Page 246 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
She gave him a nod, and walked up to the stranger. Even if they’d doubted the newcomer, that person was far too intimidated by the little herd surrounding Alezya to approach her, and instead, they turned around to walk back, guiding them to wherever their tribe was stationed.
Their group was led back inside the tunnels, and it didn’t take more than a few minutes before they ran into an impressively large gathering.
“Bora?” Kassein called the dawn-colored dragon. “Go get Kiera and Kiki. Bring them here.”
He then sent Leni back the same way to guide Tievin, knowing the Intendant would know to follow the younger dragon with his troops all the way here. The triplets may have been a lively and mischievous trio, but as ten-year-old dragons, they understood a lot more than they let on when they weren’t playing or bickering.
Kassein stood silently, his presence as constant and close as a shadow to Alezya. His hand rested lightly on her waist while she engaged with the gathered tribespeople, his watchful eyes alternating between her reactions and the crowd.
To his relief, Alezya appeared comfortable among them—he recognized familiar faces from the Munsa Tribe mingled with a handful of others from the previous gathering.
Many, however, were seeing him for the first time, their expressions marked by a mix of curiosity, apprehension, and respect. He could feel the weight of their glances even more when he looked elsewhere, their eyes continually shifting between Alezya and himself.
Choosing to ignore the attention, Kassein kept his focus on Alezya as she was talking to the crowd. The gathering was a strikingly eclectic mix, and from their diverse clothing, distinctive markings, elaborate jewelry, and varied hairstyles, Kassein estimated there were representatives from at least six or seven tribes, clustered together in small groups. He couldn’t understand Alezya’s speech, but he heard the word she used for dragons and his own name a couple of times, as well as the name of her tribe. It was likely that she was explaining to the newcomers what she had already explained to the Munsa before and catching them all up to speed.
Then, it was their turn to talk, and there were definitely some questions, Alezya answering and explaining things patiently, pointing at the two young dragons by her side, at Kassein, and so on. But mostly, he realized those people were introducing themselves to her, with hands lightly directed toward their leaders or what he guessed were their seconds or heirs. Then, there was some more talking, some outrage that, luckily for them, wasn’t directed at Alezya, but the name of the Deklaan Tribe came up a couple of times. It took a little while, during which he was happy to stand back and let Alezya take the lead.
She might not realize it herself, but Kassein could witness that she had the traits of a leader: she was speaking unafraid, not intimidated by those tribe chiefs who spoke back to her, some of them twice her age, and he could tell when she was fervently defending a point. The Munsa brother and sister, were eagerly talking along with Alezya too, no doubt supporting her based on their corporal cues.
Again, Kassein felt frustrated at his lack of understanding of their language, something he was going to remedy as soon as he could. He didn’t mind letting Alezya lead, but he wished he could have been able to support her better.
Luckily, it didn’t seem like he needed to intervene; it was clear Alezya was the one leading the discussion, and one by one, the tribe chiefs’ questions lessened, leaving them to stare at her with focused frowns or nod along.
Just as most of them looked to be done talking, Kiki’s familiar high-pitched growl echoed from outside, frightening the assembly. Seconds later, Kiera waltzed in, attracting many curious stares.
“You found them,” she beamed at Kassein. “How are things going?”
“Alezya is handling it,” Kassein shrugged.
“Ugh, you don’t have to look that smug when you say that. Alezya? Everything going well?”
Alezya turned to them and gave them an assertive nod.
“The MunsaKulanifound a lot of friends,” she said. “This is otherkulanisthat want to hunt the DeklaanKulani. But DeklaanKulanihas found lots of friends too. It’s... big hunt.”
“A big battle,” Kassein rectified for her.
“Big battle,” Alezya nodded.
“Promises, promises,” Kiera grinned. “So? They’ve got a battle plan, something?”
“Alezya? Where do we battle?” Kassein asked.
Alezya turned to the others, likely translating, but the Munsa looked at a loss. The siblings exchanged a sour expression before talking to Alezya. Kassein couldn’t understand, but he could spot the tension in her shoulders, the frown between her eyes, and the tone with which she spoke to the Munsa.
After a while, she shook her head and turned back to Kassein.
“Thekulani, they all want to battle or leave battle. They go to Munsa and us or to Deklaan to do battle. All thekulani. MunsaKulanisaid where to find our friends. But battle... after a nightand a day. At night. But Deklaan and Munsa are talking to know where to battle. We... We wait for Deklaan to go.”
“Tomorrow night, then,” Kiera nodded. “That’s fine by us. Gives us just enough time for the army to get here if they hurry a bit. Good thing we sent for Herken already.”
“It sounds like the Deklaan Tribe wants to decide where the battle will occur,” Kassein frowned.
“So what? I doubt there’s a place they can find that could increase their chances,” Kiera hissed.
“Well, actually,” Tievin’s voice suddenly rose from behind, ”they are likely to try to find a setting where your dragons cannot intervene, Lady Kiera.”
They turned around to see an exhausted-looking Tievin stumbling inside, with the young dragon pulling on his cloak. General Kauser was right behind him and gauged the audience with a surprised expression.
