Page 44 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“C-Commander, you hunted all those by yourself?” one of them exclaimed.
“He only had his sword too...”
Kassein lifted his eyes at them, and the men immediately shut up, some even taking a step back from their Commander’s glare.
“Make those into a cape,” he said, pointing at the snow leopard and white foxes.
“F-for you, Commander?” another asked, confused.
“Is it for the lady?”
The soldier who spoke was one of those who’d seen Alezya earlier, and instantly made the connection. Kassein’s green eyes went to him, and the soldier swallowed his saliva and nodded, more to avoid his leader’s gaze than anything.
“I-I’ll make sure it is made soon, sir!” he said.
Without answering, Kassein walked away from the little gathering, already fed up with them. He hated crowds, and he hated the way those men looked up at him.
As soon as he’d stepped away, he heard them exclaiming out loud about the superb kills or the amount of meat they’d eat for dinner. Dinner. He realized he hadn’t brought lunch for Alezya. Was she hungry? He hadn’t seen time pass while he was out hunting.
He walked across the camp, usually quieter at this time of the day. The tribes wouldn’t attack when the sun was so high in the sky, any attack the camp would see coming. Most units had heavy training in the morning, so the afternoon was their only rest time, where they could play games in the tents, chat while doing their chores, or simply walk around the camp. Some went hunting, while others gathered at the training ground to fight for fun or train some more.
A lot actually went there in the hope their Commander in Chief would decide to spar with them too. That was often his preference when the days got too long and he didn’t know what else to do with himself.
Fighting was easy and didn’t require thinking. Most of all, he hated when he had too much time to think. To remember.
That day in particular, most of the men were busy helping with the repairs at the entrance of the camp, so things were quieter than usual.
He crossed paths with almost nobody when he reached his tent. Nobody saw him slow down before getting to his own tent. Kein was out there, lying down and taking a nap. His dragonopened an eye upon feeling his approach and showed its fangs with a very faint growl, but Kassein ignored it.
He stepped inside the tent, mentally braving himself, and immediately feeling foolish for it. What was he nervous for...? He could defeat bears and snow leopards, but he had to be mentally prepared to face a woman?
Still, he walked inside and looked for Alezya. He found her standing again, although she was using the furniture next to her to help her stand.
She’d walked across the tent and was standing next to the chest where he kept his clothes and weapons.
He glanced toward the corner that was mostly his armory. A quick count told him there was one small dagger missing. So that was why she’d been walking around his tent... He scoffed. He wasn’t upset that she’d taken a weapon for herself; in fact, he was just admiring her a bit more for looking for something to defend herself with. That woman was definitely resilient, he’d give her that.
“Kassein,” she simply said, as if she needed to acknowledge his presence.
He took a deep breath and walked over.
She didn’t seem particularly wary of him, as her body language didn’t change much from him coming closer to her. If she was flustered he’d found her there, she was concealing it well.
“Are you hungry?” he asked her.
She frowned.
“Food?”
She immediately nodded. She had learned that word before, so at least they could use that. Kassein directed his eyes toward the weapons, and immediately, Alezya’s attitude shifted slightly. She was worried he’d notice what she’d done, but he didn’t want to pretend he didn’t know.
Thus, he walked past her and took one of the small daggers; he had plenty of those and he’d sometimes have to leave them behind. He showed it to her.
“Dagger,” he simply said, clearly showing the weapon.
Alezya stared at him, visibly confused. She knew he knew, and she didn’t understand why he wasn’t mad. At least, that was his take.
Kassein repeated the word again, and she bit her lower lip. He stood, wanting to stop her from doing that; her lip was already injured, what was she harming it more for?
