Prince of Dragons

Chapter Twenty-Three

I was in a much better mood the next morning. I woke up refreshed, and warm, and to the welcoming smell of freshly cooked bacon and eggs. I could tell today was going to be an indefinitely better day, and when I opened my eyes and sat up, Alaban was already up setting plates onto the small, mini table the room came with. And, admittedly, I sat there for a moment, silently watching him meticulously place the dishes down, before loading them up with everything he had no doubt brought from the cooks' downstairs.

The scene before me screamed "domestic", and I honestly felt content watching him set our breakfast up.

Eventually, he noticed I was awake and straightened up, giving me a small smile. "Good morning, your Highness, I hope you slept well."

I nodded my head and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "I did, thank you. What about you? Did you sleep well?" I nodded towards the little breakfast set up. "I see you got breakfast as well. Bacon and eggs? You spoil me."

Alaban smiled and shrugged. "I slept alright, although I woke up a couple of times to you kicking me in your sleep." He chuckled as my cheeks warmed. "Otherwise, it was decent slumber." He then looked down at the food. "And yes, I recall you saying how you missed bacon and eggs, and so I asked the cook downstairs to make us some before we begin today's trek."

I licked my lips as I stood up from the bed and made my way over to the table, nearly salivating at the sight of the juicy bacon and fluffy-looking eggs—my stomach rumbling with anticipation. "Gods yes, thank you for this, I can't wait to dig in." I sat down and peered at the sun dragon. "Do we have any drinks?"

Alaban blinked, before he snapped his fingers and nodded. "Yes, yes. I wasn't sure what you prefer to drink during breakfast, so, I was waiting until you woke up before I grabbed anything of the sort." He then stared at me. "So...what would you like to drink? I can run down really quick and grab something."

I shook my head and stood up, giving him a reassuring smile when he frowned. "I got it. You already went through all this trouble to give me a decent breakfast, so the least I can do is grab the drink. Anything in particular you want? Milk? Orange juice? Apple juice?"

"Oh, um, thank you. Coffee is fine for me, no sugar, dallop of vanilla cream. If they have it, if they don't then milk is fine."

I nodded my head and left the room, the warmth in my stomach from last night still ever-present. Thankfully it didn't take too long to get our drinks before I went back upstairs and settled down across from Alaban, enjoying our first meal of the day. And we ate in silence, although, I honestly didn't mind that. Our forks gently clinked against the plates as we scooped up the eggs, and overall, it was a very peaceful breakfast. Occasionally, I would peek up at Alaban as he ate—golden eyes filled with content as he dabbed a napkin against his lips.

Shamefully, I will admit, I may have...stared a little longer than necessary, and I was almost caught when those bright eyes flickered up towards me curiously, causing me to quickly avert my eyes as if I hadn't been staring at him the entire time.

I could feel his eyes on me, and my gut churned with awkwardness as I tried to act as casual as possible, and eventually I looked back up at him—my cheeks warming when I realized he was still watching me. "U-Um, is...is there something on my face, or something?"

Alaban didn't speak, he merely smiled and tapped at the corner of his lips, which prompted me to take a napkin and wipe my mouth in embarrassment. "Thanks," I muttered, cheeks burning.

Alaban nodded and we fell into that quiet solace once more.

After breakfast, we gathered our things—including that shiny new sword Alaban got for me—and made our way to the stables where we had dropped our horses off. We paid the nice man for keeping our steeds safe and led them to the other side of the city, where the next leg of our journey would begin.