Page 287 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“...Oh,” Alezya blinked, before smiling. “We can definitely find him a wife.”
She did not doubt that there would be plenty of young ladies willing to marry a scholar from the Dragon Clan. Maybe plenty of widows too. If many women, like her, had been forced into marriage without a clue about their partner, some might be happy to enjoy their freedom, but some might enjoy even more having a man they picked... She looked around, seeing men of the Dragon Clan helping build new habitations, and a bunch of women nearby from other clans who were glancing in the foreign men’s directions. They weren’t even trying to hide their curiosity and kept peering the other way while they were busy helping with chores or rounding up the children. There were people from many different clans coming and going, and few supplies, but some tables were set up outside, and some men seemed to be coming back from a hunt.
“...What is this place?” she asked Ekata.
“This is the spot we chose for negotiations,” Ekata explained. “We needed some place central and large enough for, uh, the dragons to land. People representing their clans can come and go easily, and those who need help can stay and request help from other clans. Some cannot go back to their homes, so we are scouting for options. We’re not far from the Wailing Rift, either. Many were still recovering and burying bodies until recently, and a handful of people are still missing.”
“Do you know where my clan is?”
Ekata frowned.
“Some of them are here,” she said, “but things have been... complicated. Many don’t want anything to do with Darak’s clan.”
“They’re here?” Alezya blinked in surprise.
Ekata nodded, and she led her through the clearing. On the way there, and as they passed by many people, all from different clans, Alezya noted that some of the children were playing around chasing Niiru. When she glanced back, she saw a handful of others were having some kind of dare game about who would be brave enough to approach Kein, and that made her smile.
Eventually, they approached a little spot on the edge of the clearing, where a handful of people were gathered. Alezya froze as she recognized the faces before they even saw her. Then, slowly, she witnessed her cousin’s gaze reaching her, her eyes opening wide, and she ran to her.
“Alezya!”
“Zenia?”
She had barely spoken her name when her cousin closed the distance and wrapped her in a hug. It was so out of the blue, so unexpected, that Alezya couldn’t decide whether to return her hug or not before Zenia stepped back, her cheeks red.
“Sorry, I’m just... I’m so, so sorry,” Zenia said, tears appearing in her eyes already. “I... It’s been so eventful, and... and we heard everything that you did, and... then, the war...”
“Are you alright?” Alezya asked after her mind cleared, taking her cousin’s hand gently.
Zenia blinked at where their hands were joined, like she couldn’t understand the movement. Then, her hand tightened back, and she swallowed a sob.
“I should be the one asking you that,” she mumbled. “We heard bits and pieces, but...”
She glanced nervously behind Alezya.
“No one is very fond of us at the moment,” she chuckled nervously.
“Did anyone harm you?”
“No,” Zenia quickly shook her head, but her voice broke with the next words, “but the other clans... They wanted to kill the men we had left. Including Suolk.”
“Is Suolk fine?” Alezya immediately asked, remembering how well he’d treated Lumie.
“He is,” Zenia nodded. “I thought... I thought we were all going to die. But when they found us, the Dragon Clan... They told the other clans not to touch us. That you didn’t want them to.”
Her cousin finally broke into a sob, and Alezya let out a sigh of relief. She knew it couldn’t have been easy for them. They were too closely tied to Darak; of course, many had blamed them for this... for what their clan leader had done. Too many had died because of him. Alezya hugged her cousin, this time, and glanced over Zenia’s shoulder. The few men and women gathered were all familiar faces, tired-looking faces she had known most of her life. The same faces that had shown her nothing but contempt and disdain for the past couple of years. And yet, the very facesthat had once looked down on her were now staring at her with something else entirely, something that almost resembled hope.
Just beyond them, three Dragon Clan warriors stood guard, silent and alert. Among them was Dajan, a fresh cut marking his temple and one shoulder was still bandaged, but he held himself with quiet confidence. When their eyes met, he gave her a firm, confident nod, and Alezya smiled back, her chest tightening with something like pride.
“Thank you,” she whispered for him to see, and he replied with another nod, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.
Then, she caressed her cousin’s hair while she cried.
“Many died,” Zenia mumbled. “Many men... Your father took the best fighters with him, and they were all killed too. And the men he sent down... Suolk survived, but so many died...”
“Did you get to bury them?” Alezya asked.
“Yeah... Yeah, we did,” her cousin nodded, pulling back a bit to look her in the eyes, “but we don’t know what to do next... We don’t have a clan chief, Alezya. No one wants to do it. We have dozens of widows and children, and we can’t provide for everyone... The Dragon Clan helped us for the past few days, but then what? I don’t... I know you don’t owe us anything, but... Please. I know we don’t deserve anything from you, but please, can you help us?”
