Page 288 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
Alezya took in her cousin’s forlorn expression, her pleading eyes, and then, all the gazes she felt on her. She glanced at what remained of her clan again. She spotted Suolk, stepping out of the line of trees, and their eyes met for a brief second, before she noticed what he had in his hand. A hare. He’d gone to hunt to feed them, she realized. And that was all he’d come back with… It brought back some sour memories for her.
When she had been the one outcasted, the one in need of help, none of them had lent a hand. No one had given her food oreven kindness. They’d treated her like a pariah and Lumie like a disease.
Now they were the ones desperate for help. A clan with only a handful of men and with no one willing to help out wouldn’t recover. The other clans would be able to trade, lean on each other, and maybe even flourish once those routes were opened between their homes. But the Deklaan Clan was unwelcome. What remained of her father’s people would forever be outcasts in the mountains, the ones held responsible for the war and all the losses. The women hadn’t been taught to hunt or even pick herbs. There were too few men left to feed them all. She doubted the widows would even find anyone willing to take them in, not when there were dozens of women from other clans in the same situation.
Alezya glanced back at Kassein. He was standing still, a hand on her lower back, waiting for her, as always. Patient, kind, and willing to support whatever she decided. She could let go, she thought. She could let her cousin and her clan fend for themselves. She would have had every right to, after what had happened. They had rejected her first. She could have died in a crevice or bled out in the snow, if it had been up to them. She wasn’t sure a single one of them would have shed a tear.
But then, she looked again beyond Zenia’s shoulders. At the children. There was a handful of them, being bounced in their mother’s arms, or for the oldest ones, peeking with envy at the dragons through the trees. She could see in their eyes they were dying to chase after Niiru with the others or eager to approach Kein. Alezya took in a deep breath and returned her gaze to Zenia.
“...I want you to leave the mountains,” she calmly said.
“W-what?” Zenia blinked, just as her husband walked up to them.
“There’s nothing left for you here,” Alezya calmly explained to the two of them. “The Deklaan Clan needs to disappear. No other clan will be willing to trade with you, and no mountain will be welcoming. Take the men, women, and children that are left and come down the mountains.”
“How could we?” Zenia cried. “We’ve never lived anywhere but here. We wouldn’t know how to start over—”
But Suolk put a hand on her shoulder, interrupting her, and, with a resolute look, turned his eyes to Alezya.
“...Where do you think we should go?” he asked calmly.
It was the first time ever that a man from her clan was asking Alezya a question, and genuinely asking her for guidance. She swallowed, and held her cousin’s husband’s gaze.
“Come to the Dragon Clan. They won’t care about what you did as the other clans do.”
“But...” her cousin frowned, glancing at the Dragon Clan’s men. “...Are you sure? They’re... you know.”
“If I survived down there, you will,” Alezya said. “They could use some women down there, to be honest. They can’t even make proper tea, and they could use some hands to help with chores. You could earn your keep doing what you know, like sewing, making food, or laundry, and the men could hunt. There’s more to their territory, where you could relocate.”
“...They can’t make tea?” Zenia frowned, confused.
“They keep drinking hot water for some reason; it’s disgusting.”
Her cousin chuckled but glanced at the men off to the side. Dajan and his two companions blushed and looked at their feet. Dajan’s bandages on his shoulder were messy, their hair was poorly cut, and they had dirt behind their ears.
“It looks like they could use some women indeed,” Zenia smiled.
Alezya nodded before looking back at the two of them.
“That’s my offer,” she said. “The Deklaan Clan doesn’t need a new leader; it needs a new life.”
After a hesitation, Suolk nodded.
“Thank you, Alezya,” he said. “I know we... None of us deserve your kindness.”
“It’s not kindness,” Alezya replied, “but... the ones I resented the most are already dead, and being cast out set me free. And now I’m free to choose the future I want. And the future I want isn’t to let women and children suffer like I did out of resentment. I’m choosing to move forward. I got a second chance at life. I think everyone deserves one.”
She took a step back, leaning into Kassein’s embrace as she smiled at him. He smiled back and leaned over to press a kiss to the top of her head, unbothered by all the eyes on them. She felt his arm move from her lower back to curl around her waist until he splayed his hand on her belly again. She let out a peaceful sigh and glanced up at the blue sky beyond the mountains.
“...I used to fear the future. Now I think I’m looking forward to it,” she whispered.
6 Months Later
Kassein was on his way out of the castle’s kitchens, a crate in his arms, when he was stopped by the sound of a giggle, followed by a suspicious shushing. He frowned, set the crate down, and leaned over to peer under the nearest table.
“Hi, Daddy,” Lumie beamed up at him.
“Hello, snowflake,” he smiled. “What are you and Auntie doing?”
