Page 121 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
His brothers seem to think the same. “You are right,” Caelan affirms.
“We need to make sure she realizes how well she did,” Flinn agrees.
The king sighs. “I can’t believe the moment has arrived that my children are the voice of reason…”
“It means you raised them well,” I tell him softly.
He smiles at me. “Maybe you are right.”
The rest of the time we wait, mostly in silence with people occasionally going off to do something. One of the triplets goes to check on the huge dining room that’s been turned into a temporary medical room. After a time, someone else leaves to consult with Aylin, but other than that we just pace around, waiting for our friends and family.
“Tynan doesn’t know yet that General Shayan is on his own mission… and that we have lost contact with him,” Quinn says into the silence.
Flinn nods. “I’ve been thinking about that, too. I… I will tell him.”
“Thank you,” Quinn says quietly.
“Make sure to relay that Shayan is a professional,” I tell him. “He has been part of my father’s main force for as long as I can remember. From his childhood, he was trained to be a spy, a warrior and a secret agent.”
“I didn’t know that,” King Gillean says, surprised. “I knew that he was a skilled warrior, but I didn’t know that he was that important to King Naseem.”
“Shayan didn’t want to appear too pushy and offer his services where they weren’t needed,” I explain. “He didn’t want to overstep your hospitality.”
“Humans,” Caelan sighs. “We are happy to have powerful members in our pack.”
“He is a prideful man,” I explain. “Not even his princess can tell him what to do or what not to do.”
“It seems we sent the right man on the mission, then,” Quinn says. “Let’s hope he will use his talents to get through this situation.”
Deep inside, I’m incredibly worried for Shayan. He is surrounded by species he hasn’t met before, he doesn’t know them, but I also deeply trust him and his abilities. He is stronger than anyone here thinks he is. And this is not his first undercover mission. He had been on plenty of them when he worked for my father.
“Here they come!” Flinn calls out, interrupting my train of thought. It’s far past midnight by now. They probably traveled the whole day and most of the night without any breaks. Tynan is leading the whole caravan, fortunately, this time without any attacks on them.
I can’t spot Alana anywhere yet, but I assume she is in one of the carriages. The moment they arrive, Aylin hurries towards them, two healers right on her heels. Endellion and Quinn take over the task to oversee everything, to make sure there is no panic spreading anywhere, and that everyone can get help as fast as possible.
Caelan and King Gillean are hurrying towards one of the carriages, and after a few minutes return with Alana in Gillean’s arms. She is still unconscious, and my heart sinks, when I can see the bandages wrapped around her body. It must have been a miracle that she survived. Behind the two of them I can spot a young man… he looks like a teen, maybe Nevyn’s age or younger. His skin is very pale, and he has white hair and-
He looks so similar to Favian!
This has to be the dragon. I have to battle my urge to run to him and shower him with questions. There will be time for that later. For now, we have to make sure that everyone is attended to. Aylin has been following Gillean and Caelan with Alana, so I decide to see where I can help.
There is a whole carriage at the end of the caravan, but when I make to go there, Endellion pulls me back gently. “These are…” He brushes his hand over my back. “These are the fallen. We will bid them goodbye later.”
My heart sinks at his words. I completely forgot that the pack lost a number of warriors during the last two days. The gravity of the situation hits me when I see pack members being escorted to the carriage by Kilah and Nevyn. There are some older pack members who cry, and some younger ones who look so broken.
The last attack took so many mates and children and parents from us.
“How can I help?” I whisper.
Endellion kisses the top of my head. “If you want to help, then maybe try to support the healers in their task. And, a lot of these warriors are hungry and tired.”
I nod, relieved to have a task at my hand. I kiss his palm before hurrying towards a young female healer, offering my support to her. I help her with her patients before following her inside. There, Aylin instantly approaches me. “Come, Princess, I need your help.”
“With Alana?”
“Yes, I want to wash and clean her up a bit, and I think she will be more comfortable with you and I doing it.”
She doesn’t need to ask me twice. “How badly hurt is she?”
