Page 90 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“Those were the good days,” Kiera reminisced with a smile. “The Imperial Palace workers would always brace themselves whenever we were coming... Did you know? The servants secretly called us the Terrible Three.”
“Who was the third— Oh. Darsan.”
“Of course,” Kiera chuckled. “Darsan the Destroyer, me who was always running away, and you who would always get into a fight with one of us, or with your dragon...”
Kassein’s mood soured immediately, and his sister bit her lip, realizing her mistake too late. Even Lorey gave her a little glance, but Kiera already knew her mistake. She shook her head.
“What happened wasn’t–”
“It was entirely my fault,” Kassein retorted, closing his eyes as the anger inevitably surged. “Don’t patronize me.”
“I am not patronizing you. Sadara told me all about it.”
“I bet she did.”
“You made a mistake, yes. But the way Kassian sent you away was not—”
“He did what he had to do to protect the Empire,” Kassein grunted. “He got rid of his murderer of a little brother so the people wouldn’t riot against him and the Imperial Family. I didn’t commit a mistake, Kiera. It was murder.”
“It was anaccident, Kassein,” Kiera sighed.
“If anybody but the Emperor’s younger brother had done it, I’d have been sentenced for life.”
“Nobody but one of us could have provoked such a thing!” she exclaimed. “Do you even hear yourself? Why are you so hell-bent on being wrong? You’re always like this! You may blame Kassian for being harsh, and yes, he was, but you’re the one punishing yourself beyond reason! Why the hell are you always like this?! Yes, you committed a mistake, a huge one, but you’re not the criminal you’re trying to pass for! Nobody asked you to stay here for years on end and ignore the whole family!”
“Kassian exiled me—”
“He said you should go to the north and not come back until you’ve pacified it. He never said to ignore all of the family’s attempts to hear from you! If it wasn’t for Tievin and the generals keeping them informed, they wouldn’t evenknow you’re still alive! You are always so quick to bicker with everyone, but you didn’t put up a fight when Kassian gave you that impossible task? Why?! Why the fuck are you always begging to be treated like you’re some horrible monster?!”
“Didn’t you hear the part where I actually killed someone?”
“It was a fucking accident!” Kiera shouted. “Darsan’s provoked dozens of accidents, and he got lucky nobody ever died from their injuries! We all learned to fight and kill as soon as we were able to hold a weapon! We are paired with bloody dragons, the top predators on this continent, and as if it wasn’t enough, we’re raised and built to be killers! Father and Aunt Shareen killed countless people before they were our age! Even Grandma did so, and without a dragon! It may have been for extenuating reasons, but they meant it! You caused anaccident, Kassein, and you meant none of it! It’s even a miracle it didn’t happen sooner with that mad dragon of yours!”
All the shouting had now drawn a lot of attention to their group, with many heads turned and ears curious to grasp what was going on.
After a few seconds of silence, Lorey gave a little nudge to Kiera’s knee, who suddenly stood up and got down from her dragon, taking big angry steps toward the fire.
“Who’s the idiot who’s been grilling the meat?!” she growled aloud as she walked away. “How dare you ruin my hunt?!”
That was enough for all heads to turn right back to their plates, hoping to stay out of trouble. Even if their argument had been somewhat defused, Kassein had lost his appetite. He got up, angry, and left.
After a second of hesitation, Alezya put her bowl of food down and followed after him. Lorey sighed.
“He’s not really mad,” Tievin commented when he estimated his Commander’s ears were far enough.
“This isn’t about his sister,” Lorey replied.
She stood up, put her bowl down on Kiki’s back, and quickly followed after them.
It took Kassein a little while to realize Alezya was painfully trying to catch up to him, her injured legs aching in the snow. He stopped and turned around, finding her panting and grimacing in pain a few steps behind. He sighed, his anger immediately cooled down by her presence.
He felt like an imbecile, having not noticed her... He had expected that she’d stay behind with Lorey to finish her meal. He walked up to her and, unable to witness her struggle any longer, picked her up in his arms.
She blushed, surprised for a second, but quickly regained her senses and wrapped her arms around him. He glanced down at her. It looked like his fight with his sister had made her nervous, and now, she was staring at him with a more concerned than shy expression.
He let out a faint sigh.
“...I’m alright,” he muttered, rubbing his thumb against her waist.
