”
Kassein nodded slowly and glanced around the cave before his eyes returned to her. Alezya licked her lower lip, trying to think of a way to quickly explain things with her limited vocabulary.
“My home mountain,” she said. “They... hunt me. Again.”
He frowned, and she could almost feel the anger rising in waves from him, so she gently put her hands on his biceps to ground him with her. She noticed again that he was completely shirtless under his cloak, and she wondered why he wasn’t wearing his protective gear. Had he taken it off before he and Kein had come to her rescue? Did he not even need it to fight the clans? Alezya shook her head, forcing herself to focus.
“My home mountain, they are theDeklaan Clan.”
“Deklaan Clan?”
“Yes. Myclan. Their name isDeklaan Clan. You hunted them. Before.”
“Your home,” he said, frowning again. “I saw it. Lumie and Alezya’s home. Small.”
Her throat tightened. Had he found the small cave she had lived in with Lumie? She felt strange, thinking about that place. It was a small and uncomfortable cave she had found, but she had tried to make it as hospitable as possible for her and her baby. To think that Kassein had seen it was more than a strange feeling. She couldn’t even imagine his body going through the small tunnel she’d had to crawl in to get in there every time... She gave him a little nod, but looked down, embarrassed.
“Yes. Lumie and mine.”
Kassein didn’t let her get away with hiding and gently cupped her cheek, pulling her to look up again, and pressed another long kiss on her forehead. His warmth spread throughout her whole body. Alezya knew they didn’t have the luxury of spending time thoroughly enjoying their reunion, but she still leaned a bit more into him before she cleared her throat and looked up to talk to him again.
“TheDeklaanClan, they hunt me,” she said. “They hunt the DragonClantoo, and they hunt theMunsaClan. My friends.”
Kassein barely glanced at the people behind her, but Alezya knew he understood.
“They are friends,” she said. “TheMunsaClanare friends. Kein can’t hunt them.”
