CYAN | ONC 2022

15

Aryzath was panting, tossing the branch to the side before he collapsed to the forest floor. He let his weight roll him to his back, arms splayed open as he stared at the dark sky. It had just been daylight when he met with Ilayda and now he was meeting with Mother Moon.

Ilayda settled down next to him, her hair was disarray but there was a smile on her face. She leaned forward and slapped his shoulder with the back of her hand.

"You're definitely getting better," she said. Her praise was enough to make him feel warm inside.

"Thank you," he said, taking in a deep breath to steady his heartbeat. "I didn't think I improved but all thanks to you, I suppose."

The Tünder giggled. "You follow instructions well, Dragonkind."

He would've argued but then she splayed on the ground right next to him, her wings flaring out and almost touching him. With her this close, it was more than enough for him to swallow back his words. Aryzath looked at the sky, letting the silence settle in on them.

When Ilayda had suggested a spar to release frustrations, he didn't think he would like that kind of activity. But it had been fun. She was light on her feet as per usual but always ready to guide him when he stumbled and fell. His heart tightened in his chest.

If only she was the creature he would be marrying.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, his face warmed. At this point in time, he had come to understand that what he felt for Ilayda was more than just physical attraction. He wanted to be close to her — be with her. In ways... he could just not afford to.

"Tell me... about her." Her voice had been hesitant but the words were nothing but weak. Aryzath glanced at her. She didn't look at him, instead, with her hands on her stomach and eyes staring right at the sky, she seemed determined to not see him.

Aryzath would have denied answering it but there was just something in her words that had him wanting to comply. Call it curiosity — or perhaps just needing to please her, but he hunted down the words to answer her.

"Well," he said, turning his attention to the night sky once more. "She's... smart, I suppose. Definitely has ideas that I could not even begin to understand. Probably cruel in some sense of the word. Arrogant." Unappealing.

Ilayda hummed under her breath. "She doesn't sound very nice."

"Honestly? She's not." He pressed his lips together for a moment. Corvina's presence was heavily required to hunt down Tünder and the fact he was going to be married to her in order to... hurt Ilayda's people sickened him. "I'd rather be with someone else."

"You have someone else in mind?" Ilayda's question made him tense for a second.

He contemplated on that, unsure of how much he should reveal. Would she run away if she knew about how he thought about her? Would she hate him if she found out that he was that so-called useless Crown Prince?

Cowardly, he could only say, "Yes, I suppose so."

Ilayda didn't pry into that, and he wasn't sure whether he was disappointed or relieved at that. "It's a pity," she said. "You getting married to someone you don't even like."

"And what of it to you if I did?" he said.

While he had expected for her to scoff, what he didn't expect was for her to sit up and turn to face him. Her legs brushed against the side of his hip, causing him to stiffen at where he lay. Tilting his head to the side to look at her, glowing cyan eyes burned into his own.

"I don't like it," she said.

"Like what?"

"You marrying her." It was said in such conviction that it stunned him momentarily.