Page 256 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
Again, she was impressed at how organized Kassein’s men were, some of them taking the lead to secure paths or rearranging the ranks, others relieving each other from scouting missions, and some even running back and forth to check that everyone followed and could keep going. At some point, she wondered if this wasn’t also about pride: no one from the Dragon Clan wanted to lose to the Northerners’ quick pace or slow down their group. Most of the men seemed incredibly determined, and as they got closer to the Wailing Rift, Alezya noticed the atmosphere was getting tense, a foreboding tension gradually rising. The skies above them were getting darker too, adding to this ominous feeling; the rain that had been a drizzle until then seemed to be menacing, and about to take a turn for the worse at any second.
They had reached one of the rare areas with trees, nestled between two mountains along a winding trail. It was lower than the cliffs above, offering shelter from the wind and making the air less biting. However, the terrain was steeper and more unpredictable, demanding careful navigation and for them to tighten their ranks.
Suddenly, a pair of scouts ran back, making large gestures and clearly making them all stop. Kiera arrived too, but Alezya hadn’t seen Kiki land anywhere nearby.
“We’re almost there,” the scout said, out of breath. “Our scouts ahead confirmed it. We’re now about five miles away from the Wailing Rift! If we don’t stop here, it will be hard to conceal our arrival.”
Next to him, his partner from the Dragon Clan was probably saying the same thing to Kassein, based on his animated gestures, and Kiera seemed to confirm his words. She went on to make some gestures that had Alezya guess she was explaining what the Wailing Rift looked like from above to her brother, so Alezya focused on the clan chiefs instead, and they all looked shocked.
“Already?” Ekata gasped. “We’re more than two hours ahead!”
“That’s good,” Ekut nodded, checking the dark skies above. “Dusk isn’t going to be soon; that means we have plenty of time to get ready and rest before the battle.”
“Did you see the enemy?” the Samial Clan Chief asked.
“Some of them,” he nodded. “It looks like some clans are positioned already, and we’re trying to inform our allies that we’ve arrived so they can join us here without being noticed, but it might take a little while.”
“Hopefully, we can meet some of their representatives without Darak knowing we’ve arrived already...” Ekata muttered.
“The Dragon Clan’s helping us out,” the scout nodded, pointing at his partner. “I admit they’re... they’re outstanding fighters. We were spotted twice, but they killed the enemy scouts before they could report back.”
“That’s good,” Ekut nodded. “Keep moving with them then; just be sure they don’t kill allies. We can’t afford a rift with our allies.”
“We’re good at communicating now,” the scout nodded confidently.
“Alright,” Ekata sighed. “We all should have stopped walking by now; let’s inform everyone we’re taking our last break before the battle. I’m guessing the dragons will bring oursupplies, so we should have the men use the extra time to eat and rest, and wait for our signal to get ready.”
“Even if they spot us, Darak won’t come here,” Alezya said. “He’s too afraid of the dragons. It would be better if we kept the element of surprise though, so let’s keep scouting the area. And I’ll ask Kassein to have more men ensure that we’re not noticed until the right time.”
“Sounds good to me,” Ekut nodded along.
So, Alezya was in charge of explaining the situation and their current plan to Kassein, Kiera, and Tievin, while the twins and the Samial Clan Chief did the same with their men.
It took a while for her to explain with her limited vocabulary, but once they did understand, no one argued; instead, Kassein called over his senior warriors, they discussed for a couple of minutes, and then, everyone parted ways. The dragons flew away for their last trips to bring the belongings before they rested along with the humans; it would have been suspicious if they made too many flights above the Wailing Rift now that they were near. While scouts from each of the three clans scattered, everyone else prepared for a long, deserved break that was utterly different from the previous ones, Alezya realized.
First, as soon as Kein and Kiki had brought their things over, she saw all the men work together to distribute their gear and the extra weapons, allocate food, and carefully pack up the rest of the supplies. Some established tents, and she realized those were for their healers, as some who had suffered injuries during the trip were brought in to be cared for. When the food was all distributed, they all ate quickly, no longer in a cheerful mood like before but instead in understandable silence, mindful to not attract attention to their location.
Then, as instructed, all the men decided to rest, some sitting, some lying down. Still, Alezya noted everyone had beenallocated their equipment and kept it close in case they were suddenly under attack.
She went to sit down against one of the trees, unwilling to lie down on the cold ground. As soon as she did, Kassein came to her and, without a care in the world, lay down to rest his head on her lap and closed his eyes, ready to sleep in full gear. It didn’t take long until Alezya heard him snoring, and she wasn’t even really surprised. Combing his hair with her fingers, she glanced around as everyone seemed to have spread out on every nearby piece of ground to rest.
While most of the fighters found positions and spots to nap, a handful remained alert and in full gear, and Alezya guessed those were the elected sentinels. She couldn’t help but feel her heart tighten at the sight of those hundreds of men, peacefully napping in an icy forest in the middle of nowhere between mountains... and in a few hours, they would be in the middle of an all-out war. Alezya’s heart tightened at the idea; she had seen battles before, but the one that was coming was going to be bigger, and far worse.
As if he felt her nervousness, Kassein’s hand suddenly came up to grab hers, and intertwined their fingers gently; she hadn’t even realized he’d stopped snoring.
She pressed her palm against his, finding comfort in his warmth while she tried to relax. She had the strongest fighter of all by her side. No matter what happened, victory was theirs; she was sure of it.
“Nervous?”
Ekata’s voice took her by surprise. She sat down next to Alezya, and she looked tense too.
“How could I not be?” Alezya whispered, rubbing her thumb against Kassein’s skin. “It feels... unreal. The calm before the storm.”
“Quite literally,” Ekata muttered, glancing up at the dark skies above them. “I’m nervous too. A lot of my men are here... but at least, this is the best chance we’ll ever get at changing the future. This battle will shape the next generations. That’s what I’m telling myself, I guess.”
“It feels strange to battle other clans for... all the clans’ sakes.”
“Some of the old ways have to go, Alezya,” Ekata muttered. “Some of those clans are too set in their ways; they’d never negotiate with the Dragon Clan. If we show clans that we can get along enough for this, we might create a future that leads to our survival. How many of us haven’t evolved in generations? How many young women like me and you are sold and sacrificed by men who can’t do better? This isn’t just about the Dragon Clan; this is about all those who had too much pride to believe in a woman talking about peace. They chose war, Alezya, and you and I chose survival. If we didn’t, I bet you one day my clan would have been erased like the Lumiata was, simply because we do not want to follow men like Darak and submit. Or another young woman would have died in the snow after being repudiated for something she didn’t do.”
