Page 31 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“Inkir,” she nodded.
She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep this time, but she felt she had enough empty space for more of that delicious thing. The warrior didn’t seem to mind fetching some for her.
As he left, Alezya sighed. This was a strange new reality to get used to. Something she couldn’t quite feel at ease with yet, but that man was somehow making everything feel safer. She hadn’t left the enclosure so far, but she was nervous about what she’d possibly find outside. How long would it take for her to be able to step out?
She felt better. ...She felt a lot better already, actually. Now that she was paying attention to her body, she noticed the pain that was previously radiating from every limb had somehow been subdued by quite a lot. Even her ankles were still aching, but not as badly as before.
Alezya was dumbfounded. Was it possible to heal so fast? Or had she slept a lot more than she thought? But no amount of sleep could prompt a miraculous healing. Her eyes suddenly went to the bottle, as if it all clicked. Was it because of that water she’d drank? What was that strange water? She couldn’t be sure, but she had some gut feeling it was related. Did the Dragon Clan have such advanced medicine?
Just with this, a bit of hope reignited in her heart. If she had these kinds of means within her reach, then maybe she had more chances to get back to her baby than she thought...
Chapter 4
“...Again?” Tievin raised a judgmental eyebrow.
“She liked it.”
As if it was enough of an explanation, Kassein filled the bowl again to the brim, and grabbed another apple for the woman. Alezya, he mentally reminded himself. Her name was Alezya. It was strange and a bit hard to say, but pretty. When she had spoken for the first time, he’d thought her voice was surprisingly soft and clear. It sounded like the gentle stream of cold water under the ice, like the sounds of a near-frozen river.
“I must voice my disapproval yet again, Commander,” Tievin wrinkled his nose. “We do not know what those barbarians are capable of. She could be an assassin sent to kill you.”
“She was beaten by her own kind,” Kassein growled at the memory. “Did you not see the state she was in?”
“I did, and I do find it odd. They chased her close to the border with us, and left that woman behind. The barbarians we tried to capture previously committed suicide rather than be taken by us, but suddenly, they leave a woman in plain sight, right where you could potentially find her. It is odd.”
Kassein didn’t reply; most likely, he was done answering Tievin.
He turned around, heading back inside the tent. This time, Tievin didn’t follow him. Instead, he watched the back of thePrince as he left, powerless. Was it really safe to leave this woman with him...?
His Majesty was like the rest of the men in his family: weak to women. More precisely, they had grown up admiring their mother, and watching their father, the almighty War God, be completely enamored with her. Not only that but every woman in that family was deeply loved and respected. No matter how cold the Wild Prince was acting toward his family right now, there was no way he would ever harm a woman, especially one that seemed as defenseless as this barbarian he’d brought back. Tievin sighed.
He couldn’t help but worry for His Highness. When a man was stronger than anyone else, the only way to hurt him would be through his heart... and he knew better than anyone how badly Prince Kassein’s had already been wounded.
“...Have one unit keep an eye on the Commander’s tent,” he ordered.
He had said his order without looking at any soldier specifically, but the men were used to obeying nevertheless. Several answered at once.
“Yes, sir!”
They left, most likely to inform a lieutenant a new surveillance guard would have to be established, while Tievin remained standing near the food distribution. He tightened his coat around him and finally drifted his gaze from His Highness’ tent to the mountains.
...What were those barbarians truly thinking? Hard to tell. All their attempts at a peaceful negotiation had amounted to nothing. Those people were so different. It was the first time they’d seen a barbarian woman, and she was harmed right under the Prince’s eyes? Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this. That woman was going to be trouble.
...All women eventually led to trouble.
“What about the dragon?”
“It’s still, uh, resting, sir.”
Tievin rolled his eyes.
First the woman, then His Highness, and now the damn dragon acting all strange too. That beast was parked near its owner’s tent, clearly waiting for something.
The dragon had only moved from its spot to take its flight to go hunting and came right back after like an obedient dog. It had caused quite a ruckus inside the camp as most men had only seen Kein from afar. Tievin didn’t even need to be informed of the dragon’s movements; there were “ooh”s and “aah”s rising all around the camp every time the damn thing decided to fly up or land back here. He had felt relieved the first time Kein had decided to leave, only to be disappointed when the dragon had come back just a couple of hours later, belly full.
That thing was just as stubborn as its master, for sure... and even harder to understand. Tievin didn’t care for the dragon as long as it miraculously didn’t cause any ruckus, but he was quite annoyed by how it disturbed the camp. He hated anything that stood out and came to disturb what he’d worked hard to put in place. Most soldiers were both curious to see the orange dragon from up close and too terrified not to take a noticeable detour around it. Thus, the foot traffic around His Highness’ tent had increased significantly, another major disruption in the usually well-oiled machine that was the camp.
Because there was an actual dragon lingering in the camp, somewhat tame for once, the news about the woman had died quite quickly. She had been there for two days now, but as most soldiers hadn’t seen her, the talk about that foreigner had almost disappeared, compared to all the whispering about His Highness’ dragon.
