Conquered | BrightWin | WatTine (Hiatus)

08. The Magpie

"The Daars Regiment will reach Tandra at dawn tomorrow, Wat" said Arman.

Wat nodded his head grimly. Things were about to get unpleasant.

He wanted to enjoy what little peace they had left.

"Where are you going, General?" asked Bosavar with a smirk.

Wat glared at him. Anyone else would have scuttled away in fear. Arman and Bosavar laughed at his face.

Wat huffed and walked towards what had become his favourite place of late - right beside Tine, wherever he was.

It had been six days since the wedding. Wat had woken up the morning after the cougar incident well rested and warm in his bed, with no recollection of how he got there.

He later found out that Tine had carried him on his back. He felt embarrassed but also pleased knowing that his husband was strong enough to bear him. Literally.

Since that day, they had spent as much time as they could together.

Wat rode alongside Tine during the day, leaving only for periodic inspections up and down the columns.

From time to time and with increasing regularity, they would be joined by others who vied for the Prince's attention.

Arman and Bosavar had taken a keen liking to the quiet but witty and friendly prince.

They treated him like a younger brother, pampering him with sweets and fruits and flowers, while a jealous Wat glared at them and cursed himself for not thinking of it first.

The triplets worshipped their prince. He shared interesting facts and nuggets of history about the places they had visited in the past, and the boys were in awe of him.

Officers of various ranks had started paying him their respects. They would ride up to him to introduce themselves and Tine would always respond graciously.

He would greet them warmly by name the next time he saw them, and the fearsome Faateh warriors, not used to such gentle courtesy from royalty, would shuffle their feet and blush.

Word had spread around the camp about Tine's love for tribal Faateha'a dishes and whenever they broke for meals, platters of different varieties of meat, vegetables, bread and desserts would find their way to him from all across the camp.

Tine would marvel at the variety of food, because each tribe had a different style of cooking, and they were all delicious. He ate a lot and then complained he was getting fat.

And Wat felt proud and happy about all the attention and affection the Prince was receiving.

Their evenings were reserved for each other. They would go for long walks in the forests or beside rivers or up hills, wherever the camp was set up.

They discussed politics and culture. Wat knew a lot of tribal history, wisdom passed from generation to generation in song and story.

Tine was fascinated by the richness of the Faateha'a customs and traditions, and asked lots of intelligent questions that sometimes stumped Wat. He promised to introduce Tine to the tribal Elders once they went to Salehah.

Wat grew more fascinated with Tine every day. He wondered how someone could be this perfect.

Tine's smooth voice soothed Wat, his laughter was infectious and made Wat smile, his enthusiasm gave energy to Wat.

Tine was still cautious around Wat, but not afraid to uncover more facets of Wat's personality.

He found Wat's flustered shyness endearing, his grumpiness sometimes annoying but never hurtful, and his intense looks unsettled Tine in the best of ways.