Page 9 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
She carried her back to the exit, where her cousin was still lamenting over the flowers.
“I hope that’s going to be enough,” she purposely said aloud.
“I hope for you,” Alezya coldly retorted, “because I’m not going back to fetch more.”
“This is about my son’s life!” Zenia exclaimed.
“And I’m the one who risked mine to save him. Next time, if you care so much, you or your husband go and face a dragon yourselves. You’re welcome, by the way, Zenia.”
Without adding another word, she walked out of there, carrying Lumie. She was more than fed up with her cousin’s hypocrisy. Even if she knew she had done this more for her nephew than for her cousin, Alezya was pissed at her lack of gratitude. Zenia was like everybody else in this clan: they only cared as long as they found a use for her.
She walked away, carrying Lumie and glad she was done with this. At least her conscience was clear. There was enough to make medicine for her cousin’s child, the rest would depend on the Healer’s skills.
She walked all the way back to her cave, carrying Lumie, feeling tired, but relieved. This time, she kept the large opening tightly closed.
Just thinking about her encounter with the dragon was enough to make her shudder all over again. While putting Lumie in her little basket and taking off her clothes, she kept replaying the scene in her head. None of it made sense. The dragons had never spared one of their fighters, despite facing them at the front almost every single day. The fact that this dragon was orange too... A new dragon?
It had been a while since she had spotted one other than the black dragon. There used to be two more, a silver and a yellow one, fighting their people when she was younger, but now, it was only the legendary black dragon left… or so she’d thought. She didn’t dare glance out to check often enough, maybe that orange dragon had been around longer than she thought?
It couldn’t be good. She hoped Zenia would mention it to her husband. As much as she disliked him, their clan’s safety was still tied to hers. Alezya hated relying on anyone else, but this was too important to ignore. Alezya knew all too well she and Lumie would have a hard time without a clan. If they were ever chased off this mountain, they’d literally have nowhere to go. She couldn’t think of a place to establish herself, it would take days to gather everything necessary for their survival, and all the resources were already fought over by the different clans. She just couldn’t afford to leave, or she would have done so long ago.
Alezya carefully began washing herself, taking care of her injuries as she discovered them. Most were caused by her climb up the mountain more than the dragon though. A lot of grazed skin and bruises, mostly.
She took from her own batch of medicinal herbs, those she knew how to use, to treat herself preemptively. It was the way of the Northern clans to consume medicine before they got sick. They believed that no herb was wasted if it could prevent one from falling sick and needing twice more later. She knew herbs to prevent infections, to strengthen one’s body before the cold months, and even ones to eat before meals to prevent stomach aches while eating hazardous foods. Alezya had learned mostly by experimenting herself or secretly spying on the clan’s Herbalist. She even collected herbs whose uses were still unknown, hoping to find new medicines by herself, and carefully recorded any new species she found. She had even made her own mortars and pestles, two out of stone and one out of wood. What was once a young girl’s hobby had become an important survival tool for her.
Once she was done cleansing her wounds and putting some herbal medicine on them, she focused on her clothes. She was probably the worst embroiderer out of all the women in her clan, but she knew just enough to stitch up the ripped fabric. She gotto work, cursing that dragon for damaging her only outfit and all the times she stabbed her own fingers.
Still, Alezya kept replaying the scene in her head, unable to understand how she was still alive. It was as if something within her had deeply changed after meeting a dragon face-to-face and surviving.
Somehow, she felt as if she’d been given a second chance at life. She left her clothes to dry in one corner of their cave and wrapped herself in one of those large furs, around Lumie’s little basket, putting her hand on her daughter’s round belly.
She couldn’t find sleep for a long while; the image of that dragon’s mirror-like eyes stayed engraved in her mind.
The sun was already high in the sky when she woke up to Lumie’s hungry cries. Mechanically, she sat up and placed her baby against her to drink, grabbing their last berries for them to share as breakfast.
Alezya grimaced as each movement uncovered some muscle soreness from the strain of her climb the previous day. She dared to open the hole, peeking outside. It was a clear day, no clouds and no dragon to be seen. Yesterday’s events felt unreal; she would have even thought it was all a dream if it wasn’t for her injuries.
“Alezya!”
Her father’s voice.
She just darted a glare toward the entrance of their cave, but Lumie started crying, afraid. She’d better get there and see what he was mad about this time. The sooner this would be over, the sooner her daughter would be able to calm down. She placed Lumie in the little pen and got dressed, ignoring the repeated calls of her father growing impatient.
Strangely, she had never felt more confident to face that man. What was an angry man compared to a dragon…?
Still, as soon as she crawled out of their refuge, she felt her nervousness come back. She had to be careful, for this wasn’t just about her, but she had to watch out for Lumie’s safety at all times as well.
Alezya quickly walked toward her father’s voice, its echoes almost way too easy to follow. Something felt wrong when she got there, though.
Not only was her father waiting for her, but the clan’s Herbalist, a few of the elders, and her cousin’s husband, all of them with dark expressions on.
“I’ve been calling for you for a while!” her father angrily greeted her.
“Well, I’m here,” Alezya retorted with a glare.
She took him by surprise with just that.
Usually, she wouldn’t have dared to look him in the eye for so long. Instead, not only did she glare back, but she did the same toward all the people around. Alezya had no sympathy for any of them and they had none for her either; she didn’t owe it to them to act polite or anything.
