Prince of Dragons

Chapter Two

I woke up in the middle of the night. I wasn't sure what time it even was, considering Captain Tavan and I had indulged in our desires for quite a while...but my internal clock deduced that it was probably early in the morning. Not sure what exact time, but perhaps around three, or four? Whatever time it was, I was now awake, and for the life of me I couldn't place why. Did I have a nightmare? Was my anxiety about returning home catching up with me now that we were only a week out? Or was it something else, maybe?

I looked around the darkened chambers, a heavy weight in my chest.

If it was a nightmare, or anxiety...then why the hell did I feel a heavy, foreboding weight in my gut like something was going to go wrong?

I groggily peeked over to Tavan. His eyes were closed, and even, slow breaths filled his chest. He was deep asleep, I could tell. His arm was a heavy weight across my waist, and the man even had one leg placed comfortably in between mine.

I felt weird, not because the position Tavan and I were in, but because of being so easily awakened in the middle of the night. Or morning? I was usually a heavy sleeper, so it was off-putting to wake up like this. It wasn't hot in the room—actually it was pretty chill with the small porthole window being opened...so why was I awake?

Feeling a frown on my lips, I gently pulled Tavan's arm off me before pulling from his embrace and hiking a pair of trousers on. I then opened the door and peeked out, noticing how empty the deck of the ship was. A couple of lanterns were lit, but the area seemed dark to me as I stepped out into the cool night air—my gaze raising towards the cloudless, starry sky.

I inhaled the crisp, salty air and stepped out on deck. The water was dark around us, and everything was quiet—save for the sound of the ship cresting over the small waves. I will admit, the cool air felt wonderful on my skin and as I nibbled the inside of my cheek, I wandered over to the railing and leaned against it—gazing deeply into the dark waters below.

I took another breath, this time slower as I tiredly ran my fingers through my messy hair.

Maybe it was anxiety. I mean, I didn't want to return home, didn't want to sit there in front of my father for hours, and listen to him lecture me about my disappearance. And I knew he would. Because I was his eldest son, and because I was his eldest son, I had "responsibilities to uphold". You know, because I was a prince—next in line—and all that.

I rubbed my eyes and leaned my head on my hand.

A sound, however, had me pausing my thoughts as my heart-rate picked up—a furrow creasing my brows as I straightened up and stared out where I thought I had heard the sound—the ocean. Probably a rogue wave, I tried to assure myself. But even so, I strained my hearing and I realized...it wasn't a rogue wave.

Rogue waves didn't sound like singing.

I squinted and peered around the dark expanse of the ocean, wondering where the hell the singing was coming from. My heart hammered in my chest, and I wondered if we somehow strayed in our path and was now near land...but there were no lights that would suggest that. Nor the darkened form of land. Only darkness, and ocean. I was so on edge that I—embarrassingly enough—jumped in fright when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and as I whipped around, ready to reflexively hit whatever had touched me, I calmed when I saw Tavan's tired face staring back at me.

Embarrassed, I dropped the hand I had balled into a fist and sheepishly apologized to Tavan, who snorted and patted me on the shoulder before joining me at the railing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you," he chuckled. "I just noticed you were out of bed and wondered where you could have run off to." He stared at me curiously and tilted his head. "Did you have a nightmare, or something?"